D.A.S. Monitor-8
 Page 1, 2, 3
  Conclusions
Engineers looking to use the Monitor-8s as their main speakers will want to add a subwoofer, especially if they can’t place the cabinets four inches from the wall, as the manufacturer suggests. But even without a sub, “mid-room” placement still affords an extremely accurate reference for checking stereo imaging and the spectral balance from the mid-bass frequencies on up. This has always been a near-field monitor’s raison d’être, and the Monitor-8s deliver in spades.

The Monitor-8s are one of the most detailed and transparent monitors I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Imaging and depth are downright superb. As an added bonus, the monitors are really fun to listen to, without sacrificing accuracy.

With their first studio monitor offering in 20 years, D.A.S. has hit a grand slam home run over the center field fence. These are world-class monitors at a dirt-cheap price, and there’s no way that I’m going to relinquish them. My check is in the mail!

Dist. by Sennheiser, 1 Enterprise Dr., PO Box 987, Old Lyme, CT 06371; 860/434-9190; fax 860/434-1759; www.dasaudio.com.
Michael Cooper is a Mix contributing editor and owner of Michael Cooper Recording in beautiful Sisters, Ore.
--Continued from previous page..
Fig. 2

Figure 2: The Monitor-8s produce minimal change in phase shift around the 3kHz crossover point, indicating proper crossover alignment
(click for larger image).
Fig. 3

Figure 3: Impulse response. The Monitor-8s’ impact and decay response characteristics are excellent
(click for larger image).
Figure 2 shows the Monitor-8s’ phase vs. frequency performance in SpectraFoo Comple te. Two snapshots, represented by the green and yellow traces, were taken. The signal’s phase does not actually flip 180° at 2 kHz (yellow trace) or at 2.5 and 8 kHz (green trace), but the display traces merely wrap around (i.e., +180° = -180° phase). Data around the flip points and above 18 kHz are not meaningful.

The green trace shows the expected linear progression of phase vs. frequency for a noncoaxial design. Between approximately 2.5 and 6.3 kHz, the green trace shows the Monitor-8s to produce minimal change in phase shift. That is, there is no additional group delay (no abrupt transition in phase shift) around the 3kHz crossover point, and all frequencies within the 2.5- to 6.3kHz band are arriving at roughly the same time. This is as it should be in a good crossover design.

Because the green trace wraps around very close to the crossover point and makes it hard to accurately see what’s going on there, the yellow trace snapshot was taken with the source channel delay offset by one sample from that value that the green trace was derived from. This modulates the data away from the wraparound at the crossover point for a better look. Although the one-sample offset introduces its own phase shift (i.e., it compounds the Monitor-8s’ phase shift and therefore produces inaccurate absolute data), the yellow trace is useful in that its linearity confirms that there are no discontinuities in phase shift around the 3kHz crossover point.

Figure 3 shows the Monitor-8s’ impulse response in SpectraFoo Complete. Especially considering the nonconcentric orientation of the drivers, the impact and decay response are outstanding. An examination of the spectral history (not shown here) in SpectraFoo Complete reveals that the second impact spike (broader and lower in amplitude; noted by the pointer in Fig. 3) was produced by the woofer and occurs later than the tweeter’s initial spike.

—Michael Cooper



Reprinted with permission from Magazine, February, 2001
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved


[an error occurred while processing this directive]