Thanks for that awesome shootout. For a while now, I've been a fan of the Neumann sound, but I have not had the pleasure to test out the 420s. After hearing your take on them, I am convinced that I need to experience them for myself. Also, can't wait to see the new studio build!

Love how clear you are in your description of why you chose these monitors. Always love your vids man.

Thank you very much. I did appreciate the information about selecting monitors for your style of music. Of course, I hope I said that right. Have a nice day everyone.

I have a 7.1.4 Neumann system with 3x KH420. They are brilliant and your input about them is 1000% truth! Congrats on the new speakers! =)

Wonderful review, great points throughout. I picked Focal Trio11Be, based on my experience with KH310 which I didn't like at all, so i didn't consider KH420 at the time i was picking speakers. I've had them for about 2 years now. Flush mounted. Paired with 15" custom-made sealed subwoofers with closed off ports. I don't mix country/folk/classical :) But pop and trap mostly. However, i have woofers so, bass extension is not an issue for me, although I have a small control room. I agree with pretty much everything you said in your review about the Trios, your observations are spot on. I'm not sure how KH420 is different to KH310 since midrange and tweeter are identical, and mids/tweet is what I disliked about them the most. (I have to emphasise this is purely subjective, i don't think they're not good, the sound just didn't sit well with me). Did you test both monitors flush mounted, or on stands? In my experience, Trios11 need more distance (2m at least, preferably more) than what they say in the manual (1.5m i think?). At 1.5m, they don't work well at all, focal is completely underestimating the distance these need to properly integrate. +lack of waveguides that Neumann have makes them extremely picky of the environment.

Thanks - that’s been really useful!

I own the KH420's + subs and did a shootout with all the comps in that price range, this review is funny because its literally word for word how I would describe the Neumanns. Excellent review & its really interesting to hear musical peers hearing the same things from the KH420's.

Thanks for sharing this comparison. Very helpful to get a better choice.

Thorough & enlightening. Subscribed.

I enjoyed your very well-educated and informed judgement. Thank you from a fellow sound engineer. I also know the KH420, but not Focal, and it was fascinating for me to listen to your take on them. 👍👍👍

Thank you for this utmost honest review! As a bass-heavy producer I would have never known this. Thanks again

in the meantime... did u measure them in with the MA-1 Software, or is that only possible with a DSP like in the KH750s? I have a 750 with a pair of 120s and the outcome of the MA-1 adjustment was night and day.

Thank you for the commentary. I'm interested, given your remarks about the "hyping" of speakers - how would you feel about having the Neumann's as the front stage for a Home Cinema? The Focal's? I'm unsure if your remark of "honesty" in the presentation is what we should be aiming for to hear what the original is? I didn't catch any remarks on sound stage either - any thoughts?

Thx for honest opinion

Very well reviewed 😊

Wow what a great review on these two monitors. Do you have any experience with the atc scm25's? If so what are your thought's on those relative to these two monitors? i'm thinking about upgrading to those in a while. My current monitors do not have a midrange driver so i'm stuck compensating for that with auratone mix cubes.

Bro that ge elec sub is the worse sub in history ... in every studio i was and heard that was sounding boomy not musical

You speak well, you articulate well and you make good sense, and that's why I enjoyed this.

Very interesting video. I totally agree...a soffit solution is definitely the best performing option. I'm curious, what was your methodology for comparing the two monitors? How large was the space you tested them in? Did you compare them horizontally and/or vertically? I've compared these two option and came away with a different impression. If you have any measurements you could share that'd be appreciated. Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the review, I have have th kh310 neumanns and I am really thinking of the getting the sub kh750 for the dsp especially. Are you using any room correction software with the neumanns ? I actually just read some of your comments on dsp below, using it only 500hz and below if you use it all and how adding boost eq doesnt do much ect. Should i keep my jbl sub with kh310s and keep using sonarworks or buy the neumann kh750 enable to use neumanns correction. Im in non professional but treated space. Any guidance from a pro like yourself would be great. cheers

I demoed the trio 8s and the tweeter sounded like it blew out. When I mentioned it to the salesman he just said that’s how it was suppose to sound. That was a big no go for me. I get the feeling that their speakers are designed for audiophiles first and then adapted to the prosumer market. It doesn’t make much sense to have aggressive high end unless you plan on putting them in an untreated room, then it makes perfect sense.

Great video! Would have liked to see the room you were listening in for reference.

Could you tell me what is the spl level that you use to monitor in your studio for the most flat response on tge fletcher corve ? Thank you very much for all this content

Did you spend any time on ASR or similar sites to get a total technical assessment?

What's the difference in accuracy between ported and sealed monitors? Is it true that ports are a way to "fake" low frequencies that the monitors can't produce on their own? Is it true that sealed monitors are more forgiving of improperly acoustically treated rooms?

Yeah, just out of curiosity I checked one of the test song you show, Tommy's Theme, and just as I expected : the peak indicators stuck in the red clipping all the way... The reason why the Focal's hurt your hears is because the Be tweeter can reproduce the square waves that hurt your hears. It's showing you the issue in the music. Listen to some properly mixed/master tracks and it won't hurt your hear. That's my experience with Focal. Those test tracks hurts my hears too. But I can blast something like Daft Punk RAM at 110dB with no issues.

Good Review. Well done! Just one question: why did you exclude the Dynaudio Core 59? They are quite similar too?

Great video Thanks ;O)

Did you consider Genelec ? A lot of people using them, what’s your opinion on them ?

Great analysis. One observation. You had the Focals in landscape mode in the display without rotating the mid strange driver- tweeter. I wonder if they were tested in this configuration. I do have the focal trio 11Be. I find they are better at a listening position of 7-9 feet. I am also not doing EDM heavy bass stuff. So all of the comments make sense. By the way I really love the Focal 11’s

Fantastic video, great job! What about the smaller versions: Neumann kh 310 vs Focal trio 6 be? Would you still go for the Neumann for the same reason? Many thanks for your advice

I absolutely love the KH310s! If I upgrade my studio room to a larger mastering room I’d definitely go for the KH420s! 😍

I wish PMC IB1S didn’t get discontinued recently, own a pair myself. You would love them over the Nuemann’s. Happy to hear you found something that works for you.

How bright would you say that the Focal are compared to the Adam?

Dude, I'm reading all ur comments now and I just want to THANK YOU for being the first pro that I've come across with a really critical ear. I hold all the same exact opinions that I have on all these monitors. I tried soooo many of them, also I think I'm sold on the Neumann's... Utterly perfect for mixing and mastering. Also agree w your take on the ATC's, sub is 100% necessary. Focals: I say the same thing. They sound SO great, but I feel like it's a bit saturated or something in the upper frequencies... Just seemed so "hi fi" sounding to me, I know I would quit working on a track before it was done if I was on Focals. But yet again, the Neumann's are just so clean and clear. I love that they are so flat at 80-85db spl

Kii 3 and bxt might be an option to demo. Very helpful guys

Thanks for sharing this. Question, would you mind sharing your reference track list? Thanks and have a nice time

Thank you so much amazing review!!!May i ask because i mostly use my studio monitors for music listening (many years now) ,in your pro opinion which studio monitors (under 3000$ a pair) are more enjoyable to listen to?Certainly with very good quality sound material!!!Greetings from Greece!!!!🎵🎶🎙

Sound choice! What set up did you test/compare with, wall mounted or open? My experience of Neumanns are if they are well away from the rear and side walls then the bass is exemplary - tight and detailed. I love their neutrality. The only monitors that outdo them are ATC’s. But they are dear.

All of these things I have found true with my kh120s and kh750 sub. Not too bright, great stereo image, and a huge thing for me, they seem to somehow stay even in their response at many volumes.

Love the Neumann!

Ran across your channel (and this video) on a hunt to replace the curse of the Adam A7X’s. Thank you for the extra validation about the Adam speakers… I mixed on small stereo speakers for years (and felt pretty confident in my ability to mix) and in 2010, I bought the A7X’s, I actually had them on pre-order for months and when I finally got them home, I was immediately disappointed… I was going to return them, but the sales people got me doubting myself… every time I mix on them I don’t know what moves to make because everything sounds bright and shrill… (so pretty much what you described I experienced). I feel like I’ve been in a labyrinth for 13 years, and I stopped enjoying mixing music. I couldn’t tell if it’s because studio monitors are for a different purpose than a stereo speaker, so maybe they just weren’t fun enough and I need to adapt better? I even bought a sub and still don’t enjoy it. Just the fact that you’re mindful enough to know something like a speaker sounding too good could be harmful, (when very few seem to point out this important perspective) was enough to gain a new subscriber… Wish me luck on getting rid of these and thanks!!!

Nice review! I was thinking to buy Focal Shape 65 but now as I hear that they are lacking low end, started thinking if this is good idea ... since I am producing Tech and Techno. What do you think about that model and does it have the same downside?

I find that focal has a better transient response for me. My mixes are together and tight in the rhythm section and I feel it easier to get a vocal to sit in a mix. I understand what you mean though, probably not for everyone but for me Focal and Barefoots are the go-to for my hip hop and Trap mixes, I Tried 5inch Neumanns at a friends studio before and I felt like they were like a louder and more put together NS10 but that's not what I want from a monitor

Nice office! ;) ;) All those plants!

If a speaker like the Neumann has no depth in the 3d sound image, how can you use or manage this aspect in the mix. This is definitely a big flaw in these speakers.

Hello from Japan. I am Masa. Your attention to flush mount is great. I would love to see a detailed description of the installation for reference. I have compared the KH 420 to Genelec's S360, and the highs on the S360 sounded just a bit more loud. The KH 420 was quieter in comparison, but I could hear the nuances of the instruments more clearly. I think your choice is good. Have you tried the Neumann subwoofer? I was using a Genelec 7070 but had doubts about the rise and replaced it with a KH 810. the Neumann subwoofer is excellent. The latest KH 750 DSP is a small, sealed subwoofer that sounds great. If you get a chance, consider flush mounting the subwoofer. I look forward to your future reports.

Would the Adam Audio A8H not have been a better monitor for your upgrade ? They have the woofer ports on the front side .

I think the tweeters on the Focal are showing distortion at higher levels that the Neumann are not. Also, looking at the speaker front, it is obvious the Neumann has much care in designing proper wave guides as opposed to simply slapping drivers on a MDF box.

Thank you for your video. It would be very kind of you to share the draft drawing file of the room that is presented in the video. We all understand how much work has been spent on such a miscalculation and planning in the program. But the room has a huge impact on the sound, you told me about the speakers and it's wonderful, but it will work for you and in your room. You will make a huge contribution to the community if you allow musicians to download the room project file, this is much more important than the speakers themselves and any stories about them. Many stumble at this stage when they want a good sound, but mounting speakers into a wall without experience is a big risk in the absence of good examples and experience. I think many people here will agree and will be very grateful to you if you share the outlines of your control room :)❤

Neumann makes quality gear all around and their monitors are definitely on par with their reputation. They are super full but still detailed. Can't go wrong!

Before deciding to ditch the subwoofer, did you intentionally try any DSP-based correction/alignment software to justify your decision empirically? I hear Dirac and REW with Genelec make a considerable difference. From what I’ve read, if you get the chance to try out the Neumann 750 DSP and MA-1 alignment microphone and included software with your KH 420s, the processing should make a distinctly recognisable and desirable difference to your setup. Report back if you try this.

Would you recommend those monitors also for home cinema 3D set ups such as Atmos/Auro, etc. (just the fronts of course)??

I don't understand why people seem so butthurt about your findings. Some people prefer the sound of soft dome over hard dome tweeters. His hearing could be more sensitive in the upper midrange than others. His testing was his personal interpretation, no measurements, etc. Psychoacoustics play a much bigger role than anything else here. The only PROPER way to compare speakers is in a double blind, and by measuring to confirm assertations made by the blind test. I have no doubt that some people will prefer the Focals over the Neumanns. It comes down to taste as well as what you have "trained" your ears on previously.

very interesting video

For a studio like yours, if you are looking forward subwoofers, you should consider having 2x 15" or better 3x 12" for easy fine tuning with "small" controlrooms. No need for rafined ones, only reliable ones likes the Brand "Subwoofer Pros". Cheers. Thanks for the video.

So well presented! Great video.

For my work I prefer nearfield monitors. I do not produce music with heavy bass extension. I use all Neuman monitors at my workstations - KH 150's, KH120 II's and KH 750. It see ms that you have done an excellnt job of determining what monitors to use for your work. The video was very well produced. Your presentation is quite articulate.

Just out of curiosity why haven't you considered Dynaudio core 59?

Hi, do you have measurements of both? thank you

Someone recently posted this video, which recommends putting speakers into the front corners: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d8mprbqavJ_boYU.html&ab_channel=PresentDayProduction. This is what I have to say about that. Grasping a basic understanding of acoustics, you know what that's going to do. It's going to dramatically boost the bass and excite all the room modes much more than is necessary. Bass accumulates where boundaries join. It accumulates where the side wall meets the front wall, and even more so (3 boundaries) in tetrahedral corners. He says "you want to get as much bass out of a speaker as possible." Really? Do you? Why? Especially seeing as LF is the most difficult to attenuate. Maybe this is good advice if your monitor speakers don't produce enough LF. I know some of the ATC models are a little anemic in the low end and benefit from support from subs. The Neumanns certainly are not. Neumann recommends shelving the LF down by 7.5 dB if the KH420s are placed in corners due to the increased bass level. Do you really want a room where the low band is 7.5 dB above everything else? You'd be mixing tracks that have no low end in them because you'd be hearing too much LF in the room. Placing your monitors into a hard front wall improves the low end as well due to baffle step. Instead of bass radiating backwards and then forwards out of phase, you now have bass only radiating forwards in perfect phase. If the bass response is now too high, it's easier to control this with a simple LF shelving filter in the monitor drive signal. And it doesn't produce any out of phase bass signal from boundaries behind the speaker, because there are no boundaries behind the speaker. The comment that you just use your ears while changing your listening position is also bad advice. You must do proper acoustic testing. Why? Because you have strong room modes in an untreated room. They'll ring out at very specific frequencies and not others. So if you listen to music only, then what happens when your reference song doesn't play a note that lines up with a resonant frequency? It'll sound normal to your ears. Then one day down the road, you'll be mixing a song that does hit that resonant frequency and it'll be a problem. When you do acoustic testing with sine sweeps, Room EQ Wizard will pick up every aspect of the frequency response and identify all issues to help you optimize speaker placement. Doing any type of studio optimization without corresponding acoustic measurements is like walking around a dark room and bumping into things. You may eventually get it right, but why not just turn the lights on? Another issue with simply "using your ears" is the inferior acoustic memory in humans. It's very short; 5-30 seconds for sounds (not voice or language). So how can you effectively ensure an "even sound" when you're just using your ears? One's memory of how things sounded at one position in the room is forgotten before you even set up the next monitor position. He does get this right: "Often speakers are best forced against the back wall as any bass reflecting off the back wall stands more chance at arriving at your listening position in phase." That is correct. You push your monitors up against the front wall, but even better - IN the front wall. You only put the monitors against (but in front of) a wall when you can't, or don't have the budget for a flush mount. There's a solid reason why studios with $1M or more budgets for their room put their monitors flush mounted. It's simply the best monitor placement and room design for control rooms. This is also heavily documented and supported by acousticians like Philip Newell and the Audio Engineering Society. Speaking of trapping, he says that to properly attenuate a moving air particle you need a trap that's 1/4 of a wavelength deep and air gapped from the wall. That's outdated and ultimately incorrect advice that's been disproven. Here's someone who's actually done the testing about flow resistivity and impact on low end absorption: www.jochenschulz.me/en/blog/rockwool-glasswool-hemp-best-absorber-material. He also gets it right about room correction EQ. Those comments are spot on. Final comment is that he doesn't seem to have posted any acoustic testing. He's just claiming that he's used his ears and that this room setup has a good response. I would love to actually see a waterfall from REW of that room.

This may be a dumb question but what about the Genelec 1037’s not sure about the port configuration though or their response? I want to invest in a decent 10” 3 way type monitoring solution. I was looking at the 1037b’s. I’m a trap type producer. Great vid by the way also. I currently have some 10” 3 way gen 4 KRK’s. I know its better out there than these noisy sob’s 😂😂😂

I personally chose the Focals, purely because they have had some recent sales in Aus making them literally 45% cheaper than the Neumanns.

Nice vídeo

KH310 are amazing. I didn't like the KH420 when I compared them to my Trio 11be. The transient response in the bottom end was just not there. They were just too slow. The transients in the mid range were not coming through like they are on the Focals. The "3d" helps you with making EQ decisions, because you can hear literally everything that is happening in the midrange, since everything will be separated (like on the ATCs). So I got the Focals. But the KH310 is in the strong second place. But when you get to atc - it's a completely different experience. The midrange on those is AMAZING. So I got the 150s lol

Cool video! From my own experience, the Neumanns have a somewhat harsh high end and almost no depth to the sound. One of the best speakers I came across were the Amphions Two18s coupled with their own BaseTwo25s subs. Amazing system. ATC SCM45s are also great as well as Dutch&Dutch 8Cs.

great review, could you name some of the reference tracks?

I have KH310 and Solo Be6 and your description is the same for me comparing my monitors. I mix country, folk and mostly acoustic so I find the Neumann nearly perfect and unflattering. The Focal, to me are probably not necessary, but give me a second opinion. I don’t mix loud so the KH310 are great in my situation.

Thanks for the review. I also think that these two are among the best active midfield monitors on the market, but I’m surprised by your feelings. Both have 10” woofers and both are able to play around 30Hz -3dB. (KH420 a bit lower), both measures well and almost flat (30-20k) and many owners and reviewers are saying that Trios has huge sound and incredible bass (fast and deep) and when max. SPL and distortion was measured Trios was great in bass region. (110dB under 3% even at 35-40Hz region) They only electronically limits the tweeter around 5k at 100db. (In real life no problem). Another thing is that beryllium tweeters are among best tweeters in the world at any price. Clean, non-fatiguing, airy, precise, without coloration… And your conclusion is that they are bright, lacking bass, definition and they are painful to your ears at higher levels. (How many dB you are listening if you are checking how it sounds loud?) I’m not writing this as a Trio fan and KH420 hater. Just confused a bit, because I’m thinking of buying Trios (cheaper and looks better to me, they have huge sweet spot and 3D depth of sound too) and I want them for home HiFi listening and not for mixing. From what I read and heard I was thinking that T11 Be are almost perfect. But now from your review everything is turned 180* degrees and I’m confused as Goro in Tokyo. 😢😅

That's an older one. The Genelec 7060BPM was in production between 2007 and 2016. It was replaced by the 7360A model. I have the Genelec 7360A 10" and I think it's awesome!

Have you listened to Kii Three or/and Dutch & Dutch 8c? Both are technically related, I think, definitely not made for flush mounting, but in general very interesting speakers. They cost 2x of a pair of Genelec 8361. Guzauski-Swist Audio Systems have a great reputation, not very affordable. Quested and PMC have several reputable models in the line up that are in a more attainable price range and interesting for club music.

Ideally, with subs, it's better to take 2 smaller ones than a large one. In your budget range you could've thought about a pair of Used Active ATC SCM 25's; 40's or even 50's I think ! I own two pairs of passive speakers (HiFi, but they're closer to Studio flatness than you might think, because I record/mix and listen to music in the same room and didn't wanted two dedicated spaces and set-ups for that), a pair of Focal Electra 906's and yeah, they have that kind of utterly large 3D sound, a bit of emphasis on the highs (I think not as much as the ones you tried though), and a pair of passive ATC SCM40's (MkI's), and I know that Neumann's middom is based on ATC's one, that's been praised for decades. Anyways, great explicative video. Especially the SPL Levels compared to accuracy human hearing.

Have you considered checking out Hedd audio speakers?

Yeah the focal beryllium tweeters are verry transparent.. i use them in my car with a helix dsp

I'm thinking about buying the KH420, but there is one problem and i would love to some input: It is about the calibration of the KH420... In newer Speakers there is a dsp built in, not in this one. Neumann put out a subwoofer (KH750) which has DSP, which doesn't make too much sense for me, because the TWO 10'' Woofers of the KH420 which are precisly matched to rest of the speaker are cutted down to 80 Hz and replaced by one 10'' Woofer, just to get DSP. I don' t need any bigger subwoofer with these anyway... There would be sonarworks, but i think the latency on that system is about 50ms which is not practical for recording. The zero-latency in sonarworks practicaly bypasses sonarworks, but then your ear never gets used to the right sound, cause it changes everytime you switch sonarworks on and of. So then i am left with an EQ on the back of the speaker of the KH420 with only one ajustable EQ. I could also use the 3 band of my rme-soundinterface, but then i only have 4 EQs to equal out all my frequency response. Hmmm... Is there a better solution to calibrate the 420's? (Don't tell me about getting the room right with treatment. I'm doing this, but this is a homestudio Environment so i can't get rid of the low end problems completly...)

Thank you so much for this. Neumann KH 420 all the way!!!!!

I have the event opal . also the tweeter is to much I think.? so Im maybe going to modificate the crosover so the tweeter is not so loud.. I realy love the detail of the event opal. I also have genelec 8030a but sounds dull compare to the event opal. so I going to sell the genelec

How are the 420s against the ATC Scm25 mk2…anybody?

As an owner of Focal Trio 11's, this review couldn't be further from the truth, these are like one the most Electronic Music monitors you can buy with their down to 30Hz frequency response. Definitely something is off with the room they were tested in and they definitely don't need to be adjusted with the eq controls in the back in any way. When I was setting them up in my new place, I had a bit of trouble but because I knew how they suppose to sound from my previous studio I kept on playing around with the placement until I got it right and the controls in the back don't have to be touched, that just shows that they are not placed correctly and those controls I find completely just throw them off balance. Luca Pretolesi literally uses them to master biggest EDM artists so can't be good only for Folk or Country. 😂 Also they are incredibly inspiring and unfatiguing to work on, which can't be said about many high end forensic studio monitors. Just thought I'd give my 5 cents if anyone is looking to buy! :D The Neumanns are obviously GREAT as well! ✌

Maybe the reason they hurt your ears bc your ears don’t like high end. So the crispy is what ur ears don’t like. You have really good ears that you hear more then other humans too. And high end gets tiring quick and at points distorted as well.

I have many genesis physics antique speakers..they are the ancestor of the focal..but the original 50 year old american version dont have the problem that the focal does..im smiling now..

Appreciate this review! Both killer speakers...Do you think a break-in on the Focals would mellow them some?

Focals have seemed overly hyped in both youtube influencers and sound

Did you considered PMC’s ?

Did you ever listen to EVE’s Audio monitors ?

On the burnin: Neumann is primarily a brand for professionals, so they don't consider their customers idiots.

Title of video doesn't do justice to the broader usefulness of your tests, I'd recommend "Testing wall mount monitors for audio engineering" or maybe something that will allow more people to discover this because I think it's beyond interest of speaker monitors alone

me the same I feel neumann is better, even tho it is flat but when you crank up, and set the right room. It feel more you live in the same place with the artist

This has generally been my experience with Focals too. Flattering in the mids and top, weak in the bass, fall apart when pushed. Neumanns are just consistent.

Neumann are often labeled as boring monitors, so that may be a good thing to some.

Is there anything that you liked about the Focal? I'm making a huge investment ( for me)

the monitors look to big for the space would love to look at your room graphs from like room eq wizard your acoustic treatments matters way more then your monitors

Thank you so much for doing this! I’m putting my ultimate trust in your evaluations. You really helped me make a decision. Neumanns are what I’m going with🤗

*thumbsup*

That is the 'Focal Signature' sound.... even their car speakers sound like this.

The Village :)

Kh’s sound to sterile for me. They’re not fun I would say. Other brands are accomplishing detailed, fun, boxes that translate.

kh420s are much clearer than focal elevens. i have two of them. price gap, yes that's right. money is not lying. kh420 is the best monitor that price. clearly.

Streaky Studios choose KH420 , I chose 2x310 + 1x750 🤘🏻😁🤘🏻

Genelec sucks. Same here. Their subwoofer is a joke. Completely without vibe and sound. Just the empty sound pressure. Same for 1032. Cold and not engaging to work with. I sold whole genelec set and purchased Eve3070. What a relief 😅