Esi, a German company active in the pro audio sector for about ten years, responds to the great demand for new 8 ”speakers also dedicated to small control rooms with the active uniK 08 Plus series, an evolution of its top model.
The new series has substantial differences from the previous one: a new one woofer in kevlar 8 ”associated with a completely new project of ribbon tweeter.
At first glance we are faced with speakers with a very solid construction and attractive colors. The bright orange of the woofer immediately catches the eye and makes these monitors instantly recognizable.
In the package there are power cable, feet for better positioning of the monitors on the support surface, instruction manual and the ESI Bass Plug, which we will examine in detail later.
- uniK 08 plus, like all monitors with woofer da 8 ", are easily prone to phase cancellation problems when listening. It will therefore be necessary first of all to make sure of their correct positioning.
Until a few years ago speakers of such power and with such a large woofer were not included in the category of nearfield monitor, that is, intended for close listening in small environments, but in that of midfield (even if in this category we refer to 3-way speakers and not 2) and therefore needed a listening space between one and a half meters and two and a half meters. Given the enormous popularity obtained in recent years by electronic music and its sub-genres such asEDM many companies have decided to launch products with these characteristics on the market also in the range of nearfield monitors.
For the purposes of the test, I therefore considered it appropriate to place the uniK 08 plus at the usual distance for nearfield monitors, trying to recreate a hypothetical equilateral triangle between my head and their position on the work surface.
I was lucky enough to use the uniK 08 plus for a couple of weeks, working on projects of various kinds (from the Neapolitan parking lot to hard rock) in the direction of the Play Music Studio of Cava de'Tirreni, which has the classics as a reference monitor Yamaha NS10 and JBL LSR308.
Technical features
Let's start with aesthetics first, which is not necessarily a secondary aspect when buying a studio monitor.
The design of the cabinet has remained essentially the same compared to previous versions, except for the gray of the woofer which has been replaced by a bright orange. When the monitors are turned on, the ESI it lights up in the same color, changing to red when in standby and a pulsating red when the peak level is reached.
On the bottom there are some feet that allow an optimal adjustment even on not perfectly regular surfaces.
Sul retro, as in previous versions, we find the ventilation door that can be bypassed through the Bass Port Plug, a sort of cap made of special material supplied by the parent company that will seal the rear compartment of the case.
The differences regarding the rear panel are evident. Also in this series there is only one connector XLR-TRS combo but at the same time we find four adjustable controls: Gain (-14 \ +14), Character (Smooth / Bright), low e High<> (-5 / + 5). These last three controls are the real novelty and allow you to adapt our uniK 08 Plus monitors to the room in which they are placed.
The regolation Character it allows to modify the frequency response of the speakers through the parameters Smooth e Bright. When the control is positioned at 0, the frequency response is optimized to be as linear as possible. By turning the control to the Bright position, we will instead obtain a predominance of the high frequencies; on the contrary, by setting it to Smooth, the high frequencies will be less emphasized. It is good to specify that it is recommended to adjust the position of the Character control before working on the Low and High parameters.
Through the High and Low controls we can instead emphasize or reduce a certain range of frequencies through an internal equalizer. The High parameter allows to intervene on the frequencies from 10kHz about up while the Low one gives 100 Hz down.
standby e Lift are two other very useful functions that we find on the rear panel.
As for the other technical characteristics, the uniK 8+ have 140 watts of output power (70W for the woofer + 70W for the tweeter), frequency response of 37Hz 25kHz, input impedance of 27,2 kOhm (bal.), 105dB SPL and calibrated crossover point at 3,2kHz.
The test
The first impact with the ESI has left me a bit off guard. The ribbon tweeter it gives a softness in the mid-high range that differs substantially from the classic tweeters and that needs several listening to be fully appreciated. On that frequency range the result is overall pleasant, superior even to higher range and price speakers.
Initially I carried out the test using songs that are also a live reference for me (Toto, Peter Gabriel, Mark Knopfler).
The particular character of the medium / high frequencies and the great power generated by the 8 "woofer turned out to be slightly misleading, returning a rather" medium "sound and forcing me to rely on the classic Yamaha NS10 and JBLs for feedback.
After about two weeks of work I can say that I have grasped the overall characteristics of these monitors and that I was able to create mixes that satisfied my needs and reproduced the sound I was looking for on other devices.
In general, the level of detail over the entire frequency spectrum is remarkable and allows for truly effective results.
One thing that surprised me about these speakers is the undoubted power output, compared for example to my JBLs also equipped with 8 ”woofers. With the latter, from the master of mine Apogee Thunderbolt Ensemble I had to significantly increase the volume to achieve an intensity equal to that of the uniK 8+.
Conclusions
To avoid influencing your judgment, I didn't mention an important detail during the article. During the test I did not take into consideration the fact that the uniK 08 plus monitors are placed in an average economic range. With around 650 euros, in fact, you can easily take them home.
On the contrary, I treated these speakers on par with other much more expensive models. From this point of view we are faced with an exceptional quality / price ratio. Probably in this price range no company supplies a product with such characteristics: ribbon tweeter, 8 "kevlar woofer, numerous adjustments, feet for positioning, extremely solid construction and even acoustic plug for the reflex compartment.
Personally I found it very pleasant to listen to some songs that I generally use as a reference, precisely because of that characteristic softness in the high frequency range that in the long run allows not to tire the ear.
The problem, as already specified above, is that in the mixing phase, especially of pop / rock songs, the uniK 08 Plus can give back a rather "medium" listening, making the process difficult if you do not know well the monitors you have. front.
Probably, for what my needs are, the version uniK 05 Plus it would have been more than enough. I believe instead that the "plus" of this version, in terms of power and depth, can be very useful to those producers of electronic music who need an efficient and not particularly expensive product.
Useful Information
Official website: Esi Audio
Italian distributor: Midiware.
Price: € 650,00 per couple (VAT excluded)
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