U2 producer Andy Barlow trusts in the excellence of Genelec monitors

Record producer Andy Barlow has added Genelec 8030 smart monitors, 1238 monitors and 8331 3-way coaxials from The Ones range to his home studio in Brighton.

Trip-hop pioneer and record producer Andy Barlow has incorporated smart monitors along with Genelec 8030, 1238 monitors and 8331 3-way coaxials from The Ones range to his home studio in Brighton (UK).

Barlow is familiar with Genelec technology, trusting this manufacturer for more than twenty years throughout his successful career producing and remixing for David Gray, Elbow, Placebo and, most recently, U2. Andy Bensley of Genelec's UK distributor Source Distribution installed the new 1238s in the Brighton studio. “It's where I do almost all my mixing, from U2 to David Gray and Lamb in the last year,” Barlow explains.

Meanwhile, the 8331 have packed up for winter work in Goa, where they will prepare new songs with Lou Rhodes for Lamb's next album. Both the 1238 and 8331 benefit from Genelec SAM technology, which allows Andy to use GLM calibration software to optimize the performance of each monitor in his personal acoustic environment.

Andy's latest investment in Genelec monitoring comes after several months of co-producing U2's new album, Songs Of Experience, which is already number one in 20 countries. “We used the large 1238CF monitors in a makeshift studio inside the Canadian Embassy in Dublin”, he reveals. "It was in front of Bono's house, in a big room that needed all the acoustic help it could get. The 1238s and the use of GLM software were a big plus in that regard. The album was mostly made in places like mansions, hotels, venues. The only purpose-built studio we used was Rick Rubin's, the Shangri-La in Malibu, where he had a pair of 8050s. The band members really like Genelec too," says Barlow.

Genelec 1238

“The 1238 are absolutely amazing, I couldn't imagine a better sound monitor in this context. They sounded great straight out of the boxes, but then we ran the room through GLM processing and they sounded 30% better again. We made some additional adjustments by ear, unlike the GLM microphone, and now they just light up the room so beautifully. You can feel each frequency and play them really loud, but still speak at a normal, relaxed level. The mix is ​​wide and smooth and there isn't a hint of distortion. “I had never heard anything like that,” he adds.

Of his new 8331s, he admits that he has been “putting them through their paces in my Goa studio for the last two weeks, and I've honestly been able to talk about them all day. The definition is unbeatable. The room is far from perfect, with little acoustic treatment, but with GLM working its magic, the 8331s fill the room incredibly. Plus, for such a small speaker with no sub, the bottom end is physics-defying. The top end is refined and smooth, and the stereo sweet spot seems much larger than any other speaker I've used. “I’m going through all the tracks I’ve produced and finding new sounds and touches I haven’t heard before.”