Recording - December 2015 - 37

"in the box" mixing here, away from the studio so I can be
home with my family.
The EGG100's light, thin, almost translucent shell definitely
doesn't carry the visual solidity and presence of a wood cabinet, but they really are pretty. My room's accents are in red, and
my wife (a professional interior designer) took one look at the
red EGG100s and said, "Wow, those look great and fit the
room perfectly... you're keeping them, right?" That may be the
first time she's ever expressed a professional opinion about my
monitors. She and I agreed that their small and unobtrusive size
was a big plus as well.
Then we listen
Sonically I had no idea what to expect from the EGG100. I
have worked with 4" speakers a lot over the years, and find
them well suited to smaller editing suites such as this. The
EGG100 easily holds its ground with most of the 4" and 5"
monitors I have tried in recent years; and yet, at the same time
they sound nothing like what you would expect in a 4" box.
Most 4" desktop monitors are known and loved for offering a
tight, punchy, and focused low end. By contrast, the low end of the
EGG100 is better described as open and natural. You don't feel the
bass so much as you hear the bass in a very full and detailed way.
The highs are detailed and open, but they have a nice smoothness that is just shy of the clinical studio monitor sound that many
boxes have. I found them to offer zero ear fatigue and they are a
very nice "turn on the hi-fi, kick back and listen to music" speaker.
They are also very easy to mix on, but like any smaller box
you will need to train your ears to where the bass and highs sit
so you know how to adjust for real world playback. Once you
get the hang of that, mixes translate very well. In my mix work,
I had more issues with nailing the high end; I would often try
and make the top end sound bright and studio-monitorish as I

am used to, and the EGG100 is not designed to be bright-it's
designed to be right.
Overall I find these to be some of the most genre-neutral speakers I have ever used. Jazz, classical, classic rock, nu-metal, folk,
R&B and more all sound great on the EGG100. Even old school
rap, ambient, and classic electronica fare quite well. The one
exception to this is if you are an EDM or dance music producer
and need to feel your bass. If so, you will need a third-party subwoofer, or may want to look into the larger EGG150. Note that
I have only heard the EGG150 at a private launch at NAMM,
but in my memory they had no problem filling a medium-sized
conference room, blasting bass-heavy dance music.
What I like the most about the EGG100 is how great they
sound at moderate listening levels, where their fullness and detail
are stunning. They also have a very wide yet natural-sounding
sweet spot, which is one of the main points of the oval design. This
makes them fabulous for listening to mixes with clients nearby.
Conclusion
I received an impressive demo of the EGG100 in a private
hotel suite last NAMM, but I had no idea what to expect when
I brought these speakers home. My experience in both listening
to and working with the EGG100 over the past two months has
been very enjoyable.
Despite their fun, vintage-future appearance, this monitoring
system is a serious tool with a serious price tag. For that price,
you get serious engineering and tech inside and out, seriously
high-end sound... and can expect serious results.
Price: $1999 (complete system with speakers, Nests, amp,
and cabling)
More from: MunroSonic, www.munrosonic.com
http://www.munrosonic.com http://www.CRAS.EDU http://www.audiorecordingschool.com/consumer.html
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