Recording - November 2016 - 44

BY ALEX HAWLEY

Dynaudio LYD 7
A new line of monitors takes on
the laws of physics-with musical results
Dynaudio, founded in Denmark, features
a wide range of hand-crafted loudspeakers
for the home, car, and professional studio.
Dynaudio has recently launched a new line
of nearfield studio monitors called LYD. At
first glance, the LYD series is a new and
improved take on Dynaudio's similar BM
series monitors, which are known for their
crisp top end and detailed midrange. The
new LYD lineup currently consists of the LYD
5, LYD 7, and LYD 8. Over the past few
weeks, I have enjoyed putting a pair of the
LYD 7 monitors to work.
There is a lot of interest surrounding the
LYD speakers-for good reason, too. They
offer many innovative features, such as the
ability to precisely and accurately mix at
any listening level-particularly at low volumes. In theory, having a consistent frequency response at lower SPL can present the
opportunity for much longer mixing sessions
without fatiguing one's ears.
The LYD rear panel is loaded with a flexible range of tonal settings. These settings
are designed to help compensate for any
acoustic or positional shortcomings in the
room. With all these features, I was excited
to set them up and break them in!
The basics
The LYD 7 is biamplified, powered by efficient Class-D amplification, and armed with
96 kHz / 24-bit signal paths. The two drivers are a 28 mm soft dome tweeter and a
7" low-frequency driver, which sports an aluminum voice coil and magnesium silicate
polymer cone. Both drivers are powered by
50W amps, 100W total.
The frequency response ranges from 45
Hz to 22 kHz, with an overall balanced frequency response. There are a few minor
peaks and valleys (±2 dB), but no real blaring honks or dips. The LYD 7 has a
crossover frequency of 4.3 kHz, and a rearfiring port. The maximum SPL is listed as
109 dB, although achieving such high SPL
levels would likely require the low frequency
extension setting to be in the +10 Hz position (more on that later).
The LYD 7 measures 12.6" x 7.3" x
11.6", and weighs 17.6 lbs. The compact
44

RECORDING NOVEMBER 2016

housing features a slick white aesthetic, with
Dynaudio's signature protective tripod
around the tweeter. They are intended for
nearfield setups, optimized for use between
1 and 2 meters according to the manual.
Digital flexibility
The LYD 7 is armed with
built-in DSP to customize the
response based on the room
and physical positioning. This
includes tuning presets, low
frequency extension, and
transparent digital crossovers.
The digital processing
allows LYD monitors to
replace the low- and high-frequency EQ shelves, typically
found on the back panel of
many studio monitors, with a
linear phase tilt filter. The linear tilt filter shapes the entire
spectrum between Neutral,
Bright (-1.5 dB at 20 Hz,
+1.5 dB at 20 kHz), and
Dark (+1.5 dB at 20 Hz,
-1.5 dB at 20 kHz). The advantage to this
over an analog shelf EQ is minimized
phase shift and maximized transient
response. It's a very clever design feature!
In addition to the EQ tilt filters, the back
panel also features a bass extension switch
with settings of -10 Hz, 0 Hz, and +10 Hz.
This changes the 3 dB down point of the frequency response from 45 Hz to 55 Hz and
65 Hz. I typically leave it on the -10 Hz
selection to receive a more full-range
response. If you plan on cranking it up to
11, adjust this switch to get higher SPL without putting the driver is harm's way.
The back panel also has a Wall setting. If
the speakers are positioned within 50 cm of
a wall, this setting will help compensate for
the resulting interaction between speaker
and wall. If the speakers are further than 50
cm away from a wall, leave them on the
Free setting. When I was toggling between
the two, the change was very subtle, but I
was listening in an acoustically treated room
(see the photo). I imagine the changes produced with this switch would be much more

pronounced if the speakers
are placed close to a wall in
an untreated environment.
The monitors are powered
by standard IEC cables, and
have two physical inputs to
work with: unbalanced RCA
and balanced or unbalanced
XLR. They also implement a
standby mode which can
toggle On or Auto. When
Auto standby is selected, the
speakers will automatically enter a powersaving mode when not in use, with the
amplifiers shut off until audio is detected.
Listening and mixing
My first impression of the LYD 7 was a
detailed midrange with wide-open highs. I
put on a few reference recordings to get the
ball rolling, and was immediately drawn to
its overall clarity across the entire spectrum.
The clarity extends into the dreaded 'mudrange', which allows these monitors to point
out flaws in mediocre mixes. They remind
me of NS10s in that way-very revealing.
Great mixes sound great on these monitors,
and I quickly learned their unapologetic
nature when pointing out the flaws in other
mixes (time to rework some old sessions...).
Continuing to use the LYD 7s after burning
them in, I felt very confident in the mixes I
was sending out. I felt challenged to work a
little bit harder, but A/Bing final mixes on
other various speaker setups showed how
precisely the LYD 7 was able to translate
onto other systems, particularly in the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - November 2016