Recording - March 2015 - 39

the mix. Placing the SRP 400s on my desk, closer to my mix position, helped a lot. The speakers offered better perceived fullness
and balance the closer they got to my ears.
Office space
Moving them to my office, I put them up alongside a couple
of pairs of less expensive monitors with 5" woofers. My editing
position faces out into the room, so there are zero wall reflections in front of me, and I often turn my speakers around the
other way, so others can listen to music and mixes once my work
is done.
The monitors with the 5" woofers had more low-end extension
and were more easily "crankable," but the SRP 400s held their
own. It would be easy to talk about the Sonodynes as "bass
shy", but that would be a mistake. The 4.5" woofer can't compete with a larger driver for sheer amount of low end, but we
have to think about quality of bass, not just quantity. The SRP
400's low end is tight, focused and honest, making the less
expensive 5" sound a tad mushy and hyped by comparison.
You really can hear what you're paying for.
In my office, I did find it necessary to tilt the high end down with
the switch on the back for louder listening. Once that was done,
all in all the Sonodynes gave me exactly the tightness and imaging that I expect from a compact studio monitor, and then some.
Home (really) sweet home
I then moved the SRP 400s to my listening room at home, where
I also occasionally do in-the-box editing, which is where I found
this monitor really shines. It's a small space that requires speaker
placement up against a wall, with my head right by the speaker
cones. My main speakers here are a pair of (far too large) speakers with folded-ribbon tweeters and 8" woofers that are just used
for kicking back and enjoying high-def audio playback rather

than serious work. I also have a pair of older 4" pro monitors that
I often use to check mixes.
In this small space, the SRP 400s showed off great imaging and
depth, with a tight bass; nothing sounded or felt exaggerated in the
mix. The highs and mids in the SRP 400s are focused and accurate,
and they are absolutely non-fatiguing, even with them set mere inches
from your ears at moderate volume for hours of editing. I didn't even
need to turn on the High Tilt. For small room editing I have always preferred the punchy focused bass and overall sound found on 4.5" monitors over 5" and 6" models, and these were no exception.
One more observation: while we often think about how loudly
we can crank our speakers, the Sonodyne SRP 400s are among
the best low-to-moderate-volume monitors I have ever used. If you
need to work quietly and better yet comfortably, or are tired of
headphone mixing in your dorm or apartment, these are a great
option. They sound fantastic at this volume level and they retain
a beautiful fullness and accuracy.
Conclusions
I started my journey with these speakers worrying that they
might turn out to be "budget mini monitors," and I was quickly
proven wrong. As I mentioned, I love the tight bass and accuracy of a good 4.5" monitor. The SRP 400 is not a good 4.5"
monitor... it's a great 4.5" monitor.
Bedroom, dorm room, on the go, or up close in a full fledged
studio, these are great little speakers. I will go back to Lorenz's
previous Sonodyne review and echo his phrase: "Honest to the
ears, what more could you ask for?"
Price: $395 each ($349 street)
More from: Sonodyne, www.sonodyne.com; dist. in USA by
TransAudio Group, www.transaudiogroup.com
http://www.sonodyne.com http://www.transaudiogroup.com http://www.isoacoustics.com http://www.isoacoustics.com
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