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$5.99US $5.99CAN

VOL. THIRTYNUMBER TWONOVEMBER 2016USA $5.99 CANADA $5.99

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Dynaudio, founded in Denmark, featuresa wide range of hand-crafted loudspeakersfor the home, car, and professional studio.Dynaudio has recently launched a new lineof nearfield studio monitors called LYD. Atfirst glance, the LYD series is a new andimproved take on Dynaudio’s similar BMseries monitors, which are known for theircrisp top end and detailed midrange. Thenew LYD lineup currently consists of the LYD5, LYD 7, and LYD 8. Over the past fewweeks, I have enjoyed putting a pair of theLYD 7 monitors to work.There is a lot of interest surrounding the

LYD speakers—for good reason, too. Theyoffer many innovative features, such as theability to precisely and accurately mix atany listening level—particularly at low vol-umes. In theory, having a consistent frequen-cy response at lower SPL can present theopportunity for much longer mixing sessionswithout fatiguing one’s ears.The LYD rear panel is loaded with a flexi-

ble range of tonal settings. These settingsare designed to help compensate for anyacoustic or positional shortcomings in theroom. With all these features, I was excitedto set them up and break them in!

The basicsThe LYD 7 is biamplified, powered by effi-

cient Class-D amplification, and armed with96 kHz / 24-bit signal paths. The two dri-vers are a 28 mm soft dome tweeter and a7" low-frequency driver, which sports an alu-minum voice coil and magnesium silicatepolymer cone. Both drivers are powered by50W amps, 100W total.The frequency response ranges from 45

Hz to 22 kHz, with an overall balanced fre-quency response. There are a few minorpeaks and valleys (±2 dB), but no real blar-ing honks or dips. The LYD 7 has acrossover frequency of 4.3 kHz, and a rear-firing port. The maximum SPL is listed as109 dB, although achieving such high SPLlevels would likely require the low frequencyextension setting to be in the +10 Hz posi-tion (more on that later).The LYD 7 measures 12.6" x 7.3" x

11.6", and weighs 17.6 lbs. The compact

housing features a slick white aesthetic, withDynaudio’s signature protective tripodaround the tweeter. They are intended fornearfield setups, optimized for use between1 and 2 meters according to the manual.

Digital flexibilityThe LYD 7 is armed with

built-in DSP to customize theresponse based on the roomand physical positioning. Thisincludes tuning presets, lowfrequency extension, andtransparent digital crossovers.The digital processing

allows LYD monitors toreplace the low- and high -frequency EQ shelves, typical-ly found on the back panel ofmany studio monitors, with alinear phase tilt filter. The lin-ear tilt filter shapes the entirespectrum between Neutral,Bright (–1.5 dB at 20 Hz,+1.5 dB at 20 kHz), andDark (+1.5 dB at 20 Hz,–1.5 dB at 20 kHz). The advantage to thisover an analog shelf EQ is minimizedphase shift and maximized transientresponse. It’s a very clever design feature!In addition to the EQ tilt filters, the back

panel also features a bass extension switchwith settings of –10 Hz, 0 Hz, and +10 Hz.This changes the 3 dB down point of the fre-quency response from 45 Hz to 55 Hz and65 Hz. I typically leave it on the –10 Hzselection to receive a more full-rangeresponse. If you plan on cranking it up to11, adjust this switch to get higher SPL with-out putting the driver is harm’s way.The back panel also has a Wall setting.

If the speakers are positioned within 50 cmof a wall, this setting will help compensatefor the resulting interaction between speak-er and wall. If the speakers are further than50 cm away from a wall, leave them onthe Free setting. When I was togglingbetween the two, the change was very sub-tle, but I was listening in an acousticallytreated room. I imagine the changes pro-duced with this switch would be much more

pronounced if the speakersare placed close to a wall inan untreated environment. The monitors are powered

by standard IEC cables, andhave two physical inputs towork with: unbalanced RCAand balanced or unbalancedXLR. They also implement astandby mode which cantoggle On or Auto. WhenAuto standby is selected, the

speakers will automatically enter a power-saving mode when not in use, with theamplifiers shut off until audio is detected.

Listening and mixingMy first impression of the LYD 7 was a

detailed midrange with wide-open highs. Iput on a few reference recordings to get theball rolling, and was immediately drawn toits overall clarity across the entire spectrum.The clarity extends into the dreaded ‘mud-range’, which allows these monitors to pointout flaws in mediocre mixes. They remindme of NS10s in that way—very revealing.Great mixes sound great on these monitors,and I quickly learned their unapologeticnature when pointing out the flaws in othermixes (time to rework some old sessions...).Continuing to use the LYD 7s after burning

them in, I felt very confident in the mixes Iwas sending out. I felt challenged to work alittle bit harder, but A/Bing final mixes onother various speaker setups showed howprecisely the LYD 7 was able to translateonto other systems, particularly in the

B Y A L E X H A W L E Y

Dynaudio LYD 7A new line of monitors takes on

the laws of physics—with musical results

Excerpted from the November edition of REcoRdiNg Magazine 2016©2016 Music Maker Publications, inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 idylwild Trail, Boulder, co 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com

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midrange. They excel at vocal clarity; I’venoticed that voice sounds extremely naturaland organic on these monitors, which hashelped to dial in vocal parts and commer-cial VO work.The high end is very bright and airy, but

doesn’t sound too thin or harsh. That beingsaid, while playing with the tuning parame-ters on the back panel, I didn’t feel com-pelled to leave them on Bright for any lengthof time. Even on the Neutral setting, thesemonitors have plenty of top end. Placingthem on the Dark setting still sounds far fromwhat I would classify as ‘dark’, but it helpedto bring a touch of warmth to the table. I leftthese monitors set to Dark for most of thetime I had working with them.I found the low-frequency response to

have a slight lack of energy on the LYD 7.I’d be curious to hear them next to the LYD8, as those are driven by an 80W amp forthe LF driver (compared to the 50W ampfor the LYD 7’s LF driver). While the lows dosound very tight and punchy, it’s just a littlemore work to zero in and focus on them,especially when the rest of the spectrum isso transparent and detailed. It may be agood idea to use these with a subwoofer.The sweet spot is rather generous, and

the stereo imaging is superb. While they areoverall very unflattering, I also find them tosound inspiring at the same time. Brilliantlymixed records translate beautifully to the LYD7. Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good” is agreat example of this. Everything sounds fullof space and depth; the arrangement andmix of the different guitar parts can be per-fectly distinguished, and they’re well repre-sented from left to right.

High precision, low SPLAs I mentioned earlier, Dynaudio talks

about the LYD series’ ability to remain accu-rate and consistent at all listening levels, par-ticularly low levels. Rather than just givingmy subjective two cents on this matter, Iwanted to put this to the test.I started with an Earthworks QTC1 omni-

directional measurement microphone goinginto a Grace Design m101 preamp. I set upthe microphone in the sweet spot andrecorded pink noise at a range of differentSPL: 75 dB, 65 dB, 55 dB, and 45 dB.Next, I level-matched the clips in Pro Toolsand ran them through a frequency analyzer,paying close attention to the distribution ofenergy from recording to recording.No subjectivity here—you can see on the

spectrum analyzer that the response isimpressively consistent throughout the rangeof listening levels. The LYD 7s hold their ownin this matter, retaining their accuracy anddetail, even at surprisingly low SPL.

Final thoughtsDynaudio’s LYD series is the real deal.

The LYD 7 is incredibly revealing, with avery detailed midrange and wide-openhighs. The internal DSP has proven its merit

and flexibility, providing different tuningparameters that help compensate for a myri-ad of environments and listening spaces.They are a great complement to manynearfield systems, with the ability to pointout flaws until the mix is dialed just right.One of the biggest takeaways for me

was the seamless translation from the LYD 7to other speaker systems, pro and consumeralike. Once the mix sounds right on the LYD7, it will likely sound right everywhere else,too. The bottom line is, I felt my mixesimproved after using the LYD 7... these mon-itors challenge you to work harder, but theend result speaks for itself.

Price: $669 each

More from: Dynaudio, www.dynaudio.comAlex Hawley (alex@recordingmag.com)

is a session guitarist and recording engineercurrently working at Coupe Studio inBoulder, CO.

75 dB

65 dB

55 dB

45 dB

Excerpted from the November edition of REcoRdiNg Magazine 2016©2016 Music Maker Publications, inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 idylwild Trail, Boulder, co 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com