Red Sound Elis8 FRFR Review and MF 10 Comparision

[Sashman]

I didn’t have to adjust anything with my ELIS.8, they sound stellar with my presets; I tend to leave the EQ in my presets where Fractal puts them so maybe that’s the difference.

I used to do electronics packaging for REALLY expensive gear. The styrofoam bracing in the boxes isn’t a good physical fit, it’s brittle, and with any sort of vibration will compress and the gaps will enlarge, and eventually the foam fails if the transport carrier didn’t treat them well. I sent photos to REDSOUND about the problem. My ELIS.8 arrived in good shape but some of the foam didn’t. If you hear any noise besides a tiny bit of white noise and your guitar signals then something got damaged. That could explain the pronounced mids too, so talk to the factory.

I absolutely second that!

 

[Sashman]

@guitarnerdswe
when it comes to a miced amp vs. amp in the room.
I did write above I do Studio and live work for over 25 years.
And if want purely the sound of a miced amp, a good pair of studio nearfield monitors is the way to go.
A stage cab/FRFR Speaker will always have a different sound.
I like and use them both, it depends on the work.
Mixing always a nearfield monitor, playing always a FRFR speaker.

cheers
Sash

 

[guitarnerdswe]

A little update: G66 will take back the active cab, and compare it to a 100 % working one. Then they'll let me know if the noise is the only issue, or if it also sounds wrong.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

@guitarnerdswe
when it comes to a miced amp vs. amp in the room.
I did write above I do Studio and live work for over 25 years.
And if want purely the sound of a miced amp, a good pair of studio nearfield monitors is the way to go.
A stage cab/FRFR Speaker will always have a different sound.
I like and use them both, it depends on the work.
Mixing always a nearfield monitor, playing always a FRFR speaker.

cheers
Sash

I do have to say that a studio monitor is FRFR. My CLR sounds scary close to my Adams A7Xs without any additional EQ. That's all that FRFR stage monitors aim to be, big studio monitors. Some people even use the CLR as studio monitors.

My point is simple: FRFR is all about how flat and full range you can get. Doesn't matter if it's studio monitors, stage monitors, FOH PA speakers. The end goal is all the same.

 

[Hhuent]

I didn’t have to adjust anything with my ELIS.8, they sound stellar with my presets; I tend to leave the EQ in my presets where Fractal puts them so maybe that’s the difference.

I used to do electronics packaging for REALLY expensive gear. The styrofoam bracing in the boxes isn’t a good physical fit, it’s brittle, and with any sort of vibration will compress and the gaps will enlarge, and eventually the foam fails if the transport carrier didn’t treat them well. I sent photos to REDSOUND about the problem. My ELIS.8 arrived in good shape but some of the foam didn’t. If you hear any noise besides a tiny bit of white noise and your guitar signals then something got damaged. That could explain the pronounced mids too, so talk to the factory.

Wow, I had a very different experience, but I use a different modeler. However, I find the Elis to be mid-heavy and I have to dial mids out mostly between 1 and 2.5 khz, depending on the guitar and the IR. It takes quite a bit of effort but when I’m there the result is often stellar, and the punch of these cabs has a lot to do with it.

My cabs came in a package with completely broken styrofoam, fortunately the cabs were not damaged. See the pics. Did yours look the same?

 

[guitarnerdswe]

Wow, I had a very different experience, but I use a different modeler. However, I find the Elis to be mid-heavy and I have to dial mids out mostly between 1 and 2.5 khz, depending on the guitar and the IR. It takes quite a bit of effort but when I’m there the result is often stellar, and the punch of these cabs has a lot to do with it.

My cabs came in a package with completely broken styrofoam, fortunately the cabs were not damaged. See the pics. Did yours look the same?

That's what mine looked like too.

 

[Hhuent]

When you guys say upper mids, which frequencies do you talk about? Because I did some more comparing today of my Elis8 with my CLR, and tweaked the output EQ of the Axe to better match the Elis8 to the CLR. I had to pull down 250, 500, and 1000 hz A LOT to get rid of the boxiness. Also add some for 4, 8 and 16k to open up the treble some. I really don't like the sound of these without EQ, they're not FRFR by a long shot.

I'm asking this, because 250-1000 hz are not upper mids. They're low mids (250 hz is borderline bass/low mids), and mid mids. High mids start at around 2k, but I find that it's the ugly and muddy mids that dominate the sound. At least with my units. They might be broken as previously stated (or at least I hope they are).

I'm seriously contemplating whether I should give another pair of Elis8 a shot, or simply go with a couple of EV PXM-12MP instead. Might even sell my CLR and get 3 of them (guitar left, the rest of the band + vocals, & guitar right). Having the separate non-guitar monitor helps separate audio by which direction it's coming from, so nothing fights for the same space. I've been doing it a long time with a mono guitar monitor and a regular vocal/band monitor.

I mostly need to lower the — you are right, not so upper — mids between 1 and 2.5 Khz depending on guitar and IR and add some highs. As you pointed out, part of the enthusiasm might be the amp in the room phenomenon. The Elis feels a bit like that, and this is a good thing in my case.

 

[Sashman]

I do have to say that a studio monitor is FRFR. My CLR sounds scary close to my Adams A7Xs without any additional EQ. That's all that FRFR stage monitors aim to be, big studio monitors. Some people even use the CLR as studio monitors.

My point is simple: FRFR is all about how flat and full range you can get. Doesn't matter if it's studio monitors, stage monitors, FOH PA speakers. The end goal is all the same.

Can’t agree on that at all.
Yes both are aiming for the same goal but both are for different purposes.
There is a reason why musicians and sound engineers using monitors for studio and FRFR on stage.
But yes a FRFR is basically a Monitor.
I know the CLR and the Adam very well and both are great.
But as I also mentioned in my review above, they are not the right choice for my use.
It’s hard to say if the CLR are flat or the Elis are flat. I didn’t measure that in any way.
All I can say from my 25 year experience is what I like and what I don’t like.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

Can’t agree on that at all.
Yes both are aiming for the same goal but both are for different purposes.
There is a reason why musicians and sound engineers using monitors for studio and FRFR on stage.
But yes a FRFR is basically a Monitor.

Care to explain what you think the difference is? Because I honestly don't know, since we aren't in agreement

 

[Sashman]

Care to explain what you think the difference is? Because I honestly don't know, since we aren't in agreement

It’s simple anyone can be happy, buy what fits best for what you need.

The difference is, if let’s say your Adam or my Focal sound close to your CLR or my Elis at bedroom volume, then the CLR or the Elis will sound very different on stage volume (Fletcher Munson)
The Elis 8 are not made for Bedroom volume and that’s why there are monitors and stage cabs.
Both are aiming for the same goal but they will reach their goal at different volumes.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

It’s simple anyone can be happy, buy what fits best for what you need.

The difference is, if let’s say your Adam or my Focal sound close to your CLR or my Elis at bedroom volume, then the CLR or the Elis will sound very different on stage volume (Fletcher Munson)
The Elis 8 are not made for Bedroom volume and that’s why there are monitors and stage cabs.
Both are aiming for the same goal but they will reach their goal at different volumes.

Agree to disagree? Save us some time?

 

[Jan Geerts]

It’s simple anyone can be happy, buy what fits best for what you need.

The difference is, if let’s say your Adam or my Focal sound close to your CLR or my Elis at bedroom volume, then the CLR or the Elis will sound very different on stage volume (Fletcher Munson)
The Elis 8 are not made for Bedroom volume and that’s why there are monitors and stage cabs.
Both are aiming for the same goal but they will reach their goal at different volumes.

I have the Elis set for a week or two now, and that is an amp in the room experience. Switching the same presets over to the Neuman means more bass and highs and less mids. The Elis is definitely aimed at sounding like a guitar cab, but for ir's instead of amps. And sounds and behaves best with some volume.

I rehearsed for the first time in a year, with drums and synths from my synth, and a bassplayer. Sounded and felt glorious, but at volumes my neighbours are happy with. Next week an extra guitarist.

 

[Sashman]

I have the Elis set for a week or two now, and that is an amp in the room experience. Switching the same presets over to the Neuman means more bass and highs and less mids. The Elis is definitely aimed at sounding like a guitar cab, but for ir's instead of amps. And sounds and behaves best with some volume.

I rehearsed for the first time in a year, with drums and synths from my synth, and a bassplayer. Sounded and felt glorious, but at volumes my neighbours are happy with. Next week an extra guitarist.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
All the best and have massive fun with the Speakers!
Sash

 

[Zee]

Based on your reviews and comments here, I'm thinking of purchasing a stereo FRFR ... My considerations are: (1) Elis8, (2) MF10 or (3) Mission Gemini 2. My uses will be: (1) home studio 80% of the time, (2) indoor or outdoor patio coffee houses 10% of the time, and (3) small night clubs 10% of the time. My style with the Fractal FX III is mostly clean to slightly dirty jazz-fusion/blues (think Carlton, Ford) with 335/Strat/Tele. I also do solo/looping acoustic-electric stuff as well. I've read the very good comparisons of the Elis8 and MF10 here but wonder about the experience with them in the home studio (reasonable volume) and also if someone can compare both to the Mission Gemini 2. Thanks

 

[DallasGlenn2005]

Wow, I had a very different experience, but I use a different modeler. However, I find the Elis to be mid-heavy and I have to dial mids out mostly between 1 and 2.5 khz, depending on the guitar and the IR. It takes quite a bit of effort but when I’m there the result is often stellar, and the punch of these cabs has a lot to do with it.

My cabs came in a package with completely broken styrofoam, fortunately the cabs were not damaged. See the pics. Did yours look the same?

My foam packaging looked almost exactly like yours (maybe worse) when I opened the box. Italy all the way to Texas, but the speaker itself was undamaged.

 

[Sashman]

Based on your reviews and comments here, I'm thinking of purchasing a stereo FRFR ... My considerations are: (1) Elis8, (2) MF10 or (3) Mission Gemini 2. My uses will be: (1) home studio 80% of the time, (2) indoor or outdoor patio coffee houses 10% of the time, and (3) small night clubs 10% of the time. My style with the Fractal FX III is mostly clean to slightly dirty jazz-fusion/blues (think Carlton, Ford) with 335/Strat/Tele. I also do solo/looping acoustic-electric stuff as well. I've read the very good comparisons of the Elis8 and MF10 here but wonder about the experience with them in the home studio (reasonable volume) and also if someone can compare both to the Mission Gemini 2. Thanks

Hi Zee,
in your case I would clearly go for the Elis 8 insted of the MF10.
I can't speak for the Mission Gemini, I did try them but it's to long ago and I can't rember exactly how they compare to the Red Sound.
But maybe someone else can chime in who did try them or have both.
Cheers
Sash

 

[Zee]

Hi Zee,
in your case I would clearly go for the Elis 8 insted of the MF10.
I can't speak for the Mission Gemini, I did try them but it's to long ago and I can't rember exactly how they compare to the Red Sound.
But maybe someone else can chime in who did try them or have both.
Cheers
Sash

Thanks for the response Sashman, I appreciate your input from experience. So, from your experience, the Elis8 should sound pretty good in the home enviroment as well as the smaller club. That's great to know.

 

[guitarnerdswe]

Last update: G66 got my active monitor back at their place, and they confirmed that other than the weird idle noise, it's fully working and sounds just as it should.

So yeah, very disappointed in these. I'm getting a refund, and this will be my last post in this thread, since I don't want to poop poop on another users thread.

 

[ColR]

MF10 inbound. Already own a redsound LG12 which I think is great and also a headrush 108 (which I started with). The headrush is very good considering the price point. I got an excellent deal with the LG12 but I am intrigued to see if I would prefer the MF10. I mostly just play mono but I get some personal enjoyment in stereo from time to time in those big ambient patches....if I do find I enjoy the MF10 then perhaps an offload of the LG12 and headrush to fund a passive MF10...perhaps.

 

[Sashman]

MF10 inbound. Already own a redsound LG12 which I think is great and also a headrush 108 (which I started with). The headrush is very good considering the price point. I got an excellent deal with the LG12 but I am intrigued to see if I would prefer the MF10. I mostly just play mono but I get some personal enjoyment in stereo from time to time in those big ambient patches....if I do find I enjoy the MF10 then perhaps an offload of the LG12 and headrush to fund a passive MF10...perhaps.

Yeah congrats, please share what you think about them. I don’t want to miss my stereo setup. Actually I‘m using the Elis8 and MF10 together, oh lord!