How true is all this? (Funktion One)

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Guy seems to know his stuff, is it all to be taken at face value, he seems to put down all the other guys, but then he would wouldn't he :)

I've heard a few Funktion One systems in use, and always had a good time with them!

 
Generally think he telling it how it is ( he is I believe talking only about PA systems).... He adds a little colour and exaggeration at times I think for effect.
If more people in PA, and recording industry had his approach we would be blessed with far better sounding events and music we purchase.
Which often is mixed and mastered by marketing people not music lovers and decent engineers !!!
So good for him....... ( never heard of the company before )
 
I suspect Martin may have a thing or two to say. Generally speaking thou both Martin and Funktion One are probably the best in terms of club sounds systems I've heard. A lot however is dependent on how well the systems are both maintained and controlled.
 
Got about half way through, when he starts talking about digital.

Sorry, I don't care that he is the head honcho at a very successful PA system manufacturer. He just seems like many other "audiophiles" who have never done any real research and rely on unblinded testing*

Anecdotally (ooh, irony) I've never been that sold on funktion one. Some installs are good but it's a bit of an odd system, and I know a few DJs who couldn't stand them because they would always have massive delay issues with the monitoring setups. This could be more down to the clubs sound engineer rather than the install though. I still think the best sound setup I've ever experienced is room 1 at Fabric, which is installed by Martin Audio.

*Disclaimer - if they have published some research that might prove me wrong, I'm happy to have a look and be pursuaded otherwise, but his classic "oh you can tell an MP3 on our system vs. WAV on our system but not on theirs" is nonsense. I'd also like to see their research demonstrating someone differentiating a 24/96 vs 16/44 ABXed on one of their systems - seriously I'd love to because it would totally alter my position on hi-fi systems. Oh no I've carried on listening and he's going on about GIGO... he's right about mixing though, some DJs really, really, really don't get how to use a mixer "LOL it's all red!!!". Finally he mentions room acoustics.. but a bit late. Anyway this post is a complete mess now.
 
Yeah he did jump on the current sample rate band wagon unfortunately...... It's not so much what file you play as how well you play it.....(too often poorly)
I can stream a 24bit 320 MP3 file from Linn Radio feed and it's superb on my (admittedly extremely expensive) streamer.... but proves it can be done well.
 
Thought more about this driving along earlier.

He made the point about DJs playing MP3s in a club - now, MP3s can sound bad, we know that, pour encoding at lower bitrates and so on. But I think there's a far bigger issue that will be affecting music being played at clubs - the mixdown of the track in the first place.

I think we will all agree that modern engineering has crushed dynamic range, with a lot of mainstream music sounding no different on a CD to on the radio, but when it comes to tracks that will often be produced in home studios, although you might not suffer from a loss in dynamic range, it's unlikely they are going to be engineered to anything like the same level as commercially produced music. I've heard tracks before that have been played in clubs where bits of the low end that didn't show up in the production did when played back through a club system causing no end of trouble with levels
 
I still think the best sound setup I've ever experienced is room 1 at Fabric, which is installed by Martin Audio.

Been there too, albeit it 9ish years ago. Probably hard to compare the system in Room1 with normal places as it is truly epic there at Fabric!

His comments on the human audio system being able to decode all that sound data and being massively more accurate than the visual system, sounds believable? Is that true hifi audiophile type speaking? Which admittedly I've not heard much of But see his points which he puts across well.
 
He's spot on with must have the stuff he says, he hates compression drivers and while they can sound nasty, they're not as bad as he makes them out to beif you use a high enough crossover point.

Void Acoustics also make very nice stuff, and it's not quite as high priced as the F1 stuff and still sounds very nice.

Check out his RBMA lecture if you want more in depth info :)

Edit: fabric room 1 is great, gotta love the body sonic subs installed under the floors. :D
 
His comments on the human audio system being able to decode all that sound data and being massively more accurate than the visual system, sounds believable? Is that true hifi audiophile type speaking? Which admittedly I've not heard much of But see his points which he puts across well.

No, well I don't see how you could compare the human ear to sight, both are flawed, but as I said earlier I would really like to see his evidence for being able to tell the difference between various things on one of his systems. I'm just very, very skeptical that his claims are backed up by solid research, it sounds like the same guff that hi-fi manufacturers come out with that doesn't work under controlled tests.
 
I have to agree with Mr Andrews, that his systems are pretty good! a club i've been to a couple of times (now the church owns it :o ) used to have Funktion one, but they changed it to something i cannot remember the name of now and the sound took a turn for the worse. The bass was no longer tight and hard hitting, it just lagged the rest of the sound and seemed to prefer rumbling a little bit :p
Also at live performances, they do sound less harsh, but maybe thats because Funktion one instal them and therefore they are set just so?
 
Funktion One- is the guys who used to own Turbo Sound - cones made by Fane in Leeds to Turbosound Spec - Awesome Speakers - I have worked with and designed speakers using Fane, especially their colussus bass drivers, put out a sick amount of bass - they are cracking cones, but he is right about metal tweeters i.e. compression drivers - they get harsh when loud.

Turbosound was the best PA speakers in the Day

Sold Turbo Sound to Amercian company - setup Funktion One - heard them in Ibiza a few years ago - first actual Good Bass I had heard in a club - I mean a super club HUGE that had proper controlled and immense bass, which is difficult in a warehouse.

I would buy these - but they are mega expensive and no longer a DJ!!

Cones still made by Fane - or they were a few years ago to Funktion 1 spec- and he is bang on about MP3 - filthy quality - especially in the Bass - where it counts in PA. The latest CD decks let you stream flacs so they are getting it sorted

He is also bang on with the room!! - They desing the speakers to e flat curve, however the room is going to ruin the acoustics and the sound - therefore DSP is essential

He is an old fashioned lover of high quality sound and trying to put that into the PA world which is generally very poor quality - maximum output
 
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