Sylvia Massy gets to grips with Genelec’s ‘The Ones’

Acclaimed multi-platinum producer/engineer Sylvia Massy recently tried the 8351 Smart Active Studio Monitors – part of Genelec’s “The Ones” series of compact coaxial active monitors – at her personal mix room in Oregon, known as The Terrarium.

Massy has much experience in the world of music production and built her discography with such legendary acts as Tool, Johnny Cash, Prince, System of a Down, Tom Petty, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and more.

A stint working at L.A.’s Larrabee Sound brought Massy to the attention of super-producer Rick Rubin, which led to dozens of other high-profile opportunities, including a residency at Sound City in the 1990s, where Sylvia’s Neve 8038 console provided the sonic backbone of dozens of legendary recordings from the era.

A constant presence in Massy’s arsenal over the last few decades has been active monitors from Genelec. She was first introduced to the company at Larrabee, where she used the 1038As – recalling them as “the best main speakers I’d ever heard before.”

Added Massy: “There is plenty of low end on the 8351’s, despite their compact size. This new generation of speakers – ‘The Ones’ – is really special because of the way they adapt to new environments. They have the SAM system, which is Smart Active Monitoring, which actually reads the room and adjusts for the room; it’s very simple. I was also surprised by how easy it was to set up these monitors. It was not complicated. With the 8351 monitors and Smart Active Monitoring, you can really work anywhere now. I’m excited to have a set of monitors that I can bring with me to new places.”