With the introduction of its new 8550A Professional Reference Headphones at IBC, sound specialist Genelec has not only expanded the UNIO ecosystem it introduced at IBC 2023, but says it provides an “even more seamless bridge between professional in-room loudspeaker and personal headphone monitoring.” 

Dubbed as the UNIO Personal Reference Monitoring Solution, the system combines the 9320A SAM Reference Controller, Reference Measurement Microphone, and the new 8550A Professional Reference Headphones. Paired with additional headphone calibration features available in Genelec’s GLM software and optional Aural ID V2.0 binaural headphone monitoring technology, the company says it represents its most accurate and portable monitoring system ever. 

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Nyman: ‘these headphones are designed to mimic a virtual, immersive sound system’ 

Under the tactile hardware control of the 9320A controller, the UNIO ecosystem enables users to accurately translate mixes between monitors and headphones, while allowing the headphone output of the 9320A controller to adjust to an individual 8550A headphone factory calibration aims to mirror the tailored precision that Genelec Smart Active Monitors provide for in-room loudspeaker environments.  

Anders Nyman, Technical Support Manager, Genelec, said: “As part of the UNIO system, these headphones are designed to mimic a virtual, immersive sound system. There has been a shift in how our customers are mixing content. While sound engineers are still working on their speaker systems, they are more often checking how it sounds on the headphones in the final stages.” 

Stand Number  8.A61/8.MS1/8.MS20 

Company  Genelec