Les Liens du Son

F.M. Boutault – Sound engineer, producer, musician

SC307

François-Maxime Boutault is a French sound engineer, producer and musician. His Paris studio Les Liens du Son was among the very first studios in France to be equipped with a pair of EVE Audio monitors. François-Maxime Boutault explains the reasons why he chose a pair of for his studio:

"The first thing that strikes you about the SC307 is the low end. I hadn't felt such accuracy and detail in the low-frequency range for a long time. With other monitors, you generally get a proper sound image, but with these SC307 you really get a lot of accuracy. The low-frequency response is very satisfying with fast and short sounds, as well as with slow and long sounds. You feel a sound energy that can be very precisely located in time.
For example, with a bass drum you can hear right away which frequency is the longest sounding one. And you can also tell when the decay of a resonance frequency is too long, which is a great advantage of the SC307."

"Unlike some speakers, which tend to have an overemphasized and too rounded low-frequency end, the SC307 sound very accurately but not too sharp. The main asset of the SC307 is their very defined low-end, a frequency range that is generally difficult to make out and analyze with most other monitoring systems. The first reaction of most of my clients when they come into my control room is to look for the hidden subwoofer. The SC307 are able to reproduce the low-frequency range in a very authentic way that is neither emphatic nor slimmed-down, and thus allows you to work confidently."

"I would say that the precision of the attacks in the lows falls within a very pleasant overall transient response. The transient reproduction is very accurate, with controlled attack and release times across the full frequency spectrum.
The response is consistent, no frequency band predominates over the others nor alters the perception. This is what I love about these speakers. When I'm mixing, I'm looking for accuracy. I don't want speakers that flatter my ears. I need speakers that allow me to make decisions confidently, speakers I can rely on."

"During the first weeks of use, I had to adapt my ears to these new speakers. I made a lot of comparisons with the sound in my car, at home and elsewhere. More than once I thought to myself: "Hey, did I actually do this...?" I went back to the studio, listened to it once again and thought: "Yes, it's true, I did do it!" Why? Because after many hours of work, you don't listen to nor perceive sound the same way. But from an objective point of view, what I was hearing in my car or everywhere else did match what I heard through the SC307 in the studio, but without me being aware of it. That's translation, which is the compatibility with other audio playback systems – and it's crucial!
In my opinion, the SC307 translate very well. They definitely are speakers you can trust: they are reliable, which means you won't have any ugly surprises with them. And if you are positively surprised, it means that you did a good job. The dynamic response is consistent across the full spectrum, so you won't be unpleasantly surprised when listening with another system, especially consumer systems. I use my SC307 for mixing, songwriting, producing and more. I'm really happy with them when mixing because I can trust them."

"Compared with my former monitors, that also featured a ribbon tweeter, and with speakers using a metal dome tweeter, I feel they are not as aggressive in the mids. I find that their response matches perfectly the characteristics of our ears across the entire frequency spectrum. One last point that makes all the difference is the stereo imaging. The stereo field is neither too wide nor too narrow, and it's pleasant to listen to. With these speakers, you can listen from different places in the room without being confused. When you go out of the sweet spot, you still get something. So, you can move. This allows me to change the sound perspective, to get a different perception and gain perspective. But also because I can tell right away if the mix works or not, if something is too much or not enough."

"The EVEs also have enough output power, and this applies to all models. Up to now I have just spoken about my own SC307, but I've worked with the SC204s and SC205s too. In spite of their compact dimensions, they allow you to work reliably almost anywhere and anyway you want. They deliver information truthfully."

"Never place your speakers against a wall or in a corner: This automatically causes a bass boost, regardless if the monitor cabinet is front or rear ported. When it comes to the bass-reflex ports of my EVE SC307, I can ensure that they are free of vent noise."

"I've already worked quite a lot with my SC307, especially for Universal Music Publishing France: I mixed almost all tracks on the Girls And Pop and Punk Rock albums, and I did three tracks on the Dramedy album. I co-produced the Monster Rock album for which I also wrote three songs and mixed all tracks. Plus, I was involved in the Monster Metal 2 album.
I used my SC307 for the last Corson album (Mercury France, September 2013). I produced the full album, did some tracking and did the entire post-production with these speakers. The album was mixed by John Paterno in Los Angeles, and Brad Blackwood mastered it at Euphonic Masters Studios in Memphis. I also used my SC307 to record and mix a garage rock band called Tarah Who and mix the album of Dear Eyes (Believe). I did vocal tracking and programming for a new French band called Lanes. Then I recorded and mixed a metal band called Ommatidia. For some projects, I used my own EVE Audio SC307, while for some others I used the SC207s at Twin Studios' Studio A."