In the current edition (20/06) of German Sound & Recording magazine, you can find a review of the SPL Control One and the SPL Marc One. Dr. Andreas Hau has put both devices through the acid test – here we provive you with an English summary:
First impression:
“They look very chic! In their satin black gloss, the two SPL controllers reflect timeless elegance.”
Practice:
“The two devices are designed with a practical approach and demonstrate high audio quality. The volume control seems to work in a steady manner and has a very well chosen operating range. The stereo image remains stable over the entire control range…”
“Subjectively, the sound impression is as clean as the measured values suggest. Everything seems very tidy. This is especially true for the Marc One, when you operate it via its internal converters. The sound image seems very detailed and yet harmonious; you can listen deep into the mix without getting tired, and it is easy to focus from the overall picture on individual instruments and tonal components and then regard them in relation to the big picture.”
“The two SPLs are among the few truly neutral sounding monitor controllers in this price range.”
Crossfeed for the headphone amplifier:
“With the crossfeed, extremely ‘wide’ tracks are less tiring. Above all, you dare to fill up the stereo panorama all the way to the edges. A very useful featureof Marc One is the mix control, which allows you to create a monitor mix without a fiddly software mixer.”
Conclusion:
“Once again, the Niederkrüchten-based manufacturer demonstrates a fine sense for the wishes and requirements of today’s users. Control One and Marc One are two high-quality monitoring controllers that are primarily recommended for smaller setups. Which makes them very trendy, because also when it comes to recording, more and more homework is required…”
“Considering the high sound quality and a level of manufacturing that deserves the label ‘Made in Germany’, the price asked is more than justified. Well done, SPL!”
