When Genelec introduced GLM 1.0 and the first Smart Active Monitoring products in 2006, it offered an integrated and reliable control and calibration solution, introducing the flexibility to configure studio monitors to any mix environment, at home or commercial studios, from stereo to multichannel, and later on immersive audio. Other manufacturers attempted similar concepts (Dynaudio Air Series comes to mind) with room acoustic adjustments in DSP but the integration remain both cumbersome and restricted. GLM integrates seamlessly with the intelligent DSP hardware within each Genelec Smart Active Monitor, allowing each monitor and subwoofer to be networked, configured and individually calibrated for the user’s specific acoustic environment.
With GLM, Genelec also created a reliable approach that evolved over time, with regular software updates and with more studio monitors and subwoofers supporting it. In what seems today a very short time, GLM introduced support for Mac OS and a new Network Interface with Genelec's own soundcard and mic preamp making AutoCal calibrations more seamless for the end user. In 2014, Genelec introduced GLM 2.0 with a substantially new user interface supporting the growing number of Smart Active Monitors including the radically different 8351 coaxial 3-way. In 2018, GLM 3.0 was introduced enabling up to 80 monitors to live on the network, with calibration support via the Cloud.
In December 2020, Genelec introduced GLM version 4, introducing an elegant new user interface, compatible with Windows and macOS, and a host of valuable new features, including support for cloud-based and local storage of settings, giving the user options for complete mobility.
Now, drawing on the data from thousands of real-world room calibrations, GLM 4.1 gives the user supreme control over a room’s detrimental acoustic influences, producing mixes that translate even more consistently to other rooms and playback systems.
GLM’s reference microphone kit allows the user’s room acoustics to be accurately analyzed, after which each monitor and subwoofer can be automatically calibrated for relative level and relative distance delay, plus subwoofer crossover phase and frequency response. At that point the user has many options for personalization if required – including the calibration of absolute listening level in dB SPL, according to global broadcast, OTT, gaming and film standards. This level of flexibility makes GLM the perfect tool both for users looking to fine tune an already excellent room, and for those working in more challenging spaces not originally designed for creative use.
"With the wide range of listening rooms being used for production today, GLM 4.1 specifically improves the calibration of spaces that are more acoustically “lively” than was once the norm, and assists those choosing to monitor at ultra nearfield (UNF) distances right down to 50 cms – which is now growing in popularity as a bridge between in-room and headphone monitoring," Genelec explains.
The new AutoCal 2 algorithm that powers GLM 4.1 takes advantage of detailed background information of each monitor in a system, producing a quicker and more accurate discrimination between direct and reflected sound. The fast calibration speed is further enhanced by a completely new 64-bit architecture and fresh, lean code. GLM 4.1 is therefore a powerful tool for mobile audio engineers and creatives who are regularly working in different locations. That mobility is also supported by GLM 4’s choice of cloud-based and local storage of settings.
Users of the 8331A, 8341A, 8351B and 8361A models from “The Ones” series of coaxial three-way point source monitors will welcome the new ability of GLM 4.1 to extend phase linearity right down to 80Hz. With coaxial monitors, phase linearity is a valuable feature because it improves off-axis performance and stabilizes ultra nearfield imaging too. GLM 4.1 accurately time-aligns all the monitors in a room, across types, taking The Ones’ wide phase linearity setting into account.
Other new features in GLM 4.1 include an increased number of EQ filters offering more flexibility, weighting refinements when taking advantage of GLM’s unlimited number of microphone measurement points, and a Solo-X mode for faster soloing of monitors when working with immersive content. Finally, through the addition of French, Italian and Portuguese language options, international users of GLM 4.1 are now able to choose from 10 user languages.
“The AutoCal calibration algorithm has always been the backbone of GLM,” comments Genelec Managing Director Siamäk Naghian. “So I can think of no better way of celebrating GLM’s 15th anniversary than with the launch of AutoCal 2 as part of the new GLM 4.1 release. In those 15 years we have gradually seen intelligent loudspeaker calibration become universally recognized as the most reliable path to creating a true sonic reference – and we are proud to keep leading the way.”
www.genelec.com
