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The Microlab Solo 8c speakers have been designed for quality audio reproduction, so music and films should be where these speakers really shine. As always however we will test some games too. The Solo 8c do allow you to adjust the EQ slightly with dials for bass and treble – but for the sake of these tests everything was left at factory default settings.
For the first song in my listening test I chose a guitar driven song- Underclass Hero by Sum41. The song starts off with a punchy drum fill which is then accompanied by two guitar tracks panned to the left and right speakers.
The Solo 8c speakers delivered great panning performance. Once the rest of the band kicked in I was very impressed by the bass impact, volume and clarity. My current Creative Inspire T10 PC speakers sounded very weak in comparison, especially in regards to sound staging.
Next up on my playlist was Hook by Blues Traveller. This song has a lot going on – there's a harmonica, vocal harmonies, guitars and a lot of bass lines.
The clean guitars and harmonica were accurately reproduced across the mid range and high frequencies while the bass was perfectly balanced and prominent, allowing me to hear every note without effort. The speakers are so clear that you can even hear the tone of the plectrum striking against the guitar strings.
We like to show variety in our audio reviews as different genres can sound better on some speakers than others. For those of you that like breakdowns, sub drops and mosh pits, we included Edge of Reality by The Dead Rabbitts in our testing.
Harsh vocals often sound rather muddy when using a lot of different headphones or speaker systems but the Solo 8c's perform admirably. Layered vocals are clearly distinguished and aren't drowned out by the sheer amount of bass frequencies in the mix.
Nothing has been left out, you really do get the full effect of the song. The mid tones from the guitars are clear and sub drops are no problem at all – there was no clipping or distortion either, making the Solo 8c's great for all ranges of music.
As you can probably tell, the Solo 8c's really shine when it comes to music- and films aren't any different. These speakers can easily deliver a dramatic cinematic sound experience in your living room, as long as you don't mind the lack of surround.
I watched Man of Steel on blu-ray. The Solo 8c speakers put me right in the middle of the action and each punch sounded like it was coming right at me and explosions thundered through the speakers. Of course there isn't the placement you get with a dedicated surround configuration, but the Solo 8c speakers clearly can pack a punch.
It goes without saying that if you are really serious about gaming and absolutely need to know which direction the enemy is coming from at all times then surround sound will suit you better. If you happen to use virtual surround software then you won't have a problem, footsteps were clear and I could easily tell where sounds were coming from in Titanfall and Counter Strike Source.
The Solo 8c have been developed to go very loud … rated at 120 watts. The volume control ranges from 0-60 and I found that in a large living room anything over 40 would be ideal for a ‘high volume' house party. Between 50 and 60, volume distortion was very low but it was simply too loud to be comfortable in my test environment.
