With Thanksgiving wrapped up, people are already turning their attention to holidays, and while music wrap-ups have become a common trend thanks to Spotify, Focal Naim America has its own timely release with a new addition to the Mixed on Focal Series (which I’m not entirely sure if it’s supposed to remind me of ‘Hooked on Phonics’ with that name).
What is Hooked on Focal?
Brief clarification for those unfamiliar with this tradition from Focal, as my joke might lead you to believe it’s a cheeky titled geared towards music lovers.
Mixed on Focal is a very literal title, as the tracks on the playlist are features that were mixed on Focal Professional monitors, each one geared for HD streaming. For that reason, the playlist is accessible through Apple Music and Tidal to Amazon Music, Qobuz and Spotify’s CD-quality tier.
Focal’s Trio11, Trio6, Twin6, Shape 40 and Alpha Twin Evo monitors were used for the mixes, and while it adds another level of quality to the tracks, the intent is to showcase how this music sounds on the Focal products themselves.
Tracks Included on the Seventh Installment of the Series
This is the seventh playlist in the Mixed on Focal series, featuring 30 tracks that amount to roughly two hours of music. The playlist includes work from engineers like Will Yip, Bobby Campbell, Mike Pepe, Luca Pretolesi, Darrell Thorp and others, including the “Keith Harris Experience,” co-mixed with Dylan Dresdow, John D. Norten and Kevin Abdella.
Tracks span genres from pop and rock to electronic and hip-hop, featuring artists such as David Archuleta, Free Nationals (featuring Anderson .Paak), Seven Lions (featuring Lilly Ahlberg), Origami Angel and the Bouncing Souls.
The playlists are available now on the Focal Pro Experience website for Focal Hi-Fi and Pro Audio dealers, as well as current and prospective Focal customers who want to check them out.
Finding the Right Demo Material for Streaming
Finding the right demo material for showing off sound systems can be challenging, especially nowadays where many streaming formats can compress sound files to the point where they don’t get a chance to show off the speaker’s full potential.
Homeowners love streaming music, though, with the convenience of it far outweighing the potential drop in quality in a lot of cases. Still, if the expanding services of HD and CD-quality streams is anything to go by, its that once someone can crack the code of convenience and high fidelity, listeners will jump on it.
Having audio tailor-made (at least on paper) to a specific system can help integrators eek out a little bit more performance for use in demos, which is where playlists like Mixed on Focal fit into the picture.
At face value it’s a mix meant to highlight what Focal Monitors are capable of, but for those of you already selling Focal products, it’s a nifty little resource to pop in to (at least theoretically) get the most out of your system for a good first impression.
Granted, the company is also promoting its Holiday Cheer Mix Immersive Vol. 2,” following the same ‘Mixed on Focal’ formula, so maybe that will serve as a better option for the holidays. (Side note: how many integrators play Christmas music in their show room a la other retail spaces this time of the year?)
