Studio Monitors? HR824, ADAM A7, etc...

[khstudio]

Not sure if this is in the wrong thread & I know this has been discussed in other forums but I thought I'd ask some of you guys here that I'm more familiar with:


I currently use Mackie HR824's & Yamaha NS10's for monitoring. I like them both for different reasons but the one thing that bugs me about the Mackies is the bass resonator in the back... it works well but makes a mess of the low end in my room. I've grown accustom to them but thought about an upgrade, something without ports & resonant crap in the back that couples to my wall & can be misleading & mix fatiguing.

I was considering the ADAM A7's.

Any opinions on these or anything else that would be an upgrade from the Mackies & not break the bank... my control room isn't very large.
10 feet wide (left to right @ my mix position)
by 16 deep with 10+ feet ceiling.
YES my room is treated & balanced pretty well.
My mixes also translate fairly well too... but tend to be a "Hair" bass heavy sometimes.

Thanks in advance. :green:

 

[MartyMart]

You know this has come up before right Kevin ?
I know, monitors / room / opinions and all that bullshit comes into it.
It's a tough one, recently heard the A7's and was blown away, a mate just
got the little A5's for up close monitors and they are gorgeous too ,, and cheaper !!

I'm told that the tweeter can have problems due to moisture but I don't know
if that's just some other companies marketing "BLAH" or not.

I'm going to buy some A7's very soon and I'm a "Fussy bugger" !!

I never liked any of the Mackie's though, so what do I know !!!
( sound kind of scooped and bass heavy to me, probably a US voicing trend )

peace,

Marty.

 

[ruairioflaherty]

Hey Kevin,

I'm not sure I can recommend new speakers for you as I haven't heard many of the models in your price range.

What I can do for you is tell you that your read of the Mackies is pretty accurate. I master a lot of mixes for a local engineer who mixes on the Mackies. His mixes always have issues in the low end, nothing really bad but always a sort of mess around the kick and bass interaction. He was mixing a new album recently and he asked me out to his studio to mix 3 tracks he was struggling with. I brought my reference tracks and got accustomed and mixed over 3 different nights, checking on cans as I went. Well I'll be damned if my mixes didn't have the same weird kick bass interaction. His room is really well treated and I've tweaked the acoustics there myself. In hindsight I wish I'd brought out my Adams or just mixed in my place...

I haven't heard the Adam A7 but I'm a big believer in their products. I've had S3As for 4 years now and they are the single best purchase I have ever made for my studio. Really nice people too.

Best of luck in your search and please ignore any advice you get on Gearslutz. Try to get you hands on the new speakers to check them and do a mix. My Adams would lose in a listening shootout but would do very well in a mixing shootout - no fun to listen to but great translation.

Cheers,
Ruairi

 

[khstudio]

Great feedback... thank you. :thumb:

I've heard a lot of good things about the A7's & they're price isn't bad... but I've never heard them so it's nice to hear what others think.

It's a shame about the Mackies. They don't necessarily sound bad... just a bit of a struggle when mixing - Yes, judging the low end/subs & marrying the Bass & BD is a crap shoot. :sad:

 

[khstudio]

[quote author="ruairioflaherty"]My Adams would lose in a listening shootout but would do very well in a mixing shootout - no fun to listen to but great translation.
[/quote]

They can't be that bad are they???

That's one thing, I like listening to regular CD's on my Mackies... they sound pretty nice to me.

But like you said... when it comes to my NS-10's

"no fun to listen to but great translation."

Just not enough low end or that "clean Hi-Fi" sound when you need it for more Modern or critical (large bandwidth) music or detail.

 

[TomWaterman]

I just spent two weeks with the Acoustic Energy AE22's we talked about in the other monitoring thread recently in the Brewery.

In my opinion they are very very good, and would make a great mixing speaker.

Much better than the A7's.

-T

 

[khstudio]

[quote author="TomWaterman"]I just spent two weeks with the Acoustic Energy AE22's we talked about in the other monitoring thread recently in the Brewery.

In my opinion they are very very good, and would make a great mixing speaker.

Much better than the A7's.

-T[/quote]

Other monitoring thread? missed that... I don't hit the Brewery too much... just the brew. :guinness: :guinness: :green:

Are they expensive?

 

[natek]

I like the Adam's! they would be a good alternative! I have Dynaudio BM5a's but they still have a bass port.. I love them very clear and flat. Anyway good luck on the choice! :thumb:

 

[nielsk]

The ADM20s by KS Digital have to be the best I have ever used, if they only were not so damn expensive!
I have a pair of Quested 2108s I might part with......

 

[Baltimore]

I auditioned the A7s about 3 months ago. I went in with every intention of buying them. They sounded good, and actually reminded me of NS-10s. I'm sure if there were NS-10s around to A/B they would've sounded completely different, but they kinda gave off the same vibe. but sounded way more hi-fi of course. I could see mixing on them translating well like NS-10s.

But I fell in love with and ended up buying a pair of Adam P11s. I really didn't want to spend the extra grand, but I did and I couldn't be happier. they have enough low end to mix on, but i still have a sub to switch on just to check the loooow lows. not fatiguing at all but with enough of the annoying mid "charm" of an NS-10 that makes you really check the mids. My mixes have never translated better. My normal mastering guy actually asked me if i bought a new pair of monitors!

If you have a place you can hear them, bring some favorite reference CDs with you and figure out which monitors sound best to you.

 

[zebra50]

here's the other thread...
http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=28968

:thumb:

 

[pucho812]

The problem with most monitors is they are powered. Powered monitors IMO tend to all suffer from the same issues of weird low end, Mushy mids and brittle top end. I would recommend either going with passive monitors or even better active monitors(matched amp with speaker set).

 

[dripelectronics]

god my low end mix's are always a struggle with my smackys 824

i really gotta work hard , and keep going out to my car for a good read.



the mids and hi's come out great on the otherhand .

tried a sub , that sorta just smeared things a bit more.

treated my room with 18 venus bass cubes ,
that seemed to help ....lol

 

[CJ]

I stuffed a couple of Clean socks in the bass ports and it's like new speakers over here.

Try that if you have ports.

These are the Alsesis Monitor 1's , so your mileage might vary.

 

[dagoose]

Just my opinion:
I have hr624 (yes, 624) myself and i think they are better then the 824.
I have some friends/collegues with 824's which i also do mastering for (on b&w 802's btw) and some of 'm have indeed problems with the bass (lacking bass)
When i sometimes go to the studio of one of these guys i'm allways blown away by the bass of the 824's which i do think is indeed not a good thing.
The bass is a lot less on the 624's but still pretty solid and the high end seems a bit fresher to me. (could also be my better accoustics)
I heard a lot of people about the mackies with different stories and one of 'm is that the first 'batch' (made in USA) is a lot better then the later ones (made in china) because of better quality parts.
I'm not sure if it's a true story but what i know is that i still kinda like my hr624's (made in usa and's and one of the first to order these at the time).
I'm not talking about the v1 and v2 version BTW.

I must also tell you that i hardly use y mackies these day's, for mixing i use ns10m's and for mastering the B&W .
I also heard good stories about the adam's (never worked on 'm myself)indeed but i also think monitoring is very personal and i do think it's more important to know how your setup/room sounds to get a good mix.

 

[ruairioflaherty]

[quote author="khstudio"][quote author="ruairioflaherty"]My Adams would lose in a listening shootout but would do very well in a mixing shootout - no fun to listen to but great translation.
[/quote]

They can't be that bad are they???

That's one thing, I like listening to regular CD's on my Mackies... they sound pretty nice to me.

But like you said... when it comes to my NS-10's

"no fun to listen to but great translation."

Just not enough low end or that "clean Hi-Fi" sound when you need it for more Modern or critical (large bandwidth) music or detail.[/quote]

The S3As are just not a fun speaker to listen to. They are not awful but they have a way of presenting the music in a technical rather than a musical way. I have a good friend who took a loan of mine for a month one time but his studio was quiet and he listened to music but did not mix (and check those mixes elsewhere). He was pretty unimpressed and reckoned speakers x, y and z sounded better. Then later he borrowed mine to do a surround mix and was blown away by the mixing process and the quality of the mix. He ordered a pair immediately and hasn't looked back since. he was searching for the perfect monitor for a long time.

If I was to describe the sound of the mackies compared to the S3A I would say vague. Kinda soft focus on the tops and mids and a bit of a mess down low.

The key thing is to try and mix on your potential set. Buying speakers that sound nice and love up your music is not necessarily the way to go.

Cheers,
Ruairi

 

[Ilya]

Another vote for Adam here.
I haven't listened to the ones you refer but in our studio we use S3A and man that's really revealing monitors.
I've never heard such a detailed sound picture from anything else. Somebody pointed out they are "technically" sounding. I can agree with that. But this is exactly what you need while mixing.
Admittedly they are expensive. But they're worth every penny. I know my mixes are way better now when we bought S3As.

 

[Svart]

I use Alesis Monitor ones(mk2) with the socks stuffed into the ports and paper towels over the tweeters. I use them with a sub(absolutely necessary). I also use yamaha NS635As now too(with a sub as well). I really like how the 3 way speakers get the crossover point out of the crucial midrange area. These sound fairly bland but if you can get a mix to sparkle with them, it'll sparkle everywhere, a lot like the NS-10.

 

[khstudio]

Man... those A7's are calling me, especially after what I hear people say about them & for the price it seems like you can't go wrong.

I remember reading that certain models of the ADAMs were brighter (maybe harsher?) & other models are more laid back in the highs but I can't find it now.

I was also looking at the ADAM Sub 8... looks like it may compliment the A7's & give me some of the bass back I'm used to with the Mackie but hopefully better & more defined all around.

 

[dagoose]

[quote author="khstudio"]Man... those A7's are calling me, especially after what I hear people say about them & for the price it seems like you can't go wrong.

I remember reading that certain models of the ADAMs were brighter (maybe harsher?) & other models are more laid back in the highs but I can't find it now.

I was also looking at the ADAM Sub 8... looks like it may compliment the A7's & give me some of the bass back I'm used to with the Mackie but hopefully better & more defined all around.[/quote]
If your going for a sub, get the sub 10 then, it's brilliant!
I'm using it for about a year now and love it, really solid and tight and not overwhelming (which i think is a good thing)
You can feel it;s there but not boomy.