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Mid-Range Studio Monitors


Vekked

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I'm on the hunt for better monitors as soon as I get done putting some more acoustic treatment in my room. I have KRKs right now but they're not very neutral and I have to revise mixdowns a lot to play live. Obviously this is my skill level too, but getting better monitors will at least take out part of the issue.

 

Right now in my price range I'm looking at:

 

Adam A7x

Genelec 8040/8330 (not sure the difference between those models yet tbh)

Focal Shape 65

 

I've also heard Dynaudio and Neumann thrown around in that price range.

 

So firstly I'm looking for any first hand experience of any of these, or other recommendations.

 

Secondly... how do you even shop for monitors when you don't get to bring them home and try them in your room? Should I just buy/return every set I'm interested in until I find what I want?

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Can't remember if I said before, but my friend's studio that I go to regularly has A7xs. They're clear and have decent lows (to my ears anyway!) if you can blast them loud enough - but i've been told compared to other 7/8" monitors they're lacking a bit in low end and could be better complimented with the Adam sub.

 

I've had A5s at home for years and they're great but lacking in real low end.

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Can't remember if I said before, but my friend's studio that I go to regularly has A7xs. They're clear and have decent lows if you can blast them loud enough - but i've been told compared to over 7/8" monitors they're lacking a bit in low end and could be better complimented with the Adam sub.

 

I've had A5s at home for years and they're great but lacking in real low end.

Yea I have the Rokits still for bass, I'll keep them.

 

The only thing I've heard about the A7x's is some people say they sound hyped in the highs and not very neutral... like they sound "good" to listen to instead of honest. Not sure if that's true, but if it is I'd rather get a neutral set because the KRK's are super hyped and make stuff sound good already, so I'm looking for a contrasting monitor.

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Guest It'sPhilFromThursdays

I don't think you'd go wrong with the Genelecs, and the Adam sounds super good. If peeps think the highs are artificially boosted then it seems like it cos they've got a higher freq. response than most speakers in the same size range cos of the rad sounding ribbon design of the tweeter, so it's probably colouring people's opinion as they aren't used to hearing that. People tend to put too much high end on stuff anyway so again that might colour peeps opinions as they are hearing a more realistic version of their mix.

 

This review from production/engineering bosses at Sound on Sound makes them sounds really suitable for you to me. www.soundonsound.com/reviews/adam-a7x

 

This info has the caviat that i've not used any of these and am basing my opinion on reading the manuals and some reviews so probably don't know ish.And if the woofer being unsheilded and you think you'll pick up loads of interference from somewhere bothers you then avoid the adams i guess.

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I don't think you'd go wrong with the Genelecs, and the Adam sounds super good. If peeps think the highs are artificially boosted then it seems like it cos they've got a higher freq. response than most speakers in the same size range cos of the rad sounding ribbon design of the tweeter, so it's probably colouring people's opinion as they aren't used to hearing that. People tend to put too much high end on stuff anyway so again that might colour peeps opinions as they are hearing a more realistic version of their mix.

 

This review from production/engineering bosses at Sound on Sound makes them sounds really suitable for you to me. www.soundonsound.com/reviews/adam-a7x

 

This info has the caviat that i've not used any of these and am basing my opinion on reading the manuals and some reviews so probably don't know ish.And if the woofer being unsheilded and you think you'll pick up loads of interference from somewhere bothers you then avoid the adams i guess.

Truue, yea you might be right. I heard them in a store and they sounded amazing but it wasn't the most fair comparison because they were almost twice the price of every other monitor they had... But the difference was obvious between the price ranges.

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Guest It'sPhilFromThursdays

Secondly... how do you even shop for monitors when you don't get to bring them home and try them in your room? Should I just buy/return every set I'm interested in until I find what I want?

 

Oooo, i didn't address this. You really need to bring a load of dfferent reference high quality wavs of loads of different styles of music that you are confident you know the sound of on various speakers already and even a load test tones at different frequencies across the spectrum and listen to them on the different speakers one after another. Filtered white noise at different freqs can be good too. A non-twatty shop should let you do this. If you can't do that and you know a great, experienced engineer who knows his shit and take them for help.

 

Also i'd get the speakers before you treat your room and cater the treatment to the speakers, esp if you're gonna have a sub cos you'll probably get loads of resonant freqs and standing waves you'll need to treat specifically for the gear you have. That said a lot of those speakers are fairly similar and have controls to adjust them to suit different rooms on them, but good treatment is always better.

 

 

Psssh, I used to bulls-eye Womp-rats in my NS10s back home, they're no bigger than your a7xs.

 

:)

 

I did think about bringing up NS10s but really didn't want to get into an arguement with anyone about how they sounds terrible, to which i would have to reply that they don't sound lovely but it's probably their mix that's terrible, argue, argue, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. T

 

Those Adam's do sound boss though, i was doing some more reading today.

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As a former user of all 3, I can vouch either for the Adams (if you want to keep your budget in control) or the Focal (if you want to overspend). I'd leave the Genelecs out, as they are very "soft" sounded and not really suitable for hard-beat music.

Adams and Focals aren't *that* much different in price for me... like 20% more for Focal Shapes, and the same price for CMS (possibly less cuz I've seen them on the used market around here, but not the Shapes or Adams). Which do you like between the 2, if price was equal?

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Guest rasteri

dnb producers love the mackies because they have an insane low-end cutoff (22hz or something stupid like that) but the mids/highs are supposedly pretty terrible.

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As a former user of all 3, I can vouch either for the Adams (if you want to keep your budget in control) or the Focal (if you want to overspend). I'd leave the Genelecs out, as they are very "soft" sounded and not really suitable for hard-beat music.

Adams and Focals aren't *that* much different in price for me... like 20% more for Focal Shapes, and the same price for CMS (possibly less cuz I've seen them on the used market around here, but not the Shapes or Adams). Which do you like between the 2, if price was equal?

 

 

I'd still take the Adams (I own the og A7) cause they translate drums much harder than the Focals and suite my style. The Focals have insane definition on the highs and you can really spot frequency clashes, but they are still too "bright" for my taste.

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