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I'm ready to buy new monitors but I can't decide....


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Here's some background: I've been using Alesis M1 actives for about 5 years and it's time to step it up. I record as a hobby in the genres of mainly rock and metal. Everything is recorded direct (guitars and bass) and the drums come from software.

 

This is in my bedroom. The room is not professionally treated but I have made acoustic improvements but putting some foam on the walls behind the monitors, as well as hanging moving blankets diagonally on the sides. That, and putting as much of my furniture in the bedroom/recording area as possible (making my living room look bare :lol:) Anyway, that stuff has helped to tame reflections and such. It's not terrible, but not ideal either.

 

I think I've narrowed it down to either Adam A7s or JBL LSR4326. The former based on all the rave reviews and the latter for their "room compensation" technology where I could supposedly tune the monitors to my not-so-great room.

 

These speakers are around the same price. My gut instinct is to go with the Adams and I've heard that the JBL Linear Spatial Reference Technology doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

 

I'd just like to hear your opinion about anything I said here.

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I upgraded in the spring to A7's after comparing to some Focal's and love the improvement. Still need to have good treatment in order to hear all the improvements. I've made several panels from OC 703 and none are permanently mounted, thus I can move them as necessary for tracking and for mixing.

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With something like monitors, it is best if you go and listen to as many as possible and shop based on what you hear. Do not pick something solely because of the reviews. Personally, I would steer clear of the Adams stuff, but that is just me. I am not familiar with those particular JBL's.

 

So what is it about the Alesis that you don't like? A big part of mixing is being familiar with your monitors and knowing how they make your mixes translate. If you're already comfortable with the Alesis, and you know their sonic signature and how your mixes translate, then why not invest in a subwoofer or something like that to augment your current set-up?

 

FWIW, Event is developing a 5" version of their Opal monitor. I don't know exactly when they'll be released, but I'd seriously add those to your "must give a listen" list. The standard 7" Opal is frickin' amazing, but way too much coin for me.

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i went with the Adam A5s to save money from the A7s and because my room isn't too large. in my room they make it down to ~60hz and then the bottom drops out.

 

that being said, i've never experienced such fantastic sound from my music collection.

 

and my own mixes translate better than ever before. count me as a fan!

 

:thu: :thu:

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oh man, also i would STRONGLY urge you to stay away from those JBLs.

 

We had those exact monitors in a smaller studio at my college (we're talking a fully treated room) and they sounded TERRIBLE. anything you recorded or mixed in there would have to be completely changed when you took it to the main studio. didn't translate well AT ALL.

 

the engineer said he was going to get rid of them because everyone was complaining about them...

 

maybe we were doing it wrong?? :cop:

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I like ribbon tweeters, but Adam's customer service has been suspect of late, according to

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/moan-zone/419337-adam-audio-customer-service-no-good.html

 

I have three pairs of ADAM monitors - S3A / A7 / A5 - so I'm obviously a BIG fan of their sound. I hadn't heard about the CS issues. :idk: But all of those are apparently things that have come up since ADAM and Dave Bryce parted ways. CS while Bryce was running ADAM USA was fantastic. :phil:

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Cool. Well I can't wait to make a trip to some music stores to check out some nice speakers! Unfortunately it's a good 2 hour drive to any place that stocks this stuff
:(

 

That's what the internet is for. You'll have to pay for shipping for the things you return, but you'll get a wider selection and a greater length of time to check them out.

 

-Dan.

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I have the JBLs, and couldn't be happier. Great sound, that is not fatiguing, with great clarity and respectable bass for a 6" driver. (suitable for my smallish room) Sweet, and translate well for me. The room compensation does help in my untreated space, but is not a sub for treatment.

 

Some of the other features of these are rarely mentioned, such as JBL link, which allows you to buy another set in the future, (say for surround) and control all from the main set. In addition, the software that comes with them allows you to set eq's in memory, to quickly switch between settings that either you could use for other listening, or to spot check mixes for certain frequency problems. In addition, these have a very thoughtful set of controls on the front of both speakers. (solo, rmc, eq, shelving, and presets)

 

I auditioned the a7s, but the jbls won for me for their feature set and sound/clarity. Have had them a year, no regrets.

 

Patrick

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Here's some background: I've been using Alesis M1 actives for about 5 years and it's time to step it up. I record as a hobby in the genres of mainly rock and metal. Everything is recorded direct (guitars and bass) and the drums come from software.


This is in my bedroom. The room is not professionally treated but I have made acoustic improvements but putting some foam on the walls behind the monitors, as well as hanging moving blankets diagonally on the sides. That, and putting as much of my furniture in the bedroom/recording area as possible (making my living room look bare
:lol:
) Anyway, that stuff has helped to tame reflections and such. It's not terrible, but not ideal either.


I think I've narrowed it down to either Adam A7s or JBL LSR4326. The former based on all the rave reviews and the latter for their "room compensation" technology where I could supposedly tune the monitors to my not-so-great room.


These speakers are around the same price. My gut instinct is to go with the Adams and I've heard that the JBL Linear Spatial Reference Technology doesn't make a whole lot of difference.


I'd just like to hear your opinion about anything I said here.

 

Budget usually dictates what group of monitors you can buy, but I feel you do NOT have to spend great coin, to get good monitors, not necessarily "great sounding monitors..." Allow me to explain;

 

A well treated room can alleviate the perceived problems with any monitor, but suffice to say I have yet to encounter those issues that do plague people's recording environments.

 

I've heard the Adam A7's and those JBL's...

The A7's at their price point are seemingly impossible to beat.

 

Go for monitors that are as flat as possible.

The extra digital goodies from JBL are *cool* but I didn't like their sound.

 

FWIW I use Event ASP8's and

M-Audio EX66's.

 

The EX66's are:

extremely bad ass

boast versatile connectivity (both analog and digital)

bass response goes all the way down to 36hz (with zero distortion)

output a HUGE spatial stereo image I've not heard from any other monitor.

output a very linear frequency response.

 

And I prefer them to my Events...:eek:

My Piano sample library literally does not have a left or right!

It's just vast and limitless, not to mention there is no sweet spot!

They sound very detailed anywhere...

 

My main point is you should listen to your own material/your favorite pieces of music on your prospective purchase...When you can hear everything?

You've found the ones you want.

 

Find albums that are overly compressed and/or introduce clipping as well.

THIS is a huge tell if your monitors are up to snuff or not.

 

IN the end my friend, you could technically stay with your monitors you have now, or monitor off of a $50.00 HTIB setup, provided you learn your speakers.

This is the key regardless of cost, quality and sound output.:thu:

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FWIW, Event is developing a 5" version of their
Opal monitor
. I don't know exactly when they'll be released, but I'd seriously add those to your "must give a listen" list. The standard 7" Opal is frickin' amazing, but way too much coin for me.

 

I agree the Opal are great, essentially they are everything anybody could ever need in a near / mid-field monitor. I am a fan of ADAM but they do have their own character to them (not that that's always bad) whereas Opal has a traditional sound (but with extreme depth and imaging, as well as a revealing but smooth top end response that doesn't rip your ears off).

 

Their investment seems to have paid off big time with Opal.

 

A good inexpensive monitor is the Yamaha MSP5 though, tons of bang for the buck going on there.

 

War

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