What monitors should I buy?

Dicus

Dicus

Enthusiastic Member
Hey guys,

So the moment arrived, I'm almost finished with acoustically improving my room, I finished my production desk and put it on the spot where it would sound best. I already have the absorbers for behind the monitors in place and, gladly, still have some money left to spend on monitors. I would really like to make a good investment, I've got 1000 euros I can spend on monitors right now and might be able to stretch this a bit. I would like to buy monitors that I do not have to replace for better ones for at least the coming 5 years.

To be honest I hardly know anything about monitors. After my first bit of looking around my eye fell upon the ADAM A7x which got recommended on this forum and has a really good review on soundonsound.

My questions are:
Is my budget of around 1000 euros enough to buy serious monitors or should I wait and buy more expensive ones (waiting isn't really an option, but I do wanna know)
Are the ADAMS A7x the best investment I can make with 1000 euros? If not, what monitors are?

Thanks a lot already!

Ps. This is a repost from the studio building and acoustic treatment subforum since I figured it would fit here better...
 
If you're spending 1000 euros, you should be able to get something really good. Sorry, no specific advice. Curious to hear what others say.
 
I have checked out the Adam's at a trade show and liked then a lot, Dynaudios always sound good, it always comes down to personal choice.

Alan.
 
Thanks! I'll check out Dynaudio didn't really delve into them yet.

I do read now and again that it comes to personal preference, but I don't really get that. Isn't it true that you have to learn your monitors in your room anyways and that you want an as accurate and flat response as possible, why then does personal preference matter?

Would the ADAM A7X need a subwoover? I'm mixing mostly Rock-music (Pop-Rock and Hard-Rock) but will also do some composing for orchestra mostly on VSTs...

Pfft, it's quite a lot of money and I want to spend it wisely. All help is very much appreciated!
 
Dicus said:
Thanks! I'll check out Dynaudio didn't really delve into them yet.

I do read now and again that it comes to personal preference, but I don't really get that. Isn't it true that you have to learn your monitors in your room anyways and that you want an as accurate and flat response as possible, why then does personal preference matter?
Click to expand...

Well if it wasn't for personal preference there would not be any need for different brads of monitors, we would just mix on the same ones LOL.

It's just that engineers like different sounding monitors that they enjoy mixing on as their own peference.

alan.
 
That's why I was confident asking for 'the best' monitors in my price range. Bah, sometimes I hate nuance, it's making life unnecessarily complicated... :P

Well, then let me refrase: What monitors would you advice me to buy within this price range?

In that case I guess I've got to plan time to go to a shop and listen to the monitors. It would help if I would at least know which monitors I do have to examine seriously...
 
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I have a pair of the A7X's and yes, they are indeed good. I mix mostly rock, but I've had some drum & bass, reggae and folk/acoustic projects on in the last couple of years.

I would seriously doubt you will need a sub with them. I cannot 'hear' down to 20hz on them, but I can hear the effect of a low pass at 24hz on a bass guitar and have never felt them to be lacking in bass extension.
The top end is lovely sounding and they have quite a neutral sound overall, no bass hype worth speaking of.

I haven't heard any dynaudios for a while, but from what I remember they were also very nice but voiced quite differently - I still highly reccomend the Adams after 2.5 years of use and have no plans to change monitors at all unless I win the lottery...
 
I personally use the KRK Rokit powered 8. Very stable and not expensive at all. The low-end is lacking a little, but the rest of the frequency spectrum is there quite clear.

Sure the ADAM A7X are better in overall quality, but a lot more expensive. I think the KRK Rokit 8 is great if you are comparing the price with the quality you get. Besides that, you'll see them in pretty much every mixing studio nowadays. That cannot be a coincidence.
 
The KRKs are the first Monitors I checked out. I guess that recognizable yellow dot helps with how popular they are.

After a bit of reading I now want to have a listen to the ADAM A7X, NEUMANN KH120A, DYNAUDIO BM6A and the Genelec 8030BPM speakers. Has anyone used two or more of these?

How much does it matter if the shop is acoustically treated to have a decent listen to this monitors?
 
In your taste test, also be sure to look at a set that has tweeters mounted in a waveguide similar to the JBL's. I believe JBL makes a line of speakers that is below your price point (the LSR) and far above (their professional mastering monitors)

But a sort of horn loaded tweeter appeals to my ears more than the ribbons of the Adams and the flush mounted tweeters of a standard monitor.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I have looked the monitors up on the JBL website but could not find any monitors with very different looking tweeters. What series are those? Then I'll look some reviews up and try to have a listen to them...

2 hours ago I called a local store to ask if they had the monitors I wanted to hear. And they had the Adam and Neumann unfortunatly not the Dynaudio, but he recommended me the Eve 6c207. Anyone any experience with Eve monitors?
 
Thanks for all the advice. Last week I bought the Neumanns they still have to be delivered, they didn't have them in stock, so stoked to hear them in my own room.

The Eves had their bassports on the back and since I will be placing them against the wall (my room is to small to have my desk away from the back wall) they went of my list. The Dynaudios just did not have the niceness the feeling that I was listening to amazing speakers as the Neumanns and Adams had.
I did love the Adams because of their crips high notes and large bass sound. But the Neumanns just sounded so balanced especially in the mid frequencies and after much listening and some doubt I decided on the Neumanns. I guess I could have been happy with the Adams as well, but the Neumanns just felt like better quality and a better match.

Thanks again for all the advice!
 
Here's a perspective from mixing legend Tony Maserati. A YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep0OBLbsmSo
Mixing Legend Tony Maserati: Sweet spot & speaker placement

In the video you'll see and hear about a couple of different monitors and their placement fron his perspective. Adds to the body of knowledge along with his other videos.
 
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