Ok, say I was making a track with some low dancy bass lines. Surely it would help to hear these lines in most of their glory rather than try to learn to imagine as then you are making a real stab in the dark and the term monitor would be a misleading one? Its just, well this gear is so over priced. I remember hearing a decent pair of diamands, you know the low end high fi stuff, ok not ideal, but a good buy. These A7's were supposed to be value for money. I just think at the price I expected a little more. Which is another reason being interested in the yamaha HS80's. There is a snobbery and a current trend thing going on (not in this thread) and I have just bought into it. I have realised I have not come across one studio with these a7 speakers and seen many with the krk's, yams etc. Does anyone know if A7's are good and are they rated amoungst the pros. If not I believe I've just spent $100, 000 on a crappy Merc. when I could have spent $50 000 on a fine running B.M.W.
Mandrum, what it all boils down to is personal preference, to get down to it. It's not a question of quality of construction like there is between BMW and Mercury; except for the low-end, entry level stuff, there's not a monitor I can think of that shouldn't still be performing to spec without need of repair 7-10 years after their put into use. This includes the A7s.
The problem is, mandrum, you made the exact same mistake that most folks make on their first monitor purchase; instead of listening to the monitors, you listened to other people. It's not that all those who recommended the A7s to you were wrong, or that you're wrong. There is no wrong and right here. There is only personal taste and perspective. What your ears like and what works best for you and what my ears like and what works best for me are two different things, and we both are right for our own needs.
For all the protestations made in the studio monitor market - and the home audiophile market also, FTM - about speakers that are "flat", "open", "neutral", "truthful" and so forth, the real truth and openness in this subject is that half the folks who use these things actually find truly flat response to sound awful. And among that half the population, there is very little agreement as to what actually does sound "right".
Fitting a loudspeaker to one's ear is as personal of a decision as fitting a shoe to one's foot. Everybody's ears are different in that regard and what fits one person will not necessarily fit another. The NS10s are a perfect example; some folks mix on them all day and make great mixes. Those folks are usually the ones who believe much flatter monitors to sound "hyped" in some way, and couldn't mix on a Mackie or a Tannoy to save their lives. Others have acclimated to flatter and wider responses and make great mixes on that kind of monitor and find something like the NS10s to be useful for little more than kindling for the evening fire pit (though I am a bit fairer; I think they can also be useful as door stops or archery targets as well
)
This is why I personally never get involved in "which monitor" discussions any more, any recommendation I or anyone else gives is absolutely meaningless unless you just so happen to know that person's ears and tastes intimately and know that they happen to match yours pretty well. All you can do is listen for yourself, compare, and see what works for you.
G.
