Anyone using A.D.A.M studio monitor?
e.g S3A , S4C

Any comment?

Is it better than dynaudio acoustic M3,M1.5 and EGGLESTONWORK Ivy speaker ?

I'm going to record a classical and Jazz CD.
Is it suitable for mastering monitor?

Any studio monitor recommend?

Thanks

Yes, there are several ADAM monitor users here. You should probably do a search of this forum (actually all of the musicplayer forums) for some of their comments. Monitor preferences are a very personal thing, but as you might have read in some of the ADAM music magazine ads over the past couple of months, I absolutely love my S3-A's, and I've never found anything that I liked more or that was better suited to my needs. Highly recommended.

Phil,

I didn't know you upgraded your ADAMs. Did you not have the S1-A a few months back? How do you like the S3As?

I've been tracking via the S2.5A. Absolutely love 'em. There can't be anything better on the market.

Cheers,
Dean

I still don't get the Adam thing.

I respect the opnions of all who love them, but I can't stand the things. Way too recessed for my taste. They make me want to use too much eq to make things exciting. Blehhh.

I LOVE the better Dynaudio monitors, though not the cheaper BM series.

But then again, I also am not wowed by Distressors or Royer ribbon mics, so......

I've never owned a pair of S1-A's. I originally had a pair of S2-A's, and spent about a month or so with a pair of S2.5-A's, and then bought the S3-A's. I like all three, but I found the 2.5's a bit less agressive in the mids than the 2's and 3's, and frankly I missed that a bit. If someone was doing primarily jazz, classical or acoustic based music, the 2.5's would probably be my recommendation for them... for rock, I prefer the 3's. But they're all good and I'd feel completely comfortable working with any of those three. Now if I only had the room (and the money) for a pair of S5-A's - those speakers kick some serious butt.

Dean, if you're ever out this way and want to come by for a visit to check 'em out, drop me a message (PM / email) or give me a call.

Quote:

Originally posted by Allan Speers:
I still don't get the Adam thing.

I respect the opnions of all who love them, but I can't stand the things. Way too recessed for my taste. They make me want to use too much eq to make things exciting. Blehhh.

I LOVE the better Dynaudio monitors, though not the cheaper BM series.

But then again, I also am not wowed by Distressors or Royer ribbon mics, so......

I had passive Dynaudio BM 15s with a GREAT Muse power amp and FWIW high end speaker cables. Never had a chance to listen to the higher end Dynaudio unfortunately.
No doubt the BM 15s were fun to track with (electric guitars especially) but there is just no comparison IMHO with the S3As I have now (for a year) in terms of getting music to sonically translate elsewhere.
Phil, I am too drooling about the S5s but would probably try to find the money for a 5.1 set up with S3s first. or not?.........

I have a small room, so I'm completely happy with my pair of S2A. My focus is keyboard-based composition, and also scoring to picture (mostly for the DV/Final Cut Pro world) as well as desktop mixing of a lot of live recordings I do. For all these applications, I have had to recheck and second-guess my mixes less than ever since I got the ADAMs.

No two pairs of ears, auditory nerves, or brains are alike, so when two people can be doing the same type of work in similar romms, and one says "I can't stand the ADAMs ... give me Dynaudio / Genelec / whatever" and the other insists on the ADAMs, it could well be they're both right. I do think, though, that anyone should be able to hear the difference between a premium speaker like ADAM, Dyn, M&K, etc, and something more "prosumer" and therefore less pricey. A lot of speakers at that level sound just great, until you hear the real deal, and realize what that extra money is paying for.

Not sure what you mean by recessed. I think I understand the exciting part though. I remember being extremely excited hearing the genelec 1032a...12 years ago I think, fantastic imaging and really sparkling. The ADAMs maybe didn't wow me like that, but it is still a very detailed speaker with great imaging and a trusting sound. Not sure about the 1032s, but working with the smaller genelecs, 1031 and 30 I have found difficult to mix in. Saying that it sounds too good is oversimplifying, but its something like that I guess.

I suppose we have enough ADAM evangelists in this group But it's hard not to be. I was actually quite happy with my NHT Pro A20s, and got pretty good results. But now after I had them side by side with the S3a, I realize the S3a are in a whole other league. Too bad that league is an expensive one. But I suppose it would be hard to go wrong at that level, be it Dynaudio (I really like their consumer speakers), Genelecs, etc. But FWIW I was a skeptical customer with very high expectations of the S3, and I wasn't disappointed.
Anyway, just some more thoughts on the subject.

S2-As have been treating me right for a while - can't say enough about them as an "all styles" monitor. I'd love to hear the S3-As, although our control room is a bit small.

Cheers,

Dogfur

ADAMs rock. Serious high frequency detail.

Think of them as near field monitors. I wouldn't want to be more than 6 or 7 feet away from them. They are not as big or as big sounding as you might think.

-R

As Allen I was not too impressed with adams aswell. I rather chossed dynaudio (M2, M3, or C4 if money is not an issue).
Pawel Acoustics makes a terrific monitor (absolutely in the range of a C4 System) with Sub or not, that is not so high priced, however there is no international provider, so it might be impossible to hear those outside Switzerland or near countries. Last but not least the Strauss SEMF-1 was the most acurate monitor I ever have heard. He originally designed them for Sony Music Studios, Tokio, to fit their need to acuratly monitor in their SACD Mastering rooms.

Daniel
http://www.ideeundklang.com

Phil,

Thanks for the offer. If I'm ever in the area, I'll let you know.

Dean

Before the s3A's occupied my bridge, my mixes would be hit or miss as far as intended effect with the client (film and marketing industries). Maybe that was because I wasn't as good an engineer then, but probably because my monitoring system was not up to the task. A mix I thought was killer one day, just sounded flat and lifeless the next. Revisions on mixes was the norm.
With the ADAMs, I know for sure that when I'm pleased with a mix, the client will be pleased. Again, maybe over time I've improved as an engineer, but maybe that's also due to the ADAMs interactivity! They not only have made my work sound better, they've made me a better mixer...

I have a SA3 surround setup with the ADAM subwoofer. These speakers are the first I've ever owned that have NEVER given me ear fatigue (Typical work day is 12 hours)...

I have the cherry flavored S-3A cool aid

NYC Drew

Are the S3a more suited to the near field or mid-field? I think they're classified as mid-fields but I use them as nears. But I do find whenever I go to sit back in the couch and crank it I find the sound really great as well...surprising to me since my control room isn't really acoustically treated properly.

Raul,

These are my experiences. I prefer them positioned vertically and mid-field. They have a more traditional sound field this way. They are more spacious and involving this way, as well. When I have them closer and horizontal, they remind me more of an NS10. The sound is still just as detailed but not as spacious. It sounds purely like a critical mixing tool this way. I prefer the other way because it's a sound that I find much more involving and one that I can much more easily relate to.

Please consider getting some good stands for them (as opposed to putting them on a console). I use sound anchor stands and I get approximately an extra lower octave out of the S3A's with them.

Goodluck,
John

We used to have Genelec S30C & KRK E8 with subs. Now we have S3A + Sub P and S4A V+ Sub-1 from ADAM. The results were quite clear from our clients' response. I personally would think that S4V plus Sub-1 is the best way to go - enven the best without the Sub-1 still do the job well. S4A V have more deep and mid and what the big sound recording should be sounded like. S3A is detailed but a little bit shy on the mid and depth comparing to the S4A V. Before installing the ADAMs, we did the side by side listenning to a lot of monitors and work with these monitors for 3 months. We decided to go for the ADAMs and we will install more in the nearest future. It works for us. Recording, mixing, mastering become faster though....

ADAM's will definitely not flatter your mixes. Well, if your mixes are good they will. If your mixes need to be more "exciting," the ADAM's will definitely let you know. Personally I think that's a good thing. I love listening to Genelec's, for example, but I don't think they tell you the truth.

Aside from the incredible detail, the most valuable things to me about ADAM's are:

1) I can listen to them all day long without ear fatigue.

and 2) They ignore the room characteristics far more than any other monitor I've tried, and have a much bigger sweet spot. A lot of people don't believe me about ignoring the room - I wouldn't have believed it myself. But my home studio has some acoustical issues and every other monitor I've auditioned here reflects that. There's a big hole in the 80Hz range and a bump in the 7K area. I could not detect either one with the ADAM's, they sounded as if the room had been treated, and I could trust what I heard to translate to other environments 100%.

advid,

I'm thinking about getting a sub1 for my S3A's. I'm wondering how much of that nice tight S3A bass you sacrifice when you mix them with a sub. Also, did you compare the ADAM subs to any other brands?

Thanks,
John

Before you jump on the ADAM ban wagon, do your self a favor and try out Klein+Hummel O-300, Also try the ATC line as well, two different animal, but similar midrange, because K+H uses the ATC mid driver in their speakers.

Cheers

Phil, I am too drooling about the S5s but would probably try to find the money for a 5.1 set up with S3s first. or not?.........

Well, if I start doing surround, then it would be the 5.1 setup. I still have not jumped into that one yet - out here there's too little demand for it.

Dear John,

Sorry for my late reply !
It depends on how large your space is :
Sub-1 is deeper and more natural compare to KRK I used to work with KRKE8. I use sub-1 to check the low frequency before print. With Sub-1, you won't sacrifiy any tight bass from S3A cause you can adjust the cross over provided on the sub-1 to best fit into your requirement. For that price,
you might want to check the S4A-V before go, of which I think is better compare to S3A on the mid range. The image also better. However, It really depends on your space, S3A+Sub-1 will be a lot better than S3A along.

A friend has an S3a 5.1 setup..

Do you have a link to the K&H monitors?

Some people here may not have heard.....

but I'm officially in the S-3A club now.... love them!

Valky

advid,

Thank you for your reply. The ADAM subs definitely look nice. Would you say that the Sub 1 is the best match for the S3A's or does the Sub P give you more than enough bass? I noticed you are using the sub P with your S3A's, but since you've heard both, perhaps you'd nevertheless recommend the Sub1 as the most ideal match.

Also, is the integration seamless? Do their subs just make the main speakers themselves sound fuller range?

BTW, my current space is 12'x20', but it's likely to get bigger down the road. Also, I already have the S3A's and I'm going to stick with them for a while. I'd love to hear the S4V's, but for now I need to decide sub or no sub? and if yes then which sub?

Thanks for your help,
John

John, what type of stuff are you doing?

IMO, the sub isn't "needed" with the S3-A's. FWIW, my CR is about 17 X 19' and I do primarily rock, alt, powerpop and some acoustic oriented stuff. Of course the sub is NICE, and if I was doing dance or hip hop stuff I might feel different.

http://www.klein-hummel.com/e/html/studio/studio_index_e.htm

Check the O-300D model, it's price is about the same as SA3 around $4500 US.

Cheers

http://www.klein-hummel-northamerica.com/

in case you want to find a dealer.

Cheers

Thanks, I don't believe that I've heard of them yet, and am always interested in new speakers (even though I own S4as and won't be changing that fact) :-)

Congrats Valky! We have to teach you the secret ADAM handshake now.