monitor choices hr824 vs genelec 8030 vs adam p11a

[aramism]

ok well i am at the point where i need to upgrade my monitrs. i can't stand the alesis m1 monitors anymore. as used as i am to them they are to joke to me. there are so many dead spots that i don't catch when i listen to mixes elsewhere i know. im used to it but i feel like they are holding me back. i have tuned my room as much as i could so i need to upgrade.


my initial choice was the hr824 (old ones) due to the sheer fact that i've heard them a lot in front of me and i am happy. they do tend to be bassy but then again there's no need for a sub and i can quickly adapt to them. i know also about the bm5as but my buddy has them and i spend a lot of time in his studio and we may end up putting our studios together so i don't wanna get the same thing. they are good though.

my other options are the genelec 8030 (or maybe 8040 they are more $$$) and the adam p11a.


i can't find those monitors to test them out in a store near me (go figure i live in nyc i can't find any place that has those, maybe im not looking hard enough???)


so before i end up pulling the trigger i ask you guys for some suggestions.



ps - i'm not sure how valid this is but from what i've heard and everyone i know who has them the mackies are great choices for people doing electronic music and dance and hip hop generally stuff that needs low end. i've heard the mackies described as lifeless and too low endy so i don't know how well that would work out for me considering i don't mix those genres and deal with bands and such. but then again i searched this forum and certain people have said good things about the mackies.



on edit: or i could just go more traditional and follow in the footsteps of many rock and metal mix guys. i could get a pair of 1030 or 1031 genelecs and also geta pair of ns10's... the ns10s coming in the future. there are the 1031 on ebay here and there for reasonable prices like 1500 or so which is not bad. do u guys think its worth it? what are the differences between the 103x series???

 

[colonel kurtz]

the genelecs are sweet as shit...but almost too sweet. everything that goes in will come out sounding maybe better than it should. the studio @ my school recently added a pair of auratones to reference on, because everything sounded too damn good on the genelecs.

i haven't used the mackies, but have read numerous times that they're pretty hyped in the low-end. OTOH, i know that the original 824's are $449/ea. at MF...i doubt you'd be able to find a better set of monitors for under $1000/pr.

 

[ashgallows]

i know for a fact that the m1's are really bass heavy. I worked at a repair shop for a whiel and we sold them on the side. hr-824's are great but they do have a tendency to explode...really. Power amps die in those suckers pretty spectacularly. Genelecs we didn't see hardly any of coming in. I would do a side by side comparison of a couple different monitors pick the best ones and then calibrate them to the room obviously. But yeah...hr824s tend to break...but they sure kill the hell out of my tannoy reveals lol

 

[aramism]

well that's the thing i would have a hard time A/B them because 1) i would need to hear it in my room 2) i can't find a single place that has my choices in the same spot to A/B truely



the bottom line is that i am beyond "under $1000" budget so if i have to goto the $1500 range for better quality i would be willing to do that.


with that said the mackie seems a great bang for buck. i can get them for $800 for pair. it looks like its between the 8030/8040 or a used pair of 1031s

 

[colonel kurtz]

have you checked out the adam A7?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Adam-Audio-A7-A...ryZ47093QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

$1050/pr.

 

[theblackmoon]

Aramism, if you take the ADAM you can contact Adam Brass in Boston, he works for Mercenary Audio, he problably would be more than happy to welcome you if you want to test something out at their studio. While there I dear you to not drool over their outstanding outboard stuff, unfvckinbelievable really...

anyway, if you want it I can PM you his number.

Good luck

 

[aramism]

do they have genelecs there?

so i can A/B them???

NYC is like 3-4 hours away from boston driving so i would consider it. however i think there is a mercenary audio in brooklyn, ny as well. which is like 15 minutes from my house lol.


i have looked at the A7 but i don't know much about them. i don't listen to the sweetwater reviews and stuff i go by some sort of popular acclaim from personal uses as well as engineers that use them. for example most engineers use ns10s to monitor (at least some of the ones i am influenced by) for instance terry date ONLY uses ns10s and the big in wall ones to check it. andy uses 1030 1031 genelecs as well as ns10 and some other. james uses the 8050s i think. anyway im just saying im not sure about those a7 im sure they are good i would need more info.

 

[LSD-Studio]

I think the mentioned monitors all are ok, but I strongly believe that once you cross the 500bucks-line you should save up some more and get something really awesome instead of something decent.
if you're buying monitors in that pricerange (8030 etc) you're probably planning on keeping them as your main monitors for several years (you should) now if you just save up some more and get let's say s3a or o300 (my choice) you'll have something for your mixing live....
so now take what you paid more (compared to p11a etc) and devide it by the months that you'll be using them (let's say 10 years).....so that means for basically nothing (seen over the time of usage) you'll get a monitor-system that pleases you for years instead of having to resell the decent ones again to get better ones in 2-3 years.
rather work a couple of month with what you've got now, save up and get something you won't ever sell again!

 

[theblackmoon]

@ Aramism, I believe they only work with ADAM, you can´t A/B them, as far as I know, but give it a try. I´ll PM you his number when I get home at night.

And I agree with LSD, buy something that you´ll carry around for quite sometime. If you do some research around, you problably did, you´ll see that the ADAM´s are quite diferent from the Genelec, so insist on the idea of trying´em out.

 

[Kenny Lee]

Wow... LSD really nailed it!! Two things I upgraded when I had money was.... five years ago I got a Apogee PSX-100SE (I'll never sale it or get what I paided for it anyways and I got it new for $2500 back then!)
And I have those Alesis MK1's too! Earlier this year I got the Adam P22a's and loving them!! Never realized just how much lowend the MK 1's were not translating.

These monitors KICK ASS!! I used to have to take mixes to Best Buy and jam them thru every stereo available there Now I just know that what ever a mix sounds like with the P22a's in my room.... will sound just like that everywhere else.

Oh and when I put my Bellari RP562 in the chain.....

ITS GODDAMN ELECTRIC!!!!​

GORILLA

 

[aramism]

thanks guys. @ lsd - so then maybe i should get a used pair of the 1031A gene's for like around $2k

or upgrade up to the 8040's???


i am not planning on having these for 10 years. i would like to eventually in the next like 6 months also get a pair of NS10ms as a true referene monitor to check my mixes and then once things are going well upgrade to a higher level of monitors once i get a bigger room. so i doubt it will be 10 years, i can;t plan anythign for 10 years lol. but anyway, yeah i would say gun to my head i would keep these monitors 1-3 years. but i see your point and it's great. it's kind of like my point when i recomend people NOT to upgrade the firepod until they can afford heavy duty stuff like apogee, great river, api pres, etc... stuff that costs individually in the thousands. i feel like the firepod is so cheap and good for the price that paying an extra $1000-$1500 for a seemingly "better" multi channel firewire/usb interface isn't worth it because you can squeeze out a lot with the firepod and saving the money is a better plan until you can afford REAL high level professional mic pres and converters. that's alway been my take, but back to monitors.

so yeah about the monitors. pre-listening to them, i am pretty much glued to the idea of either new (80xx) series or used (103x[prob 1031] series) gene's

 

[aramism]

ok i realized that 97% of people that work at guitar center should be thrown into the ocean. they are totally worthless. i called to make an appointment to do some monitor testing on some of my favorite mixes and i go there (i forgot the guys name who i spoke to) and they could find him but none of the monitors were set up and they didn't wanna open up the SSL room where some of the more high end stuff like the ADAM P series and genelecs were located so i literally cursed the guy and just left. with that said this is the official and revised list of stuff i'm contemplating ->


- dynaudio bm6a
- genelec 8040
- genelec 1031
- ADAM P11A
- ADAM P221
- Mackie hr824

 

[JeffTD]

ok i realized that 97% of people that work at guitar center should be thrown into the ocean. they are totally worthless. i called to make an appointment to do some monitor testing on some of my favorite mixes and i go there (i forgot the guys name who i spoke to) and they could find him but none of the monitors were set up and they didn't wanna open up the SSL room where some of the more high end stuff like the ADAM P series and genelecs were located so i literally cursed the guy and just left. with that said this is the official and revised list of stuff i'm contemplating ->


- dynaudio bm6a
- genelec 8040
- genelec 1031
- ADAM P11A
- ADAM P221
- Mackie hr824

Call and talk to the manager of the Pro Audio dept... he'll know that if you're going to be A/B'ing monitors of 'that caliber,' that you mean business and will probably bring in some revenue.

 

[aramism]

you would think so but don't underestimate the level of incompetance that graces the employees at guitar center. i wish there was a place around me that i could actually hear these together.


i found a gene 1031 on ebay the guy lives not too far from my house i sent him a message to see if he would take $1500 cash and i would pick them up. at this point my head hurts so much that i don't even care. either way unless i am comfortably ready to spend real cheese on like wall mounted monitors and all types of higher end stuff then i'll give it so much attention. i'm sure each of these monitors have their good points and bad points and if i am this critical i will never be happy. i should just shut up and get one of these and train myself to mix on them. at the end of the day as they say "it's not the car, it's the driver" so i mean i got some work in front of me.


if i can't get the used gene's i may end up with the dynaudios because i feel like the "lower" end of the gene 8xxx series and the adam series are like shortchangeing myself because their true reputation is in the much higher end models. it's kind of like getting a porsche boxter as opposed to a 911. i don't wanna get a product for the sake of the name rather the quality of the product itself. at least with the 1031 gene it's a legendary studio monitor wheras the modern day genes are just sweetwater hypes and stuff. at this point im just talking out of my ass so unless anyone else has suggestions i'm gonna try to get the used 1031 if i don't find a good used pair i may spring for the bm6a

 

[Daunt]

I would take Genelec 80XX monitors over 10XX any day. The older 10XX Genelecs are know for their ear-fatiguing character. At least that's what many professionals in Finland say. Many hi-end studios are using the 80XX series these days.

 

[LSD-Studio]

the 1031 aren't bad (Andy uses them ) but they have a "hole" in the lower mids that you have to be aware of when mixing.
although they might be seen as the stanard I think there are better monitors for the same money out there....on the other hand it's always what you're used to, just learn to know your monitors and YOUR ROOM.
that last point is very important when A/B-ing monitors...

listening to your friends "monitor A" in his room and then to "monitor B" in a different room makes shit all sense.

 

[greyskull]

id eliminate the hr82's from that list.
they are the worst translating monitors ever.
they have no middle whatsoever, over scooped and over hyped sounding crap.

 

[aramism]

ok but LSD isn't the whole point when doing a monitor shootout to do it in the same room??? to level the playing field?




by the way the problem is that the older gene's i can't testdrive anywhere so i would be buying them blind. but i suppose like you said they do have some reputation as logn as i know the faults of the monitor i can adjust to it and get used to it in my room.



hey dauntless i'm a big fan of your recordings so i value your opinion the 8040s i believe you have how are they? here in the states they are about $2300 a pair. i COULD spend that money but it would drain my budget for other things so at that point these things would totally have to also give me a massage and serve me food, in other words be that worth it. used 1031s are much cheaper and the bm6as are much cheaper. i wouldnt wanna get anythign smaller than the 8040s anyway because my room is like 275 or so square feet and as shitty as my current alesis are they are pretty big so i'm used to that level of volume, they just suck and have a lot of dead spots. so bottom line are you that impressed with the 8040s?

any one else by the way this is getting to be very helpful i appreciate all the help i can get here.



ps - also does andy use the 1030s or the 1031s??? it seems as if he uses the 1031s in a 5.1 setup with the gene sub. does anyone know if he's mentioned which are his main "goto" monitors. i also know he's got a couple of ref monitors like the ns10s and what not but does anyone know what his main monitors are?

 

[Daunt]

hey dauntless i'm a big fan of your recordings so i value your opinion the 8040s i believe you have how are they? here in the states they are about $2300 a pair. i COULD spend that money but it would drain my budget for other things so at that point these things would totally have to also give me a massage and serve me food, in other words be that worth it. used 1031s are much cheaper and the bm6as are much cheaper. i wouldnt wanna get anythign smaller than the 8040s anyway because my room is like 275 or so square feet and as shitty as my current alesis are they are pretty big so i'm used to that level of volume, they just suck and have a lot of dead spots. so bottom line are you that impressed with the 8040s?

Thanks! That's ridiculous. I love my 8040's but I didn't pay nearly as much as $2300. For once something is cheaper in Finland I agree that you shouldn't get anything smaller than 8040 if you're not going to use a sub. I don't know, you really should compare them to other monitors in the same price range. I want the Genelec subwoofer (7060B) but it costs more than a pair of 8040's!

ps - also does andy use the 1030s or the 1031s??? it seems as if he uses the 1031s in a 5.1 setup with the gene sub. does anyone know if he's mentioned which are his main "goto" monitors. i also know he's got a couple of ref monitors like the ns10s and what not but does anyone know what his main monitors are?

From what I have read he uses mostly NS10's.

 

[aramism]

yea i feel u.


keep in mind just like how the hr824s were more expensive in europe, stuff like genelecs are less $$$ over there than they are here in the states.