What High Grade Monitors should I get?

[lolzgreg]

I'm thinking of possibly getting the following monitors:

-Event Opal
-Adam A8X
-Adam P22A
-Focal Twin 6 Be
-Insert recommendation here

Discuss?

I'm leaning toward the Opals now, for many reasons.

 

[dcb]

i have th eopals since last year and they are so far the most accurate speakers i have heard.
the low end response is so good, i dont even need a sub (although id still like one for low level monitoring)

ive never been a fan of adams so far, klein und hummel comes to my mind if you really wanna spend some $$
or the barefoot....(or is it barefeet??)

all my last mixes and masters were done on opals. whats great about them, they have built in eq.
i remember your mixing in a nutshell (means smal small room, right?) there is a switch on the opals
when your monitors stand right next to a wall that reduces low end. pretty handy.

i feel they are a little weak on the high end, so be prepared to add some extra 8-10k to your mixes
for perfect boom box translation. they are not as "exciting" as other monitors,
but i alsways love how great those mixes translate into "the real world" with excited high
end (loudness button) my earlier mixes got too harsh, because my old monitors were over"exciting" the high end.

also the opals are not that expensive compared to high class 3 way systems.

 

[Charlie E.]

Personally I use Genelec's and love em but I've heard great things about the Opal's.

 

[lolzgreg]

Danny, I had no ideas you had the Opals. I know Ermz swears by them, and I expect him to show up in this thread, but I've also heard some poor things about quality, and a lack of midrange (which some people attribute to other monitors being OVERWHELMING in the midrange).

 

[dcb]

id say the mid range is really defined (for my taste)
they might not be ns 10s though. i now use a little phillips boom box (checking the midrange on small speakers is crucial for a great mix) + some very cheap esi near speakers that have no low end at all thats very revealing.
if all your energy lies in the lows / sublows, your mix will 1. not be very loud when mastered 2. sound very unexciting on small systems. id say there is no perfect monitor, you just have to know how to use them and also always switch between at least 2 systems. if you know your monitors, no need to switch all the time. but i think it needs at least some month to learn new monitors.

 

[crillemannen]

I haven't heard the Opals but i will for sure try them and buy them if they sound as good as they are hyped. They seems to be the monitors that are being talked about the most. You can go the Barefoot/Klein+Hummel but it will cost you soo much more.

What is your budget?? If you can afford the Klein+Hummel o300 you should demo both them and the Opals


Report back man!!!

 

[lolzgreg]

Barefoots are way out of my range. I've heard from some VERY seasoned ears that they, indeed, have a hole in the midrange.

I've heard great things about those Klein+Hummels as well, but I've also heard the Opals are superior.

 

[crillemannen]

I've heard great things about those Klein+Hummels as well, but I've also heard the Opals are superior.

Superior i think not. They sound different, some may prefer the Opals when other prefer K+H. But as i said you you can afford the K+H you should Demo both.

 

[MetalSound]

you can´t go wrong with genelecs. the 1031/1032 are the 5150´s of monitoring.

 

[dcb]

greg : if you can maybe try out some ns 10s, thats something i will go for in the near future.
i met a high high class mixing engineer last month (pink, kelly clarkson, madonna) and he showed me his ns 10s. they are midrangey as fuck ;-) - he combines them with far field genelecs. i think if you really wanna step up, get 2 systems, a cheap middy one and a great full range mid field. for me that would be opals + ns 10 ;-)

btw. what are you mixing on at the moment ? still on headphones?

 

[Mikaël-ange]

From what I hear from user:

Opal
KH0300
Adam s3x-h
Barefoot mm27

Different flavour but same leage imo
That with some midrange focused monitor and you would be ready to rock

 

[crillemannen]

From what I hear from user:

Opal
KH0300
Adam s3x-h
Barefoot mm27

Different flavour but same leage imo
That with some midrange focused monitor and you would be ready to rock

Yeah those are the most intresting monitors!!!

But both the Adam's and the K+H are way more expensive then the Opals. So if you can get something that sounds just as good for a couple of $k less, what would you choose ???

 

[arv_foh]

Genelec 1032A

 

[barricade]

I would wait with the Adam a8x ... there is still no review out or i didn't find any.. but i would love to have them. I will actually sell my Adam's a7 and buy the Adam a8x if they will be ql!

 

[AEL89]

The new Adams look great - I'm considering a set of A8Xs. I had been tempted by the A7s but the 7 inch woofer put me off. The new model has an 8.5 inch woofer and so a much deeper and, apparently, deeper bass response.

Let us know what you end up going for dude!

 

[Mikaël-ange]

Yeah those are the most intresting monitors!!!

But both the Adam's and the K+H are way more expensive then the Opals. So if you can get something that sounds just as good for a couple of less, what would you choose ???

Great question but I don't really know
Looking around used market would be your best choice for that (something like genelec 1031/32, I thinking about this actually).
But the main point about monitoring are: know how your monitor translate in outside world.

 

[gabriel g.]

greg : if you can maybe try out some ns 10s, thats something i will go for in the near future.
i met a high high class mixing engineer last month (pink, kelly clarkson, madonna) and he showed me his ns 10s. they are midrangey as fuck ;-) - he combines them with far field genelecs. i think if you really wanna step up, get 2 systems, a cheap middy one and a great full range mid field. for me that would be opals + ns 10 ;-)

btw. what are you mixing on at the moment ? still on headphones?

Good call!!!
But you dont need the ns10 anymore, they are so overpriced, its unbelievable!!!
I made a big shootout once I had the money to buy real pro monitors.
I tested all kind of stuff all with 8" woofer (Adams, Genelecs, Yamahas, KRK.....) at the end I chose the Yamaha 80M. they sounded the most balanced with a clear midrange, which is very very important for guitars and vocals (also the midrange is the thing every speaker from poor boom-box to high-class stereo will stranslate)

So my vote would be the very neutral yamaha 80m.
And a second setup with a sub.
Like the KLEIN+HUMMEL O 110D AKTIV MONITOR with the yamaha sub.

 

[gabriel g.]

We have the high-class ADAM P11 at college and they totaly sound LIKE SHIT!!!!!!!!

We also did a blind shootout between the Yamaha hs50 and the ADAM P11 and the yamaha totaly won....
We heard some traffic noise, while on the yamaha you totaly saw a street in your inner-eye, on the P11 you saw an airplain flying by

also the voice translation was way better on the yamahas

P11 are great for enjoying music, but not for mixing IMHO

 

[crillemannen]

Lets keep it to High end monitors in this thread guys (although i like my yamaha hs80)

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Have you tried the Genelec 8050's? I've worked with them quite a lot and I really enjoy them. Same pricerange as the Opals, too. I'd really like to do an A/B test between the 8050's and Opals, but seems Event is a pretty rare brand around here.

there is a switch on the opals
when your monitors stand right next to a wall that reduces low end. pretty handy.

Pretty much every reasonable monitor model has these features