I bought the Adam Audio S3V monitors for home listening. After going through a "crossover upgrade" on a set of B&W passive monitors, which took me over 60 hours to complete (making my own circuit boards, which is way out of my comfort zone), I lost trust in any consumer-grade speakers. Yes, the upgrade improved the sound significantly, but I shouldn't be putting all my precious spare time into fixing other peoples' work. I did several weeks of research on pro audio monitors, and when I saw a pair of S3V monitors on sale for $4500 at my local Guitar Center, I couldn't resist. These are incredible-sounding speakers! I never thought I'd own a pair of speakers that actually have the clarity of high-end headphones, but provide the full-bodied experience of speakers that sound much larger than they actually are. It looks like my "audiophile journey" ended abruptly, but man am I saving a lot of time!
Yo, if your doing home listening, dont get monitors, get hi-fi speakers. Monitors have a couple of features that make them extremely well suited to audio production but poor choices for loungerooms. The big one is that monitors are near field. That means they are tuned specifically to focus the balance of bass mid and high aproximately 4 feet in front of them, that is where you would be listening if you where doing a mix down. But outside the "flame" area those frequencies start falling out of phase and start sounding muddy and just not good. Secondly they are built for accuracy, not listening pleasure. Music when released tends to be Mastered, which specifically 'tunes' the frequency range to sound best on consumer speakers where (to quote the late great frank zappa) "teenagers turn every knob up to 10". If you listen to these on completely accurate speakers you will not get the audio as intended by the mastering engineer, you'll get something off. In the music production process the "accurate" mix is whats listened to on the monitors, but once this is done its sent to the mastering engineer who remixes the EQ to sound optimal on hi-fi speakers. This is *especially* noticable on Vinyl where the mastering applies the "RIAA" curve, an EQing system designed to avoid damaging the needle of the record, which in turn is given an inverse-curve EQing by the pre-amp in the vinyl player. After all this, the end result is intended to be an EQ and compression regime designed to be listened to on conventional HI-FI speakers. Theres a reason why the NS10s which where released in the 1970s as home listening speakers but quickly became famous as sounding "Bad" are now considered the ultimate audio production speakers. Yamaha had clumsily built near-field speakers for home listening without considering that almost nobody listens to music in the near-field except audio engineers. My recomendation is to buy high end hi-fi speakers, not monitors, if you want to hear that music the way the artist and the mix engineer intended.
@shayneoneill1506 That's why I got "midfield monitors", which have none of the tradeoffs you claimed. If what you claim is true that a "mastering engineer" manipulates the sound to something else, which is supposed to sound better on "hifi speakers", which hifi speaker is he tuning the sound to? What exactly are the mixing engineer's intentions, here? As you are well aware, "hifi" speakers have sound that is all over the map. This makes the guessing game as to which speakers to buy even that much more difficult. All the more reason to choose a neutral speaker. I say, "when in doubt, choose accuracy", because you can then EQ and room-compensate the sound to whatever you want, and many studio monitors have room compensation software built-in. If you are arguing against "choose accuracy", then please explain to me, and all of us, as to why there is no debate or discussion around "sweet sounding microphones" or "choosing the microphone that sounds the best"? Why isn't there a "vacuum tube mic" that would really, really gives you that warm-as-diarrhea tube amp sound? I'll answer your question: no one wants to color the sound coming from the musicians - microphones are all about transducing the sound as accurately as possible. The same goes for speakers - they are merely transducers. I'm glad I'm no longer "chasing my tail" on an "audiophile journey" to seek out that magic "compatibility" between electronics and speakers - it is already taken care of for me. You can go and keep promoting the whole vintage mentality and keep the economy stimulated, but powered monitors, and especially studio monitors, are the wave of the future. There's no messing around. And frankly, many of us have other hobbies and really don't have time for playing games on some "journey".
@@shayneoneill1506 Mixing a song is blending the tracks together mastering is balancing the sonic elements of the song this has nothing to do with how it will sound on the listeners speakers. BTW i have a degree in music theory and am a music producer, singer and songwriter.
@@shayneoneill1506 Adam's a little different, they sound more HiFi-ish, less beamy, less sharp. I'd also like to dispute the notion that monitors are "completely accurate", they tend to be more tuned to be revealing of common mishaps, to the detriment of many other traits.
I can’t recommend sonarworks enough for those wondering. You truly don’t know how good your speakers sound until you calibrate them to your room. Super easy and made a big difference.
Before you start using it it is is definitely worth having a listen to what Streaky or Rick Rubin have to say about it. I personally would not rush out to buy it.
When adding a sub to your monitoring setup and activating the crossover your essentially turning your speakers from a 2way to 3way so now you can deal with the midrange frequencies…. That is the option i went for its cheap but effective. I paird my hs5 monitors with a presonus sub 😊
I dont even know how your comment got some likes...clearly there are many people here that dont know anything about speakers and frequency ... a sub is a sub ...you cant just make a sub driver be your woofer and a woofer be your midrange driver...what you said is wrong. you get studio monitors to have flattest sound possible
@@Akalipt0s I mean, if you get a sub to deal with the lowest two octaves 25-50Hz, and then 50-100Hz which the woofer would normally still take care of , the midrange will be displayed more neutrally as there's not as much low frequency content to blur it. But of course, it's still not the same.
@@hannes1734 well, not really. In the range of maximum loudness of the speaker you are "right". If you are feeding it with normal loudness levels not really.
I agree. As a musician I worked in a lot of different studio's with different budgets. Some were the more upgraded "home studio's", where other were in million dollar studio's, with even better speakers, so you can't compare it budget wise (also technician wise, but that is another story). If you can pay it, no problem. Bust mostly it are people with a limited budget who want to make decent (home studio) recordings with limited budget. They have to find out which works best for them, although it are better sounding speakers. But if the input is crap the output will be crap too, even with better speakers, So I would spend some more on mics if i'm on a budget (if you need them), but that's my opinion. You can always upgrade to better gear.
@@BeeDotEee standing waves are dependent on the dimensions of the room and the frequency being played. This is typically bass frequencies, although in something like a 3 ft square shower, it can be in the mid frequencies. Yes if you stand in the shower and play the right frequency with your phone you will hear standing waves.
I just bought a pair of the new Adam A7V + Sub8 after trying monitors from Yamaha, JBL, and KRK. My first PC audio setup of studio monitors/subwoofer. Also using a FiiO K9 Pro ESS dac. I've always used passives like the KEF LS50 Meta, powered or integrated amp, powered SVS sub. I'm absolutely thrilled with these Adam speakers. I'm hearing things in my music, gaming, video streaming, etc. that I've never heard before. I love it. Great video, mate! You've got a new subscriber!
I had the A7's in my studio some years ago. They were without a doubt the most REAL sounding speakers I'd EVER heard. If I still had a studio there's NO question I would have to have Adam's again. The mid and highs alone are other level.
I have an old (early 90's) Phillips DVD 5.1 system that was top end at the time. The satellites have ribbon tweeters and the clarity is astonishing. Have been a ribbon tweeter convert ever since I was given this by a friend.
I decided between this Adams, Focal, Hedd Type 20mk2 and Neumann KH310. I went with the Neumanns because of the tight bass response and the flat sound. Perfect for mixing and mastering.
@@martinheinrichs4867 Don‘t know what you trying to say. I upgraded to the Neumann DSP Subwoofer with the Measurement Mic Kit…the sound is absolute fantastic in my studio.
$600 per pair vs $3000 per pair. I'm glad the Adam's performed better! The Adams are a fantastic looking speaker for sure. I'll likely look at them in the future as I hone my skills!
I currently have the Adam Ah8’s monitors and I’ve owned the Yamaha Hs8’s. The Yamaha’s DON’T COME CLOSE to the Adams. The Yamaha’s mask CRITICAL detail in the mid range and severely lags in the lowend. You’ll definitely want a subwoofer with Yamaha’s. Not so with the Adams. The lowend on the Adams is tight and punchy. You’ll definitely hear and feel the gust of air coming from the ports at around 40 hertz. A sub isn’t needed with the Adams. The Yamaha’s are not that accurate… probably around 70%. The Adams are around 97% accurate. The Yamaha’s have a hiss without any audio playing. The Adams are dead silent without any audio playing. The Adams don’t distort at high volume. The Yamaha’s will distort at high volume. The Adams have a better stereo image, clarity, and overall depth. The Adams sound expensive and could easily compete with $5k a pair monitors. The Yamaha’s sound like a pair monitors $700 monitors. The biggest reason you couldn’t hear the difference in this video is most likely because you were listening through Yamaha monitors. The Yamaha Hs8’s are ok. The Adams Ah8’s are exceptional for the price.
Yamahas sound great for about 5 minutes and then you want to walk away… same with those older klipshe and jbls = barf!! I went with the t5v’s and a small sub from kali audio… smooth sound and absolutely stunning for movies!
Meh, those monitors are far enough from eachother to cause problems from the low bass extension, they’re also catching a lot of reflections from the back wall even with the acoustic treatment in spot, the tables the instruments are in are bouncing off the waves, so unless this was a midfield/farfield setup I’d say it’s pointless. If those speakers make much audible noise while on, they’re probably not suitable for nearfields as much as midfields and might respond better at higher volumes too. These cam record/mic recorded comparisons really never make justice to the actual experience of a good setup, where you know where you should be sitting, the farfield setups usually are more like a hifi system that’s meant to fill up every corner with even sound so that you don’t have to worry where you’re sitting to listen as much. But assuming that was all fixed, you should just get a super flat speaker that runs well at your desirable working volume, get as close as possible to them while also letting them sit symmetrically like a triangle with your listening position, and lifted from where it might cause early reflections, and make sure the low end extension covers just enough for the genre you might be going for. You might need a deeper extension for house/techno, and you might not need it at all for jazz/rock genres, it depends on your scope and what elements you need to mix in your music. When things get out of scope, things might fall apart, you might need more physical space to control a bigger console, or the problem might arise from something entirely different, like a whim of creating music without an appealing tonal balance, like bloc party after the first succesful album, they moved sideways to try adding electronic music to rock and failed, and did full circle to classic rock at a time when nobody wanted that sound anymore. Just bring the music you want to replicate to a medium you want others to enjoy listening to. Do enough live demos of monitors until you find the one that feels more neutral to your work environment and that aligns with what you like listening to, including whether or not your focus is on the midrange or on the sub bass, I think you’re better off with a good >400hz response if you’re making music for hifi, and focus on clarity, while you might also be better off pairing up a sub for more general purpose music these days and get a solid low end response for music that people might end up hearing from a marshall woburn III at best. Sound systems are analogous to music, in the sense that some people love to play the same song to a better sound system as much as others love to play other songs to the same familiar sound systems to enjoy, while the studio nerds love listening to sweeps and noise and callibrating just so they can get a more accurate reproduction of things as they are even if it doesn’t sound more exciting to anyone else outside the studio.
Those were my first "studio monitors" as well- 'multimedia speakers' indeed. I'm currently using some Equator Audio D5's hooked up to an SMSL M500, but I'm getting ready to move back to passive speakers. I'll be getting the Topping LA90. I just need to decide on a pair of speakers. I might try making my own from a part-express kit. I really want to play around with super high sensitivity speakers, and unless you're rich, making them yourself is about the only option.
While popular, a popular addage about the Yamaha NS and H series for mixing is that “Yamaha’s have caused more tinnitus than Cheap Trick”. In contrast, the Adams are seriously great studio monitors in terms of both value and sound.
i've had my a7x's for close to a decade now and they're still amazing to me. but due to headphones, i don't use the monitors much, but when i do use them, they're great. maybe i should finally pick up a sub to fill in the missing low end to get excited about them again
I've been using them for three years and paired them with the recommended Sub10 MK2 after a few months. It's a whole different world! If you use them for producing electronic bass-driven genres you'll finally understand your mixes. Make sure though you calibrate the subs volume to the right level and try to treat your room for bass resonances. If they are too strong the sub will just help your feeling, but not your ability to judge the mix in the low end.
I was just visiting an old friend and he showed me his new studio monitors. Oh my God, I can't believe he only paid around €2000 for the pair. I'm really speechless and impressed. I actually wanted to choose between the Neumann KH 310, the Adam A8H and the EVE SC3070 and now I know for sure that these three manufacturers won't be it. The Barefoot Footprint 3 definitely convinced me. Price/performance is unbeatable.
Ives had my HS7’s forever. Great monitors but these have me intrigued. What makes speaker monitors so great for mixing is their flat frequency response. None of that bass boost stuff that you would get from KRK’s. Solid video man. 💯💯
I thought I just discovered a better monitor until the comparesent part. What I love about the HS8'S is the mid range, plus you can hear highs, mids, and the bass separately.
The Yamaha HS series are a very fine standard monitor speakers. Nothing wrong with them. I would keep them and just add another pair most probably Genelec 8020
I've been hearing a lot about ADAM monitors the last few weeks. I'm definitely putting them on the short list to replace (or add to) my good ol' 2007 Rokit 5's.
Kudos to Yamaha, though, for perfecting an entry level speaker SO long ago that they've barely touched it in a decade and a half. Methinks they'd have to do nothing but add in some modern features like the DSP and room adaptation to sound even better for the price.
That is weird, even with good headphones the Yamaha sound better while the Adam kind of boxy. But I guess this is the problem with RUclips compression. I too have some HS8 and I know they are great, but a pair of Neumann (formerly Klein & Hummel) three-way nearfield monitor speaker do sound more transparent. That being said, that owner of the Neumann speakers was baffeled how good the "fairly cheap" Yamaha speaker were.
I bought some Yamaha hs8s and after comparing them with my JBL 305 mk2s I found that they sounded exactly the same. Not a knock to the hs8s but credit to the jbls. Seems where you hear the biggest difference is when you get into the $1k + range. Adding these to my list of potential future upgrades. Ultimately the best monitors are the ones you know.
if they sound the same to you... i hate to tell you your room must suck. JBL's and HS have wildly different sounds lol. The seperation on the HS is far superior and the mids are far more accurate bass much tighter, less boxy/boomy and while the highs arent as silky as some monitors above their price range they are also extremely accurate. Luckily you can use the trim to dial back the highs on them. For some people they get to shrilly if not dialed back. Thats not to say someone cant make a good mix on JBL's. Not at all... but anyone should have far more confidence in how a mix will translate using the HS compared to the JBLs
@@Max-uj4xc Thats completely subjective though. You can say the same thing about a 800 dollar pair and a 2000 dollar pair. That doesnt take away the fact they do infact sound very different. and the yamahas are much more accurate. I owned a pair of JBL's as my secondary and a pair of HS7's as my primary until i replaced the JBL's with Kali's just for playback. Like i said that doesnt mean you cant get good mixes on some JBL's if you know how they are going to translate very well but this is the first time ive seen someone say JBL's and HS sound the same. because they dont.
The problem with Monitors and people wanting to spend more and more money, are that even if you got the more expensive ones, allways, i mean, allways, the room is gonna interfere the sound waves and that is physics. That being so, you are not truly hearing your monitors but your room. I also got in the past JBL monitors and they sound more Hi-fi: impossible to get decent mixes and the amp is so bad that hisses very loud
Oh wow! Even with my old man hearing, I could hear the difference between the A / B test…. through the TV! Wow! 🤩 Makes every other speaker sound so ordinary. Yes, the magic is in the mids. I think David Pensado also mentions this. Great review!
In 2021 i was figuring out if i wanted adam or focal in my studio, ended up going with the focal shape 65 and focal sub One underneath my desk. Best sounding speakers i have had. Used to have the ADAM A8X, but as you said earlier; those monitors felt like they had a mid cut of a bout 4db in comparison to the focal monitors i bought. Pretty expensive, but definetly worth it. Only like 2400usd when i bought them, which can be earned back pretty easily from using em!
I wouldn't recommend rotating the tweeter and using the speaker upright. The mid and the tweeter will give you horizontal comb filtering. It's much more of a pain than the vertical kind. The two chamfered corners are also designed to give less edge diffraction in the horizontal plane and will not have that effect when the speaker is rotated.
Not sure but Yamaha speakers seem to sound better. Adam A8 sound terrible in terms of and im not sure exactly which range but to me either 3-5 khz or 7-9khz. Its not pleasant to listen at all.
Put them on some decent stands and not those wobbly gromits! You'll get a huge improvement by anchoring them properly. Combine that with a room acoustic profile and you'll get the most out of them.
I'm currently mastering over a flip 5 and dt990pro headphones and thinking about to switch to one of these Adam's but i know my gear so good and switching makes everything complete different. But the look of the adams, damn, makes me wanna buy buy buy and obey obey obey 🤑😅
my first speakers i used for music was Logitech z906, they did the job ok but nothing amazing. then i went and got adam t7v and im way more impressed with the clarity and "honesty" of them
Used my Yamahas since 2006, Never need to upgrade. Until I watched this 😂😂😂 One thing I noticed in the comparison is how much more quicker and defined the kick was on the /adam’s sometimes the Yamaha can get a little mushy and blurry with some areas of frequency it’s hard to tell what’s going on.
When buying new nearfield monitors recently i had the opportunity to A/B these against some PMC result6's using reference tracks i know really well. The adams added a substatianal amount of low end to them and were very dark sounding, and also gave uneven low end signal at low volumes. Personally i prefered the pmc's for their clarity and widened sweet spot grille. I hear great things about the adams but this was just my personal experience and would love to hear yours regarding either these adams or pmc result6.
I own a pair of a5s for in my Living room. I did have the class d end-amplifiers updated, but I own those speakers for almost 10 years now. I never owned a pair of speakers for so long without trading it in for something better before. It plays everything from house to opera to acoustic guitar. I must admit that I use a pretty expensive pre amp with tubes to give it a bit more swing. Even outside of a studio setting, Adam is valued.
The way you put the A8H with the twitters inward makes the stereo image quite narrow in comparison to the HS8. Since high frequencies are more directional, place the twitters facing outward would widen you stereo image.
I prefer the Yamaha sound clarity as the high frequencies on the Adam are too sharp it sounds almost distorted. I do agree though that the Adam has more range due to the mid
It's all in the mids. HS8 very scooped and narrow high mids, A8H much fuller more balanced sound. I love my HS8's but this definitely showed their limitations. But they're geat for the money and take an absolute pounding. Great party speakers!!
I wouldn’t turn the tweeter and stand them vertically. With the midrange driver and tweeter mounted side by side will change the timing. The DSP may help correct it but is still not as good as having those two drivers stacked.
Suggestion for you, If you’re looking for something better quality and sound You might try “PSI AUDIO - A25M” I would recommend that if you’re looking for alternatives
Just heard a side by side last week. Yamaha, JBL, M-Audio, KRK and Adam Audio. I'm selling my KRK 5 Gen 4 to get Adama T5V. Those are just ridiculous. Hard to believe something that small puts out that much sound.
They are outstanding indeed; At the moment I'm using a pair of F7 + Sub7 (I'm a bass lover) and before I've got a pair of HS80 + a pair of NS10M Studio (with A100 amp) The NS10M Studio were special, I still miss them!
If you enjoyed this video, make sure you hit that Subscribe button! 🙏🏻
Sure
Kali audio all day
get an actual job!
@@levondarratt787 You first.
Only if you give me the Yamahas🤣🤣🤝🏽
I still use my A3Xs for arround 6 years i love them, perfect fit for my little room without perfect treatment. Adam is the way to go for me.
Tiny but powerful and crisp all the way🔥
I bought the Adam Audio S3V monitors for home listening. After going through a "crossover upgrade" on a set of B&W passive monitors, which took me over 60 hours to complete (making my own circuit boards, which is way out of my comfort zone), I lost trust in any consumer-grade speakers. Yes, the upgrade improved the sound significantly, but I shouldn't be putting all my precious spare time into fixing other peoples' work. I did several weeks of research on pro audio monitors, and when I saw a pair of S3V monitors on sale for $4500 at my local Guitar Center, I couldn't resist. These are incredible-sounding speakers! I never thought I'd own a pair of speakers that actually have the clarity of high-end headphones, but provide the full-bodied experience of speakers that sound much larger than they actually are. It looks like my "audiophile journey" ended abruptly, but man am I saving a lot of time!
Yo, if your doing home listening, dont get monitors, get hi-fi speakers. Monitors have a couple of features that make them extremely well suited to audio production but poor choices for loungerooms.
The big one is that monitors are near field. That means they are tuned specifically to focus the balance of bass mid and high aproximately 4 feet in front of them, that is where you would be listening if you where doing a mix down. But outside the "flame" area those frequencies start falling out of phase and start sounding muddy and just not good.
Secondly they are built for accuracy, not listening pleasure. Music when released tends to be Mastered, which specifically 'tunes' the frequency range to sound best on consumer speakers where (to quote the late great frank zappa) "teenagers turn every knob up to 10". If you listen to these on completely accurate speakers you will not get the audio as intended by the mastering engineer, you'll get something off. In the music production process the "accurate" mix is whats listened to on the monitors, but once this is done its sent to the mastering engineer who remixes the EQ to sound optimal on hi-fi speakers. This is *especially* noticable on Vinyl where the mastering applies the "RIAA" curve, an EQing system designed to avoid damaging the needle of the record, which in turn is given an inverse-curve EQing by the pre-amp in the vinyl player. After all this, the end result is intended to be an EQ and compression regime designed to be listened to on conventional HI-FI speakers. Theres a reason why the NS10s which where released in the 1970s as home listening speakers but quickly became famous as sounding "Bad" are now considered the ultimate audio production speakers. Yamaha had clumsily built near-field speakers for home listening without considering that almost nobody listens to music in the near-field except audio engineers.
My recomendation is to buy high end hi-fi speakers, not monitors, if you want to hear that music the way the artist and the mix engineer intended.
@shayneoneill1506 That's why I got "midfield monitors", which have none of the tradeoffs you claimed. If what you claim is true that a "mastering engineer" manipulates the sound to something else, which is supposed to sound better on "hifi speakers", which hifi speaker is he tuning the sound to? What exactly are the mixing engineer's intentions, here? As you are well aware, "hifi" speakers have sound that is all over the map. This makes the guessing game as to which speakers to buy even that much more difficult. All the more reason to choose a neutral speaker. I say, "when in doubt, choose accuracy", because you can then EQ and room-compensate the sound to whatever you want, and many studio monitors have room compensation software built-in. If you are arguing against "choose accuracy", then please explain to me, and all of us, as to why there is no debate or discussion around "sweet sounding microphones" or "choosing the microphone that sounds the best"? Why isn't there a "vacuum tube mic" that would really, really gives you that warm-as-diarrhea tube amp sound? I'll answer your question: no one wants to color the sound coming from the musicians - microphones are all about transducing the sound as accurately as possible. The same goes for speakers - they are merely transducers. I'm glad I'm no longer "chasing my tail" on an "audiophile journey" to seek out that magic "compatibility" between electronics and speakers - it is already taken care of for me. You can go and keep promoting the whole vintage mentality and keep the economy stimulated, but powered monitors, and especially studio monitors, are the wave of the future. There's no messing around. And frankly, many of us have other hobbies and really don't have time for playing games on some "journey".
@@shayneoneill1506 Mixing a song is blending the tracks together mastering is balancing the sonic elements of the song this has nothing to do with how it will sound on the listeners speakers. BTW i have a degree in music theory and am a music producer, singer and songwriter.
@@shayneoneill1506 Adam's a little different, they sound more HiFi-ish, less beamy, less sharp. I'd also like to dispute the notion that monitors are "completely accurate", they tend to be more tuned to be revealing of common mishaps, to the detriment of many other traits.
Great, now I don't even like my Monitors anymore! 🔇
Lmfao stole the words out my head before I could even finish processing that statement
😂 Same here bro I’m even more sad. I have KRK ROKIT 5 G4😂
😄 stop the fomo!
🤣🤣🤣
Classic lol 😆
the way you thumb that tweeter for 5 mintues did something to me.
I can’t recommend sonarworks enough for those wondering. You truly don’t know how good your speakers sound until you calibrate them to your room. Super easy and made a big difference.
It's the best software I ever bought
I heard one mixing pro engineer actually blames acoustic correction software for something it is doing wrong... can't remember what exactly
@@i.shadrin probably phase shift on bass. that's why it's got an on and off button
Sonarworks is great but only if u are 100% in the box, analog outboard gear can struggle with Sonarworks due to wiring and signal chain!
Before you start using it it is is definitely worth having a listen to what Streaky or Rick Rubin have to say about it. I personally would not rush out to buy it.
When adding a sub to your monitoring setup and activating the crossover your essentially turning your speakers from a 2way to 3way so now you can deal with the midrange frequencies…. That is the option i went for its cheap but effective.
I paird my hs5 monitors with a presonus sub 😊
sorry to disappoint you, but this is not even close to be comparable to a 3-way speaker... 🥴
I mean, yes, it's a 3-way system, but the crossover frequencies are vastly different. You're not gonna cross over a subwoofer at 800 Hz for example
I dont even know how your comment got some likes...clearly there are many people here that dont know anything about speakers and frequency ... a sub is a sub ...you cant just make a sub driver be your woofer and a woofer be your midrange driver...what you said is wrong. you get studio monitors to have flattest sound possible
@@Akalipt0s I mean, if you get a sub to deal with the lowest two octaves 25-50Hz, and then 50-100Hz which the woofer would normally still take care of , the midrange will be displayed more neutrally as there's not as much low frequency content to blur it. But of course, it's still not the same.
@@hannes1734 well, not really. In the range of maximum loudness of the speaker you are "right". If you are feeding it with normal loudness levels not really.
Thank you for displaying the new Adams. I think this comparison is highly unfair. 3k 3-ways vs 700$ 2 ways
I agree. As a musician I worked in a lot of different studio's with different budgets. Some were the more upgraded "home studio's", where other were in million dollar studio's, with even better speakers, so you can't compare it budget wise (also technician wise, but that is another story).
If you can pay it, no problem. Bust mostly it are people with a limited budget who want to make decent (home studio) recordings with limited budget. They have to find out which works best for them, although it are better sounding speakers. But if the input is crap the output will be crap too, even with better speakers, So I would spend some more on mics if i'm on a budget (if you need them), but that's my opinion. You can always upgrade to better gear.
HS8's do get the job done in the end. They also rudely introduced standing waves to many bedroom producers.
@@BeeDotEee standing waves are not dependent on the speaker, they are dependent on the room only
@@grandpixel Have you ever noticed standing waves in any shaped room from your phone's speaker?
@@BeeDotEee standing waves are dependent on the dimensions of the room and the frequency being played. This is typically bass frequencies, although in something like a 3 ft square shower, it can be in the mid frequencies. Yes if you stand in the shower and play the right frequency with your phone you will hear standing waves.
I just bought a pair of the new Adam A7V + Sub8 after trying monitors from Yamaha, JBL, and KRK. My first PC audio setup of studio monitors/subwoofer. Also using a FiiO K9 Pro ESS dac. I've always used passives like the KEF LS50 Meta, powered or integrated amp, powered SVS sub. I'm absolutely thrilled with these Adam speakers. I'm hearing things in my music, gaming, video streaming, etc. that I've never heard before. I love it. Great video, mate! You've got a new subscriber!
What a great combo of monitors + sub you have!! Thanks for watching and subscribing 🙏🏻
how do the a7v compare to the metas?
@@zxSwifty I've owned the original LS50, the wireless LS50 and the Metas. Best way I can describe them is muffled sounding compared to the A7V.
Better than LS50s? Now I really need to hear the Adams. I find the LS50s so detailed and technical. My Focal monitors don’t even compare to them.
For the A7 V you need the sub10 recommended by adam
I had the A7's in my studio some years ago. They were without a doubt the most REAL sounding speakers I'd EVER heard. If I still had a studio there's NO question I would have to have Adam's again. The mid and highs alone are other level.
ah i just want to know why you gave up on your studio aha axD
Have the A7 too, bevore i had the KRK Rokit 6. I love the Adam, the best Monitor. Its a dream! :-)
For the price of $1,500.00 you can get 10 times much more.
Mids? They're literally a mid scooped hellhole
A7V or A8H is more worth it
Wow! The monitors are definitely insane! And you almost at a 100k subs🎉 Keep making the content man🔥🔥
Thanks so much for watching!! 🙏🏻
Adam Audio always has been in my wishlist, I hope one day will get one.
I have an old (early 90's) Phillips DVD 5.1 system that was top end at the time. The satellites have ribbon tweeters and the clarity is astonishing. Have been a ribbon tweeter convert ever since I was given this by a friend.
I decided between this Adams, Focal, Hedd Type 20mk2 and Neumann KH310. I went with the Neumanns because of the tight bass response and the flat sound. Perfect for mixing and mastering.
well tahts an easy decision but u pay multiple the price of the Adams.
@@martinheinrichs4867 Don‘t know what you trying to say. I upgraded to the Neumann DSP Subwoofer with the Measurement Mic Kit…the sound is absolute fantastic in my studio.
$600 per pair vs $3000 per pair. I'm glad the Adam's performed better! The Adams are a fantastic looking speaker for sure. I'll likely look at them in the future as I hone my skills!
Congrats on the new monitors really happy for you.
I recently purchased a pair of Adam A77H, that’s fantastic !
I can imagine they sound great 💪🏻
I too would definitely like to afford the A8H's but from this sound comparison they’re definitely not worth more than 5 times the price in my opinion.
Agreed, what this video really shows is how good the Yamaha HS8 is for the price
I currently have the Adam Ah8’s monitors and I’ve owned the Yamaha Hs8’s. The Yamaha’s DON’T COME CLOSE to the Adams. The Yamaha’s mask CRITICAL detail in the mid range and severely lags in the lowend. You’ll definitely want a subwoofer with Yamaha’s. Not so with the Adams. The lowend on the Adams is tight and punchy. You’ll definitely hear and feel the gust of air coming from the ports at around 40 hertz. A sub isn’t needed with the Adams. The Yamaha’s are not that accurate… probably around 70%. The Adams are around 97% accurate. The Yamaha’s have a hiss without any audio playing. The Adams are dead silent without any audio playing. The Adams don’t distort at high volume. The Yamaha’s will distort at high volume. The Adams have a better stereo image, clarity, and overall depth. The Adams sound expensive and could easily compete with $5k a pair monitors. The Yamaha’s sound like a pair monitors $700 monitors. The biggest reason you couldn’t hear the difference in this video is most likely because you were listening through Yamaha monitors. The Yamaha Hs8’s are ok. The Adams Ah8’s are exceptional for the price.
Yamahas sound great for about 5 minutes and then you want to walk away… same with those older klipshe and jbls = barf!!
I went with the t5v’s and a small sub from kali audio… smooth sound and absolutely stunning for movies!
Meh, those monitors are far enough from eachother to cause problems from the low bass extension, they’re also catching a lot of reflections from the back wall even with the acoustic treatment in spot, the tables the instruments are in are bouncing off the waves, so unless this was a midfield/farfield setup I’d say it’s pointless. If those speakers make much audible noise while on, they’re probably not suitable for nearfields as much as midfields and might respond better at higher volumes too. These cam record/mic recorded comparisons really never make justice to the actual experience of a good setup, where you know where you should be sitting, the farfield setups usually are more like a hifi system that’s meant to fill up every corner with even sound so that you don’t have to worry where you’re sitting to listen as much. But assuming that was all fixed, you should just get a super flat speaker that runs well at your desirable working volume, get as close as possible to them while also letting them sit symmetrically like a triangle with your listening position, and lifted from where it might cause early reflections, and make sure the low end extension covers just enough for the genre you might be going for. You might need a deeper extension for house/techno, and you might not need it at all for jazz/rock genres, it depends on your scope and what elements you need to mix in your music. When things get out of scope, things might fall apart, you might need more physical space to control a bigger console, or the problem might arise from something entirely different, like a whim of creating music without an appealing tonal balance, like bloc party after the first succesful album, they moved sideways to try adding electronic music to rock and failed, and did full circle to classic rock at a time when nobody wanted that sound anymore. Just bring the music you want to replicate to a medium you want others to enjoy listening to. Do enough live demos of monitors until you find the one that feels more neutral to your work environment and that aligns with what you like listening to, including whether or not your focus is on the midrange or on the sub bass, I think you’re better off with a good >400hz response if you’re making music for hifi, and focus on clarity, while you might also be better off pairing up a sub for more general purpose music these days and get a solid low end response for music that people might end up hearing from a marshall woburn III at best. Sound systems are analogous to music, in the sense that some people love to play the same song to a better sound system as much as others love to play other songs to the same familiar sound systems to enjoy, while the studio nerds love listening to sweeps and noise and callibrating just so they can get a more accurate reproduction of things as they are even if it doesn’t sound more exciting to anyone else outside the studio.
I have HS8s with no sub to do final mixes on and A3X's and the 10" T10 sub with footswitch to track and create. Best partnership EVER!!!
Even the difference through the recording is substantial. Impressive.
Adadams are super, had some for years.
I just got the jbl 4312 SE minitors. End game monitors for me but I'm keeping my Yamaha hs8 to AB my sound.
Those were my first "studio monitors" as well- 'multimedia speakers' indeed.
I'm currently using some Equator Audio D5's hooked up to an SMSL M500, but I'm getting ready to move back to passive speakers. I'll be getting the Topping LA90. I just need to decide on a pair of speakers. I might try making my own from a part-express kit. I really want to play around with super high sensitivity speakers, and unless you're rich, making them yourself is about the only option.
While popular, a popular addage about the Yamaha NS and H series for mixing is that “Yamaha’s have caused more tinnitus than Cheap Trick”.
In contrast, the Adams are seriously great studio monitors in terms of both value and sound.
having Tinnitus from years of using the Yamaha's I can confirm this is no joke.
Tbh I got the ADAMs Tv7 cause I heard the ear fatigue was crazy glad I did
try some Genelec speakers ;) they won't let you down!
Adam is absolutely the new industry standard!
I guess is Genelec!
Incorrect, genelec is
A statement that could only be made by someone who hasn’t used Genelec
Kii Threes and ATCs iykyk 💁
only a adam fanboy would say that. adam is done. they are on the last breath. hedd takes over!
simply stunning, looks and sound, one day I'll get these, but for now all I have is the entry model T5V, I'm jealous!
I have the HS8s but always said I'd eventually get a pair of Adams. They're just another level.
Try the Kali In-5's or In-8's, they sound amazing and they are a lot cheaper than the Adams. 😎
I've had these on my wish list for so long!!! Gorgeous monitors.
Moved over to ATC active monitors a while a go, now have 3 pairs with the 50s being my largest ,in diferant locations and never looked back .
very good review 🌠🔎
I still feel the yamaha sound a lot brighter though
Wow... The mid is definitly better! We ear it even on RUclips
The first thing I noticed when I got my Adams is the human voice was so natural and intense. Especially female vocals.
i've had my a7x's for close to a decade now and they're still amazing to me. but due to headphones, i don't use the monitors much, but when i do use them, they're great. maybe i should finally pick up a sub to fill in the missing low end to get excited about them again
I've been using them for three years and paired them with the recommended Sub10 MK2 after a few months. It's a whole different world! If you use them for producing electronic bass-driven genres you'll finally understand your mixes. Make sure though you calibrate the subs volume to the right level and try to treat your room for bass resonances. If they are too strong the sub will just help your feeling, but not your ability to judge the mix in the low end.
Ive been using the AX series (5s and 7s) since they came out. I dont rely on the Adam's for getting a final mix. They sound great though.
@@datapusher- What's your choice then? Genelec The Ones series? :-D I'm interested
those are really excellent clarity.
I got the Adam audio a77hs and sonars works made them shine! It’s like removing a veil from your mixes
I was just visiting an old friend and he showed me his new studio monitors. Oh my God, I can't believe he only paid around €2000 for the pair. I'm really speechless and impressed. I actually wanted to choose between the Neumann KH 310, the Adam A8H and the EVE SC3070 and now I know for sure that these three manufacturers won't be it. The Barefoot Footprint 3 definitely convinced me. Price/performance is unbeatable.
I just picked up a pair of 8" shelf speakers for 20 bucks at a pawn shop they sound awesome .
The new Adam's rule Dude
glad to see the channel on the up, awesome
Thank you so much for your support!! 🙌🏼
Nice review ❤️
I love listening to A-B comparisons on my iPad speakers.
I'm going to major complete system upgrade to my studio next year. These are definitely on my buy list. Thank you!
You should get the kali audio three-way 5 inch monitors they’re really good in my opinion you can hear every crisp detail
dont buy. they are overmarketed... They look great but not great for studio monitoring
Buy genelec and nothing else
Nice one. Next Genelec. 👌
A have older Adam´s studio monitors and still happy after years ;-)
I would say the ADAMs are flatter, and the Yamahas are warmer sounding and have like a +4-6db on the low end. tested with JBL charge 5.
Id like to see you completely mix and master a song on the HS8 then overhaul everything with the A8H's so i can hear the difference
Ives had my HS7’s forever. Great monitors but these have me intrigued. What makes speaker monitors so great for mixing is their flat frequency response. None of that bass boost stuff that you would get from KRK’s. Solid video man. 💯💯
I thought I just discovered a better monitor until the comparesent part. What I love about the HS8'S is the mid range, plus you can hear highs, mids, and the bass separately.
Beautiful Studio Setup Bro ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
First experience seeing your channel with this video, liked and subscribed 👍🏽
Awesome! Thank you!
The Yamaha HS series are a very fine standard monitor speakers. Nothing wrong with them. I would keep them and just add another pair most probably Genelec 8020
I have a pair of T7V and the T10S subwoofer. I'm just a power user/gamer and absolutely satisfied !
Cubase + Adam Speaker = best combination 👍 😉
plus omnisphere 2.5 +VST'S
Adam audio for the win 🏅
Adding that midrange is going to definitely provide a better opportunity for a fuller sound.
I've been hearing a lot about ADAM monitors the last few weeks. I'm definitely putting them on the short list to replace (or add to) my good ol' 2007 Rokit 5's.
I have the Adams audio t8vs, and love them! I couldn't imagine how great these A8Hs sound!
Nice I've had my New Adam A7Vs for a week now Replaced my HS8s I still need to burn them in 👌🏽💯🎬
just purchased a pair of a8h's and they are awesome, thanks for the video.
Kudos to Yamaha, though, for perfecting an entry level speaker SO long ago that they've barely touched it in a decade and a half. Methinks they'd have to do nothing but add in some modern features like the DSP and room adaptation to sound even better for the price.
That is weird, even with good headphones the Yamaha sound better while the Adam kind of boxy. But I guess this is the problem with RUclips compression. I too have some HS8 and I know they are great, but a pair of Neumann (formerly Klein & Hummel) three-way nearfield monitor speaker do sound more transparent. That being said, that owner of the Neumann speakers was baffeled how good the "fairly cheap" Yamaha speaker were.
its not with YT its literally the HS8s are just better
I have a pair of the A77H's, 2 pairs of the T5V , & 2 pairs +1 of T7V for my Dolby Atmos Studio.
They sound amazing!
Hs7 are still my favs
I bought some Yamaha hs8s and after comparing them with my JBL 305 mk2s I found that they sounded exactly the same. Not a knock to the hs8s but credit to the jbls. Seems where you hear the biggest difference is when you get into the $1k + range. Adding these to my list of potential future upgrades. Ultimately the best monitors are the ones you know.
if they sound the same to you... i hate to tell you your room must suck. JBL's and HS have wildly different sounds lol. The seperation on the HS is far superior and the mids are far more accurate bass much tighter, less boxy/boomy and while the highs arent as silky as some monitors above their price range they are also extremely accurate. Luckily you can use the trim to dial back the highs on them. For some people they get to shrilly if not dialed back. Thats not to say someone cant make a good mix on JBL's. Not at all... but anyone should have far more confidence in how a mix will translate using the HS compared to the JBLs
@@jakerain2820 a/b test the two speakers and you’ll see there’s not a $600 difference in sound quality
@@Max-uj4xc Thats completely subjective though. You can say the same thing about a 800 dollar pair and a 2000 dollar pair. That doesnt take away the fact they do infact sound very different. and the yamahas are much more accurate. I owned a pair of JBL's as my secondary and a pair of HS7's as my primary until i replaced the JBL's with Kali's just for playback. Like i said that doesnt mean you cant get good mixes on some JBL's if you know how they are going to translate very well but this is the first time ive seen someone say JBL's and HS sound the same. because they dont.
The problem with Monitors and people wanting to spend more and more money, are that even if you got the more expensive ones, allways, i mean, allways, the room is gonna interfere the sound waves and that is physics. That being so, you are not truly hearing your monitors but your room. I also got in the past JBL monitors and they sound more Hi-fi: impossible to get decent mixes and the amp is so bad that hisses very loud
Wise words. Co-signed !
Oh wow! Even with my old man hearing, I could hear the difference between the A / B test…. through the TV! Wow! 🤩
Makes every other speaker sound so ordinary.
Yes, the magic is in the mids. I think David Pensado also mentions this.
Great review!
Thanks for watching!!
In 2021 i was figuring out if i wanted adam or focal in my studio, ended up going with the focal shape 65 and focal sub One underneath my desk.
Best sounding speakers i have had. Used to have the ADAM A8X, but as you said earlier; those monitors felt like they had a mid cut of a bout 4db in comparison to the focal monitors i bought. Pretty expensive, but definetly worth it. Only like 2400usd when i bought them, which can be earned back pretty easily from using em!
I wouldn't recommend rotating the tweeter and using the speaker upright. The mid and the tweeter will give you horizontal comb filtering. It's much more of a pain than the vertical kind. The two chamfered corners are also designed to give less edge diffraction in the horizontal plane and will not have that effect when the speaker is rotated.
The Adams have a truer purer sounding midrange to my ears.
Not sure but Yamaha speakers seem to sound better.
Adam A8 sound terrible in terms of and im not sure exactly which range but to me either 3-5 khz or 7-9khz. Its not pleasant to listen at all.
Put them on some decent stands and not those wobbly gromits! You'll get a huge improvement by anchoring them properly. Combine that with a room acoustic profile and you'll get the most out of them.
I'm currently mastering over a flip 5 and dt990pro headphones and thinking about to switch to one of these Adam's but i know my gear so good and switching makes everything complete different. But the look of the adams, damn, makes me wanna buy buy buy and obey obey obey 🤑😅
They look sick
my first speakers i used for music was Logitech z906, they did the job ok but nothing amazing. then i went and got adam t7v and im way more impressed with the clarity and "honesty" of them
I have listened all of your tests Yamaha vs Adam and the Yamaha sounds better I have to say. thanks for sharing
Adams look great and sounds great!
The highs sound better on the Yamahas but these Adams sound more pleasing and enjoyable for long listening. I’ll stick to my Yamahas for mixing
I've had enough of the Yamaha HS series. A8H is a great upgrade. Congrats!
Used my Yamahas since 2006, Never need to upgrade. Until I watched this 😂😂😂 One thing I noticed in the comparison is how much more quicker and defined the kick was on the /adam’s sometimes the Yamaha can get a little mushy and blurry with some areas of frequency it’s hard to tell what’s going on.
You should also check out Neumann KH310 if you want to change
When buying new nearfield monitors recently i had the opportunity to A/B these against some PMC result6's using reference tracks i know really well. The adams added a substatianal amount of low end to them and were very dark sounding, and also gave uneven low end signal at low volumes. Personally i prefered the pmc's for their clarity and widened sweet spot grille. I hear great things about the adams but this was just my personal experience and would love to hear yours regarding either these adams or pmc result6.
I own a pair of a5s for in my Living room.
I did have the class d end-amplifiers updated, but I own those speakers for almost 10 years now. I never owned a pair of speakers for so long without trading it in for something better before.
It plays everything from house to opera to acoustic guitar.
I must admit that I use a pretty expensive pre amp with tubes to give it a bit more swing.
Even outside of a studio setting, Adam is valued.
Adams has been my best investment yet!
You should keep your Yamahas and your m audios set up alongside the adams. There’s a reason pro recording studios use multiple sets of speakers.
So ummm ermmm whatcha doing with the HS8's lol Great video by the way!
The way you put the A8H with the twitters inward makes the stereo image quite narrow in comparison to the HS8. Since high frequencies are more directional, place the twitters facing outward would widen you stereo image.
and they still sound better....
Genelec is absolute the best brand out there. My Adams are now TV speakers and Genelecs are in the studio.
Fantastic!! Let Adans to mix and Yamaha for the client! And check the over all master!
What are those isolators? Looks really effective.
So warm! That would help with making clearer sounding stems.
Those look serious. They should make an audiophile version.
I prefer the Yamaha sound clarity as the high frequencies on the Adam are too sharp it sounds almost distorted. I do agree though that the Adam has more range due to the mid
The difference in price is too slim for the mild difference in sound improvement across the range. The HS8 is Pro and the other is Hi end overkill.
It's all in the mids. HS8 very scooped and narrow high mids, A8H much fuller more balanced sound. I love my HS8's but this definitely showed their limitations. But they're geat for the money and take an absolute pounding. Great party speakers!!
I wouldn’t turn the tweeter and stand them vertically. With the midrange driver and tweeter mounted side by side will change the timing. The DSP may help correct it but is still not as good as having those two drivers stacked.
at 4x the price and a mid range twetter ... of course a difference is expected
They look and sound awesome
Suggestion for you,
If you’re looking for something better quality and sound
You might try “PSI AUDIO - A25M”
I would recommend that if you’re looking for alternatives
Just heard a side by side last week. Yamaha, JBL, M-Audio, KRK and Adam Audio. I'm selling my KRK 5 Gen 4 to get Adama T5V. Those are just ridiculous. Hard to believe something that small puts out that much sound.
Add the Kali Audio W6-2…. If you can get the placement right - it has that fast impact like the t5v’s….
They are outstanding indeed; At the moment I'm using a pair of F7 + Sub7 (I'm a bass lover) and before I've got a pair of HS80 + a pair of NS10M Studio (with A100 amp) The NS10M Studio were special, I still miss them!