Setup for Adam A7 monitors

[buzzman]

HI guys, I've planned to buy a pair of Adam A7 monitors next month, and the stuff i need to make it work properly. So here's another n00b question for you I've read that i need a DAC for correct sound with them? So my M-audio audiophile usb isn't good enough? The manual doesn't say anything about it being digital to analog converter.

So, I need something with a XLR connection output, a mixer or what? It says the adam's is ballanced with XLR and unballanced with phono connection, I don't know what to do or buy

[Veracohr]

The Audiophile USB has RCA analog outputs, right? The A7's have an RCA input (that's the unbalanced input), so you're good to go.

 

The Audiophile USB has DAC's, that's why there's analog outputs.

[buzzman]

The Audiophile USB has RCA analog outputs, right? The A7's have an RCA input (that's the unbalanced input), so you're good to go.

 

The Audiophile USB has DAC's, that's why there's analog outputs.

Thanks for your answer

 

Okay cool, yes it has RCA. But the adams are unballanced with that connection? Don't really know what that means, I just thought the XLR ballanced was better? (Ballanced conpared to unballanced sounds like it's better )

[Veracohr]

Thanks for your answer

 

Okay cool, yes it has RCA. But the adams are unballanced with that connection? Don't really know what that means, I just thought the XLR ballanced was better? (Ballanced conpared to unballanced sounds like it's better )

RCA connections are inherently unbalanced. A balanced signal requires three wires: two for the signal (180 degrees out of phase with each other) and one neutral. Unbalanced signals only require two wires: one for the signal and one neutral. XLR connections, since they have three wires, can be used for either one-channel balanced signals (like the input to the A7's), or two channels of unbalanced signals.

 

Balanced connections are better for reducing RFI and other externally-produced noise in the signal. That's the only purpose. Noise that is introduced into the signal during transmission will be the same across both signals. A balanced input goes into a differential amp, which amplifies the difference between two signals. Since the two signals being transmitted are 180 degrees out of phase (one swings up while the other swings down, exactly opposite of each other), the output of the differential amp will be the original signal (the difference between the two opposite signals), but the noise introduced during transmission will be in phase in both of the signals, so it is NOT amplified. This is why one of the specs you will see associated with amplifiers is CMRR, Common Mode Rejection Ratio. It's a ratio of how much a differential amp will amplify the difference to the amount it amplifies a common signal.

 

If you have a short run from your mixer or converter to the monitors, it probably won't be a problem.

[buzzman]

RCA connections are inherently unbalanced. A balanced signal requires three wires: two for the signal (180 degrees out of phase with each other) and one neutral. Unbalanced signals only require two wires: one for the signal and one neutral. XLR connections, since they have three wires, can be used for either one-channel balanced signals (like the input to the A7's), or two channels of unbalanced signals.

 

Balanced connections are better for reducing RFI and other externally-produced noise in the signal. That's the only purpose. Noise that is introduced into the signal during transmission will be the same across both signals. A balanced input goes into a differential amp, which amplifies the difference between two signals. Since the two signals being transmitted are 180 degrees out of phase (one swings up while the other swings down, exactly opposite of each other), the output of the differential amp will be the original signal (the difference between the two opposite signals), but the noise introduced during transmission will be in phase in both of the signals, so it is NOT amplified. This is why one of the specs you will see associated with amplifiers is CMRR, Common Mode Rejection Ratio. It's a ratio of how much a differential amp will amplify the difference to the amount it amplifies a common signal.

 

If you have a short run from your mixer or converter to the monitors, it probably won't be a problem.

Hehe I think I need to do some studying on all this... But thanks for your help mayn, I understand now I noticed you had a pair of A7's as well, are you satisfied with yours? Compared to other monitors you've heard in the same price range?

[Veracohr]

Hehe I think I need to do some studying on all this...

Don't worry about it, you don't really need to know as much as I explained. Just know that balanced=less noise.

 

I noticed you had a pair of A7's as well, are you satisfied with yours? Compared to other monitors you've heard in the same price range?

I love my A7's! I haven't really heard much else in the same range, though. When I got them, I think I compared them to a pair of Dynaudio's in the same price range, but I pretty much went in with the intention of getting the A7's, so I'm sure I didn't really give them the listen they probably deserve. Before that, it had been years since I'd heard anything better than my old Alesis monitors, so I didn't really have a good frame of reference.

 

But yeah, I'm satisfied with them. I wouldn't be surprised if, sometime in the future when I can upgrade, I stay with ADAM.

[buzzman]

Don't worry about it, you don't really need to know as much as I explained. Just know that balanced=less noise.

 

 

 

I love my A7's! I haven't really heard much else in the same range, though. When I got them, I think I compared them to a pair of Dynaudio's in the same price range, but I pretty much went in with the intention of getting the A7's, so I'm sure I didn't really give them the listen they probably deserve. Before that, it had been years since I'd heard anything better than my old Alesis monitors, so I didn't really have a good frame of reference.

 

But yeah, I'm satisfied with them. I wouldn't be surprised if, sometime in the future when I can upgrade, I stay with ADAM.

Cool, heard great things about adam as well I listened to the A7'w down in a store, he wanted to sell me the KRK VXT6, so I asked him to compare them... The diskant was MUCH more clear on the adam's... But it's the lower frequencies i'm worried about, read several times they are a little week in the "bass department"

 

Since you seem like you have a pretty good understanding in how this works, I noticed the frequency range being 46hz-35khz... They don't reproduce a correct signal at the sub freqs then? And they go much higher than, for example the VXT6's that only goes to 23khz as far as I recall... But we can't hear freq's over 20khz so why even bother make them go so high? Don't really understand

[fluffymushi]

Since you seem like you have a pretty good understanding in how this works, I noticed the frequency range being 46hz-35khz... They don't reproduce a correct signal at the sub freqs then? And they go much higher than, for example the VXT6's that only goes to 23khz as far as I recall... But we can't hear freq's over 20khz so why even bother make them go so high? Don't really understand

you can program dog-whistles on them.

[needle ninja]

you can program dog-whistles on them.

Aren't we cute

 

We cannot consciously disern fequencies above 20kHz that is true, but we do notice a difference.

When soundwaves bounce they produce subfrequencies in different ranges so the higher frequenceis get deflected and produce sets of waves in different frequencys, some of which we can hear.

I probably didn't do a very good job explaining this, but it is complicated.

 

The best way to know the difference is to A-B two sets of speakers with differing frequency responces.

[Veracohr]

Cool, heard great things about adam as well I listened to the A7'w down in a store, he wanted to sell me the KRK VXT6, so I asked him to compare them... The diskant was MUCH more clear on the adam's... But it's the lower frequencies i'm worried about, read several times they are a little week in the "bass department"

 

Since you seem like you have a pretty good understanding in how this works, I noticed the frequency range being 46hz-35khz... They don't reproduce a correct signal at the sub freqs then?

It's true they don't extend as low as some monitors, but there's a few things to consider:

1. Do you really need them to? Are you going to be making bowel-shaking basslines in the line of hip hop or drum & bass? If not, you probably don't need frequencies that low in your music, so you'd be better off filtering them out anyway for a cleaner mix. The A7's are nearfield monitors; nearfields aren't intended to be your all-encompassing magical monitors. If you want extended low frequency reproduction, you have to step up to midfield or main monitors, like ADAM's S series, for quite a bit more money. You should always be checking your mix on multiple playback systems. I have a pair of headphones that are good for checking low frequencies.

2. Unless you've spent thousands of dollars on room construction and/or acoustic treatment for your studio, your room will likely do more damage to the low frequencies that are played back than the monitors. Low frequency reflections are not super-easy to control, especially not without knowledge.

3. The A7's may not extend as low as other monitors of the same size, but what they reproduce in the lowest octave is often better than other monitors, because of a good woofer design. The woofers are made of a carbon composite material, as opposed to the paper most monitors woofers are made from. Paper woofers distort more easily on low frequencies, so with ADAM monitors you have tighter and more accurate low end.

 

That last one was me repeating what was told to me when I asked the exact same question at Harmony Central before I bought mine. And I found it to be absolutely true.

 

And they go much higher than, for example the VXT6's that only goes to 23khz as far as I recall... But we can't hear freq's over 20khz so why even bother make them go so high? Don't really understand

There's still argument about the effect (or lack thereof) of frequencies higher than 20kHz. Some believe as needle ninja's post, others say "no, there's absolutely no perception of frequencies above 20kHz directly or indirectly". And for that matter, even 20kHz is too high for some to hear. I'm not really sure where my opinion lies, I don't know enough to really make a decision.

 

So either the ADAM engineers believe frequencies above 20kHz DO play a part in our perception of sound, or they use it as a marketing point for those who do believe.

 

Also, if you're using a sample rate of 44.1kHz, you're limited to frequencies up to 22.05kHz. Although I think the anti-aliasing lowpass filter is even lower than that, I just can't remember exactly where right now. So anything above that requires a higher sample rate. I've never looked into it, but I'd be surprised if many hardware synths could produce frequencies higher than that; there are physical limitations of frequency with circuits, and to stretch those limitations much would probably make synths prohibitively expensive.

[buzzman]

It's true they don't extend as low as some monitors, but there's a few things to consider:

1. Do you really need them to? Are you going to be making bowel-shaking basslines in the line of hip hop or drum & bass? If not, you probably don't need frequencies that low in your music, so you'd be better off filtering them out anyway for a cleaner mix. The A7's are nearfield monitors; nearfields aren't intended to be your all-encompassing magical monitors. If you want extended low frequency reproduction, you have to step up to midfield or main monitors, like ADAM's S series, for quite a bit more money. You should always be checking your mix on multiple playback systems. I have a pair of headphones that are good for checking low frequencies.

2. Unless you've spent thousands of dollars on room construction and/or acoustic treatment for your studio, your room will likely do more damage to the low frequencies that are played back than the monitors. Low frequency reflections are not super-easy to control, especially not without knowledge.

3. The A7's may not extend as low as other monitors of the same size, but what they reproduce in the lowest octave is often better than other monitors, because of a good woofer design. The woofers are made of a carbon composite material, as opposed to the paper most monitors woofers are made from. Paper woofers distort more easily on low frequencies, so with ADAM monitors you have tighter and more accurate low end.

 

That last one was me repeating what was told to me when I asked the exact same question at Harmony Central before I bought mine. And I found it to be absolutely true.

 

 

 

There's still argument about the effect (or lack thereof) of frequencies higher than 20kHz. Some believe as needle ninja's post, others say "no, there's absolutely no perception of frequencies above 20kHz directly or indirectly". And for that matter, even 20kHz is too high for some to hear. I'm not really sure where my opinion lies, I don't know enough to really make a decision.

 

So either the ADAM engineers believe frequencies above 20kHz DO play a part in our perception of sound, or they use it as a marketing point for those who do believe.

 

Also, if you're using a sample rate of 44.1kHz, you're limited to frequencies up to 22.05kHz. Although I think the anti-aliasing lowpass filter is even lower than that, I just can't remember exactly where right now. So anything above that requires a higher sample rate. I've never looked into it, but I'd be surprised if many hardware synths could produce frequencies higher than that; there are physical limitations of frequency with circuits, and to stretch those limitations much would probably make synths prohibitively expensive.

Cool man, thanks for the heads up

[maxime999]

Cool, heard great things about adam as well I listened to the A7'w down in a store, he wanted to sell me the KRK VXT6, so I asked him to compare them... The diskant was MUCH more clear on the adam's... But it's the lower frequencies i'm worried about, read several times they are a little week in the "bass department"

 

Since you seem like you have a pretty good understanding in how this works, I noticed the frequency range being 46hz-35khz... They don't reproduce a correct signal at the sub freqs then? And they go much higher than, for example the VXT6's that only goes to 23khz as far as I recall... But we can't hear freq's over 20khz so why even bother make them go so high? Don't really understand

I have a pair of Adam A7, and it's true it doesn't go very low and the basses aren't mad loud. But they are very clear, clean and present. You'll have to get used to it. You might mix the bass too loud at the beginning, but if you compare with other sound system, you'll get used to how much bass you need to put.

 

And I'm very happy with them

[buzzman]

I have a pair of Adam A7, and it's true it doesn't go very low and the basses aren't mad loud. But they are very clear, clean and present. You'll have to get used to it. You might mix the bass too loud at the beginning, but if you compare with other sound system, you'll get used to how much bass you need to put.

 

And I'm very happy with them

Got them yesterday, so far VERY pleased It's actually cool the bass isn't stronger (I'll bet my nabours agree on that ) I like that it's the mid/high that is in focus, they have extremely good "dynamics"(sorry if I'm using the wrong term, I'm not really into the whole tech-talk thingy) compared to other monitors I've heard in the same price range (not that I've heard that many speakers)