Subwoofer or not?

[KlockerBen]

Hi guys,

Lately I was thinking that my speakers didn't give enough bass (Adam a5x) so I tried to boost the low shelf on the back and this gave it indeed a better sound in my opinion. Now my question is will this affect my mix and does this give a false representation of the sound? Also what do you guys think about a subwoofer?

[Lost to the Void]

Unless you have a treated or neutral-ish room, it will more than likely cause more trouble than help.

I would sell the Adams and get some monitors with a 6 or 7 inch driver for the lows. (8 inch is a little large for 2 way in my opinion)

[Alume]

Subwoofer is asking for problems man. I've tried. I'd recommend a7x's, enough bass in those babies.

[Alume]

Steve beat me to it. What he said:)

[KlockerBen]

Thanks guys, anyone that has experience with the Adam A7X ones?

[Alume]

I have them and i love em. Really nice speakers.

[AxeD]

I would generally not recommend 2-way speakers with ribbon tweeters, but I've
heard Adam managed to compensate for the lacking low-mid quite well.

How much did you turn up the low end?

[Lost to the Void]

I would generally not recommend 2-way speakers with ribbon tweeters, but I've
heard Adam managed to compensate for the lacking low-mid quite well.

How much did you turn up the low end?

Your fine with 7 inch drivers and ribbon tweaters, anything beyond that and the low mids lose clarity.

[KlockerBen]

@Axed I turned the bass of both speakers up by 3-4 db. Do you guys think that's to much because in my opinion they sound better now.

[Alume]

Listen to an artist you like as reference. Then listen how the bass sounds with his tracks.

[AxeD]

I would generally not recommend 2-way speakers with ribbon tweeters, but I've
heard Adam managed to compensate for the lacking low-mid quite well.

How much did you turn up the low end?

Your fine with 7 inch drivers and ribbon tweaters, anything beyond that and the low mids lose clarity.

That makes sense.

I think you might get away with just turning the bass up by that amount tbh.
Shouldn't present any issues. Might make your tracks sound more #turntup

[Ranstedt]

No subwoofer.

Just get a nice pair of monitors with good low end. And a nice pair of small monitors for the mids and highs. On the cheap you could get a pair of Yamaha HS8's or HS7 + a pair of Equator D5's or something small by Sonodyne / Focal / etc.

A pair of headphones for the lows is also a good choice. A small monitor such as the Equator D5 + good headphones (for low end) is a nice combo.

You could keep your A5X and introduce I nice pair of cans such as the Focal Spirit Pro which will let you know what's going on in the low end. Even if you already have great monitors for low end, the headphones would still be a wise investment since you don't have to worry about the characteristics of your room coming into play and you can use the cans to zoom in on the audio and find and fix problems a little easier.

[KlockerBen]

Yeah was thinking of getting a beyerdynamic one

[Barfunkel]

I vote for no subwoofer too. While they are (obviously) great in a club setting where you need the pronounced bass, they can be really problematic in the studio. Most rooms don't have good acoustics for loud bass, so the problem they solve can bring out a whole bunch of new problems.

That, and I rarely hear a speaker/sub combo that sounds great. The bass from the sub often sounds detached from the sounds coming from the speakers and cheap-ish subs tend to have this annoying tone to them, they produce loud bass yes but they don't produce loud DEEP bass very well, resulting in a tone that's not pleasing to the ears, because the frequencies at the higher bass range are exaggarated, instead of smooth, low bass.

Many studio monitors are also VERY capable of producing loud bass sounds already. A friend of mine has a pair of Yamaha HS8's. About 500€ and they produce all the bass most producers are ever going to need. Especially for techno, that usually doesn't have those super low frequency basslines like d&b or dubstep has.

[KlockerBen]

Thank you guys, all advices were useful. Now I'm really sure that I'm not gonna get a subwoofer but a new pair of headphones. Anyone that has suggestions for headphones? Checked the focus rite ones out but they are bit pricey though...

[KlockerBen]

I mean the focal's

[Mono-xID]

I used Beyerdynamic DT 990 and upgraded to the Focal Spirit Pro's two weeks ago. I still have to get used to them more but these are some really good cans. Highly recommended.

[KlockerBen]

You think they are better then the beyerdynamic ones?

[msl]

I'm looking to get new ones soon, what about this issue of them being uncomfortable on the ears?

I used Beyerdynamic DT 990 and upgraded to the Focal Spirit Pro's two weeks ago. I still have to get used to them more but these are some really good cans. Highly recommended.

[Ranstedt]

I'm looking to get new ones soon, what about this issue of them being uncomfortable on the ears?

It's a real concern.

Obviously depends on the size of your head / ears but many people have complained about the small cup size and the headband caliper pressure. Some people claim to get headaches during longer sessions. You really don't know how they'll feel until you try them for yourselves. YMMV

I hope to get a pair soon, too. I'm worried how they'll fit though.

Here's some reviews in case you haven't seen them already:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/tw ... it-classic
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan14/a ... spirit.htm
http://en.audiofanzine.com/studio-headp ... pirit.html