Thread are small monitors a good buy?

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hookedonpigtronix

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1 Posted on 10/24/2014 at 03:22:59

Hi all,

I'm going to get one monitor in the next couple weeks and another about a month later. I've been told the A3x are great monitors but that their lows are lacking compared to bigger monitors.

I will get an adam sub in May, but in the meantime, is the a3x still a good enough monitor to mix with? Would any of you recommend something else?

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Mike Levine

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2 Posted on 10/24/2014 at 05:40:13

Those are quality monitors, and should do a pretty good job for you before you get your sub. Since you won't be able to hear everything that's going on in the very low frequencies, you'll want to check your mixes on systems with larger speakers to make sure the bottom end is where you want it. I would also recommend A/Bing your mixes (check out this article https://en.audiofanzine.com/getting-started/editorial/articles/improve-your-mix-with-a-b-referencing-part-1.html) with similar types of songs. Although you'll be still be listening to both on your A3Xs, it will help to compare the mixes sonically. That will be helpful for not only the lows, but the mids and highs as well, and will help clue you into any acoustical weirdness going on in your studio.

mr motown

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3 Posted on 10/25/2014 at 03:22:32

Quote from hookedonpigtronix:

Hi all,

I'm going to get one monitor in the next couple weeks and another about a month later. I've been told the A3x are great monitors but that their lows are lacking compared to bigger monitors.

I will get an adam sub in May, but in the meantime, is the a3x still a good enough monitor to mix with? Would any of you recommend something else?

It's a tough question to ask without knowing your studio size and other info. Update us on your room size and if you've already had any treatment done. Couple things to note:

the A3Xs aren't magnetically shielded, so be careful when placing them near things like hard drives
each speaker has a meager 50w. for a well-treated 800 cu. ft. room, it should be sufficient, but for a larger room than that, you'd probably need larger monitors
while they sound admittedly fantastic, you're really going to miss the sub (while you still need one) as the A3Xs bottom out at around 78 Hz (-3dB) and 60Hz (-10dB). All the 50Khz top end is unusable bullshit anyway unless you plan on recording whale songs

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