Adam A8X vs A7X vs KRK VXT-8 Studio Monitor Comparison Test - With Music
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- I wanted to upgrade from my current KRK Rokit 8 Monitors, So, I bought 3 sets of speakers to demo them at my home studio and then to keep one pair and return the others.
- Signal Chain: Playback: Protools through an RME Fireface UFX.
Recording: Neumann U87 to Fireface UFX to Protools.
* The microphone was placed in the sweet spot, pointing right at the middle between the tweeter and the cone of each speakers.
Music from - audionautix.com
The only person who has ANY IDEA what these sounded like during this demo is the guy in the room with them.
This is helpful for me, because i have had A7X for over 5 years now. I know how they sound, and i can tell that i want to try a pair of A8X now. They sound more open than A7X here.
@@rBennich prompt, I think to buy adam a7x, but I need them only for music, still considering
dynaudio lyd 7 what do you say ?
flecher new I can only speak for the A7X. The treble is brilliant, the bass is tight, but they resonate in the low mid in a way that is not very musical. But if you have a dampened studio with diffusors, which i don’t have, they might actually sound perfect. But i’m also currently in the mindset of wanting a bigger and more exciting sound. Something like a pair of Yamaha NS-1000, which i once had and loved.
Consider the size of the A7X. You get tight bass, but not the lowest end. For that you need something bigger. And subwoofers sucks for music, honestly.
@@rBennich focal solo 6 be great speakers, but expensive
If we all noticed about the same thing on each speaker when played from our different speakers, then this review is useful. You can draw a rough conclusion on them
Thank you. I hear a significant difference. It's weird because every manufacturer claims that his monitors sound flat :)
VXT has much better midrange and the clarity of the highs is great
Sell your monitors and buy some acoustic treatment
i'm not so fanatical about acoustic treatment, i think it is partially (at least) marketing. i agree that a room should be treated IF it is unusual, different from average listening rooms and has a special problem. Tell me, do 99.999% people in their houses listen to music in acoustically treated rooms? will an album monitored in an anechoid chamber actually sound better when listened to in typical bedrooms and living rooms? i don't know. i suppose that if a tune sounds good on an untreated studio room, then it probably will sound good the same in a similar listener room. if it sounds awful without panels and bass traps in the studio, how could it then sound any good in a room without those?
I'm not at all saying music recorded in acoustically treated places necessarily sound bad in untreated places, i just think that it takes more work to make it sound good if monitoring takes place in a room too different from the one where the music will be listened to. it takes more experienced engineers for sure in order to record music for listening places which are very different from the monitoring room of the studio. so, basically, a lot of acousting treatment only makes life harder, but help keep studio engineers cost higher.
It's not about marketing. If you have acoustic treatment you hear better what you do. Without acoustic treatment the sound is too muddy to make good decisions.
thats it !@@corinasechelariu1307
@@donpirla Any speaker will sound horrible in an empty non treated room and most of all they give you the wrong information. The room doesn't have to be dampened too much but enough so that they work as intended.
As many commenters have already stated, there are obvious limitations to a listening test like this. Another problem for me was the lack of variety in the music, and the absence of a vocal track. That said, I appreciated the comparison anyway. Like many others, I found the KRK's to be harsh, and A8X's to be the most balanced of the three.
You simply cannot judge the speakers by listen to it when its recorded trough another mic and then listened to with another device. Thats just plain stupid. You have to listen to them with your own ears if you really want to hear if they differ, and what they sound like.
You have a point but you can still hear the difference between the speakers correct ! so not so bad after all !
That's why it's called comparison, so you can hear the diffirence between them. Of course you won't hear exactly how they sound, but if you know how one of these sounds - you can compare to another.
ThereWasNoFreeName No! It doesn't compare ANYTHING! Did you do science at school? Look at the variables in this scenario: (1) 'The microphone was placed in the sweet spot, pointing right at the middle between the tweeter and the cone of each speakers' - have you ever mic'd a speaker up? Even a 1/4" in mic movement will completely change the sound. (2) The clips are different volumes. Also, what would be a 'good' sound? No idea what the original sounds like but it sounds like a badly mixed piece of nonsense. More importantly: OUR EARS ARE NOT U87's.
Steve Sears
hohohoho, we have a mr Professor, here...
i think the only thing stupid here is your comment. 1) what do you mean with "another mic"?. the same mic was used for capturing all the monitor pairs. 2) of course any passage in the audio path changes the sound, and your hears and your brain - brain? you? - have their own performances, they interpret the sounds just as a microphone does. of course, adding a microphone to the chain reduces the fidelity of anything passes through it, but if such path can still show big differences among the speakers - and it does - then why shouldn't such test be useful? of course it doesn't help if you wish to judge a speaker in an absolutele way, but such tests do help to spot the rough differences at least. my only concern is directing the mic at a point betweeb the tweer and woofer: i guess - but i'm not sure - that, just as with your hears, the mic should be directet at the tweeters, since the lower frequences are less directional, while the higher frequences are very directional. Also, the position of the speakers would better change according to the speaker models, and since the sweet spot is a vertex of such equilateral triangle, it should change too. Then i think the test would show the differences closely to perfection, because it would simulate exaclty the normal monitoring job.
I agree with most of the statements on this test, but you can get the overall idea i think, no-one in their right mind would spend that much money on speakers without giving them a proper test at the store, but the KRKs sound to me like i would be going mad with that top end after one 3 minute song. I couldn't stand that sound for very long.
There's this fun thing called a high shelf, comes on the back of every studio monitor 😂
I compared KRK with Adam in real life gand found the Adam´s to be more natural (flat) and direct. The KRKs were more distant and muffled in my opinion. I went to the shop because I wanted to hear the KRKs but ended up buying the Adam because of their better sound quality. I now have them for about two months
im pretty sure that you've picked by now but vx8 is a nice overall speaker but has more of that mid range for your vocals and instruments that stand out in that area which is not bad because those are usually the hardest to mix .....so to hear every detail in that spectrum is critical but the adam ax8 is the best overall its range from big to low is incredible
lol. This review seems messed up. I have Adam a7x and it's super clean, awesome soundstage & details. I can barely imagine a speaker in that price range being better than them. I was hearing details, I never heard on my headphones Audeze LCD-3 and Shure SRH 1840 and that's a performance hard to beat. Last but not the least it had the instrument separation & 3 dimensional sound I was seeking. Also some instruments felt pretty real and some songs, it felt as if the singer were singing in front of you in your room esp with a slightly forward sounding dac. If you want something better than them, you'll probably have to go for speakers over 4k price range. And the mids on Adams are amazing. If i move from A7x, it'll either be S3X-V or classic-column-mk3 or perhaps GoldenEar Triton One. But that's a few years away.
to me the KRK's sound more balanced than the Adam's in that room's ACOUSTICS! this could be different in an acousticly treated room but the Adam's seemed to bass heavy and lacked high end where i feel the KRK's were better although a little too bright. Its personal opinion along with everything in the music industry from the audience to the engineer to the artist!
When it comes to hifi, tastes will matter, yes. In a studio you want to hear it exactly the way it is, whatever truth is served.
Most people would not bear a studio speaker in their living room due to the amount of crap produced on the market, both in terms of quality of recording and source.
There is no way you can tell if the room or the speaker is at fault in this video other than looking at the specs of the speaker. Even if we could somehow obtain justifiable sound through UA-cam, the room might also color the sound we are hearing.
There is no way on earth you can tell any of these things from this video.
cool video... another cool thing to do would be to bounce that same mix so you can hear the comparison between what your own speakers are doing to the mix
Not that I agree that this was a great method to compare monitors but I'm almost surprised how different each of them sound when they are supposed to be really flat especially at that price.
"At that price"? Brother, let me tell you, NO monitors are completely flat for one. For two, these are still relatively low end price wise. It's really only when you get up into the higher end stuff like barefoot micromains mm27's, some of the higher end PMC and genelec and maybe focal sm9 that you really get any accuracy. They still won't be completely flat but closer to it and mixing decisions will be easier.
I understand it's impossible for every speaker to be completely flat. But the differences at the price should be minimal. But it's also different listen through a mic as opposed to with your ears.
its due to standing waves in the room, as he moves the microphone from one init to another he is getting different results; you're hearing room modes.
what he should have done is move the monitors around and used one speaker in mono, keeping the mic in the same position. .
not a very good test really, but a good effort.
In my ears the KRK sound much clearer and you can hear different instruments better. But that´s all a question of taste.
Thanks for the vid
I've compared all in real life in a well treated room similar results, A7X sound the most natural, A8X have more low end but lack mid range bite, the VXT8 have more low end and are more mid forward but they add allot of color. Adams are cleaner overall and have more detail up the top end. It's personal which you would prefer. The Event 20/30 are now a strong contender to all of them though.
Hey man, this is some old video, but my monitors are old as well. :) I have the VXT8 and now thinking about getting the new A7V. Do you have any thoughts on this?
I personally do not think that there is some magical update out there, especially because I use the ARC for digital room correction, that makes many speakers almost the same.
Any thoughts?
Is a empiric evaluation, but is valid because he made the same measurement average to all speakers with the same mic.. Is simple the appreciation about the highs, more complex test if could. Don't replace stay on front and hear it of course.
No Question About It Bro - The VXT-8 is the clear winner!! I just brought a set of them for my home studio. They sound fantastic!!
Hmm... it seems to me that from this particular sample A7x is better, however, I agree that ,for better experience, we should compare them by our own ears and not on our speakers. Good video btw. I still can`t decide if I should go for A7 or A8....
interesting way to demo these online. clever. thanks. the KRK sounds more natural to my ears. only a slight mid boost. both Adams sounded a bit muted and boxy to me. of course you have to hear them in person but this is fun.
The best way to demo these speakers (which you so nieve said in the beginning of the video that you looked for a video on youtube so you could hear the different speakers) is to have them in your studio space. That doesn't mean cause you can hear them correctly and what they sound like, doesn't mean your mic and preamp and converters will record that sound and make my speakers translate that sound out to EXACTLY what you hear.
KRK's sound more open, but very bright and with sloppy muddy bass.
As we're talking nearfields, I'd personally go with the A7X's, as the difference with the 8's is slim and for true bass experience a sub would be a better addition than a bigger woofer would be.
Hey Michael, just a suggestion, but if you'd switch to the source track every now and then (i.e. don't use the microphone; copy straight from the digital source or whatnot into those timeslots) we could work out which ones are truest representations of the track...
No, all factors are definitely not constant. The position of the mic changes, the position of the speakers are different relative to the boundaries of the room. You are recording in mono (no imaging information) in an untreated room, which is a huge factor as well .
Any slightest change in position of the mic changes the distance of each speaker to the mic and creates different phasing effect. In my opinion, this video doesn't provide any useful information for a potential buyer.
Strange the KRK is better over all specially for the guitar sound more clear in the KRK than Adams! But i believe the real test should be in real because the sounds what we get here on laptops, tablets or phones will not be a clear as in real! Thank you for the test anyhow :)
Ok, I'll explain this one more time. I never said this is an Exact replication. This is not an an-echoic chamber. this is your typical project studio space, with minimal room treatment. whatever is affecting the sound of one speaker in the room will apply to all other ones. If you can hear a difference between them, then this is the point of the test. I don't know if you have ever listened to them in real life or not, but what you hear in the video is a close representation of their character.
I just got these KRK's, and they are great for the price range. Im not saying what u are saying isn't rue, but there are I think 9 switches on the back of the krks, maybe he doesnt quite have them set right. At least dude tried, and I appreciate what he did. Its all opinion, there is no right or wrong way. Its all up to the user, and what they want. By the way, there are a lot of variable settings u can do with these KRK's
Thanks for your comment but I don't think there's anything such as "KRT speakers" in this video.
First of all I want to say thank u for doing this,its one of the best comparasion vid here on UA-cam.
And i would like to ask u is there any possibility that u make a 1 more vid... with a different music genres with some old jazz,classic and new house and hip-hop (bass heavy music)
i have in mind to buy one of these three set of speakers,and i wouldnt wont to rush and make mistake
Thank you!
NIce video. I have VXT8, listened to the adams at the store, and decided with VXT8 I felt it was quite balanced and for listening purposes, they are awesome, and they don't fatigue my ears which I really hate. Though it depends on your music as well! I'd say Adams are better for rock music type and vocals. Really good clarity in the highs. Fuck A7X, get A8X, if you getting Adams, dont cheap out. Otherwise VXT8 give that a listen.
And some acoustic treatment, speaker placements will help more.
Im curious Micheal , what did you end up using ? I bet its the Adams Ax8 am i correct ?
First time i heard ribbon styled highs , its like daim i dont want anything except taht. Turns out they manufacturers know it and the price it accordingly :)
the heck is that whatever you think is going on with the signal -whether relevant or not- applies to the 3 speakers. All factors are constant except the speakers.
I'm using VXT8 and i find them pretty harsch in the mid section. 1k-2,5k hz is a bit cold and they don't deliver that warmth that the Adams probably do. My next purchase is def the more expensive adam s1x + 12" woofer..
The 1000€ for VTX8 is worth it if ur upgrading successively from the smaller/cheaper krk's. But if you can spend 2k or so, i'd recommend the pricier adams
You can hear a difference, but which sound is closest to the original sound?
more growl in the KRK's they seem to add color. The Adam 8s and 7 were very flat .. I'd go for the 7 as if you can get a mix to sound good on them you are there
It would've been nice if they were all matched in volume. The A8x's definitely killed it, though.
Absolutely Necorrect Test!)))
I use Adams and krk before without great results untill I got dynaudio and my mixes started translate perfectly
Don't you set HF +1 dB at rear panel of VXT 8? I hear comparison of VXT 8 elsewhere and they didn't had hi freq domination at flat HF setting.
Thx, now I know I'll buy A8X.
The Adams are NOT magnetically shielded. the KRKs are. I'd say if you go with the Adams, keep your devices at least 2-3 ft away in all directions (specially near the ribbon tweeter, this thing will catch anything metal up to a feet away and get deformed by it, this is how strong this magnet is). if you put your hard drive beneath the table where the speakers are (as long as it's a wooden table), you should be fine.
Looks like it on here, but I've heard very VERY different things to the point where people are saying there is no comparison and the Adam's own, especially when it comes to final mix/mastering... I need to find a shop with them on display :S
KRK VXT- лучшие!!!
У вас наверное что-то со слухом, говорить что крк лучше адамов, странно) Ну на вкус и цвет.
I have a hard time believing the KRK's sound that hyped and harsh? but if that's what you say then ok , the KRK's sound much louder as well what were the eq settings on the back of the krks ? they sound either closer to the mic or louder.. it would have been nice to level match these I think. as far as bas information the a8 and krk sound close. the adams def sound less fatiguing. thanks for the comparision. cheers.
the reason i chose ot go with krk though is that the treble is nonfatiguing and the low end is rock solid.
I'm a big fan of krks but the AX8 sounded flattest and best sound quality,but I agree with pettroh completely
Which speakers do you think is better Sound Quality the Adam speakers or KRT I am thinking about purchasing these -- I have bought so many cheap speakers on Amazon which were 5.1 surround sound they were crap have to send them back get my money refunded -- My Advice never buy cheap speakers from Amazon.
No they are not. You're comparing them to another speaker which happens to be muted in the mids. That does not mean the KRKs are hyped.... they are accurate. The ADAMs both have a muted flat response...it's what they are known for.
Surprisingly, the VXT8 sounds best to me.
Good, my opinion is this: I like the krk because they have a more natural touch on the midrange and more pleasant to my word, are as more accurate. After Adam A8X would put it to me, compared to krk are more opaque regarding sharp yet has more definition in the high (tweteer be by tape) and finally the Adam A7X are less accurate in the midrange. And looking at the prices tiratia me without hesitation towards krk greeting.
VXT8 For the win...
Don't think this test was accurate. The speakers are all in different positions in the room, and while U87 doesn't have proximity effect, how the sound bounces around the room and the angle the mic's at greatly affects the sound of each monitor.
Good video, though. Personal favorites were the Adams. Balanced with a bright top end. The brightness it gives means I can feel comfortable adding bass then with the KRK where I'd have to take it away just to clear up some of the mud in the mids.
+Richard Poodles they are all in the same position , look at the pictures , man moved them all for recording . Of course the sound we get is not the sound they produce but our speakers mixed with mic and teh speakers on test plus YT compression.
try includings the original source track while you play them back otherwise you wont know what the music suppose to soound like
Are the a8x good for listening to music ? I hear hip hop drum n bass dupstep
there is to much echo in the background i noticed at the beginning of your video that your room where the speakers are not really acoustically sound.
definately the VXT8's for me bro!
Their seems to be more presence in the KRKs, but the Adams Highs are allot cleaner
Hello everyone could you please suggest me which one is better, KRK VXT 6 or KRK V6 s4??? & also tell a reason? I wanna buy one of them but didnt know for the comparisson, help. thx
Which pair did you keep? I have the Krk's and they sound big.
How well do mixes on them translate to commercial speakers? I'm deciding between the hs8, adam a8x, or KrK V8.
Adam A8X, PreSonus S8 o Pioneer RM07? Thanks
Another great example.. Adam may sound good to you, krk may sound good to me. but a flat speaker sound plain boring and cost alot more. you also pick monitors depending on how well they handle your choice of genre while a flat speaker sound just flat and boring but is perfect for mastering.
Perhaps you should compare these with music that isnt featuring a tone as much as electric guitars. i'd recommend testing more transparent acoustic music featuring alot of various details and a high quality reverb.
Honestly, for mixing purposes, the VXT seems to be better hearing this comparison.
i need some good speakers too but the problem is though i can here a difference between the speakers, i can't here if they are good or not as long as mine are not good :D what a dilemma !!
to me the k's sound more more clear, what would you buy?
hello
does the adam tweeter make any noise when there is no music playing?
thx
A pointless review because we cant tell this way, but glad u tried. thanks xx . ..which did you end up buying and why?
You're totally wrong! We, the potential buyers, don't need PERFECT comparision for a couple of monitors. What the guy did is really right, because the room was the same, the mic and the interface was the same and i'm sure he was very careful with the distance, making sure that all the takes was similar to eachother, not perfect, but acuratelly enough. You can'T say this video is useless. I really wanted to know how they sound in the same room/recording chain. So stop being wrong.
ignore the trolls. thanks for putting in the work!
vxt8 = in your face, harsh. adams = laid back, more natural. according to this youtube video, dont know how the reality
I like Krk's mids. Maybe adams sounds more neutral, but vxt more powerful and pleasure. Mayby adams better for mixing, but composing i'd prefer with krk.
на столе стоят VXT 8 и А8Х уже как 3 года, последние вообще забрал у друга, который в штаты улетел так что не покупал их так достались как бы на сохранность! Но хочу сказать каждый день их сравниваю! Если писать музыку то конечно VXT 8, ибо на них весело как то все и живо, они мягче и как то приятнее при написании и аранжировке! Адамы А8Х я использую на этапе сведения и мастеринга ибо KRK проигрывает по балансу в миске и по низким частотам! Сравнивал в клубе треки которые сводил на крк и адамах, на адамах никогда не ошибался! ИТОГ: Адамы честнее на низах и верхах, чуть середина мыльная, исключительно сухие сука для стадии обработки уже финальной, писать на них не удобно и как то напряжено! На КРК лучше писать ибо сводить не удобно сильно мыльные и меньше детальности! НИЗКИЕ частоты у Адамов намного глубже и читаемые более примерно от 40 герц, у КРК низ воздушный и не поработаешь эквалайзером так точно как на А8Х! Тем более 0,5 дюйма у А8Х динамик больше!Вывод Adam A8X намного честнее чем KRK VXT 8 и низ глубже и более читаемый! но писать и творить на них скучно ибо сухие очень и АТАКа у них какая та медленная! На KRK хорошо писать и слушать музыку они красят звук в БАРХАТ и с ними весело как то ни то что на Адамах, каждый раз останавливаешься что бы сделать эквализацию так как уже на этапе написания косяки все слышны Адамах- напрягает ужасно! Всем мира, если что спрашивайте! Работал на Адам а7х еще, они мыльнее чем а8х, на 8 динамике звук более раскрытый и детальнее как то ну и низ соответственно заменяет саб буфер !
подскажите, посматриваю в строну adam a7x и HEDD Type 07, ну и еще Dynaudio LYD 8, моники нужны только для музыки, чтобы посоветовали ?
and that's exactly why I told him to put the hard drives away from the speakers.
VXT8. Nice :3
In this video i find the A8x come out flatter through my krk vxt8 :P but the vxt8 sound more pronounced allround with a bigger more full sound. but compared to my 5 inch hifi speakers the vxt8 sound much smaller but with more power in the low end ofc.
what did you end up choosing?
You can easily hear that between professional monitors there is a lot of difference.
All three sound aweful because of no room acoustic treatment whatsoever, but based purely on those recordings I'd pick the Adam A8X or the A7X, then the VXT-8 some way behind. KRK are just way too flattering. Fine if you're using it for a hi-fi casual listening, but not what you want in the studio.
La comparasion no sirve si no tenes nada con que compararlo. Basicamente esto es poner 3 monitores y escuchar cual suena mas bonito. Seria bueno poner el track original como referencia entre escucha y escucha. Y me parecio totalmente raro que al principio. En la primer toma, el a8x sono con mas agudos. Similar al krk y despues misteriosamente cambio el sonido siendo que fue exactamente el mismo sonido que se repitio una y otra vez. Algo totalmente inusual y que quita cualquier realidad en la comparasion. Alguien mas noto eso?.
... this stategy is horrible. you have to hear them with your own ears, not a mic...
A calibration microphone would at least provide a more realistic sense of the speakers. The Neumann is a great mic for many applications, but not giving people a sense of a speaker's sound and tonal qualities. Calibration mics can be found for a very reasonable price. Hopefully, in the future the reviewer might do this. Good luck...
The vxt-8 are too pushed in the upper mid-range. not good for serious mixing. But in the end you have to get what you feel most comfortable with. choosing monitors is subjective.
and the audio of this video will be reproduced on low end-speakers xD you will never hear how these speaker sound until you try them for yourself
what did you go for dude?
Man, those KRKs sound like ass. Over hyped harsh highs and mids. I could never mix on those things. They trick your ear into thinking they sound better. Much like a Hi Fi speaker. BAAAAD! Thx
What exactly in not true? did you read the question ?
Thanks for your efforts Michael, but this sort of exercise really is a waste of time. Apart from the fact that you introduce the characteristics of your microphone and recording process into this, the audio then gets compressed the hell out of by youtube, before being played back on my TV speakers. The most this exercise is going to reveal to anyone is what the sound recorded by your microphone, then scrunched by YT, sounds like on whatever speakers they happen to have, but not a hell of a lot about the 3 speakers themselves. Anyone making a buying decision based on this deserves whatever they end up with (maybe they'll get lucky). The only sensible way to make a decision about monitors is to reference them directly with your own ears, using source material you are very familiar with, and preferably in the environment they will be used in, or at least in an acoustically treated space.
krk to much high arround 2000-6000
The audio its not rly good...you cant rly record a review with a large diafragm condenser it just doesnt make sense :)
Multumesc!
well this is tricky. if those monitorsa are out of the box, then they have to run for some time to open up, as new they sound very cheap
doesnt change the face the krks sound better
F7 ? U mean A7X ?!
I prefer A8X, I think it's the best, but a bit expensive...
watching this video it was like shitting on my shoes.
Thank you.
The KRK sounds like hi-fi speaker.
Joseph Chen Guess what speakers your music are mostly played on?
A8X has clearly the best sounds, krk has a bad mid range and A7X has to much high i think A8X is most balanced i think :) sorry if im wrong
migt help if you upload the recorded things and the original file so peple can decide better whats best :D
sonicsenseProAudio show some pretty good demo's
vxt are very good but not flat in the bass you have to combine them with sub this is their secret..as far for a8x didn tl ike them at all if you have small room don t buy 8" inch woofer you will have to play them -very- low..