Following ADAM Audio’s refresh of their well-established A-Series line of monitors, we get an additional technical insight on the range from the people who make them …
Products initially developed by monitor manufacturers for the burgeoning home studio market have since become well known presences in the kind of small independent studio that many work from today. Arguably one of the most recognisable of these in recent years has been the A-Series range of monitors from ADAM Audio. Introduced in the mid-2000’s, this line of ported active studio loudspeakers initially made waves with their use of the company’s folded-ribbon ART tweeters married with more conventional mid/bass drivers housed in distinctive chiselled edged boxes for improved acoustic performance. Later, the AX range brought further improvements to the line.
Fast forward to now, and the company has given this modern studio stalwart another refresh with new features in the form of the new A Series, with products denoted by their “V” and “H” model suffixes. From ADAM Audio:
The ADAM Audio A Series delivers highly accurate, transparent sound across a full line of monitors that can be controlled remotely and in real time. Comprising five models, the A4V, A7V, A44H, A77H and A8H are the right fit for an array of professional and home studios—as well as broadcast, fixed-installation, 3D, immersive, and home audio environments.
Innovations such as rotatable HPS waveguide technology, and DSP-based room correction and voicings enable you to tune speakers for your room and your ears. Upgradable firmware allows these monitors to evolve, so you can continue to capitalize on future innovations from ADAM Audio. An extended 5-year warranty offer plus post-warranty support ensure these monitors will continue to perform at their best for many years to come.
DSP And Beyond
In a new development, the recent update by ADAM Audio has brought renowned room correction software SoundID Reference to the A Series. Exploiting the range’s built-in DSP processing, this development is welcome both in terms of monitoring accuracy, and also notable for where the SoundID Reference correction is happening. When running SoundID Reference in the computer (be it standalone or as a DAW plugin), engineers must be aware of when to bypass the processing (perhaps for when bouncing, for example), and also remember when they are not listening through it (perhaps with system sounds, or other external inputs). By running SoundID Reference correction at the very end of the signal chain, all of these considerations disappear. This innovation has been seen elsewhere in monitoring, as implemented on some audio interfaces or in DAW software with control room style features, however there are still very few monitor loudspeaker manufacturers with the will to make jump to DSP. This update now brings improved audio performance as well as the SoundID Reference experience to the A Series.
Beyond The AX Series
At ADAM audio’s recent first-listen event at Confetti, Nottingham, UK, Head Of Product Andrew Goldberg, outlined the key points of difference between the previous A series compared to the latest incarnation. He begins “The previous line of products where all analogue, whereas these [new products] are DSP and can be connected on a network”. He continues “the advantages [with the DSP] is you get a flatter response, better unit-to-unit matching, and of course when you’re calibrating the speakers into the room you have more flexibility with DSP filtering. Additionally, you can upload and export from Sonarworks adding zero additional latency to the signal and a much finer calibration into the room.”
A Series Design And Testing
Andrew also reveals the thinking behind the amplifier topology employed in the range “For the treble driver, which is very sensitive, we don’t need a very big amplifier, so there is little point in putting a Class D amplifier on there, so we use Class AB for that; same with the mid range driver. With the woofers (that need the power), it makes sense to use Class D because we get the efficiency of more than 90%, plus heat generation is greatly minimised meaning we don’t need to use a heatsink”. The new A Series was also subjected to rigorous stress testing in development, on which Andrew goes into further detail ”We are basically facing two identical cabinets into each other and reversing the polarity of one so they cancel. That way we don’t have to listen to all that power during the test. We then play them at maximum output level, usually with pink noise or mixed in with some music, and then we play them for a very long time. This can be for days, weeks, or months”.
The Right Box, The Right Place
Having heard the range for ourselves, what strikes the listener is how well these new units stack up compared to the established alternatives when properly placed in a suitable acoustic. Thanks to Kevin Bent and Andrew Goldberg at ADAM Audio for this extra insight and for showing us the range in a very nice pro audio environment over at Confetti Nottingham. For more info on the new A Series, head over to ADAM Audio.