Trevor Cartercomments on the ADAM S3X-H

Berlin, July 27, 2011

Trevor Carter is a producer / head engineer from Empire Records / Studio 52, who have recently upgraded to the ADAM S3X-H (more on Studio 52 and the upgrade here). Carter liked these monitors from the very beginning. But only time would tell. Here are his thoughts on the S3X-H after having spent some time with them:

“The key to working with any monitor speaker is ‘getting to know them’. How many times have you heard an engineer / producer say ‘I love working with these monitors, I just know them really well’. What they actually mean is that they have a good understanding of that particular monitor’s limitations and that they know just how much they have to compensate to make sure that anything they record or mix on those speaker translate well onto other systems.

Because the truth is all monitors have ‘holes’ in them. They maybe lacking in bottom end, or too big in the high mids, a bit bright etc. So as an engineer you play the guessing game and start compensating for these deficiencies and the longer you work with them the better you get at the guesswork.

Then I met ADAM.

The ADAM S3X-H near field monitors are quite simply put .. ‘guessing free’. The simple test for any new monitor is to play a few of your favorite CDs and pretty quickly you will identify the ‘holes’. After listening to the S3X in my own studio I was amazed at how no matter what I referenced .. everything was there. The top end is to die for .. the X-ART tweeters are incredible. The mids are exactly what you want to hear .. clean and punchy, and the bottom end is super smooth and goes all the way down. And the balance of all 3 is exactly right.

This first impression was soon vindicated after doing a few mixes on them. No matter what I played those mixes on, I heard exactly what I was expecting to hear, no nasty surprises. Nothing to go back and compensate for! Mixing and Mastering has never been easier, I have never been so confident with a pair of monitors .. virtually from day one!

After working with them for some time now I must also comment on how great they are on the ears. Not just guess free but also fatigue free. They are a ridiculous 1000 watts per side (each component has it’s own amp) so you can crank them without any overdriven nasties for hours, which along with the simple sonic pleasure of listening to these speakers makes working with them an absolute joy.”

Courtesy of Federal Audio’s blog.
For more information on Studio 52, please visit their website.