Got mine two weeks ago. Absolutely amazing speakers. The amount of information they convey is crazy. Perfect to use with my Avantones MixCubes. I've used some great Dynaudios as my main monitors the past few years, but the ATCs blow them away. Only thing close is my pair of Bowers & Wilkins 805D3s on my regular stereo system. I'd love to compare them with the ATCs, but they're in two different locations. One thing I've noticed, is that as the product info says, you've got to be careful with your sound pressure levels, because of the near-absence of distortion. I've actually had to use my dB level monitor after a couple of sessions where my ears were ringing - and I usually mix at 85 dB or so. Anyway - sorry to go on so long. Glad you like them, and enjoy!
That was one of my biggest surprises with them, too! Thankfully, I've got a db readout on my Grace Design m905 controller, so that's helped a lot as I'm settling into these monitors. Congrats on your new ATCs as well!
Daniel Dennis - I’d love to have a Grace controller, but WOW the price, for a bar-band / home studio musician like me. I just use the buttons on my UA x8. But my ATCs are so amazing that even my wife, who loves music but doesn’t focus on sound quality at all, instantly noticed how fabulous the sound was, and kept coming into the studio to ask me to play favorite songs of hers. Anyway - nice to meet you online, and best wishes for success with your studio.
Stephen Spelman Gotta get the wife on board! 😀 That’s awesome man. And yeah nothing wrong with your x8 for monitoring, so don’t feel like you’re missing out.
3-way with a right-tuned dome mid-driver adds brittle and focused mids. But i hear too much upper bass in a room. Cool thanks for recording them! Always wanted to hear!
I bought the 25a's about 8 months ago ( have the Avantones as well 👍). What's really interesting was that my ears did get tired at higher volumes when listening to really bright rock mixes like Van Halen or Pantera. I was worried at first that I chose the wrong speakers, but after a few months of breaking in, that isn't an issue anymore. The midrange and the stereo field on these speakers is unbelievable. I hear reverb that I've never heard. On certain classical pieces if I close my eyes it gets REALLY close to feeling like your in front of the orchestra. I'm quite happy with the bass. Unless you're doing rap or hip hop and you need the room to shake, can't see why they wouldn't work for most. Really happy with them, would highly recommend.
Your experience mirrors my mine as well! Wasn’t expecting the burn-in factor, but I felt like 2-3 months in, things started to really gel. I’ve found “low volume” mixing with these helps tremendously, esp with the low end. Easy to do with these monitors!
This review was absolutely fantastic. Appreciate the fact that you took a month to know them and update us every time you felt like saying something new, made me feel like I was there listening along with you. I'm just so jealous of all of you who own these top notch monitors. Hope you are enjoying them as much as on the first day :)
Glad you enjoyed the 30-Day journey! I really feel like the 6-week Mark was the sweet spot with getting to know these monitors. I kind of feel like there was a burn-in period with these monitors because now they feel amazing.
Mackie Hr824’s had my pair for 14 years and then they died I understand how you feel Mackies hr’s outclass everything I have ever listened on or own I now own a pair of Kali IN 8V2 miss my Mackies so I understand your feeling the ATC 3 ways sounds great tho
Hey! Yes I still use and love the Adam sub 10. I’ve never experienced any rattling issues. Had my room professionally tuned and treated and the sub plays well with the ATCs. At the time of looking at subs, ATC hadn’t released their current line of subs
When we first got these in the Stu they seemed to lack bass (that’s a lie tho) if you have the space in your room push them back so you aren’t in a dip of the bass frequencies. These things bump in the best way. Plenty of bass w/no sub, top end is crips and the mids and stereo field are incredible. These speakers are what I’d consider “true to sound”
I am! I feel like I got really comfortable with them about 6 weeks in, for both recording and mixing. I’m liking how things are translating, and I’m not really into switching back and forth between monitors during the bulk of the mixing process, so just to keep things clean, rolling with just the ATCs for now.
It looks like your video monitors need to be moved back out of the way of the ATCs. It looks like the edges of the video monitors are interrupting the ATC high end. FWIW.
Thanks! I agree there are some things that could be tweaked like that, but unfortunately being able to see the monitors without straining is just as important to me. I feel really confident with high end decisions I’m making though. In a perfect world, I’d probably work towards a tiny desk situation and get the ATCs on sound anchors close to the wall, but current situation works well for both production and mixing. Appreciate the thoughts! 🤘
@@producerdanieldennis Just revisiting this video from 2017 by Warren Huart reviewing monitors at Vintage King. They do have the tweeters on the outsides of the pairs: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hbfK5EYiTl8.html
Thank you for your very insighful review of the ATC's. I put a pair of Focal headphones and listened to your ATC example which has clarity, and a clean sound that is amazing. The Mackie on the other hand sound like it has a blanket on the mids in comparison. I track with hardware gear, mix in the box, and then sum out to my Rupert Neve gear and back into the Box. Plugs just don't compare to real hardware high end gear and the magic that it provides.
Was thinking that monitors that cost imopressive 8-9000 $ should be able to sound impressive not only on midrange(primerly here) and you do not need to compare most of the time with other speakers, aspecialy as they advertise them(ATC in general) like *the best speakers*, but aparrently not, as everything in life has + and -, everything else that's *perfect* is a lie to yourself and then to someone else... thanks for vid!
I just ordered the ATC ACM25 a monitors. I currently use Focal Twins which I am very happy with. My mixes come out good every time. No need to run to the car to check mixes. I also have a Focal Sub that I use for playback and mastering. The volume on the sub is just enough to hear it add some low end fullness. The reason I want to try the ATC's is I would like to hear more front to back, more reverb details and overall improved detail. I am hopeful these ATC will provide that info. I will most likely also use them with the sub for playback and mastering. Then sell the Twins to help pay for these monitors. I know the ATC will not sound as fun but if they sound too analytical, they will be going back. What are your thoughts on them sounding too clinical and accurate for playback?
I was able to get the ATC scm25a's in my studio. They are wonderful monitors that provide a mid range detail like no other monitor I have heard. The tweeter is very detailed but smooth and the low end is decent. They also do make you work harder on a mix because it let's you hear things you would not notice on other speakers. With having a full time job and having my studio as a serious hobby I don't have the time to tweak so many things for hours. The other issue I found was the music is so separated out which is helpful in hearing things but it lacks a cohesive sound they all speakers we listen to music to has. So it makes it harder to know how your mixes will sound on other speakers. The low end is good but I would want a sub with them and not use software to manipulate the sound. If your spending this much money for speakers, you should not need software to fix things. A lot of issues are reflected on how much acoustic treatment you have and the size of your room. For these reasons, I went with the Focal Trio ST6. They are in-between my Focal Twins and the ATC’s. They provide more detail, mid clarity, reverb tails but they also have a little cohesive sound as well. In addition with its 8" woofer, it provides more bass which is clean and fast and I don't need a sub with them. With having the Focal family sound, it made it easier for me to learn them and transition to the Trios. If I was an engineer full time, I would consider the ATC and a sub with a 2nd pair of cheaper monitors like Yamaha HS 5's to hear more of how the music sounds with cohesive speakers. That would be the perfect setup for me if I also had the money.😊
I'm going back and forth between these and the Focal Trio 11 Bes. I already have the Focal Solo 6 Bes and they were a huge step up from my previous pair (Event ASP8s). I had these Focals for 6 years now and I think it's time to move to the next level. Any idea of how they would compare to the Trio 11s? As for bass, I'm not too concerned as I have a stereo pair of Hsu Research VTF 15H MK2s (they're capable of going to 16Hz @ over 110dB). Trust me, you can hear frequencies below 20Hz if the levels are high enough (the threshold of hearing for 20Hz is 75dB so it doesn't take much for these subs to allow you to hear 14Hz).
Big upgrade from Mackie. 24 hour burn in? Never done burn ins. Assuming transducer settles over time anyway. Thinking of upgrading to Amphion One18 - Amp700 combo. Decisions.
Burn-in was something I wasn’t expecting with these monitors, but I definitely felt like the sweet spot with them happened after a couple of months… or that could’ve just been my ears/brain getting adjusted or both 🤷🏻♂️ either way, love them!
Tube tech EQ how do you find that, its a pultek replica? The bass is because they have less ringing in the lower frequencies below 50 Hz and are flat. Put them on stands and move them back a bit will help. placement doesn't look correct to your setting position should be further apart
Wow.. Love to get a set of these. Checked out the song by Alecia Aichelle and it's great! Sounds incredible! I'd actually love to hear what her vocal chain was on this. I see a 1073, CL1B, and a Manley Ref but I'm curious if that's what you used? (Jesus that's what i'd use lol). Great video and great work amigo
Hey, curious what your thoughts are now after this long? I’m 2 weeks into my ATC 25s with 2 week return window left. (Coming from focal cms65) I absolutely love how they sound. But…. I’m confused with them, don’t know them yet, and don’t seem to be making the right moves with them (finding it hard to tell how far to go with eq moves)…. I find a bit that it’s just a lot of information in my face all the time and I’m a little lost. Did you find that at all at first? Did you end up settling in with them after a while?
OMG, I was going through youtube video and saw yours. Totally forgot I saw this before until your daughter came on again. Made me laugh all over again. I need that, I was having a bad week. Thank again. 😁😆😅😃
What if you switch them to where the bigger woofer is closer to you? Does the manual say not to? Cause i would think that would make the lows more present.
you need the sub the mid range is so flat the bass driver is just not big enough with the power they have i have genellec 1038s with a 15inc driver BOOM!
@@producerdanieldennis when i was mixing in a studio years ago had the same problem with the SCM100ASL Pro 12inc driver so its just not there small speakers thus why i went for the genelec 1038s as can adjust them to my room on the back with the dip switches on the back of the amp.
I Notice you have two converters in your chain. Are you using the MOTU as your DA to mix with or the Apogee? The modern MOTU stuff got some great sounding converters as I have the 828ES part of the AVB line. They share the same ESS Sabre DAC found in the modern Apogee products. I use to own the Apogee Quartet and directly compared it to the 828ES and was it surprisingly very close sonically. The MOTU AVB pro interfaces also have a digital patch bay built into the interface with matrix routing eliminating the need of a patch bay was is really cool. keeps everything more cleaner.
Actually my DA is with the Grace Design m905, which I LOVE. AD is through the Apogees, Adat lightpipe to the MOTU to bypass the motu converters. When I have to upgrade, I’m seriously looking into the MOTU 16A though. Glad to hear you’ve had good results with their new line, and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it! Always helps to hear 🤘
@@producerdanieldennis Nice. Yeah the 16A is pretty dope. The MOTU drivers are extremely rock soild which makes sense that you're using the 896 as the work horse interfacing with your computer. I used a laundry list of interfaces on Windows and always had driver issues, crackling and pops and BSOD. Focusrite being the worse. The Clarett 8Pre Thunderbolt interface was the last Focusrite interface I owned and they abandoned driver support for it already which was a bummer. Every since I switched to MOTU, that made a world of a difference in both latency peformance and stability. It's like RME but much more affordable. Long term driver support was another big selling point.
Does it not make more sense to have the tweeters to the outside to have a wider stereo field? Are they handed by ATC or can you swop them around according to how wide you want the high frequency spread?
ATC (and others I’ve talked to) recommend and prefer tweeters and mid range dome inside. Also important that the mid range dome is in line with your ears and not the tweeters (does make a difference).
Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll check that out! I’ve found True Iron on the far right setting and PA Lindell 80 series channel with a 10db boost and -10db output gets it pretty dang close to the analog sweetness.
Yeah, you can hear the Mackies have the old JBL smiley face. Just buy a sub-woofer to give you that little bit you're missing in the bottom. Just a touch.
One last thing. I think you have your monitors backwards. Back in the day, we had the tweeters on the inside, but nowadays everyone is doing the mid-side thing and placing the tweeters on the outside. You might want to try that out. Might help your problem with bottom end. FWIW. Personally, I have a thing for 12" three-ways. I'd also move them out sideways a bit and off the desk. Open the sound-stage a bit more. But that's just me.
The ATC manual says tweeters inwards (for whatever scientific reason) and several mix engineers I know that have them recommended the same. Feels more natural to my ears
I'm new to the monitors but am thinking about upgrading to them from my Adams. So with my Adams I have a mashed sub. Do you need a sub with these nearfields? and if so can you recommend a good one?
If you’re using a sub with your Adams, you’ll probably want a sub with these monitors as well. A couple of engineers I know that own these recommend the Studio Sub 10.
V helpful video , it does .... talk you into wanting / getting a pair. Can I ask you what do they sound like at low levels of listening ? I am on some PMC's now and they are ok for low levels ( neighbours !!! ) - in the UK these are so rare to find 2nd hand on ebay ... which is a good thing - most spks turn up on ebay - theres a lot of PMC's ( the new range ) on ebay and that tells you one thing , people sold them on ( bad ) - whereas the total lack of ATC's mean ... people stick with them , they are a forever purchase by the look of it , and has to make me wonder if people who drop the coin on the ATC's make some good $$$ , because if they did not they would be needing to resell them. They are never listed on ebay UK , still I will keep looking
Low level listening is one of my favorite things about these monitors! I mix at conversation-level volume but also lower initially for balancing things out overall
@@producerdanieldennis ah , you r late on the reply - i bought some atc 20a with the amp - im not overly impressed , i like the bass but prefer my old pmcs - the prob with the atc i bought is they mostly always sound ok , whereas the pmc sound rubbish if the music is rubbish ... i have mixed feelings but im not blown away by the atc i bought as they always sound ok , they are easy to balance on low levels as you say , but i have found the overall mix sounds dull and too balanaced as i just keep it all sounding the same - i hope i change opinion as they are exp
@@justinb9387 I’m not the most active content creator, my bad 😂 I’ve never used the 20a’s… hearing the 25as in person sold me instantly on them. If you don’t love them, I would consider selling them!
Dude I feel where you're coming from, I love my MBP but i'm daisy chaining it with the 2bus+ & the BAX EQ and it's awesome. I would love to hear how you feel about the curvebender. I'm debating between the curvbender or the gml 8200. Love the videos.
Man I love my Curve Bender! It’s a vibe machine, nothing else like it. My favorite setting: roll off at 20hz, 1db low shelf boost @90hz, 1db boost at 1.2 and 1.8, 1-2db boost @6 or 8k, then gain match with the output. I mix into it from the start.
Never tried the hardware, but I own most acustica eq’s and coffee (modeled on the curve bender/orig abby road unit) is my fav, sounds good and that bass trick is very usable. Really nice high shelf too.
I actually just added an Adam Sub10 over the weekend! After some tweaking and room testing, got things feeling much better using a tiny bit at 65hz and below. Definitely feels better with kick drums and is translating beautifully.
Great demo! I’m also considering going to the ATCs coming from the same Mackie HR824s. I notice you have the ATCs raised on some kind of isolators. What type are those? Thanks!!
@@armandodiaz3485 I am now that I added a sub. Using just a tiny amount of 60hz and below on an Adam Sub10. Made all the difference. Overall I’ve noticed a positive difference in my mixes and they are such a pleasure to track and mix on, they let you know real fast if something needs attention!
@@producerdanieldennis I was just going to ask you about the lows haha. I might change my speakers to 25s or 45s depending if planets align properly or not. I already have a sub so I might be fine with the 25s. Did you get to work out the fast transients?
@@nachomolino I think you definitely need a sub with the 25s, and that’s the consensus I’ve gotten from others. Crazy considering the price point, but they’re so great to work on both tracking and mixing/mastering. Transients: feeling much more confident with that now... was definitely part of the learning curve for me switching from such a different monitor.
