Equator D5 Monitors - High End on a Budget

[MilkyThomas]

Sounds interesting, in the market for a new pair of monitors myself and this is exactly the sorta price range I'd be looking at. Don't even mind the lack of low end response, I've always found that much easier to do in headphones anyway. Nice wan, sound for the info!

[fragments]

Sounds interesting, in the market for a new pair of monitors myself and this is exactly the sorta price range I'd be looking at. Don't even mind the lack of low end response, I've always found that much easier to do in headphones anyway. Nice wan, sound for the info!

For my mixing space having less low end actually fixed a lot of problems, also the DSP position adjustments helped me out. I just don't want anyone to buy them then come back and tell me I'm tnuc b/c there isn't enough bass for them to hear teh sik wubz

[Genevieve]

You should always only buy monitors from places with a decent return policy anyway though.

Or get test models if they offer them.

[distance]

Ez all, I use the d5'5 as a B set of monitors they aren't going to be very useful when it comes to sub bass, so keep that in mind. But they are great monitors!!! very flat and the stereo imaging stands up to my Genelec 1032a's I hear things the D5's which my Genelecs don't always reveal.

They take time to wear in too when I first received them I was very dissapointed but after two weeks of using them and listening to mixes I know are sick through them something finally clicked. I now start all my ruff mixes with them. The midrange is where they shine most.

Hope this helps, keen to hear their Q series!

[SunkLo]

(Just when I was thinking this thread was already successful )

Yeah I've read they need a good 24 hours of burn in.

I'm hoping to either mix subs on headphones or possibly add a sub speaker. I'm thinking my room's shit anyway though, adding a sub wouldn't get me any closer to a balanced low end than headphones and a spectrogram.

Clarity in the deep bass isn't really that much of an issue either, it's just a matter of making sure it's tight and even. It's a lot easier to guess your way through than trying to eq 500-2khz for instance.

[blinx]

i do love when artists pop in after we say their name 3 times in a row lol. THX distance for the infoz.

[Brothulhu]

Here's me asking Distance questions on Facebook for us and he comes on the thread haha

[MilkyThomas]

Clarity in the deep bass isn't really that much of an issue either, it's just a matter of making sure it's tight and even. It's a lot easier to guess your way through than trying to eq 500-2khz for instance.

I'd agree with this. I've got a sweet pair of Beyerdynamic cans and after listening to my favourite music on them for a year and a half I've got a pretty good idea of how sub should sound. Until I listen to Billain and his sub absolutely tears it up and I can't get anywhere close to the presence he gets, but that's for another thread...

[fragments]

Nice one. A very fair opinion on the D5s if I heard one. I played some DJ mixes through mine for 6-8 hours at a time for a couple times before I really used.

[SunkLo]

Officially a party now. Pass this spliff to the left while I go find a corkscrew for the wine.

[Gewze]

So jealous, anyone feel to gift me a pair?

[Genevieve]

I've read some reviews. That's something I should've kept in mind. I have no doubt in my mind that they're quality for the price and they were described as 'uncompromising' to the mix which is what I'm looking for, but being so cheap reviews are likely their value for the money (not passing judgement on them here, just trying to be objective). And according to a frequency response graph I saw and a bunch of reviews on it, it has quite a bump at the uppers highs and higher sub region (around 70 hz) and it tapers off fairly abruptly from there. Also saw a number of people commenting on a rhythmic, recurring pink noise sound from their units.

The Adams I wanna get would only be 100 euros more as a pair which I'm willing to spend on quality speakers and they're said to have a more even frequency response.

Not trying to be down on them. I just want a more informed opinion on these speakers before I pick. Even if I'm willing to return speakers, I'd rather just have the pair I get first be the ones I keep. And there's no way for me to test these D5s in person So could anyone get into a bit more detail on the issues I brought up?

PS. Apparantly the D8s are coming, for those interested.

[SunkLo]

Yeah I've heard about the noise issue with some units. Hopefully they cleared that up.

Something that's really attractive to me is the coaxial design and the wider sweet spot you get. I think they'll do well really close up at a lower listening level, to try to get more direct sound and block out some room.

What Adams are you looking at that are that cheap?

[Genevieve]

Adam A5X.

D5s are like 480 euros here, for a pair. While the A5X is 300 a pop :0

[SunkLo]

Oh right they're expensive across the pond. Maybe not the best deal in that case. Over here you can get the pair for like 300$ whereas a single Adam A5x is 500$

[Genevieve]

Aw shit, you're Canadian :p We're talking about totally different price brackets. Yeah, Adam's from right across the border here. Would you say that generally that line of Adams is a bit above the D5s?

You know I really hear two conflicting things about D5s. One that they're an awesome set of speakers that should be 2 or 3 times as expensive or that they're just awesone value for the money and a good pair of A/B speakers. I guess I'd have to order them myself to judge, but if the graphs I checked are accurate the frequency response of the Adams IS flatter and more representative of the sound.

[SunkLo]

Yeah if I had the choice between Adams or D5s I'd probably pick the Adams.

I think it's kind of a combination of the two. Maybe the people saying they're a good cheap B speaker are mixing on really high end monitors? Whereas the people saying they're amazing are probably in the mid range?

From what I've read they kind of take the NS10 approach. They're focused on high-mid detail and are lacking in bass. So if you can get a mix to sound nice and clear on them, balance your subs on headphones or another system and you're good to go. I don't really need to buy monitors for bass, you know? I want them for clarity and separation. I want to hear all the detail I'm missing otherwise. Not much detail in subs really, and I'm not gonna get accurate sub reproduction in my room anyway, so a cheap pair focused on the higher frequency range is just what I need.

Eventually when I can afford to have a well treated room I'll upgrade or maybe add a sub. Until then, I think these D5s will make a nice stepping stone.

[fragments]

Ive not had a problem w pink noise as far as I know. But Im coming from the holy fucking shit these kick my krks asses camp. Im interested in the d8s...might havs to upgrade and buy bass traps.

[Coolschmid]

Nice, I think I might be interested in saving up for a pair of these in the near future. I really like the claims of little to no crossover interference do to the coaxial layout, one of my peeves is the fact that I can get a different sounding midrange out of my current setup by shifting only a foot or two, I would rather have more stability.

One question though. I will soon be trying to produce in a pretty small college dorm, and I am assuming that the room is going to be horrible for bass response (plus I don't want much leaking through the walls). Will the fact that the bass is quieter and doesn't go down as far help with the stupid bass irregularity problems that occur in small or acoustically poor rooms? Or will it still be the same (certain bass notes are louder/boomy, certain ones are fine, certain ones are extremely quiet) just proportionally quieter? The irregularity and boominess of certain bass notes is really annoying when you are trying to mix regardless of what frequency range you are focused on.

[fragments]

The big thing to remember isn't that the bass is quieter (though I think that's also true because the speakers reproducing the bass are smaller), but that the speakers aren't producing sound under a certain frequency. But, with less low end I suspect the sound wouldn't carry through walls as much. Typically you don't hear the hihats of the noisy neighbor's music, it's the bass ;p I'm sure there is some kind of science behind that. I don't know it.