DynAudio M1 vs Adam S3X

[Evenyre]

I've demo'd all of the monitors that I've wanted to look at, and have narrowed it down to the DynAudio M1 series and the Adam S3X series (successor to the famous S3A series). What are your opinions between these two monitor choices? List specifix plz. I primarily produce metal, post-hardcore, and indie. Thanks in advance, guys 'n' gals.

[hanuman]

bump for an opinion.....

[mowmow]

I only know s3x, it sounded fabulous.
I was specially impressed with its very large sound image.
I felt it is easier to EQ with such a large and precise image.

[entropy]

Dyn M1's huh? I love those things but they are a different beast to the S3X-H.

Ok, yes I distribute ADAM so take this all with a grain of salt but as a mix engineer I used to live on Dyn's and still own (and love my BM6) Dyn's. And yes, monitoring is a very personal choice so in all reality, you need to listen to both and make your own mind up. The Dyn M1's are getting on in age now so the challenge will be finding someone who has them in stock, I would suggest talking to an ADAM dealer who also does Dyn and seeing if they can get a pair in from the Dyn distributor for a shootout.

First up, the most obvious difference is S3X is powered, Dyn M1 is a passive speaker. And that probably accounts for a good chunk of the price difference. If you're going to stick a Bryston and some decent cables underneath them the difference is probably negligible.

There is big differences in the frequency response but that doesn't tell the whole story. The Dyn has quite a tight bottom end that rolls off quite sharply (think NS10 with a little more thump) whereas the ADAM goes down to 32Hz. And of course, the X-ART tweeter goes up to 50Khz - I would think the Dyn is the standard 20Khz. But that's neither here nor there for me. Yes, I like the extended bass and the top end is very refined, but for me, it's the frequencies around the crossover point (3k give or take) that the ADAM really stands out and that's such an important area for vocals, gtr and snare. On the Dyn, in my opinion there's a smearing around that area in comparison to the ADAM and that pays dividends when eq'ing or balancing fx, there is no ambiguity where everything sits. The clarity around that midrange is just amazing, you can hear every detail. Period.

Finally, the cabinet size of the ADAM is a bit bigger than the Dyn. Oh, and you also have some front panel goodness to tweak things to your preference on the S3X.

I hope that helps