Adam A7X vs. Electro-Voice PXM-12MP vs. RedSound M10

Hello all! This is my first post on the forum but I have been lurking and learning a lot.

I have an Axe Fx 3 (mk2) and I’m looking for a solution to play through. I am not really playing out right now due to the pandemic and all that. I will mostly be playing at home and recording some. I have narrowed down the choices to the options below based on all the info I have researched in this forum.
  • Adam A7X
  • Electro-Voice PXM-12MP
  • RedSound M10
I see these options get compared to the CLR and XITONES, etc, however never against each other. I am looking for the option that will give me the most neutral tone as it comes out of the Axe Fx 3. Meaning if I put on a pair of flat response headphones and then plug into one of these options the sound should be very close.

I know that there is no perfect solution however I am leaning on the members of this forum and their experiences to guide me on the right path.

Thanks in advance for your help and keep on rockin!

-DRC
 
All speakers/cabs and headphones have their own character - you have little option but to tune your tone to them. Lots of posts about it throughout the forum - not sure anyone can bring something new to the table at this stage.

If you are putting the emphasis on low volume home playing/recording studio work with lots of different IRs being used I'd suggest near field studio monitors probably best. But it's a hard one to call on someone else's behalf.

I think once you start using those other 10 inch and above speakers there's a certain volume they tend to come alive with - I'd consider it a bit too much for near field work in a same room recording situation.

If you buy into the idea (like I do) that a guitar needs an open speaker nearby to react with then perhaps the ideal situation would be use near fields at home and then larger FR cabs for live ..... more money though ... of course. The tricky bit is getting the 'studio built' presets to translate nicely to be stage ready ..... something you have to experiment with yourself as cab/speaker character, volume levels and environment change things.

If live/louder playing is your primary objective you could try reserving headphones for recording or quiet rehearsal/jamming while also using a larger more stage focused cab at low volume just for helping with sustain etc. Then when you want to turn up and shake the windows a bit without recording or dial in live volume presets you can. That's basically what I do now - well actually in fact I haven't even used any speakers at home now for quite a while as I don't really record much and just silent rehearse stuff with phones in the hope of one day being back on stage with the band post-pandemic! If I tried to use my headphone/no speaker compensated presets for live work though they'd sound pretty terrible - too much bass and top and gain and ambient fx etc.

I think it's easier in the long run to have 2 sets of presets - studio and live. Hopefully the live versions are based on the foundations of the studio dialled ones with changes to suit the new monitoring environment.

Just dial in to suit each and every situation is still the way to do it - new gear is new gear but the science of sound doesn't change.

All my own opinion and ears!
 
Honestly, you have to grab your FM3 and test them all!
That’s what I did and I ended up buying the Red Sound. Are they neutral? I don’t know and I don’t care because they sound awesome.
There are many many Speakers etc. who are advertised as FRFR and all will sound different, so which one is FRFR, which one is the most neutral speaker?
Maybe none of them all.
That’s because so many parts have influence to the sound. The speaker itself, the speaker cab etc etc. Even if you build in a neutral sounding speaker in cabs with different sizes, they will sound different.
Only thing I can say again is, to found the best solution for you, you have to try them all out.
I tried nearly 30 different FRFR/PA Speaker etc. some sound close to each other and some totally different.
Buy what inspires you!
Cheers
Sash

Edit:
You have to learn how different speakers will sound.
I can easily dial in a preset with my Headphones (DT880) and I know how they will sound at stage volume with my Red Sound MF10 or Elis 8.
 
All speakers/cabs and headphones have their own character - you have little option but to tune your tone to them. Lots of posts about it throughout the forum - not sure anyone can bring something new to the table at this stage.

If you are putting the emphasis on low volume home playing/recording studio work with lots of different IRs being used I'd suggest near field studio monitors probably best. But it's a hard one to call on someone else's behalf.

I think once you start using those other 10 inch and above speakers there's a certain volume they tend to come alive with - I'd consider it a bit too much for near field work in a same room recording situation.

If you buy into the idea (like I do) that a guitar needs an open speaker nearby to react with then perhaps the ideal situation would be use near fields at home and then larger FR cabs for live ..... more money though ... of course. The tricky bit is getting the 'studio built' presets to translate nicely to be stage ready ..... something you have to experiment with yourself as cab/speaker character, volume levels and environment change things.

If live/louder playing is your primary objective you could try reserving headphones for recording or quiet rehearsal/jamming while also using a larger more stage focused cab at low volume just for helping with sustain etc. Then when you want to turn up and shake the windows a bit without recording or dial in live volume presets you can. That's basically what I do now - well actually in fact I haven't even used any speakers at home now for quite a while as I don't really record much and just silent rehearse stuff with phones in the hope of one day being back on stage with the band post-pandemic! If I tried to use my headphone/no speaker compensated presets for live work though they'd sound pretty terrible - too much bass and top and gain and ambient fx etc.

I think it's easier in the long run to have 2 sets of presets - studio and live. Hopefully the live versions are based on the foundations of the studio dialled ones with changes to suit the new monitoring environment.

Just dial in to suit each and every situation is still the way to do it - new gear is new gear but the science of sound doesn't change.

All my own opinion and ears!
Thank you for taking the time to write out this response. I really do appreciate it. I do like the idea of having two sets of presets. That is one idea that I had not thought about. Can I ask which headphones you were using as well?
 
Honestly, you have to grab your FM3 and test them all!
That’s what I did and I ended up buying the Red Sound. Are they neutral? I don’t know and I don’t care because they sound awesome.
There are many many Speakers etc. who are advertised as FRFR and all will sound different, so which one is FRFR, which one is the most neutral speaker?
Maybe none of them all.
That’s because so many parts have influence to the sound. The speaker itself, the speaker cab etc etc. Even if you build in a neutral sounding speaker in cabs with different sizes, they will sound different.
Only thing I can say again is, to found the best solution for you, you have to try them all out.
I tried nearly 30 different FRFR/PA Speaker etc. some sound close to each other and some totally different.
Buy what inspires you!
Cheers
Sash

Edit:
You have to learn how different speakers will sound.
I can easily dial in a preset with my Headphones (DT880) and I know how they will sound at stage volume with my Red Sound MF10 or Elis 8.
Thank you as well for writing out your response. I appreciate the feedback and information. What ohm headphones do you have for the DT 880? Did you also try the 990s?
 
I have the 250 Ohms the Axe has enough power to use them., but I never tried the 990's, sorry

Cheers
Sash
 
Hello all! This is my first post on the forum but I have been lurking and learning a lot.

I have an Axe Fx 3 (mk2) and I’m looking for a solution to play through. I am not really playing out right now due to the pandemic and all that. I will mostly be playing at home and recording some. I have narrowed down the choices to the options below based on all the info I have researched in this forum.
  • Adam A7X
  • Electro-Voice PXM-12MP
  • RedSound M10
I see these options get compared to the CLR and XITONES, etc, however never against each other. I am looking for the option that will give me the most neutral tone as it comes out of the Axe Fx 3. Meaning if I put on a pair of flat response headphones and then plug into one of these options the sound should be very close.

I know that there is no perfect solution however I am leaning on the members of this forum and their experiences to guide me on the right path.

Thanks in advance for your help and keep on rockin!

-DRC
For home studio use? The Adams. Not even a contest. The A7X is a studio monitor, so it's very flat. The EV is a stage monitor. It's louder, but not nearly as neutral. The Red Sound is the exact opposite of flat or neutral. They're heavily coloured. It's geared towards replicating the EQ of a traditional guitar speaker cab when using IRs.
 
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If you really are ONLY going to be playing at home, and at relatively low volumes, go for the Adam monitors, or even try out some other ones to see if you prefer them. If you are going to be jamming/gigging at all, you will want something with more volume and projection than studio monitors provide.
 
For home studio use? The Adams. Not even a contest. The A7X is a studio monitor, so it's very flat. The EV is a stage monitor. It's louder, but not nearly as neutral. The Red Sound is the exact opposite of flat or neutral. They're heavily coloured. It's geared towards replicating the EQ of a traditional guitar speaker cab when using IRs.
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your time and information. One thing that I liked about the EV (from what I read in this forum ) is that you can actually EQ it. Insert or create some presets. What is your thought process on that?
 
If you really are ONLY going to be playing at home, and at relatively low volumes, go for the Adam monitors, or even try out some other ones to see if you prefer them. If you are going to be jamming/gigging at all, you will want something with more volume and projection than studio monitors provide.
Thank you for your time and information. I am going to give the Adams a try and go from there. I will probably eventually end up owning something for gigging as well. Just don’t know what yet. everyone seems to have their favorites. What live gigging solution do you think is best?
 
Thank you for your time and information. I am going to give the Adams a try and go from there. I will probably eventually end up owning something for gigging as well. Just don’t know what yet. everyone seems to have their favorites. What live gigging solution do you think is best?
If you read my post in this forum about the PXM-12MP, you'll probably guess my preference: dB Technologies IG4T mains for the house sound, and if I need backline or floor monitor, the PXM-12MP is my current favorite. Good luck in your search!
 
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your time and information. One thing that I liked about the EV (from what I read in this forum ) is that you can actually EQ it. Insert or create some presets. What is your thought process on that?
I'm torn on EQ controls. On one hand, I don't think a speaker should need them. On the other, it's good to have if you do due to a room that is problematic.

Btw, the Adam also has a basic EQ.
 
I'm torn on EQ controls. On one hand, I don't think a speaker should need them. On the other, it's good to have if you do due to a room that is problematic.

Btw, the Adam also has a basic EQ.
EQ controls are handy on any speaker. Even a theoretically-perfect transducer is going to suffer from the effects of the environment it is in, which varies from one place to another. Options are good.

The way I use my presets on the PXM-12MP is to set a starting point in a known environment: one for floor placement, one for backline, with a preset for each of those according to whether I'm using one speaker or two. From there, all I need to do is tweak a parametric in the output block on the AxeFX a little according to the venue and how I have the monitor placed.
 
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