ATC speakers / Monitors

[Pearljam5000]

I must ask
ATC monitors are considered to be one of the best if not the best monitors on the planet, it's also a consensus on Gearslutz
But around here they're not very popular
I must understand why

 

[dfuller]

Go check out Amir's review. They're just... not very good for how much they cost.

 

[sloth_kwj]

Because this forum is base on measurements and data.
Also I referring lots but not the measurements are main factor in 'prefer' and all of sounding.
Even they didn't measured real studio versions like atc scm 25, 45, 110...
I love ATC as much as PMC I do and everybody agree with me those two brands are REFERENCE in studio monitoring.

 

[andreasmaaan]

I must ask
ATC monitors are considered to be one of the best if not the best monitors on the planet, it's also a consensus on Gearslutz
But around here they're not very popular
I must understand why

Short answer: they measure poorly, which makes them unsuitable for use as monitors (a monitor needs to give you the truth).

 

[sloth_kwj]

Short answer: they measure poorly, which makes them unsuitable for use as monitors (a monitor needs to give you the truth).

Did you know thousands of studio are using ATC?

 

[andreasmaaan]

Did you know thousands of studio are using ATC?

Yes. But certainly not mine

 

[sloth_kwj]

Yes. But certainly not mine

What model’s measurements did you see? Maybe in this ASR entry-line outdated HiFi version?

 

[andreasmaaan]

What model’s measurements did you see? Maybe in this ASR entry-line outdated HiFi version?

SCM25, which is expensive and marketed as a studio monitor, was measured by Sound&Recording.

Not as poor as their home hifi speakers, but not good enough for studio use IMO.

And the main difference between this and their other top-of-the-line studio monitors is the size and number of woofers, which suggests that the issues within the passband of the midrange and tweeter are present throughout the entire range.

Also I’ve heard a few, including some of their most expensive models, and was never impressed...

 

[Kuppenbender]

To answer the OP’s question, there are a number of possibilities. I can only speculate.

The biggest reason for ATC’s lack of popularity here are the poor measurements of a 15 year-old version of the ATC SCM19, one of it’s entry level passive range. It should be added that the measurements are poor relative to its inflated USA price ($4000 a pair vs $2700 equivalent in UK/Europe). That said, there’s no certainty that the latest version (v3) would measure significantly better.

There are objective measurements of other ATC models elsewhere on the internet which correlate with Amir’s findings, but you’ll need to hunt those down yourself.

ATC’s excellent reputation on other sites is probably down to its line of active speakers found in many top recording studios over the years. People who spend lots of money on recording studios should know what they’re doing, right?

This reputation as a ‘pro’ speaker manufacturer inevitably influences the numerous subjective reviewers who rave about these speakers. I don’t know much about psychacoustics, but the idea that what you see and believe you know about a speaker affects your perception of its sound is a convincing one.

I think that there’s a general consensus that the smaller ATC entry level speakers are particularly bass light (relative to ported, similar sized speakers), and would benefit from a subwoofer.

 

[q3cpma]

What model’s measurements did you see? Maybe in this ASR entry-line outdated HiFi version?

You think speaker design is a dice roll? If a company makes a single bad speaker that manages to pass all the inspections, tests and QC to be finally sold to you (at an exhorbitant price precluding any hard compromise in the BOM), it's a bad company, period.
Unless you're telling me that ATC finally learned how to make speakers after that specific model (heh).

 

[digicidal]

ATC’s excellent reputation on other sites is probably down to its line of active speakers found in many top recording studios over the years. People who spend lots of money on recording studios should know what they’re doing right?

This reputation as a ‘pro’ speaker manufacturer inevitably influences the numerous subjective reviewers who rave about these speakers. I don’t know much about psychacoustics, but the idea that what you see and believe you know about a speaker affects your perception of its sound is a convincing one.

Seems like you know all you need to about psychoacoustics to be a savvy consumer. Any more is unnecessary unless you're developing DSP effects or compression algorithms IMO. (Or on the other side, selling snake-oil products, I suppose)

 

[Pearljam5000]

Thanks everybody
But there's still somewhat of a gap between the amount of love they get here Vs everywhere else, I guess we'll know when Amir will get a chance to test the one of the higher end pro models.

 

[Soniclife]

Did you know thousands of studio are using ATC?

Given the overwhelming number of crap recordings compared to good ones that fits, in fact the hit rate for good recordings seems more likely the output from the infinite monkey theorem than professionals that know what they are doing.

 

[Juhazi]

Stereophile editors love ATC too
https://www.google.com/search?q=atc...j0i22i30l2.6988j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The dome midrange is the main reason for it's fame. It has some benefits and some cons anyway
http://studio-hifi.com/images/ATC75-150S_JeffBagby.pdf

 

[andreasmaaan]

Wouldn’t go quite as far as @Soniclife lolz! But I would say that, in my experience, audio engineers tend to be almost as susceptible to marketing hype and magical thinking as audiophiles.

 

[sloth_kwj]

Wouldn’t go quite as far as @Soniclife lolz! But I would say that, in my experience, audio engineers tend to be almost as susceptible to marketing hype and magical thinking as audiophiles.

This is also for marketing their studio. Using popular, expensive equipment is one of factors that could attract new customers for small studios. But let you see how many 'popular, major, master class' engineers are using ATC... They don't select their "Main Tools" just by just marketing.

 

[digicidal]

Stereophile editors love ATC too

I'm not sure that's a valid criteria... at least depending on the editor/contributor. They also tend to like many other products with dubious performance/value propositions. Not that this is an inherent disqualification, but being supported by advertisements by said vendors does surely account for some of the clever soft-shoe that can be seen in almost every review from them.

Certainly ATC makes relatively "great" speakers in most regards, but in their respective markets - are they objectively competitive with similarly priced monitors? I'd say not quite, but that doesn't mean that in a given installation they don't sound fantastic.

Stereophile also highly regards speakers from DeVore Fidelity (as do many other publications) and I can't wrap my head around that one either.

 

[andreasmaaan]

This is also for marketing their studio. Using popular, expensive equipment is one of factors that could attract new customers for small studios. But let you see how many 'popular, major, master class' engineers are using ATC... They don't select their "Main Tools" just by just marketing.

I won’t speculate as to their motivations, as there’s little need to: the measurements speak for themselves.

 

[sloth_kwj]

I won’t speculate as to their motivations, as there’s little need to: the measurements speak for themselves.

So anyone has measurements of ATC's most popular model SCM 110a? OR every measurements of big boys for mastering purpose? NOBODY

 

[Joachim Herbert]

Did you know thousands of studio are using ATC?

Many people do lots of things. Does it always make sense?