How much tech can you cram into a compact set of desktop speakers? A lot, if you’re ADAM Audio.
Berlin‑based ADAM Audio are on a roll, their new D3V active desktop monitor system being the third active monitor to be launched by the company in as many years. The D3V is designed to address the needs of musicians, producers, engineers, podcasters, vloggers, influencers and the like whose workflows are primarily desktop‑based, often using laptop computers. ADAM already have a presence amongst this user group, courtesy of their highly regarded T5V and A4V active monitors. However, the D3V’s specific focus on desktop monitoring, combined with a wallet‑friendly price, make it an attractive choice not only for those creators whose specialist needs it directly addresses, but also for computer users in general who want to listen to high‑quality streaming audio.
Opening The Box
It wasn’t until I’d taken the two D3V monitors out of their packaging that I realised just how compact the enclosures are, at 240mm high (including the stand), 115mm wide and 150mm deep. Aesthetically, the D3V follows ADAM’s signature paradigm of angled front baffle edges, and is available as standard in either black or white.
The D3V cabinets are moulded from PC‑ABS, a polycarbonate and acrylonitrile butadiene‑styrene blend that is commonly used in the automotive and consumer electronics industries because of its high strength, stiffness and heat and impact resistance. I didn’t test the D3V for any of those qualities, but both enclosures felt solid and inert, as I’d expect of a monitor cabinet. The moulding process has allowed ADAM’s designers not only to soften the angularity of the front baffle’s edges, but also to curve the surfaces of the enclosure, creating, to my eyes, an attractive appearance overall. Moulded into the bottom of each enclosure is a 3/8‑inch microphone stand thread together with a tapered tongue and groove slot, which accepts the supplied 15‑degree‑angled padded monitor supports. Also included is an external power supply with the stiffest, best‑fitting connector that I’ve ever come across; a four‑way cable to connect the left and right speakers; a USB‑C to USB‑C cable with a USB‑A adaptor for connection to a computer; and six stick‑on pads (three for each speaker) for mounting the D3V directly onto the surface of your desk.
At the bottom left of the ‘primary’ speaker’s front baffle (which carries a ‘Left’ label) sits a large multicolour LED indicator in the shape of ADAM’s apple‑shaped logo. Next to that you’ll find a stereo headphone mini‑jack socket, and beside that — and far enough away so that even my fingers didn’t catch the headphone jack or cable — is the D3V’s combination volume knob and mode switch. The secondary speaker (labelled ‘Right’) has none of these.
The rear panel of the Left speaker hosts the analogue and USB inputs, the room compensation EQ switches, and a four‑pin output to pass audio onto the Right speaker.
ADAM Drivers
The front baffles feature all‑new high‑frequency and bass/mid drivers. The 1.5‑inch D‑ART (Accelerated Ribbon Technology) pleated‑foil tweeter is hand‑made and was specially developed for the D3V. A HFPS (High Frequency Propagation System) waveguide is moulded as part of the baffle, and this houses the innovative approach to the Air Motion Transformer concept (originally developed by Dr Oskar Heil) that is the signature of ADAM’s ART tweeters. In an ART tweeter, the pleated folds compress and expand, drawing air in and squeezing it out in response to the audio signal being applied to them. This movement enables the membrane to move air faster than it itself is physically moving, giving ART tweeters the ability to deliver a fast, precise transient response, which results in a clear, detailed high end. The large acoustically active area within its pleated membrane also allows an ART tweeter to produce both a highly dynamic output and a wide horizontal and vertical dispersion, which is controlled by the aforementioned HPFS.
The ‘primary’ speaker, nominally designated Left, houses all the amplification and DSP electronics, as well as the headphone output and volume encoder/mode switch.The new 3.5‑inch woofer is also a bespoke design, featuring a uniquely profiled aluminium cone that combines light weight with stiffness. The woofer’s ferrite magnet, reinforced voice‑coil joints and long‑linear‑excursion design enables it to push high volumes of air whilst avoiding breakup or audible distortion.
In addition to their tweeters and woofers — and in a first for ADAM Audio — the D3Vs feature twin passive radiators, one on each sidewall. The radiators’ 2.5‑inch flat panels, which appear to be made of PC‑ABS like the enclosures, sit in ribbed rubber surrounds, which provide the stable travel path essential to the delivery of a tight and controlled extension to the woofers’ innate low‑frequency response.
Although passive radiators can work well to extend the low‑frequency response in larger enclosures (the Focal SM9 that I reviewed in SOS January 2013 is a good example), they are more commonly found nowadays in smaller enclosures. PRs are used as an alternative to reflex ports, either where there’s no room to accommodate a port, or where, at higher SPLs, the noise from the turbulence caused by a high‑speed volume of air passing through a small‑diameter port would be, to say the least, problematic.
Powering Up
Power to the drivers comes courtesy of two stereo PWM Class‑D amplifiers housed in the primary cabinet. These deliver 30W RMS per channel to the tweeters and 70W RMS per channel to the woofers, a total of 200W RMS for the system as a whole. The D3V’s amplifiers and crossover point (4kHz) are under DSP control and deliver, according to the published technical measurements, a creditably flat frequency response with ‑3dB points at 48Hz and 22.6kHz. The effect of the passive radiators can be seen in the system’s ruler‑flat 60‑80Hz low‑frequency response.
To assist you in adapting the D3Vs to their placement in your room, the backplate of the primary (Left) D3V carries three three‑position Room Adaptation switches: Position (stand, wall or corner), Desk (none, small or large) and Room Acoustics (treated, moderate or untreated). The Position settings apply a gentle shelving response reduction in the low end (0, ‑3 and ‑6 dB); Desk applies fairly wide notches in the low‑mid (0, ‑3 and ‑6 dB) and midrange (0, ‑2 and ‑4 dB) frequencies; and Room Acoustics applies a gentle shelving response reduction in the highs (0, ‑1.5 and ‑3 dB).
On the backplate of the primary speaker you’ll find connectors for the supplied external 24V DC 2.5A power supply, and the four‑way cable that carries the output of the treble and bass power amplifiers to their respective drivers in the secondary loudspeaker. In addition, you’ll find a pair of 6.35mm TRS jack sockets for connecting a balanced analogue input signal (maximum input level +9dBu), and the USB‑C port that allows you to connect your computer, tablet or phone directly to the D3V, removing the need for an external audio interface when monitoring from those devices.
D3V In Use
Setting up the D3V was simply a matter of plugging in the connecting lead from the primary to the secondary speaker, making the necessary digital and analogue connections (USB and headphone out from my Mac Pro), and plugging in the power supply via its tightly fitting connector.
Although the D3V has an auto‑standby function, you can put the D3V into standby manually by pressing and holding the volume knob/mode switch for two seconds. Since there is no power on/off switch, the D3V powers up more or less instantly after being plugged in or being switched out of standby by a single press of the mode switch. The D3V powers up with the last‑used input mode (digital or analogue) enabled, and the indicator icon illuminates in the corresponding colour (cyan or green respectively). Switching between digital and analogue inputs is accomplished by two presses of the mode switch.
A triple‑press of that switch swaps left and right channels over, allowing you to place the primary speaker on your right, should you wish to (the indicator LED flashes orange three times, signifying that a swap is in progress). The D3V can be muted by a single press of the mode switch, the indicator LED pulsing orange to show that the system is muted. Depending on the context, a flashing red indicator LED can mean either that the D3V’s DSP‑controlled limiter is being triggered or that the system is booting up. If (or when) you install a firmware upgrade, the LED flashes purple at the start of the process, and flashes green three times at the end.
Positioning & Room Adaptation
The D3V provides two desktop mounting options: either on a pair of short tabletop microphone stands (for example the K&M 23320) angled towards your listening position at ear level, or on its own stands, angled upwards and inwards towards you. Sitting at my desk, I’m around 90cm away from each speaker on my desktop and, being of the tall persuasion, I used a couple of shallow wedges to increase the upward angle. I did consider table stands, but I occasionally use wired headphones and I’d rather have their cable to the D3V running off to the side than hanging down from a stand.
With the D3Vs set up on my office desk and connected via USB to my iMac so that I was hearing the D3V’s onboard D‑A conversion, I began listening critically. Positioned as they were, with the drivers sitting forward of the computer screen and bookcases behind the speakers, I felt that the system’s low frequencies had a slight tendency to overshadow its midrange performance. Switching in the low‑frequency ‑3dB shelving filter brought the midrange back up to where I wanted it to be. With a couple of feet or so of desktop in front of the D3V I was slightly concerned that there might be a problem with desk reflections, but that didn’t materialise, possibly because of the upward angle required to aim them at my ears. The high frequencies also didn’t require any attenuation.
Listening Time
Since the D3V is fitted with passive radiators and an ADAM ART tweeter, the first port of call had to be a CD with plenty of low bass and lots of detail in the higher frequencies. This meant that XXYYXX’s eponymous trip‑hop album from back in 2012 was first up. Although not as detailed in the low end as Deadmau5’s Grammy Award‑winning 4x4=12 (which was up next), the XXYYXX album has a lot of low‑level midrange and treble percussive detail in its tracks. I’ve found this particular CD to be a good test of a two‑way loudspeaker’s ability to resolve that type of detail in the heavy presence of low frequencies.
The D3V coped magnificently with both CDs, which were played in from an external CD/DVD drive. Watching the passive radiators moving in and out as they translated low bass frequencies made mesmerising entertainment. Due to its size, the D3V naturally doesn’t move enough air to deliver the bass weight that I get from the ADAM A8Hs in my studio — but the speed and accuracy of its low‑end performance blew away that of the 2.1 loudspeaker system and Toslink D‑A converter combination that I’ve used for years with my iMac. The D3V’s reproduction and resolution of bass transients was very precise and, even at high volume levels (I never did get the limiter to flash), that definition didn’t blur. Midrange detail was superbly delineated, again with crisp transient detail throughout. As with every ADAM ART tweeter that I’ve come across, the new, smaller D‑ART variant excelled at resolving higher‑frequency transient detail in both CDs without ever sounding harsh. Unfortunately for my bank account’s prospects, the D3V’s solid, expansive and detailed soundfield outperformed that of my current 2.1 system.
This high level of performance was repeated across my collection of favourite test CDs. To name three: the natural reverb tails in Cantus’ Spes disappear slowly into the dark void of a large church’s ceiling, providing as they die away a stern test of a loudspeaker’s ability to resolve low‑level detail; Malicorne’s Vox, with its full‑throated, hard‑edged, a cappella male and female vocals stress test a loudspeaker’s abilities to extract each singer’s individual contributions and place them precisely in place; and Galician folk band Berroguetto’s superbly‑recorded 10.0, with its blend of female vocals, accordion, Galician bagpipes, bass, kit drums, low pitched drums, ethnic percussion, and bowed and fretted stringed instruments will expose any loudspeaker’s weaknesses.
Since most of the films, videos and music that I watch and listen to nowadays are streamed via computer, I also spent time listening to music from my iTunes library (which includes tracks that I’ve produced, mixed and/or mastered) and major music streaming services. I also sampled parts of several films and videos on Amazon and Vimeo. The D3V, connected to my iMac via USB, delivered superb results from both streamed music and film soundtracks.
Connecting the headphone output of my iMac to the analogue inputs of the D3V produced results that sounded good. However, switching between the D3V’s analogue and digital inputs revealed that the D‑A converter in the D3V is, to my ears, capable of delivering a more detailed and expansive soundfield than its equivalent in my iMac.
The power and accuracy of the D3V’s low‑frequency extension and delivery is much better than you’d expect from its compact dimensions.
Assessment
Overall, the D3V performs superbly as the computer desktop monitor system that it was designed to be and, I feel, delivers excellent value for money. Due to its passive radiators, the power and accuracy of the D3V’s low‑frequency extension and delivery is much better than you’d expect from its compact dimensions. The new 3.5‑inch woofer and D‑ART tweeter work seamlessly together and in conjunction with the passive radiators to deliver an impressively detailed performance.
In A/B testing with my ADAM AH8 monitors I found that, although the D3V cannot reproduce the A8H’s power and clarity, it does have a quite similar sonic character. Since I know that mixes that I create on the A8H translate well to other studio monitors, domestic loudspeakers and streaming services, I am confident that any evaluations or decisions that I might make when monitoring computer audio through the D3V will do likewise.
If you are looking for your first computer audio monitoring system, thinking about upgrading your monitoring when creating content, or want to improve your listening experience with the music and movies that you stream and download from the Internet, then the ADAM Audio D3V should certainly be on your shortlist. Frankly, until I listened to the D3V, I would never have considered spending almost £300 on a dedicated active computer desktop monitoring system. Now I am having to look for reasons not to buy a D3V system, and am failing miserably in that endeavour.
Pros
- Superb overall audio performance, particularly in the bass.
- Direct connection to your computer via USB.
- Attractively priced and excellent value for money.
Cons
- None.
Summary
A high‑performance, attractively‑priced, active desktop computer monitoring system that brings ADAM Audio’s two and a half decades of studio experience directly into this specialised area for the first time.
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