Studio Monitors

[3heads]

(TBH for dance music Mackie HR series > Yamaha HS)

That might pretty much depend on which Mackie model you're talking about, a good friend of mine (and actually my next door neighbor) has the HR624 MK2 and I wouldn't want to trade my HS80M in for those. Not that they sound worse, but they also don't sound better (and especially not "200€-more-a-piece"-better ). Might be a different thing with the 824s though, haven't had a chance to check those out yet (but then again, in that price range I'd probably rather be looking at Genelecs).

Edit: And I agree with Filterkat, if the OP really doesn't have the money for Yamahas, the KRK Rokit series is probably a very good choice. Those really don't sound bad on their own (though in direct comparison high and mid ranges did sound quite mushy, So I decided to dish out the extra cash for the clarity of the Yamahas)

[tekki]

I have had a few projects with real deep bass in 'em.

The Yamaha's weren't able to play them without distorting, Fostex would resonate and shake internally(audily) and KRK would almost explode.

The HR624s were the only ones to play them through without any problem and still remain objective throughout the rest of the range. So yeah, I think they are that good.


As far as Genelec goes, their great, but two disadvantages.

• If you're not too familiar with the Genelecs characteristics, the mixdown sounds awesome on the Genelecs, but sound somewhat average, not that good, on other soundsystems.
• With the Mackies (same goes for Fostex, though I haven't been able to make long consecutive hours on a Yamaha set), I can sit all day without my ears fatiguing. With Genelecs I was not able to keep it up for more than a few hours. (3 hours tops, with an hourly break of a few minutes)

But hey, that's just me.

[DJZILCH]

lol looks like ur going to the same school i went to, finnished audio engineering there like 2 years ago :P, yeah i dont think the OP can afford the yamahas, i reccomended them to him, but said there too dear, but hes going with KRK's so i think thats a suitable lower cost choice...

what SAE u going to? which country and all that?

Yeah i got a pair of HS-80s after i heard 3/4 of the lecturers rambling on about them... lol

Sae singapore, i just moved here from sydney around last year
finishing off my diploma this year and next year i should finish the degree (in recording arts)

the school is pretty cool, i love everything they teach us, they get really technical too, a lot of physics of the concept of sound being studied (and some communications class, applied music, video editing post production etc) basically they cover a lot of interesting stuff, its very weird to say that for the first time in my life i actually enjoy going to school lol

yeah and many audio engineers seem to agree that for home usage the yamaha hs50/hs80 would be the way to go for its value and accuracy, they arent that expensive too

[3heads]

But hey, that's just me.

Yeah, cool, just wanted to share my impressions - in the end it comes down to ones personal preferences anyway, with hearing being as subjective as it is.

[supracg]

When I heard the yamaha's at guitar the high end response was very obvious, it was like a hiss was very noticeable on the tracks the guy was playing, but they were all kanye west tracks so maybe kanye brings the hiss in on purpose or something (I forgot to bring a usb plug with some house songs I know well). I'm sure they're very accurate in this region, but I was afraid the hiss might force me to dull down some of the higher frequencies and my songs would lose that crispiness. With the krk's the hiss was much less defined, so maybe they were less accurate in that region idk.

So maybe it was just the kanye tracks, Im going to go listen to them and the krk's again with some house tracks that I know of well.

Does anyone have/can find the frequency response curve of the krk's, I couldn't find it online?

[loop]

Interesting that you tend to emphasize on the HS80m rather then the HS50M. I'm told that for smaller rooms, the 5" should be better, since the 8" needs more physical space between them and between the listener and them. This sounds logical to me, but still may not be too important in practice.

Also, what about the bass-reflex whole being on the back of the speaker, rather then on the front? My knowledge is that if it's on the back, there should be more space from the wall to the speakers. That also seems to be logical, but does in count in reality?

Next is placement - what about putting (one of) them in the corner of the room next to a wall and on a desk? I'm considering a set of 5" monitors to put them on a desk, about 1 meter (3ft) apart. The desk is placed in front of a wall and in the corner of the room. Do you think I should bother with the consideration of the rear mounted bass reflex or the location?

As for 8" - I'd love to have, since they are more powerful and would work great for small home parties. Still, the primary objective is at home on my desk, so I'd like to fullfil this primary purpose even if they won't good for mini-PA purpose (secondary).

I'll be glad to hear your thoughts

[Filterkat]

Interesting that you tend to emphasize on the HS80m rather then the HS50M. I'm told that for smaller rooms, the 5" should be better, since the 8" needs more physical space between them and between the listener and them. This sounds logical to me, but still may not be too important in practice.

Also, what about the bass-reflex whole being on the back of the speaker, rather then on the front? My knowledge is that if it's on the back, there should be more space from the wall to the speakers. That also seems to be logical, but does in count in reality?

Next is placement - what about putting (one of) them in the corner of the room next to a wall and on a desk? I'm considering a set of 5" monitors to put them on a desk, about 1 meter (3ft) apart. The desk is placed in front of a wall and in the corner of the room. Do you think I should bother with the consideration of the rear mounted bass reflex or the location?

As for 8" - I'd love to have, since they are more powerful and would work great for small home parties. Still, the primary objective is at home on my desk, so I'd like to fullfil this primary purpose even if they won't good for mini-PA purpose (secondary).

I'll be glad to hear your thoughts

the 50's are a great alternative if you dont have room for the 80's, but the bass is not quite as good obviously due to the smaller driver. still very good, but not quite as good. if i got the 50's i'd eventually end up getting a monitor sub to compensate, but im just a gear nut in practice or at home it wont make a significant difference.

As for the bass ports on the back, yeah, they dont sound great rammed up next to a wall. if u can avoid it, id put them at least a meter from the wall for an all round better sound, but i guess it would kinda compensate for the sub in a way because of the short reflex room for the bass in a way? it would kinda act like a mini bass cabinet.

Right now my 80's are rammed up against a wall in my room until i find an apartment, becuse i have no where else to put them, and there too bass heavy, so ive had to compensate by upping the mids and hi's on the switches on the back. also ive found putting a towel, or even better if you can get some... some foam is great for putting under each monitor. Stops any unwanted reverb and dampens the sound a bit.

In saying all that, none of it is HUGELY noticable, especially in a home situation. But, if you can afford the room, id defitately place the monitors away from the wall, and apart from each other... the ideal is about 1.5-1-6 meters, with about 2-2.5 meters apart on an angle toward the user, but it would be a luxury to have a deticated room to be able to do that, so, the closer u can get the better, but i wouldnt sacrifice deskspace or comfort for only slightly better sound.

as for corners, ideally u want to avoid any corners, and have them as centred to the wall as possible, BUT then again, dont saccrifice comfort or desk space over slightly better sound. but if u can do it, set it up in the middle of the room.

All that said, if you dont have the space or whatever, its not going to sound crap set up at any point in the room, but there are ways of optimizing the sound wherever you put them.

[16b441khz]

What about the Samson Rubicon R5a / R6a / R8a ?

Anybody had experience with these? Ive read before somewhere that these are decent for their price? Couldn't find any frequency graphs though.

[loop]

Filterkat, I did a test with a bunch of 5" monitors today and I really like the HS50M. The clarity and the detail is great and I find them relatively accurate. Also checked the 80s, although I won't be getting them, and find the mids on the 80 a bit poorer than on the 50s. Bass on the 50 is weak, as you pointed out but that's OK for me. I also like the tiny size of 50s.

.... aaaand fuck the placement - I'll deal with I have

Tekki may be right that they may not be perfect for dance music, but the overal sound picture of the HS50M wins me. Definitely won't be good for club like experience LOL

I also gave an ear to a 2x500EUR 5" Dynaudio and they were better, which was nice to confirm LOL .

Cheers!