Yamaha Active Monitors

I needed a good studio monitor to fit on a smaller desk. My main studio is limited in space and I was careful to find smaller monitors that would still deliver a perfect sound. I went to a local music store and a trusted salesman told me I won't find better than the 50M. They had the newer HS 5 in stock too but they still had a few HS 50Ms in stock as well and he said go with that. I use them for mixing, monitoring and mastering my music. SOUNDS The stereo image is great. I have two set at the same angle, an equal distance from my chair. Every little detail in my music comes out so clearly that I can't help but notice tiny things that I would never hear in normal speakers. For example, I was mixing a project for a client and he had forgotten to adjust his mic pre-amp gain before recording vocals. He was unable to get another recording to me, so I ran it through an analog mixer to boost the volume a bit. Of course, this caused a bit of background fuzz to appear. After getting rid of as much fuzz as I could, I finished the track and sent it to the client. I explained to him that he may hear fuzz throughout the track and he responded that he couldn't! I listened in many other speakers and couldn't hear it, it only appeared with the honest response of the HS 50Ms. OVERALL OPINION I love how detailed the speaker's response is. I especially like that I can listen to the smallest changes I make in effects plugins and tell the difference. If you can find these for around $200, they are very much worth it. If you are spending more you may compare them to some more expensive monitors, but otherwise I'd say you can't go wrong. If something were to happen to my speakers, I would try to replace them with the 50Ms all over again. They are very nice and give you an honest perspective on the sounds you've recorded.

The Yamaha MSP5 monitors are powered studio monitors, I paid 250 per monitor for these, they sound great but I was very disappointed with the low in frequencies in these. They were a total let down and didn’t provide me hardly with any thump. Coming from the KRK’s and plugging these up was like two different sounds. You cant even put these in the same category as the KRK’s but they are still pretty good. But with an unaccurate low end frequency its hard to get a clean mix on the low end. The MSP5’s have a balanced XLR type input which is good because most equipment uses XLR and you can plug up and start listening right away without having to switch a bunch of connections around. SOUNDS I would say it sounds ok, like I said I wasn’t happy with the low end of them, because even in my acoustic treated room I still couldn’t get a clean mix on the low end of my productions with these monitors. I think yamaha’s products are great I just don’t know what happened with these, for the price of around 500 for the pair I would expect something way better than the frequency of these. OVERALL OPINION But overall if your not worried about having a lot of low end , or if you don’t compose your music with a lot of kick and thump than these will work perfect for your. Maybe for some easy listening music or some jazz because of a smooth bassline with no punch, they will sound great. But if you need something with some punch and knock go with some krks’s or the upgraded version of these. Its just sad that the Yamaha MSP5’s cost so much and they disappointed me. I feel like they are the same as the HS50M monitors and only cost half.

I used the Yamaha HS80M’s for about a year and a half total, I loved them and they have a very good crystal clear sound. Great range, from hi’s to low end. But during my mixing I couldn’t get a clean mix with them. So that’s why I didn’t keep them longer than that. But for the price of these monitors its well worth the try to see how they work for you. Great neutral and accurate sounds come out of these monitors. My choice for these monitors was persuaded by the price. it’s a very respectable price for quality monitors in today’s music realm. The curve of frequency response is excellent, the low end thumps! These monitors will do the job for you without a doubt. They have very good dynamics but a little rough on the low end which is why I couldn’t get clean mixes with them. These where my first real pair of monitors, they aren’t pretty too look at and nothing spectacular about the design but they do more than the job. SOUNDS The Stereo image is ok, sound is clear and very stable . These will give you a wow factor that you will need, go to a store and try them out asap. OVERALL OPINION Overall you wont get a better monitor for the price of these, so if this is what your budget is give them a shot you might stick with them and keep them as your main monitors. They can be compared to the KRKs and Mackies. Make sure you have a solid room treatment to go with these monitors though, it will make them sound that much better! The best part about these is they are very accurate and have great precision. Knowing what I know now I am glad that I purchased these and I would do it again, maybe one day I will give them another shot!