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AudioArtist « Very Good for the class »
Published on 09/18/12 at 12:02The Yamaha HS50M's are a (sort-of) newer version of Yamaha's very famous and sought after NS-10's. This may sound odd, why try to re-create what is arguably one of the better nearfield monitors ever made? I suppose Yamaha simply decided, "Hey, we've got all these new manufacturing techniques, several more years of trial and error work done, cheaper materials, etc. Why, NOT! try and make a cheaper, more modern predecessor to the NS-10's!"
The HS50M's are active monitors with the features you would expect from a solid product of it's class and price range. What you may not expect is how good these monitors really are. Having used these quite a bit, I can assure you that you can acheive some really well balanced mixes with them. I would not recommend these for mastering unless you have done very good sound conditioning to your mixing environment and also have a decent or appropriate subwoofer to pick up the slack in the low-end.
SOUNDS
When the HS50M's are set up in your workspace properly you should not have any major issues with getting a fairly represented stereo image. This of course assumes that you have treated your room environment accordingly for serious work.
The HS50M's handle very dynamic content just as well as they handle tragically over-compressed or over-limited content. You will be surprised at how loud and how full they can sound given their diminuitive size.
The HS50M's deliver an incredibly close approximation of the characteristics of the time-honored NS-10's. They are very stable and acceptably flat from 200Hz-20kHz. Just understand that a speaker of this "average" size is never going to knock picture frames off your walls. Their intended use is NOT to "thump", but to be precise in their clarity and definition.
Yet again, the HS50M's are very suited for semi-pro to pro mixing, however, your personal preferences and needs should always be the deciding factor in the gear that you buy.
OVERALL OPINION
As with all smaller nearfield monitors in this class, the low-end just isn't there. The HS50M's more than make up for the lack with excellent response from about 200Hz - 20kHz. They are indeed quite suited for more serious mixing if the nearfield monitoring approach is right for you.
I've seen the HS50M's selling for widely variable prices so definitely shop around and find the best you can. I would not recommend paying anything over $400 us for a pair. At that point you could save a little bit more and purchase something better.
Other than the obvious lack of really deep low-end, (150Hz and below), the HS50M's are a very well balanced and pleasing monitor to use. Partnered with an appropriate subwoofer and a well treated room, one could expect to do some very good work with these.
I've tried several other monitors in this class/size/etc. and the HS50M's would be my choice of the bunch. They seem to deal with and present the lower frequencies better than some of their smaller competitors without sacrificing a well balanced mid to treble response.
The HS50M's are active monitors with the features you would expect from a solid product of it's class and price range. What you may not expect is how good these monitors really are. Having used these quite a bit, I can assure you that you can acheive some really well balanced mixes with them. I would not recommend these for mastering unless you have done very good sound conditioning to your mixing environment and also have a decent or appropriate subwoofer to pick up the slack in the low-end.
SOUNDS
When the HS50M's are set up in your workspace properly you should not have any major issues with getting a fairly represented stereo image. This of course assumes that you have treated your room environment accordingly for serious work.
The HS50M's handle very dynamic content just as well as they handle tragically over-compressed or over-limited content. You will be surprised at how loud and how full they can sound given their diminuitive size.
The HS50M's deliver an incredibly close approximation of the characteristics of the time-honored NS-10's. They are very stable and acceptably flat from 200Hz-20kHz. Just understand that a speaker of this "average" size is never going to knock picture frames off your walls. Their intended use is NOT to "thump", but to be precise in their clarity and definition.
Yet again, the HS50M's are very suited for semi-pro to pro mixing, however, your personal preferences and needs should always be the deciding factor in the gear that you buy.
OVERALL OPINION
As with all smaller nearfield monitors in this class, the low-end just isn't there. The HS50M's more than make up for the lack with excellent response from about 200Hz - 20kHz. They are indeed quite suited for more serious mixing if the nearfield monitoring approach is right for you.
I've seen the HS50M's selling for widely variable prices so definitely shop around and find the best you can. I would not recommend paying anything over $400 us for a pair. At that point you could save a little bit more and purchase something better.
Other than the obvious lack of really deep low-end, (150Hz and below), the HS50M's are a very well balanced and pleasing monitor to use. Partnered with an appropriate subwoofer and a well treated room, one could expect to do some very good work with these.
I've tried several other monitors in this class/size/etc. and the HS50M's would be my choice of the bunch. They seem to deal with and present the lower frequencies better than some of their smaller competitors without sacrificing a well balanced mid to treble response.