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(More customer reviews)Bear with me... This review requires a little story telling.
I have a small, home-based recording studio, with modest mixing needs. However, when I (or anyone) needs a true mix-down, it has to be done with a pair of near-field monitors, and the monitors have to reflect the reality of the music, not some exaggeration of it. Headphones will not do, and many hours will be wasted on poor-quality monitors and the constant re-mixing that will occur due to poor sounding final product.
So, having set that stage, I freely admit that I am now on my third and final set of monitors -- the Yamaha HS50Ms.
My first experiment was on some M-Audio DX4 monitors, which lasted about 10 years. The DX4s are inexpensive but passable monitors as long as you don't push them too hard. Bass reproduction suffers with the 4" LFD, and the .75" HFD has a tendency to come off slightly harsh and sizzling. However, as my mixing needs have evolved over time, so has my taste for accuracy, and the DX4s were simply not cutting it anymore, so I replaced them earlier this year with a pair of Alesis M1 Active 520 USBs. The DX4s were recently sold to a friend for $30.
My experience with the Alesis M1 Active 520 USBs was truly a mixed experience. My first impression on pulling the 520s out of the box was, "gee, there isn't much heft to these things". However, I was pleasantly surprised when firing them up. I was rewarded with ample sweet-spot and a very nice "smoothness" on the upper-end. However, the reward wasn't long-lasting as the volume knob quickly failed and Alesis couldn't supply me with a replacement part. The build quality of the Alesis monitors is truly touch-and-go, with cheap-feeling materials. After only two weeks, I had had enough of the scratchy and only occasionally working volume knob, and decided to go after what I had long dreamed of, a replacement to the legendary Yamaha NS-10s, which are no longer available. The 520s are going up for sale on a popular auction site next week, starting at $1.
So, I ordered a pair of the (much more expensive) Yamaha HS50Ms, which arrived earlier this week. My first impression upon pulling them out of the box was the incredible build quality and heft of these speakers. They are built like a tank, very stout and heavy, and are oozing quality. Hook-up was pretty painless via the XLR connects, and then the moment of truth came... powering them up. When powering up these speakers, I was anticipating the typical loud POP, but was rewarded only with a glowing power light on the front panel and nothing but quiet. Outstanding! So, I fire up a couple of reference songs and am immediately blown away by the clarity and depth of the soundstage! The HS50Ms are a little brighter on the HFD than the Alesis, but much more solid on the LFD. Additionally, there is a plethora of adjustments and padding on the rear of the monitors which allow you to tune the speaker to your immediate environment. After about 15 minutes of adjustments to remove a little of the hot upper end, I finally settled on an excellent balance and sat back to enjoy the absolutely fantastic sound of these monitors.
These HS50Ms are very, very accurate. Perhaps a little too accurate. I am now hearing things that I've never heard before in my fairly extensive library of recordings, including very minute sonic signatures from the various instruments (scratching of strings on a bass, subtle inflections in vocal performances, creaking of drum stools, some breathing where there used to be none). This makes for a very interesting rediscovery of your music! Additionally, I'm now finding that poor recordings (low resolution or poor mic placement) comes out "in your face" (it's amazing how many poorly executed recordings are out there). So, in some respects, these speakers are making it more difficult to listen to all music because they don't lie. But, for the cadre of great home-brew and commercial recordings that are out there, with proper mic placement, good engineering, and excellent mixing, there is NOTHING that will touch these monitors for accuracy in this size/form-factor range. Exceptionally smooth mid-to-high presentation (with the HFD padded -2 dB), and outstanding, almost haunting vocal representation (some examples below). Bass is strong and tight, but not too strong as I've heard from many other monitors. Plus, these monitors can get LOUD, so be careful!
A few reference songs that are superbly recorded with excellent vocals and instrumentation -- monitor placement is about 36" apart tilted inward at 30 degrees with the listening position forming an isosceles triangle.
Jane Monheit -- "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Mindy Smith -- "One Moment More"
Alison Krauss -- "The Lucky One"
Allison Moorer -- "A Soft Place to Fall"
So, to wrap it up, I have the distinct impression that I will be enjoying these monitors for years to come. I have finally found my modern NS-10 replacements. They are solidly built and are about as "quality" as any piece of equipment I've owned. Once out of the box and tuned for your environment, they have simply stellar presentation and sound stage which is about as transparent as I've ever heard (for example, when listening in the "sweet spot" to Mindy Smith's "One Moment More", you can almost "see" Mindy about 2' in front of you, and her articulation is absolutely stunning through these monitors). Just have real expectation about what you are going to get with the HS50Ms. You will find dissatisfaction with some of your library as the music will now be revealed and you will hear both the good and bad in the recordings. But, this will make you appreciate even more those exemplary recordings which are so well presented by these exceptional monitors.
I'd give the HS50Ms six stars if I could.
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