Ableton Forum

Hi,

I'm thinking about buying some new studio monitors for my home studio. At the moment I use M-Audio BX6 Carbon, and they are decent, but not fantastic.

I have read some reviews here and there, and I see that a lot of people recommend Yamaha HS8 (or maybe Yamaha HS7, those are maybe better for smaller rooms?) , so I might go for those. But I would love to get some tips from the "experts" here if there are any other speakers I should look into?

My budget is around $500 in total, maybe a little more if it's worth it. And I want speakers that give a neutral sound, to make the mixing easy.

Looking forward to some good tips!

KRK Rokit 8 series or the Yamaha HS8 are both good, I would go for the Yamaha's. I have a set of Adam A7's but I saved for them and bought them a good few years ago. The 8 inch cones for the Adams are bit out of your budget tho, that's why I would go for the HS8's. Oh yeah, you wouldn't need 8 inch cones if you are in a smaller environment, as you have stated.

There are countless thread's about this on the forum. I would do a search and have a good read, it's good stuff.

Al

Stace30 wrote:KRK Rokit 8 series or the Yamaha HS8 are both good, I would go for the Yamaha's. I have a set of Adam A7's but I saved for them and bought them a good few years ago. The 8 inch cones for the Adams are bit out of your budget tho, that's why I would go for the HS8's. Oh yeah, you wouldn't need 8 inch cones if you are in a smaller environment, as you have stated.

There are countless thread's about this on the forum. I would do a search and have a good read, it's good stuff.

Al

Thanks you! The Adam A7 looked sweet, but a bit expensive at the moment. I might land on Yamaha HS7, but I read somewhere that you need a subwoofer too and I don't want that...

I will do some more digging before I make up my mind

Last fall I bought a pair of Presonus Eris E8 for around €375,=/pair. These are decent, have good low end and plenty power on spare to stay dynamic and open on high volume. They ain't the best out there, but for the money hard to beat. At first I was looking at Adam A7x, but these are so expensive..... Then I took a listen at the Presonus Eris E8, and thought these might do the job - and they do!!!! I'm really happy with them!!!

https://www.presonus.com/products/Eris-E8

Take a look, and maybe a listen in a musicstore......

Some people, including me, have found the HS7's to be a little light on the low end, but I'm starting to realize that I've got some kind of "room node" problem that is cancelling the bass because there is a ton of bass behind the speakers, and in front closer to the floor. Looking at running some tests and attempting corrective room treatment.

In the three years I've owned them, I've used my HS7's in two different studio spaces, both around 12x27 feet, and the 7's seemed like the right size for the space. You're not going to mix at club levels, so you don't want some monster cones blasting you in the ears.

If your genre is something extra bass heavy, like Dubstep, you might still need a subwoofer. Otherwise, the HS7's have great detail and clarity (at that price) across the spectrum and some nice trim controls to adapt the speakers to your space.

I listened to a pair of Rokit's at a friend's studio before I bought my Yamaha's and found them to have even less bass than the HS7's, but I think they were 5's in a small bedroom-sized space, and set up for post-production sound for film. I listened to some Presonus Eris E5's and E8's too as part of a Presonus seminar, but just didn't vibe with their sound.

miyaru wrote:Last fall I bought a pair of Presonus Eris E8 for around €375,=/pair. These are decent, have good low end and plenty power on spare to stay dynamic and open on high volume. They ain't the best out there, but for the money hard to beat. At first I was looking at Adam A7x, but these are so expensive..... Then I took a listen at the Presonus Eris E8, and thought these might do the job - and they do!!!! I'm really happy with them!!!

https://www.presonus.com/products/Eris-E8

Take a look, and maybe a listen in a musicstore......

Thanks for the tip, I will definitely check them out. I see they cost $310 a pair now, and I can live with that

I would rather pay a little bit more and the very satisfied, because when I bought the M-Audio BX6 Carbon I wish I have gotten something better.

JBL LSR305 get good reviews regarding value for money.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/jbl-lsr305-lsr308

For EDM music the best monitors are any mobile phone.

I bought some JBL LSR308's with a subwoofer and was initially really impressed. They still pack quite a thump and occasionally reveal things that my AKG 712's don't (headphones.) That said I am now in the market for something a little more pristine and smooth like something by Adam. My buddy has the HS8's and they are definitely bangin'. I personally don't enjoy producing EDM type stuff as much without a subwoofer. The bass is practically half the fun but I do tend toward more bass heavy stuff.

Bad room + subwoofer = bad idea.


I have some Yamaha HS 5's and they are great and I've used many good studio monitors (costing 1000s and the Yamahas are probably the best cheapest monitors Ive had.

for bass get some great headphones like the Senheisser 650s.

when room is an issue - eliminate the room (my rule) and if that means use a bit of kit that doesn't interact with it then also not a bad idea. I site very close to my monitors and mix at low volume to not let the room interact so much. Then crank when finished and enjoy - don't let the room influence you. Of course acoustic treatments best but hey - budget and practicality tend to take over - so work round it.

I'm also very close to my monitors, and mix at moderate levels to eliminate room anomalies. I can't treat my room properly, as the walls are filled on one side with guitars and basses, and the two remaining walls have amps, cabs and bookshelfs. Under my guitars and basses reside my synths. Quiet a filled room!

As stated before, the Presonus Eris E8's do a good job here.....