Anybody regret their Yamaha HS 50M monitor purchase?

[dazzer]

I really don't see the point in using studio monitors that sound awful.
Maybe your mixes will turn out slightly better, but if the whole process of making the track is a pain in the ears you'll probably get a worse end result.
Also, don't you like to listen to music? I don't have the space for another pair of speakers, and the KRK Rokit 6" have a very pleasing sound to my ears. Maybe not a 100 % neutral, but my room acoustics are pretty fucked up anyway...

+1 completely, in my case with my Genelecs. As I'm not a pro and want something that I enjoy listening too, I couldn't imagine having monitors I didn't like the sound of.

[The Carpet Cleaner]

I really don't see the point in using studio monitors that sound awful.
Maybe your mixes will turn out slightly better, but if the whole process of making the track is a pain in the ears you'll probably get a worse end result.
Also, don't you like to listen to music? I don't have the space for another pair of speakers, and the KRK Rokit 6" have a very pleasing sound to my ears. Maybe not a 100 % neutral, but my room acoustics are pretty fucked up anyway...

Well I agree with that, but a pair of genelecs is in a total different price range...
Edit : but the hs50m are not awful, they are simply not that much "pleasing"

[dazzer]

^ I think you quoted the wrong person - he said KRKs, I said Genelecs.

Yeah, of course they're a lot more pricey, I was just making the point about nice sounding. I'm sure there are a lot of decent monitors around the same price that the OP could get.

Fact is, if you don't like the sound and you will also be listening to music on them and can't afford other speakers, buy something different IMO.

[Tarekith]

Just because speakers sound flat and neutral, doesn't mean they still can't sound good. So yeah, add me to the list of people that say you should really be enjoying what you hear while you're working, othewise, why bother?

[The Carpet Cleaner]

Ha no, I was saying genelecs because I really like their sound but cannot afford them at the moment.

And on the contrary I don't like krks, but like my hs50.

Anyway ...

[gjm]

Point taken about enjoying what you are hearing. However, for me I am wondering if I am simply reacting naively to something that sounds 'different' to my usual experience and am judging it as 'shitty' sounding when in actual fact its exactly what I need to stretch my Aural memory muscles? I remember when I got my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro headphones and my automatic reaction was that they sounded so bright that it put me off listening to music through them. They were not pleasing at all. But 2 years on they are my main reference for comparison of other headphones which all sound 'bad' to me. I think for me with a lack of experience in working practically with a range of other quality monitors, rather than judge them with negatives this early on, I will work at some of the other things that affect their listenability and really get to know my gear and environment, so that I am able to get to a point where I can judge them and other monitors neutrally and reflect their personalities accurately.

I listened to a wide range of music over the last few days before buying them. The thing that surprised me the most was opening a project I was working on with my old gear and was happy with the way I had it sounding. I was amazed at how different this project sounded through the HS50's and how out of balance all of the components were. They really did show a whole different sonic picture.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[2be]

Just because speakers sound flat and neutral, doesn't mean they still can't sound good. So yeah, add me to the list of people that say you should really be enjoying what you hear while you're working, othewise, why bother?

I agree with you, there are a lot of flat and neutral, yet still nice sounding studio monitors. And I would love to have some high-end Genelecs or Adams some day, but they are out of my price range at the moment.
I still however think that a pleasant sound is very important - just by listening to other peoples well produced music, you can get a really good ear how a track is supposed to sound, and adjust your own composition and mixing to a reference. As my studio monitors are also my speakers, I hear at least 2-3 hours of music through them a day, be it mine or something out of my iTunes library. And I just couldn't enjoy so much music with a rather harsh and unpleasent sounding studio monitor like the Yamaha.
But that's of course just my opionion, your own ears decide in the end what sounds good to you and what not

[Forge.]

Just because speakers sound flat and neutral, doesn't mean they still can't sound good. So yeah, add me to the list of people that say you should really be enjoying what you hear while you're working, othewise, why bother?

I like listening to music on my setup - the NS10s sound fine for listening back to produced/mastered music.

I think the point is more when you compare them to other monitors. - and when making your OWN music certain ugliness will stand out - but that's great because you can do something about it

the key point is if it sounds GOOD on NS10s it will sound good on anything - but that's it, you can still get things sounding good. In fact in some ways it's easier because you can hear the ugliness more clearly.

[southsounder]

I've got to challenge the assertion that ANY monitors in this price range are sonically neutral, or even the idea that neutral monitors are always the ultimate goal for mixing anyway.

Everyone knows the NS10's certainly aren't neutral, yet were (and to a certain degree remain) widely used by many professional mixers even when "better" monitors were available. More expensive monitors like the ribbon tweeter equipped Adams and the beryllium tweeter equipped Focals aren't neutral either, and yet plenty of folks successfully mix on them.

In point of fact almost all monitors used for mixing color the sound in a certain fashion and to a certain degree. In many cases a particular monitor is chosen because it's coloration is considered desirable, as where NS10's "exposed" mids helps to dial in vocals and distorted guitars.

For most of us the rooms we mix in will affect the sound we're hearing FAR more than subtle coloration provided by the monitors we're using. Learning your room will increase your chances of a successful mix way more than your monitor selection.

The differences in coloration between the HS-series Yamahas and the Rokit-series KRK are small enough that again it really boils down to personal preference. If you like listening to the Yamahas better than the KRK's, then use the Yamahas. If you like the KRK's better, use those. Your choice of monitor brand alone will not enable nor prevent you from crafting a translatable mix.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that selecting a particular brand of monitor in this price range because you think it will help you mix better is a marketing-driven fallacy. Get the monitors that you enjoy listening to. Learn your room and learn your monitors, whatever brand you're using. That's how you'll get a better mix!

[fishmonkey]

there is another important reason why NS10s have been well-liked, and that is because they are not ported.

porting is generally used to boost bass response, but in doing so it compromises time domain response.

[kingrad]

I like the HS80s worth the extra money for the step up.

They are very honest monitors so won't flatter the sound

[Sage]

I recommend you the bigger ones, the HS80's.

I have the 80's and like 'em a lot.
Very honest but with more power in the low end, because of the 8inch cones.

Would never use less then 8inch cones.
Needed for some good bass response.

I don't know if you really "need" 8 inch cones for good bass response.

I've not heard the HS80M's, but something like the ADAM A7X's have 7" speakers, yet are not renowned for their bass response and something like Genelec 8030's which I've used in the past and the KRK VXT6's which I use these days, have smaller speakers and I have no complaints at all as both are more than adequate for low end unless you really do need to hear sub-50Hz and even then, you need a large room to truly do that.

That said, there's no right or wrong with monitors and if you're on a budget, you have to make compromises.