Monitors: NS-10's?

[Lavahead]

I will soon be in the market for some monitors. I'm going to be sticking AROUND (give or take 50 bux) $500.

I am currently using Event 20/20's and I'm not completly confident that I am getting proper translation.

I'm heard it said on many occassions that NS-10's translate nicely. Of course this is very subjective..but to the NS-10 users out there...tell me a bit about them.

I appreciate all suggestions.

[Randy]

I use them as my primary monitors. They are being driven by a Samson Servo 120.

I like them for what they are. After using many different consumer bookself and large speakers, I feel like I can finally tell what is going on. Since using them, I haven't been surprised at how they sound on another set up.

If the musicians like what they hear coming out of them in the studio, chances are, they are going to be even happier when they get home.

The only wish I have is that they gave a better idea of what is happening in the low end of the signal.

I can't say that I have experienced "ear fatigue" yet. For instance, this weekend I recorded from 1pm to 7 pm and mixed from 8 till 11 on Saturday and then on Sunday recorded from 11 am till 3:30, practiced from 6 till 8:30 and then mixed for an hour, and didn't want to take a stick of dynamite to them, as so many people say about NS10s.

Maybe I have Altec Coke Bottle mics for ears.

[@?,*???&?]

We're in an era of more bottom. The NS10 got a bad name in the 80's when mixes were so thin sounding.

At Master Control, our Augspurger mains (with Tad components) sounded like huge NS-10s. From mains down to our Auratones, every speaker translated. The Augpurgers were tuned flat on up to 7 Khz with a gentle roll-off thereafter. Musical as hell. You can never really make the drivers do more than they are designed to do, so its a matter of tucking in frequencies and staying up on re-tuning your mains. We received a boatload of compliments on how accurate the mains were. Room sucked in a little 3Khz because of the tremendous clarity and imaging. I really, really miss that space now.

When you look for your NS10s find them with the old-style tweeter. Those seemed to be more clear than the newer NS10Ms with the big square cage tweeters. The old ones go "tsssssssssst", the new ones go "thhhhhhhht".

[Lavahead]

If the musicians like what they hear coming out of them in the studio, chances are, they are going to be even happier when they get home.

What is it about them that makes them so "strict"?

[Randy]

What is it about them that makes them so "strict"?

I heard that home speakers are usually tuned to emphasize the highs and lows. NS-10s are tuned so there is no (well, minimal) emphasis on their frequency response curve. Also, the crossover is designed to keep phase artifacts at a minimum. They are not all that expensive, so I can't imagine it is that hard to make a speaker accurate. Now making one accurate and good sounding, that's a different story. Given an unlimited budget I would never listen to NS-10s again, until then, NS-10s all the way!

[cgarges]

At Master Control, our Augspurger mains (with Tad components) sounded like huge NS-10s.

Hey Jeff, where can I get some those $550 TAD/Augspergers? I might be able to go as high as $600.

Chris

[swingdoc]

I kinda think of NS10s as mixing on a boom box. Not much response on the low end. Still, they really are in so many studios that they are a standard. Theyre a good monitor to have and to know.
Its a good idea to listen to your mixes on as many speakers as is pratical.
If you have an A & B out on your mix bus, having NS10s on one of the outs is a fine idea.

[Madness]

NS-10s are the most commonly used speaker among A&R people and in studios. It's not so much that they sound great; it's more to do with that anything that sounds good on them will sound great on anything else.

Yes, the low end is tricky, but I think that after a while you figure out where it sits. Of course, it helps to burn a cd and monitor your mix on a car stereo or boom box to get a perspective.

A friend who works for M-Audio says that their new monitor line is killer; I'll be interested in checking them out.

Phil

[bigtoe]

depends on the amp too- i've heard ns10's sound way better with a decent amp ...but mine sound like lotta mids...not a lotta high highs...no lows....samson 240 amp. (weeee wahhhhh) the events you have seem to have less peaked out mids (scoopy)...a funky bottom and a hypey top. pick yer poison.

as far as translation i have always had a problem with musicians wanting bass up more on ns10's. not a good thing when they go home...even worse if their primary stereo is a boom box and they don't hear the lows... i find they are translating their best when my ears are fused shut by the guitars and cymbals.... when they sound 'good' to me - and the musicians - it's a total mudfest on the bottom.

i dunno - having them as yer only monitor can be a hard deal...obviously like anything - you can learn to use em...and people do use em really well...but for me it's like having only one tool on a job that requires a few more.

laaaaaater.

Mike

[stapes]

This one repeat band that came back for a second session requested that we monitor everything on the NS-10's because they felt that the music sounded too good on the Mackies. They said they wanted me to work harder to get it to sound good on the NS10's because they sound closer to what they have at home. If it's that obvious to the _musicians_ it should be pretty obvious to us. That being said, I had to use the Mackies a little bit just to get a handle on the low end. I've found that I can usually tell when something was mixed on NS10's because it's got a rather large low end, sometimes boomy depending on who it is mixing. I've always thought of studios with only NS10's to be churning out mixes that absolutely have to be mastered. I can just see the mastering engineer going, "One NS10 Special, coming right up", low shelf cut at 60Hz down. Like I said, all in the ear of the mixer.

Erik Wofford

[Tousana]

I will soon be in the market for some monitors. I'm going to be sticking AROUND (give or take 50 bux) $500.

I am currently using Event 20/20's and I'm not completly confident that I am getting proper translation.

I'm heard it said on many occassions that NS-10's translate nicely. Of course this is very subjective..but to the NS-10 users out there...tell me a bit about them.

I appreciate all suggestions.

NS 10's became a studio standard for a while,but you have to learn to read the curve that they project, and it takes a while to get used to them. They have a severe lack of low end and a very exaggerated mid-range.Now,there are many other brands of speakers that will suit you depending on your taste and budget. One thing to think about is the fact that NS 10's are no longer made. So your options are to find a good used pair and find new components which are also becoming hard to find,or find someone with a new pair in a box that's willing to part with them. Ultimately you must make the decision for yourself what will work for you.

[concubine]

i've been happy with my ns-10's. i snagged a pair in very good condition on ebay a year ago for $300. very good for the money, at least. unlike a lot of people, i actually like what i hear through them most of the time. if something sounds good, it's a beautiful listening experience. but vice versa. my only gripe is right in line with a lot of other people on this thread: the lack of low end can be frustrating. initially, i found myself overcompensating with low end, really pushing bass and kick drum in particular, up so that they sounded right through the ns-10s, cause i wasn't getting much. then i'd play the mix back on my stereo at home, and the bass would be overpowering. so, you really have to fill in the gaps with the low end, and get used to guessing just how much to overcompensate with the low end, and know when to lay off. but that really doesn't end up being a big deal a lot of the time. once you're used to them, they're nice to work with.

jeff

[ottokbre]

i plan on gittin sum

[Lavahead]

First of all, thanks for all the great posts.

When I posted I was about 50/50 on whether or not I should get them. I'd say now I'm leaning more in favor of them.

It sounds like they translate pretty well, which is what I was looking for (isnt that the best selling point of a monitor?). When you are not confident with what you hear on your monitors it can be really frustrating.

Thanks again,
Mike

[NewYorkDave]

I don't consider myself an elitist or a snob in any way--hell, I'm not too proud to record with a Roland hard-disk machine and a Chinese condenser. But after an expensive (in time and money) but ultimately abortive album mixing session about ten years ago, I would never, never use NS10s again if I had a choice. I'd much rather use the 20/20s, quite honestly.

I found the NS10s harsh, strident and nasty. They caused me to suck all the midrange out of my mix just to make my headache go away. Perhaps the NS10 is partly to blame for the "scooped" sound of so many popular music recordings over the past several years.

A nasty speaker is a nasty speaker and it doesn't matter to me that it's what "everybody" uses. This is purely my opinion, but you were asking for opinions, weren't you?