Yamaha HS8 vs Yamaha NS10

[dhublein]

Trying to decide what monitors to upgrade to and have narrowed it down to a pair of Yamahas. Now i'm just not sure which is the right choice. I'm curious what peoples opinions are about these two monitors. I'm currently in a small home studio space (15x20 room) hopefully moving into a larger space later this year(maybe double the size). I'm mixing everything from electronic music to indie rock and doing a little tracking in this space as well. I guess my main questions are which are better suited for smaller spaces? And are there advantages to powered vs non-powered?

P.S. Long time peruser, first time poster.

[JWL]

I know NS10s have their fans, many of whom are famous, but I've never seen the appeal. They aren't very accurate. I can see their utility as "check" speakers but I wouldn't rely on them as the main mixing speakers unless I had no other options.

There are a bunch of great monitors out these days.....

[dhublein]

Thanks for the feedback! i'm open to other suggestions of monitors to check out. I have about $700 to spend which narrows the choices a little. I'm upgrading from a sad pair of M-Audio monitors. KRK Rokits seem like a fancy version of the M-Audio monitors i'm replacing..

[JWL]

In that price range I would probably look at Presonus, Equator, the new JBLs. I'm sure there are others. I think you could get a pair of Presonus Eris 5s and the Temblor sub in that range, for instance.

Tons of options, if you can try a few out in your room and pick the ones you like best.

Oh, and treat your room. That will make everything sound better.

[dhublein]

Great! Thanks JWL. There is a studio equip rental place near me. I might be able to try some different options before buying. I've made a few 2x4 absorption panels on my own but they are placed without much knowledge of what I was doing. I just read the mirror technique from a post on your website and will be trying that as well.

[Snarl 12/8]

You're never going to know what monitors you like until you treat your room. It ain't sexy (to most people), but man it's worth it. Personally, I think you're better off with $50 bookshelf speakers in a treated space than $700 monitors in an untreated one. But by treated, I don't mean just a cloud over the mix position and some 2" thick absorbers on random walls. I mean doing the sweeps, finding your problem frequencies and addressing them systematically. Also, placing your mix position and monitors in the ideal spot.

[snatchman]

I know NS10s have their fans, many of whom are famous, but I've never seen the appeal. They aren't very accurate. I can see their utility as "check" speakers but I wouldn't rely on them as the main mixing speakers unless I had no other options.

There are a bunch of great monitors out these days.....

I agree, but I've had my NS-10s for about 20+ years and know them very well. I'd trust a mix that I mixed on the Yammys before I'd trust a mix completely on my Equator D-8s..I know people rave about the D-8s but something just don't set well with me with them. Could it be the class D power amps..? Sorry..Back on topic..

[jdier]

Regarding NS-10s, and I think this has been said a million times, the power amp makes a world of difference. My first 3-4 years with NS-10's I had them powered by some underwhelming amp and they worked for me, but I would never have called them accurate.

I ran across someone with an old prototype 300W stereo amp that Dan Wilson built or worked on and my experience changed dramatically.

I do not have that much experience with different monitors, and certainly no long term exposure to any current offerings, but my two sets of NS-10s have been serving me well for the last 10 years or so.