Monitors

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 2:44 pm

Hey everyone, question about monitors here:

Now this subject is not a "which one sounds better" because we all know that every set of ears has a preference and that there are good companies and bad companies. This is more of a "What company has a better reputation of a good product".

I have been looking at the Yamaha monitors pretty heavily and two I have been looking at are the HS50M's and the MSP5's. The MSP5's are only 50$ (each) more than the HS50M's but I cant seem to find much information about the MSP's.

I talked with my local retailer who has the HSM's on display and got a chance to listen to them and when I asked them about the MSP's they looked at me puzzled and claimed to never heard of them. I told them my findings about them and they said they have never heard of anyone buying them and told me in their opinion the HSM's are better. Now, this struck me as odd considering they don't have them in their sound room yet they swear by the cheaper pair. Another fact is they are listed on the companies website and if I bought them in the store they could ship them to me, so it leads me to believe that they weren't after the money because after I pointed out it was on their website, they still said I should go with the HSM, not the MSP.

Does anyone have any experience with the two? Is the HSM a lower quality? Is the Extra 50$ each for the MSP's just glorified?

Also, Similar question about the KRK's. I have heard they are a hit or miss, as they they are good if you get a good pair, but it is anyones guess as to which will be a good a pair and for how long. Thoughts on quality and longevity?

My budget is $500 for a pair (I know it is low) but I am not churning multi-million dollar records. Any recommendations that I should go take a listen to is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 3:42 pm

i have pretty solid experience with both models.

although, i had thought that the MSP5's were an older and discontinued model, so i'm not surprised that your local shop hadnt heard of them. i used to work at a Guitar Center and we never carried them. in fact, the only reason i knew they existed is because we used the old MSP5's as demo speakers for the keyboards in the piano room.

anyways, since then i worked at a studio with MSP5's .. i've spent maybe 200 hours mixing on them.

after that job, i bought a set of the HS50m's for my home studio and i've had them for a few months now ... maybe 150 hours of mixing. not a TON, but certainly enough to know their characteristics.

even though both rooms (the old studio with MSP5s, and my home studio) are drastically different acoustically, here's a few thoughts ...

i recall the MSP5s as being 'punchier' and have a real beefy low end thump.

the HS50ms seem flatter and less colored. more of an "accurate" or "true" sound.

what kind of music do you work with?

i'd say they are both great speakers and the MSP5s can CRANK volume. but if you're looking at 5" drivers then you probably arent in it for volume.

for what it's worth, i vaguely recall something about newer MSP5s not being of the same quality, but you may want to look into that.

i dont think you'll make a poor decision.

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 4:11 pm

I have a friend with the HSM50s. He loves them. I have a pair of KRKs and I think they sound great now. When I first brought them home I wasn't all that impressed. I figured they never sound as good when you get them home anyway. After a week or so of breaking them in(I ran them for a couple of days with just constant pink noise.), they sound great now. They don't have the bottom end of some monitors but I'm not mixing Hip Hop.

Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:22 pm

Thanks for the info guys.

Rockstardave: Did you work in Columbus ohio? Lol, that is exactly what the local Guitar Center uses. I had to point out the MSP's to the sales guy after he said he never heard of them. As I said before, he was mystified.

This makes me lean a little more towards the HSM50's. I would like some more punch but I am dealing mostly with Voice overs, vocal (choirs, soloists) and orchestras. As the other guy said, I am not doing hip-hop so I dont need super low hitting monitors. I figure get the Mid/Highs for now and invest in a sub down the road for the really low stuff.

If I could afford it I would go with the 8" HSM or the Dynaudio monitors, however these are out of my budget for now and the smaller Yamaha's will do me good.

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