I have a few cds that have just too much going on to sound "good" on regular speakers, and they sound slammin on the 824's. I try and take that into account when I am mixing. I will prolly keep saving money up to get a better pair of speakers, but still for the money I think they rock.

Originally posted by Paladyne:
I have a few cds that have just too much going on to sound "good" on regular speakers, and they sound slammin on the 824's. I try and take that into account when I am mixing. I will prolly keep saving money up to get a better pair of speakers, but still for the money I think they rock.

They so rock. In fact that's kind of the problem for me. It seems there's nowhere to go but down. I feel I hype myself too much. They're great for playing something for someone else to get excited, but ultimately, I want something that is a little flatter. If I could also have ns10s to be the opposite end of the spectrum, that would be great, but I have limited space as it is. Perhaps something not quite as flat as ns10s, but something not as hyped as the Mackies.

Perhaps something not quite as flat as ns10s, but something not as hyped as the Mackies.

NS10's are many things but flat as in freq. response is not one of them that I have found as I think they are way more honky than flat. Mabe you just need a decent set of regular bookshelf stereo speakers like JBL, Polk, ect.. to compare too.

Originally posted by AudioGaff:

Perhaps something not quite as flat as ns10s, but something not as hyped as the Mackies.

NS10's are many things but flat as in freq. response is not one of them. Mabe you just need a decent set of regular bookshelf stereo speakers like JBL, Polk, ect.. to compare too.

Like, run an unbalanced signal to my home-stereo type speakers to find those bonky parts of the signal that need a little eq cut? I'd hate to get rid of the HR824s unnecessarily, but I feel I spend too much time second guessing. Don't get me wrong, the mixes aren't translating into ridiculous-ville, it just seems to be the same midrange frequencies I want to cut, and I wish I could hear them at my mix station. I have some mid-small sized home stereo speakers that I could hook up - I'll give that a try. Thanks!

- Justin

when i bought dynaudio m3 i found out that mackies lack detailed midrange and have more hi-fi sound. i always use a pair of additional speakers (yamaha ns 10 and msp 5) for comparison. mixes made on this configuration translate very well for me. mackies are great for making music and mixing it by the way( but i always do mastering in a proper studio). for that money mackies are still my first choice but i think you should buy a pair of yamaha msp 5, so you will have another source of sound. i find yamaha msp 5 to have what mackies lack and the other way around.
about mackies sounding too good, i still have genelec 1032s with sub and i am selling it becuse they make everything sound too good!! i am using combination of hr824 and msp 5/NS 10 for years now and everybody is satisfied with results.

Yes, this combo of really good w/ really so-so is probably the best way to go. I just figured I'd see if anyone know of one pair that was in the middle (as my home is becoming more studio than home, which, frankly has an upside, but I think you all know the rest of that story.)

Hey, thanks for the opinions, they are all very helpful.

- Justin

I used to have the 824's but replaced them with Dynaudio BM6a's. Much better.

Yes, they seem to be a popular next-level for HR owners. Thanks for the tip.

- Justin

I have to cast a second vote for the MSP5's ... these are phenomenally great speakers for the price. I think the imaging is as good as can be in a speaker of this price and size and the low end is very surprising. Side by side the MSP5’s compare very well to my much larger and more expensive Tannoy DMT12s..

Originally posted by Kurt Foster:
I have to cast a second vote for the MSP5's ...

I'm going to try to patch my mid/small size stereo speakers to my setup as an alternate set for mixing, but the MSP5's seem interesting. I worked at a studio here in New York that had ns10s, and, while I've never owned them, I definitely could see why people would like mixing on them - specifically because anything honky or bonky jumped right out. And I've heard the MSP5's are one of the closest things to getting a new pair of NS10s.

Thanks for the vote.

- jk

jk,
I have the NS10s here and I was able to compare them to the MSP5's and they do not sound the same. The MSP5's do have that forward midrange thing going but they seem to have more highs and lows as well.. I am now evaluating the Yamaha MSP10S 's for a review and I find these to sound more like the NS10s ... but they are $1000 each ! :eek:

...but they are $1000 each ! :eek: [/QB]

Yeah - that SO can't happen for me right now. But maybe, since they would be my "what's going on in the midrange" alternate option, I can find something cheaper. In fact, the big complaints for the cheaper ones seems to be - not enough bass, which is fine because the Mackies have me covered there. In an ideal world I'd replace the 824s with some DynAudios and NS10s, but I'm trying to keep it all in perspective.

Thank you for your response - it is all getting factored into my bitty brain.

- jk

ps - I love your quote!

Like, run an unbalanced signal to my home-stereo type speakers to find those bonky parts of the signal that need a little eq cut?

Ya, that's the ticket. If you have spent many hours with those home stereo speakers, they should make a decent reference with your material vs all of the other things you have listened to on them.

Well, the price is certainly right, and it saves me the anxiety of regretting letting the HRs go. I suppose monitors sounding too good is a funny complaint. I just want to be able to create music that I can feel confident about in other listening environments. Thanks for all the feedback!

- justin

I just got a pair of MSP5's to go along with my 824's and my old JBL 4311's. I really am impressed with the Yamahas and so far I find this a very good set-up which gives me all the comparison references I need. My mixes are translating quite well but I think this is more due to the improved room treatment I've done recently as much as the which monitors I'm using. At any rate, I also recommend the MSP5's. For the money I think they are simply amazing.

drbam

I also recommend the MSP5's. For the money I think they are simply amazing.[/QB]

Thanks, I will definitely listen to these if I end up needing to spring for a second pair to complement the 824s.

Thanks,

Justin

can the same advice for models be taken for choosing monitors for a 5.1 set-up?

one of the posts said that the genelec 1032s make every thing sound too good.. i've spoken to some people and they quite swear by the genelecs for great accuracy in reproduction.

so do i need to go in for somethign like this or of the yamaha type as speakers for a surround mix set-up?

Speakers, headphones and microphones are all things that people should buy because they consider the sound to be accurate. Everyone hears slightly differently and people who love the 824s may not like the 1032s.

What a reviewer says about them in a magazine is only his or her opinion and not GOSPEL. True they get to listen to a lot of different equipment and they have trained ears but they also have personal preferences. What sounds warm to them may sound muddy to you. What sounds open and with extended highs may sound scratchy and harsh to your ears.

When you purchase a monitor speaker you are looking for something that will allow you to hear the music the way it sounds with all the hiss, hum and distortion that maybe going along with it. You are not looking for a speaker that sounds GOOD on everything like some well known hi fi speakers.

Also your room and monitoring environment make a lot of difference on how good your speakers will sound when you are critically listening to them.

Best advice get a pair of speakers put them into your listening environment, play material you are very familiar with and use the best test equipment in the world (your ears) to see how accurately they convey the music to you.

It you go to SAM ASH or GUITAR CENTERS and listen to speakers you are listening in a unfamiliar place with speakers that may have not been properly setup (switches on the back set wrong) or may have been the focus of some abuse by someone wanting to listen to them at ear drum shattering levels while the salesman was elsewhere.(It does not take much to permanently damage a speaker as many people in the analog era found out when the left the tape against the heads and rewound a tape with the monitor level up and OH MY there goes another tweeter....) The speakers are also arranged on long shelves that may or may not be stable and because they are on shelves they may have some acoustical effects from the shelves and may sound completely different than if they were in "free space"

Hope this helps....

Best of LUCK!

hi buone!

one of the posts said that the genelec 1032s make every thing sound too good.....,and that is my opinion which i gained through one year of mixing and producing on genelec. some of my friends swear on genelec too and have great results, but they are into a different style of production and mixing as i am. as i work in two compatible studios i can mix tracks on two speaker systems. (it used to be mackies/NS10 and genelec 1032+sub/msp5, now it is dynaudio m3/msp5 and HR824/NS10) .for my work genelec are much too bright on highs and very sharp on mids, while i actually like the bass on them. it just takes much more time to mix something right on genelec and the mixes did not translate well to the other studio or any other system. tracks were lacking high and midrange frequencies, and ratios betwen instruments were wrong. at this moment a friend of mine has 1032s for testing and he is thinking about selling his hr 824, because his mixes on genelec are much better now.There are no rules for judging which speaker is better or worse, it is just a matter of taste. i would still go for mackies hr824/msp5 combination or something more expensive like dynaudio m1/m2/m3 instead of hr824.

thanks! i would agree that what model and make is a personal preference, but i want to go around an elimination process and come down to models that stand well against each other.

so far it is the 1031 and hr 824. even the msp 5s have been liked.. are they something like the 1029s? i heard them and quite liked the sound for their size. in the studio i was working at earlier, we had a set of 1036s. i totally loved those, but can't afford something like that in the present scenario.

some things have been zeroed on -- like going in for active monitors over passive ones.

more opinions and advice would be welcome since the range of work that the studio would be targetting is going to be diverse -- from recording/mixing bands, to doing music production for ad jingles and voice overs. and services would have optional outputs of stereo or surround.

also with this, i would like to ask -- is it imperative that there be another set of speakers in stereo to A/B with? how much will be lost if we don't go in for another pair for this.

i would still go for mackies hr824/msp5 combination or something more expensive like dynaudio m1/m2/m3 instead of hr824.

did you mean to say "instead of 10xx..." ??

thanks! i would agree that what model and make is a personal preference, but i want to go around an elimination process and come down to models that stand well against each other.

so far it is the 1031 and hr 824. even the msp 5s have been liked.. are they something like the 1029s? i heard them and quite liked the sound for their size. in the studio i was working at earlier, we had a set of 1036s. i totally loved those, but can't afford something like that in the present scenario.

some things have been zeroed on -- like going in for active monitors over passive ones.

more opinions and advice would be welcome since the range of work that the studio would be targetting is going to be diverse -- from recording/mixing bands, to doing music production for ad jingles and voice overs. and services would have optional outputs of stereo or surround.

also with this, i would like to ask -- is it imperative that there be another set of speakers in stereo to A/B with? how much will be lost if we don't go in for another pair for this.

i would still go for mackies hr824/msp5 combination or something more expensive like dynaudio m1/m2/m3 instead of hr824.

did you mean to say "instead of 10xx..." ??

I keep my 824s around just for a 2nd reference.
I think, once you've mixed on Adams S3A's for a day or so.there's no going back.
chap

Too me the 824's sounded a tad to powerfull, particularly in the bass, they sound great but seamed hyped. However the 1032's sound excellent, they make everthing sound good? not at all. I've noticed they are extremely accurate, they respond to dynamics very quickly, you don't miss anything, they sound balanced and unhyped but full throughout the whole bandwidth (well execpt for subs which is fine, nearfeilds aren't suppossed to produce sub materail well thats why manufactures make matching subs, which the room I'm currently listening to the 1032's have the matching sub). They reveal everything making a cheap signal chain sound cheap and a great chain sounding well ...... great.

are the 1032s also good in a surround situation?

i also got strong recommendations for the Dynaudio Air series. Even SOS gave them a good review. So now i'm also thinking of the Air 6 or 15.

What's your word on these?

Yes they are, I actaully had a chance to hear Steve Reich's "Three Tales" in 5.1 using 1032's and the bass management system in the studio off the Protools session.

If your looking for a pair of powered monitors that arent even as much as the mackies, try out the yorkville ysm1p's. The sound is a very flat and great for a home style studio...much smaller than the mackies 8 inchers too..granted they are a prosumer level monitor but you get amazing value for your money.

Hello Kurt,
How do the MSP5's compliment the NS-10's? Is it a Killer combo?