You should definately get another pair of reference monitors. NS10s are sweet monitors. And they are an industry standard, so you know you are workin on gear that most other engineers are familiar with as well, so I would say you should NOT get rid of them. I would focus more on finding a set of monitors that fill out the spectrum on their own without adding to, or trying to enhance the pair that you have.

I use a pair of NS10s and a pair of Alesis MKIIs. I also use headphones, and have some standard style Technics home audio speakers that I listen to final mixes on.

A lot of studios combine the NS10M's with some kind of sub system. Find an acoustically flat sub system that will power your Yamaha's as well. Then the sub will have some sort of tuning for level and such for the power amp side. Adjust accordingly to get a nice, flat response.

Thanks for your replies! I'll think this one through as both ideas sound workable - from memory I recall the MKIIs as being pretty bass heavy so I imagine they would work as a contrast to the NS10s. The subwoofer option sounds interesting also, but I don't know anything about monitor subs, so will have to do my research.

Any other ideas or recommendations welcome!

It is the general consencus that when it comes to studio monitoring for mixing you would use one set of speakers at a time. It is near impossible to find a set of normal speakers that will merely "fill-in" the spectrum where necessary. A sub system will only be focused in the low frequencies thus NOT filling in anywhere else.
The NS10's are already an almost completely flat response monitor, with the exception of the lower frequencies due to their smaller size. Any other speaker, other than a sub, will add to that flat response when used in conjunction.
The reason for using multiple sets of speakers in a studio is to hear your mix through different sets of systems (such as home theater, mini Hi-Fi, even car speakers).

Then it looks like I need a sub. I'm not keen on replacing the NS10s as I'm not experienced enough with different monitors to know what I'm buying, so I'll stick by the 'if it ain't broke...' mantra and keep using them. Thanks for your reply!

PS: Is there such thing as a sub that will drive my (passive) NS10s? I didn't see any when I had a look at what's out there.

Good decision not to replace!

Yes there is. Actually, as stated in my previous post, a true sub-bass monitor is used to power your passive NS10s. I am not familiar with actually brand names and models of subs, at my home studio I use active near-field Yamahas and the accompanying sub unit. You can probably ask people on here in a dedicated thread about a sub to power them. Right about here is where my expertise runs out.

Glad I could help you out as much as I did!

adam a7....

Dioxide,

Just this past week I did the oppisite of you. I added a pair of NS-10s to my studio along with my JBLs I've been using for the past year.

I'm tearing my hair out! My mixes sound like crap.

They're great monitors, but I need to "learn" them. I did my first set of mixes on them with the assumption that if I could get the mixes to sound good on the NS10s they would sound great on any other system. Not the case. Now I brought a much of CDs down to my studio and to get a reference. I guess I'm at the point right now where I am not trusting my ears and I'm hoping things get better.

If anyone has any suggestions about working with these I would be grateful.

Thanks