Hi Audiosexers,

Has anyone experiences (good or bad) with the following studio monitors?
Could you guys tell me about their characteristics?


Yamaha HS80

Krk VXT6

Alesis Monitor One MK2 Active

Fostex PM-1 MK2

Fostex PM0.5n

 

i own a pair of Yam HS80M's. i've been around the KRKs and plenty of other near fielders. IMO, the Yams are the best ones out there, or at least one of the best. throw the Event 20/20's in there too, those are great, imo.

 

for me is Genelec KRKs the best

 

I have only experience with the HSM80 and Alesis.

The Alesis ones are turds in my opinion and they aren't loud either.

Im happy with my Yammies, the 8" was a good thing but fuck they are massive I went from using my friends Alesis to the HSM80s and INSTANTLY I was struck but the almost clinical/sterile/crisp sound. Its hard to explain... my older mixes sounded kinda bad but I think that was just me having to get used to new monitors (and repairing the crap mixing on crap monitors).

The VXT KRKs get rave reviews but Ive never used them personally.

I think performace to price ratio you probably wont do a whole lot better than the HSM80s but Im no expert and Im sure someone will prove me wrong

 

Thank you guys!!

Actually... this is my list after a few months of monitor research. A list of good priced monitors I like the most.
I must say, it's very hard to decide in a busy audio shop.
The VXTs are about 500 euro second hand. So that was an option too.

It is a rather strange list, because the Alesis are cheap, the VXTs are expensive. The Fostex are small 5inch, the Yamahas are incredibly big.

Alesis sounded pretty good. A little strange at the bottom. Many people like them. Extremely good rated.

The big Yamahas has much more definition than Alesis. And they sounded way better than HS50. But they are very huge and clumsy.

People hate KRK, people love KRK. A remarkable phenomenon. The Rokits6 sounded not that good to me. But I like the VXT6s!

And then Fostex. A legendary brand with beautiful designed monitors. But you hardly can't find the PM-1 at the good shops. No ratings as well. It that a sign? And those little PM-0.5n. I'd rather go for 6 inch woofer. My studio room is about 4 x 8 meter. So maybe 5 inch is too small.


Any suggestions?

 

I have the PM0.5

While they are adequate for my needs, some may find them too small. Not loud enough. Not punchy enough. A bit soft.

When mixing down I find myself driving individual stems too hard because I'm not hearing the 'power' from the small fostex speakers.

I haven't used the HS80s but the smaller yamaha monitors can be the opposite; almost too punchy, brittle sounding.

I like the balance that you might get from some of the Genelec speakers.

This is all subjective tho'. It is important that you find speakers that *you* like and that fit the way that you work.

 

I have the Yamaha 80HS too and I can just recommend them.
They are very precise, crystal clear and very honest.
Better would only be the Adams 8...

Don't go for smaller Yamahas, because you won't have the benefit of 8inch cones.
You should never buy monitors with less then 8inch cones if you like to know what your bass is.
If you plan to use the Yamaha sub-woofer then you can go with the smaller Yamaha HS50.

They advertise for the Yamahas, that if anything sounds good on them it sounds good everywhere.
That is not a big advertise speech, ...it's really true... !!!
Since I use them, my mixes sound good on any system.

But one thing you have to take care of for any monitors you plan to use.
You have to get used to them !
That means: You have to listen to many of good quality music from CD.
Then you will know how other released music will sound on them.
The more you listen the more you will know how they supposed to sound.
You will automatically adjust your sound to that after a while.

Start with 200hours of just listening before you make critical work/mixes with your new monitors.
This is recommended for any monitors.

And..., if you have the money.., then look for the Adam's 8 !
They are really top...!!!

Good Luck

 

My first monitors were the alesis M1 Mk2 actives. They were good for a beginner, but they were lacking in the lows because of the smaller cones. I now own behringer truths with the matched sub. The difference is like night and day. So much more clarity and I can really hear what the bottom end is doing now.

Although Im not familiar with anything on your list but the alesis, my recommendation would be to save and get something better than the M1's. Now If I had a kid who was interested in learning mixing, the M1's would be a perfect beginner monitor, to see how serious the student really is. So if they lost interest you wouldnt be out alot of cash.

 

From your list, the VXT, far better than the others.

 

A lot of good near/mid field monitors out there. I can tell you that most of my experience with Yamaha products has been positive. Monitors at home and in the studio. Grand pianos and keyboards, Drums are really sweet, marine outboard motors, motorcycles. They just make quality products and always have. (Except for some power amps they made in the early eighties). I like the JBL sound (They are just what I always worked with, in the studio and live, so I got used to them) but exchange rates probably make JBL more expensive in Europe than they are in the U.S. European brands like Sennheiser and AKG have been coming down in price here. I was actively researching monitors before I lost my day job and to me the KRK's have a similar sound to the JBL's. And that is what I was going to buy. But I am using old Yamaha NS-A837's, tolerable for now. And reliable.

 

After careful listen sessions, I eventually bought the KRK VXT6s.
They are very tight en clear. Much better than the other choices.
But they are very very sensitive for radio Interference Frequency. Such as celphones and computer equipment.
Thats not a good thing for such high priced monitors.