For the past twenty years or so, you'd be hard-pressed to find a professional recording or audio post-production studio that didn't have a pair of Yamaha NS10Ms. The iconic, white-woofer NS10s have long been the most trusted reference monitors in the industry, particularly for their ability to reveal mid-range detail in even the densest mixes. Unfortunately for those of us who don't already have a pair, yamaha stopped making the NS10s a long time ago. Luckily, they now make the HS50M.
Sporting the same, instantly recognizable look and ultra-flat response, the Yamaha HS50M is destined to become the new standard-bearer that no studio will be able to go without. Even if you've already got a pair of NS10s, you'll want to take a look and listen to these new Yamaha reference monitors, as they offer a few significant improvements over their predecessors.
Easier Setup
While the NS10s were considered "necessary," whomever was tasked with installing them probably considered the monitors to be "necessary evils." For starters, the NS10s were passive, meaning a suitable, matching power source has to acquired to drive them. Yamaha has eliminated this hassle by designing the HS50M as an active, bi-amped system. An internal 70 watt power amp drives the 5" woofer cone and 3/4" dome tweeter, with an internal crossover perfectly tuned to maintain that classic Yamaha neutral frequency curve. Not only does this make setup easier, but having the right power source eliminated potential distortion issues, and the bi-amping softens some of the mid- and high-range harshness, making the HS50M a less-fatiguing listen than the NS10.
A More Flexible Monitor
Because of their unique, "brutally honest" sound, the NS10M was often relegated to the role of secondary monitor; it's typically used as a tool for putting parts of a mix under the microscope, but not for getting the whole picture. While the incredibly detailed HS50M can certainly fill that role, the addition of high-, mid-, and low-frequency switches make them suitable as main monitors as well. These switches also help to combat issues that can arise from sub-optimal placement in crowded control rooms, like bass coupling or frequency-hyping reflections.
Affordable Quality!
Yamaha wants their new HS50M to be as ubiquitous as the NS10M, and that's why these monitors sport a price that belies their high-quality construction. The MDF bass-reflex cabinet delivers a tight bass response and smooth high-end. The polypropylene woofer cones will outlast musical fad after musical fad, as will the high-grade XLR-1/4" combo input jack. Extra touches like complete magnetic shielding and low-damping rubber-surrounds make the HS50M an affordable, yet high-quality component for controls rooms, computer audio workstations, hi-fi entertainment systems, or for building 5.1 surround mixing systems.
It's become a part of common engineering knowledge that a mix that sounds good on a pair of NS10s will sound like a hit on any system. One listen to the Yamaha HS50Ms, and you'll know that the white-woofer legacy is still firmly intact. Let the Yamaha HS50M become your new indispensable studio tool.
