Yamaha HS50M Active Studio Monitor (70 Watts, 1x5")
Trust your studio monitors. Designed in the tradition of the famous NS10M, Yamaha's HS50M active monitors deliver an exceptionally flat, accurate response.
Overall User Ratings (based on 102 ratings)
Submitted August 13, 2012 by T Dee in Huntsville, AL
"Excellent in the right environment"
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I'm now using these as a A-set of monitors with my 8 Inch KRK Rokits as my B-set. I'm in a small room so bass can play tricks on my ears (~ 12ft x 10ft). These have just the right amount of bass for my room for ME to mix PROPERLY!!!! Subjectivity is king in the land of many different room sizes. The highs and mids can be overwhelming, but I understand how they translate so I can cut/boost accordingly. Somehow I think the lows are represented accurately. But I'm being subjective here. I believe they compliment a bass heavy set of monitors quite well.
Sound
They are loud despite they're size. They will show you all you need to hear, and sometimes at the expense of tiring your ears. I would say don't mix to loud with these.
Features
The features are typical for most monitors. Few room compensation switches.
Ease of Use
On/off switch. That's about it. But I would use them vertical as the mfg suggests. Cool as it looks, I don't think some monitors are made to lay on their sides. The sound field changes.
Quality
They look and feel tough. Droppable even, but I wouldn't recommend it.
Value
Because the use case is subjective, I will say that the value is also. It will depend on how and where you're using them. They are a great value for me so far.
Manufacturer Support
Haven't dealt with them
The Wow Factor
I like them a lot, but I think it's because of the fact that I can A-B now. I would suggest that if you can afford it to get a small monitor set to hear your mix from a small system perspective and a large monitor set to hear you mix from a venue perspective. I'm no expert though.
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Submitted June 24, 2007 by Chad
"...eh, check out the review :)"
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Written by one of our gear experts!
Sound
This is really what its all about... I actually did a side by side w/ the original NS10 and these...and I have 2 things to say 1) these are more similar to the NS10 in overall character and concept than any other monitor I have heard (will go into detail later) 2) I would much rather listen to these than NS10s
These are mid-range focused monitors, same as the NS10, like the NS10 they don't exactly sound "good", but they sound "balanced" for the most part. You can get an idea whether what you're doing on your other monitors is right or not.
They have a honk in the 500-800 range that is pretty obvious. These actually have a surprising amount of bottom end for their size. Like the NS10, they are midrange focused which is great for revealing flaws VERY quickly, but is a bit fatiguing to listen to for more than 5 mins or so. However, the midrange, and especially the high freqs are significantly sweeter to listen to than the NS10, possibly a side effect of being bi-amped, active.
I use them as my "B" speakers, and they dramatically have improved my speed in making the right decisions regarding levels. Yamaha has done a great job in creating a monitor that is both affordable, and frankly, improved over its predecessor. If a mix is right on these, it sounds like a hit (particularly vox). Imaging is rock solid, actually better than my mains (Mackie 824), Vocals sound dead up the middle. I wouldn't call them "flat" but I would call them a valuable tool, and they really do sound sort of "fair" or "true" despite the midrange honk. HF sounds just a bit choked, or not very extended, but still sounds sweet, unlike the original NS10s whose HF driver sounds like early digital (yuk!)
Features
Dig the combo input jack, labeled pot on the rear is cool, +4 is labeled, but I wish the pot was stepped for calibration purposes. Very cool that they included room compensation, HF, MF, etc switches, but I found the monitor sounded most "neutral" w/ no switches engaged. If these were my mains, I would probably take the MF -2dB so they were a little more pleasant to listen to.
Ease of Use
Plug it in and go, rear panel well labeled, manual actually pretty well done.
Quality
Seem to notice a very slight diff in level between the 2 when set to same level (like 1-2dB)...maybe just a QC thing at the factory. Build quality appears impeccable.
Value
To be honest, probably the most valuable money I've dropped this year.
Manufacturer Support
n/a
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Submitted January 12, 2013 by Rip Rowan
"Easily the best monitors for the money"
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I am a producer, engineer, and touring musician who needs a truly portable studio - something that would fit into a suitcase. I am also the former editor-in-chief of ProRec.com (have since moved on) so I have a bit of experience auditioning and comparing a fair number of monitors from low to high end.At my main studio I have become spoiled by a professionally treated room with Adam A7Xs + sub as mains and HR824s as B monitors, so I was really worried that I wouldn't find a pair of small monitors that I could work with while I was on the road in odd and unusual conditions.After some listening comparisons between various tiny monitors, I settled on the HS50Ms, in part due to the low price. I figured they sounded pretty decent for the size, and at about half the price of the next-best monitors, the choice was made for me. I could tell that they definitely resembled NS-10s in sound, which was a bit concerning - I have never learned to mix well on NS-10s, but I went with these anyway.I could not have made a better decision. For the size and price, these monitors are superb. They are exceptionally flat above 100Hz - no sharp peaks or dips - but they seem to have more bass below 100 Hz than NS-10s (I have not done a side-by-side). I use them with the mid-cut enabled because that helps them sound a bit less-forward - more like my Adam setup. I do not find them fatiguing in the least because I mix with them up-close and at low-volume. I find them to be extraordinarily balanced above 100 Hz. Imaging is fantastic - better than my Adams in my main room, in fact, probably better than anything I've ever used.The acid-test is listening to old mixes that I know to be flawed. When I inspect mixes that I did in my studio, I can instantly hear the flaws that I know to be present but which I cannot hear easily in my studio.If you need to mix in a mid- to large-sized room these are definitely not going to be your A monitors - you'll want something that plays louder and moves more air - but they would make fantastic B monitors along with a set of full-range A speakers. If you need monitors for a small space, I could not more enthusiastically recommend these monitors. They would be worth it at twice the price.
Musical Background:
25 yrs musician, 20 yrs engineer/producer, former editor-in-chief, ProRec.com
Musical Style:
rock, pop, indie, electronic, alt-country, jazz, whatever
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Submitted November 14, 2006 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Worth way more than the price indicated!!!"
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This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I hope I never have to find another product. This will be my monitoring system for a long long time. I'll probably add to it if I ever mix in 5.1. Once again, it helps you hear things you never would have before.
Sound
The 50m's combined with the HS10 sub are an excellent match. I didn't touch the low/high cuts of anything. My mixer/interface/and speakers are all at nominal. I actually have the sub at about 10 o'clock because it was SO incredibly bassy. However it is not distorted bass, just intense. The quality is fantastic as well. I've heard things from these speakers that I've never heard from my school's Genelec monitors. A great deal!
Features
The gain knobs and input/output versatility is great. Thank you Yamaha for providing a long power cord!
Ease of Use
I wanted to test the flatness by just plugging everything in out of the box and havent had to touch anything. It sounds fantastic.
Quality
We'll find out, but I highly doubt any problems will arise. If so, yamaha is known for its quality assurance.
Value
Such a great deal for the price. The best 2.1 monitoring system for the price in my opinion!
The Wow Factor
I love the classic white woofers. They really are classy and nicely designed. I love the white LED. It isn't annoying and bright. The cabs are very well constructed and designed with style and functionality in mind.
Musical Background:
Audio Specialist
Musical Style:
Alternative, Oldies
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Submitted December 31, 2007 by a customer from gmail.com
"These speakers are a MONSTER!"
I would absolutely recommend these to anyone, even beginners. There's nothing like having a pair of monitors you can trust.
Sound
The sound is fantastic. Everything is clean & crisp. Listening to mastered tracks fresh of an album give you the real deal on these speakers. The low end will not rattle the trunk, but then again thats what the woofer is for. If you are bass freak and for ultimate referencing, then get the woofer but alone, these speakers are a monster.
Features
The db switches are great and also the trim switches are great too.I also like the flexibility of being able to connect via xlr or 1/4" jack.
Ease of Use
Just plug in and go.
Quality
Exceptional. You can tell how well they are made just by touching them. Heavy enough to not slide off your table but light enough to carry to different rooms if need be.
Manufacturer Support
Haven't needed to contact them.
The Wow Factor
Beautiful product.
Musical Background:
Studying Recording Engineer
Musical Style:
Hip-Hop/R&B/Club
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Submitted October 26, 2011 by a customer from yahoo.com
"Pony-sized work horse with a kick."
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Awesome for the price, work horse of the pony size, incredible sound reproduction. Enough said.
Sound
I have the bigger brother, HS80M which packs a punch and keeps things crisp and monitor-like. This one is the little brother. It doesn't pack as much a punch, but frequency response, ease of use and awesome sound are still all there. These are WAY smaller than HS80M's if you can use that for reference.
Features
The room controls in the back are perfect for any acoustical environment or speaker placement, giving you flexibility and mobility with your creative workflow. Or throw a private gig/mix session. Both of which I have done with these.
Ease of Use
Plug and play, adjust for best/flattest/punchiest/highest/lowest sound. Perfect for testing your mix on a "computer speaker" type environment,
Quality
Maybe my fault, but riding around with it, you're going to ding the finish. It's wood. Not that strong. I don't mean I swing them around and hit people, I just don't think that setting it down in a padded bag on the floor should warrant a concave corner and a crack. Not that serious, completely cosmetic.
Value
This is the one!. Any comparable monitors are going to run you three hundred dollars plus. I researched this thing AD-Nauseum and am very happy with the whole HS family. If you're looking to produce stuff like Dubstep, these are not for you. Look into the HS80M's. They give a good sub representation.
Manufacturer Support
Took one HS80M to the shop to get the tweeter replaced after using two of them to supplement my blown out speakers mid-show. THOSE bad boys came through. One took the bullet. The shop was local, a real mom-and-pop. The speaker was done within the week and was virtually no hassle, as there was one within walking distance from me. Didn't really have to deal with Yamaha except finding the nearest shop.
The Wow Factor
The design is reminiscent of the NS10, which I think is the whole concept behind the black/white theme. Also with the switches. As a tech geek, those brought on more sex appeal than anything else.
Musical Background:
Active Musician, Manager
Musical Style:
Dubstep, House, Electro
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Submitted February 12, 2008 by a customer from kidgoesting.com
"Nice one innit!"
I will recommend them to my friends. They really give you value for money. I was looking for a very neutral sound, and that is exactly what I got from these!
Sound
I do not have that much experience with monitor speakers, but what I do know is that these sound very honest. Maybe a little bit less low, but I really like working with them.
Features
The power cords are long enough. The lights on the front look very cool!
Ease of Use
Plug and play.
Quality
They feel very solid.
Value
I am thinking about buying the hs80-ies for my studio. The hs50-ies are in my home studio. I really like the sound!
Manufacturer Support
Don't know. Did not have to contact them (yet). but the way these monitors are designed, they look like they will work for years and years!
The Wow Factor
They look nice, they really get me going to make more music. I love their sound and looks!
Musical Background:
DJ/Producer
Musical Style:
electro
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Submitted July 9, 2010 by a customer from fsmail.net
"The best sub £500 monitors on the market!"
Until they die (hopefully never), I wont be selling them. I would certainly buy the same if they did!
Sound
I love the sound of these. The highs are clear, the mids are crisp and the lows have more punch than any other monitor I tested. I use them at quite low levels and so I dont get the listening fatigue that others report. I have a variety of audio interfaces and I have had no problems with any of them.
Features
The ability to tune these to your individual room setting does make them more of an attractive proposition. I f I had to gripe, I would have liked these controls on the front of the monitors to make it easier to achieve.
Ease of Use
Plug 'em in, switch 'em on and listen. Not much to do. The manual is excellent.
Quality
Supremely well built, they weigh a ton. As is my experience with Yamaha, all the products of theirs that I own are always beautifully crafted and constructed
Value
I found these to be a bargain for the price. Compared to Krk's or Genelecs, I bit the dealers arm off!
Manufacturer Support
Never needed it!
The Wow Factor
Its the new NS10. I am surprised there arent more people that have them!
Musical Background:
Active Musician, Producer
Musical Style:
Electronic
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Submitted February 15, 2012 by Valentin Usov in Arcadia, CA
"Best Monitors for the Price"
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i recommend this speaker to any home or professional studio set up based on my experience. Hands down the best speaker to use w/out any sub woofers or amplifiers, mufti-function settings to adjust to about any room. Sound is perfect and design is slick with out taking up much room vs other brands.
Musical Background:
Home studio beat production, song writing and vocal recording.
Musical Style:
underground hip-hop
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Submitted April 24, 2012 by Stuart Balcomb in Los Angeles, CA
"Fantastic speakers"
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Amazing deal, service was very quick... delivery was FREE, and the speakers are just the reference monitors I needed for quick mixes.
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Submitted March 6, 2010 by a customer from GMAIL.COM
""A mid range TORNADO" monitors"
I like YAMAHA products very much. especially their keyboards. so i was really sad while writing this review but my pockets were sadder than that. i sold these monitors for half price after only 2 months and saved again for a new pair. this product made a little trauma for me. which means:
A)I never deal with 5" monitor again, and no matter what kind of work-space i gonna have.
B)I'll never trust my colleagues opinion. when i told them i'm unhappy with the hs50s, they said "you should get use to them". and i do'nt think i should get use to anything. i want to be happy from my purchase from THE FIRST SECOND and further.and in that price, i certainly can.
and i was not. nevertheless, waiting for a better news from yamaha in the future.
Sound
Well, i'v been hearing a lot about these for ages from my colleagues and
decided to buy them without a critical listening test at the local shop.
that because i'v planned to use them as a reference pair anyway, side by side with my reliable MACKIEs (HR624). for my opinion, that was a HUGE mistake. as i connected them and played the first part of my track (which has been perfectly mixed), i realized that they are extremely forwarded.its like they have a built in E.Q. that just siting there and hyping the mid-range and the high range to death. my observation is that those guys can create a good solid punchy low end, but tragically, a very critical mass of useful LF info is just beeing swallowed in a HUGE fatiguing mid\high-range TORNADO! i'm not even sure that a SUB can improve things up because you still gonna get an annoying HYPER-TEMPERAMENT results.
so if i would have to describe the sound imaging as a body mirror,i think that at the HS50 you gonna watch a half body mirror- with a telescope... and that has anything to do with image mirroring pretension for me.
I think The YAMAHA guys have a good potential product in their hand. but they should shape the eventual outcome.
in musical terms,I think they made a great MIX with the wrong MASTERING.
Features
although they got the room control and the high trim switches, i found them unusefull. the onerous feeling of the drilling mids/highs continues in any position of that switches.
Ease of Use
VERY easy. unless you are an pre-historic ape or something
Quality
they are very solid. the finish is not an AAA (they're loosing their up-cover black finish color very fast' especially at the corners), but for that price, i could live with that.
Value
i found them useless musically.and in the bottom line, that should be all about.
Manufacturer Support
no opinion. i had no deal with them.
The Wow Factor
i loved the white woofer very much. the on\off logo lamp look a little cheap and so is the body black finish color.
Musical Background:
overall music creator
Musical Style:
any type
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Submitted January 18, 2012 by michael g in houston, TX
"the right choice for mixing"
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i did hours of reseach on the internent reading reviews etc. the Yamaha HS50m had more positive reviews than any other monitor. bought them and i am cold not be happier. they'te just what i was looking for and i didn't have to break the bank to do it.the HS50m's are for critical listening and mixing. they do not sound flat, the are hyped up in the mids and really show alot of detail. plenty of low end for my needs. best purchase i could have made!
Musical Background:
musician for over 30 years, audio for 15 years
Musical Style:
rock, pop, blues jazz etc...
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Submitted November 13, 2011
Yamaha HS50M Monitor Customer Review
Sound
amazing translation to most systems. a bit fatiguing, but it encourages you to keep the sound low and avoid tiring out your ears. -check lows in headphones, because these aren't designed for sub bass monitoring.
Features
standard eq adjustments. and good input variety. nothing special.
Ease of Use
completely easy to hook up. easy to find a good placement in room, since they are so light.
Quality
build solid and unlikely they'll blow out. they're touch as nails.
Value
great price. I still use em, even after getting HR 824 MK2's.
Manufacturer Support
none needed, but they are available.
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Submitted July 1, 2008 by a customer from gmail.com
"The most accurate, honest studio monitors in this price range! - A project studio staple."
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I had a pair of cheap M-Audio speakers before and found out the hard way that they were adding bass that wasn't in the mix. Mixing on these speakers, my mixes sound great in the car, with headphones, etc. I love these puppies and will keep them a long time!
One last piece of advice: If you're mixing hip hop or other music with lots of low-end bass, you might want to add the subwoofer. It'll pick up the low frequencies where these 5" woofers fall off.
Sound
When you're mixing, it's crucial that your studio monitors are HONEST. You don't want them to flatter your mix and make it sound great, you want them to give out exactly what you put in. I took the Pepsi challenge by listening to music I had mixed side-by-side through several leading monitors (M-Audio BX5A, KRK Rokit, HS-50). Ultimately I chose these for their accuracy and flat response. The KRKs were very bassy and the BX5As made everything sound great (even if it wasn't mixed very well).
Features
Both XLR and 1/4" inputs, Room Control, Bi-Amplified.
Ease of Use
It's a speaker, how hard can it be?
Quality
Not quite as slick looking as the yellow and black KRK's with the front slot instead of a rear-port. They seem well-made, however.
Value
These are by far the most accurate speakers I found in the price range.
The Wow Factor
Like I said, maybe not as sexy-looking as the KRKs, but if you have these in your studio, then people in the know will know that your serious.
Musical Background:
Active Musician
Musical Style:
Rock, Electronic
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Submitted December 3, 2007
"good monitors for home recording."
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Sound
I had the ns 10's , these are better for my working needs , If you record at home using a Mac and thier software Garageband ( or something like it} you will be happy with the results you get from these . Most loops in garageband {or others}are EQ'd pretty well ,so it's a matter of placeing your real instruments {Vocals etc} within the mix . Useing the hs50's I found plenty of fixes in music I had previously mixed with ns10's , also ,you can work with these speakers for longer periods without your ears shuting down .I'd say if your not planning on getting 3 different reference monitors and jumping into the bottomless hole of music equipment these might be for you .
Features
read the manuel ,The product offers settings on the back of the speaker to fit your room conditions.
Ease of Use
plug in ,turn on.
Quality
very solid
Value
It's a good value
Manufacturer Support
have not had to deal with company
The Wow Factor
they look good
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Submitted September 26, 2007
Yamaha HS50M Monitor Customer Review
Sound
I set up the HS50Ms with the Sub. This is an excellent sounding reference system to me particularly for the cost. I am able to leave the recomended settings for the monitors and the sub per the Yamaha manual with excellent results in my listening area.
Ease of Use
Just follow the well written instruction manual for set-up.
Quality
I am surprised at how polished these products "seem" to be. I have only had them for 2 weeks. I am confident though, Yamaha delivers quality products and I have been happy with Yamaha in the past.
Value
I think for the price you cant beat them. Most monitors seem muddy to me. I appreciate these- they are brighter which is good to my ear and they give you the flexability to modify if necessary.
Manufacturer Support
N/A
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