Hey all,
 
After deciding to go between a 2nd mixer or new interface (I have decided on a Roland OctaCapture....though the place I will be purchasing it from is out of stock until 11/12)...
 
I have also decided to purchase my first set of actual so-called "Studio Monitors"....I've been using (don't throw anything at me) a pair of regular speakers for years....and though they sound good on those, my recordings sound pretty "bleh" or worse on most everything else.
 
Unfortunately, I live in an area that doesn't cater to music stores, so I have to buy them online without testing them first...
 
My room is small...my stuff is of wide variety...everything from acoustic to metal. (No classical music)
 
I'm looking at more inexpensive, active monitors.  I have ruled out Behringer because I don't trust the company...
 
KRK I have read are kind of hyped...
 
Long story short, I've got it kind of narrowed down to Yamaha HS50M's or Possibly Mackie's.
 
Those of you gearheads and pro's who have any experience with these, or something I missed would be greatly appreciated...
 
If possible I'd like to order them today or tomorrow (I'm on vacation and would like to have them in time to play with for a couple days)
 
I notice the HS50's and 80's have a deal right now at some places where they throw in stands and pads for them...with the 50's that's a pretty good deal for $400 total...But only if the speakers are good.
 
Thanks!

Have you looked at the Equator D5?  Seems to be a popular choice among inexpensive active monitors.  $300 for a pair.
 
Cheers,
Eddie

i would never buy anything i hadn't heard and tested in person.

but

if you must...

buy from somewhere that has a liberal return policy.

bat has good advice.

however, you really would be hard pressed to go wrong with either the HS80M's or the MR8MK2's.

they're quality monitors and no matter which ones you get you'll still have to learn them.  no monitor is perfect and when you add the variables of your room into the equation it's impossible to pick something perfect.

you should also look into room treatment and some people like to supplement room treatement with ARC or other room correction plugin/devices.

I had to laugh at Bat's (very good) advice....I'm very fussy when it comes to speakers (hi-fi) and luckily had a friend who owned a hi-end stereo shop in my town, and also used to build speakers that people would come from all over the country to purchase.

He would send me home with speakers constantly, both in trying to sell, as well as getting my opinion on his "home brew's"...so I'm very nervous buying like this...

Sadly, I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere and the couple of music stores that exist don't even sell studio monitors...

So trust me Bat (and Beagle)...if there were another way...  ;)

Thanks for the head's up on the Equators, Eddie..I'll take a closer look..

And I appreciate the suggestions, Beagle.

I'm wondering if the 8's might be a little too much for the room I'm in....or if that would tend to overinflate the low end....

Having spent some time in music retail, I would often suggest the Yamaha HS50M (or 80's for larger spaces) to those not happy with their current speakers or having trouble with mixes translating. 

Customer feedback was excellent, and they are a good choice at that price point. To my ears, the Yamaha speakers were the opposite of "hyped" and provided a reliable representation of the recorded audio, if not an exciting one.
I have not gotten my ears on the Equators, but often see positive remarks on this forum, and they appear to be worthy of consideration in this price range.


I should point out that your room's acoustic properties will likely have more effect on the outcome of your mixes than the subtle differences between speakers in this price range.

Ozz



And I appreciate the suggestions, Beagle.

I'm wondering if the 8's might be a little too much for the room I'm in....or if that would tend to overinflate the low end....

Not in my opinion.  I have 8" woofers in my little room and I bought them specifically because they have 8" woofers.  I think it's necessary to get the biggest woofers you can to push as much air as possible from the near fields.  without a subwoofer especially, you run the risk of not having enough low end coming from the source (the near fields) if you use smaller woofers.
 
what will happen, however, is that you will THINK that you're getting too much low end if you don't treat your room!  when you do have enough low end being pumped at the source but your room is untreated, you're going to get standing waves and a lot of low end build up in the room causing it to SOUND low end heavy to you.  so the trick is to get a good powerful source to pump out the low end properly, but then treat the room to trap it before it causes booming low end in your listening environment.

I like the little Mackie MR-5 MKII quite a bit. Well balanced, solid stereo image and you can get a pair for under $300. 

Chose them over Yamaha HS50Ms. Though both seem to decent choices.

8" woofers are, IMO, the minimum size if you're planning on doing your own mastering. Yes, acoustics become more important when your speakers are capable of reproducing those problematic low frequencies. But I'd rather have that problem than not hearing the low bass at all.

The Mackies are good for small rooms because they're unported. Furthermore, they've long been a standard for small and home studios, assuring a good resale value if you decide you don't like them or want to trade up. The Yamahas, OTOH, are rear-ported, making them potentially problematic if space restrictions dictate situating them close to the front wall. So between those two, I'd go with the Mackies.

i think the larger woofers (8") would be preferable to a sub, which can be tricky to get accuratly dialed in.

once you have a nice set of monitors, and work on room treatment, you possibly could take it to the next step with a software approach that is popular here (do a search on ARC)