8 Reasons Why We Love Yamaha HS Studio Monitors - Are These The Best Home Studio Speakers Ever?

Sam checks out the Yamaha HS range of speakers with 8 reasons why they some of the best home studio monitors available. Check out the full range at PMT Online...

00:00 Yamaha monitors sonic philosophy & legacy...what makes them so good?
01:16 Options to suit any size studio
02:46 Yamaha HS technical specifications
04:20 Where to buy Yamaha HS studio monitors

Yamaha HS series monitors are instantly recognisable with their white speaker cones, a design that originated with the NS-10 monitors. The NS-10’s were released back in the late 1970’s and went on to become an industry standard in most professional studios, gaining a reputation as a notoriously unforgiving monitor speaker, that engineers and producers came to rely on for their ability to reveal any shortcomings in a mix.

It’s this sonic philosophy, as well as that iconic design that the HS monitors have inherited from the original NS-10s, as unlike some monitors from other brands which can sometimes falsely flatter a poor mix, these have been engineered to offer sonic purity without any colouring or alternation of the original sound, giving you a true representation of what your mix sounds like, good or bad.

Unlike the NS-10s which were passive speakers meaning they needed to be connected to an external amplifier, the HS monitors are active, each with a built in amp, and they’re available with more woofer size options, with either 5, 7 or 8 inch models to suit the size of your studio. And for even more versatility, as the original NS-10’s were commonly used laid down horizontally, each of the HS series monitors are also available in an HS-I version, which feature screw threads on the top, bottom and sides, allowing them to be mounted or suspended in any orientation. And if all those options weren’t enough, with every model in the HS range you get the choice of either that iconic black and white styling, or a very modern looking all white design.

Even though these offer high end performance, they don’t come with a high end price tag, which is why they’re equally as popular with bedroom producers as they are with professional engineers. They utilise newly developed high efficiency transducers in their speakers, for a super smooth response over a wide range of bandwidth, which coupled with a hi-performance bi-amplifier design, meaning that there’s a separate amp for both the tweeter and the woofer, the monitors produce a high resolution sound with a well defined low end and smooth, distortion free high frequencies up to 30 kilohertz.

All of this is housed in a low resonance enclosure, made from super dense MDF, designed to dampen the acoustic response and eliminate any unwanted vibrations, and in the same vain, Yamaha have used cutting edge noise reduction technology to optimise the design of the bass port, resulting in a 6 db noise reduction over previous versions of the HS speakers.

The rear panel of each Yamaha HS Monitor features versatile connections options, with either a balanced XLR of a jack connector available, which can be used with either an un-balanced or balance TRS cable, and on top of that there’s also a couple over EQ trim switches. The Room control allows you to attenuate that unnatural, exaggerated low-end that can often occur when speakers are placed next to walls, whilst the HIGH TRIM allows for more flexible control of the high frequency response.

Yamaha HS monitors are also currently available in limited edition matched pair bundles, which means that the speakers supplied in a pair will share the same serial number, and have been acoustically matched together for an even more precise performance.

So if you're looking for the best monitor speakers for a home studio, the Yamaha HS series offer some of the best studio speakers available.
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[ChristosGeorgiades]

Had them for a year almost, they are truly awesome, and not just for music production, they offer an all around gorgeous sound. Great review by the way, it would have made my research easier, had I seen it before buying!

[pastilance]

Been having them for over 5 years now. They are just great, highly recommended!

[tz]

I’m now planning a 7.1 surround system for watching movies, in a large room at home (5m x 7m) with open loft ceiling, using these speakers. 8’s for the front 3 speakers, and 5’s for the surrounds. Yamaha seem to think of everything, as they also offer a speaker option with fixing points in the body (HS8i) for versatile mounting options, and also a full range of brackets.

[bigsean]

It's not so much about monitors as it's getting to know them and how they sound.
You start getting really good mixes with them after 1-2 years once you really get to know them.
And it's like that with any studio monitors.

[Zodliness]

I really love my HS8's cos I got them really cheap and I'm sure that makes them sound even better, if that's even remotely possible! 😉😆

[mattcero]

How do you have yours hooked up? I only have one stereo mini jack outputting sound. So I would wire that to one speaker. How does the other speaker get signal? Via Male to male XLR or otherwise?

[MrJogger]

Anyone have an advise on how I could mount a pair of HS7'S, I did not buy the I version, have moved and could really do with getting them on the wall without losing sound quality.

Any ideas would be great 👍

[markbrimecome]

Doses any one no if the HS8 can be used with a drum module on an electronic drum kit in a home studio

[slashtrio]

Wouid these speakers work well with a Kemper guitar amp?

[RoyFJ]

Natural sound is what Yamaha stands for, they are the only company that make the musical instruments as well as equipment to recreate music.

[RC]

I prefer my Adam A77x’s. They are so good that there is always a smile on my face when I hear them.

[alexfilaretou]

For a bedroom studio what is the best monitor for it ?

[moseslombe]

What do people disagreeing here recommend??

[AB-dzyb]

I have used HS-7 for years now and if you think they're good please just A/B them with some other speakers or monitors. Anything that's supposed to be good. The Yamaha's are harsh and do not convey enough clear mids, have inaccurate bass- don't need loud, need accurate, and they lack life or soul or just realism to me. Tannoy Reveal, APS Klasik, Adam T7, Various Event speakers, all revealed more and were pleasant to use for long periods. Yamaha decided to make a lower grade monitor instead of updating the msp series which is a bit sad. If these are all you have and you think they're great then test against another option. Monitors are are too essential to not do your due diligence and spend blindly, or without hearing. I can't believe I took the time to write this comment but here's a rocket ∆ 🚀 Ted Cruz is the Zodiac killer

[dawoud]

Sorry agree with you only for 8" versions. Under, threy are useless for "bassy" musics

[HOLLASOUNDS]

I think I might of paid to high for used with cash converters whoops.

[valikonen]

It's good to be bookshelf speakers... to link them to my pc?

[ThomasMusicU]

The BS in that statement at 1:05
-"Engineered to offer sonic purity without coloring or altering the sound"

That's not their main purpose. Some still buy the Yamaha NS/HS to reveal stuff in the mid range, that's what they are good at.
Watch Produce Like a Pro - 'Why Do Mixers Use Yamaha NS-10's? FAQ Friday with Warren Huart' at 6:20

Do NOT buy these as your first main monitors!

Buy something with a flatter EQ response curve.
Like Kali, Adam, Eve, Focal or even JBL.
(KRK not my cup of tea but many use them, same with Presonus).
Genelec are way better than Yamaha, but they have a higher price tag usually.
Tannoy is said to have some decent models but I haven't tried them.

Only consider the Yamahas as reference monitors - and that's a good thing - to have the ability to listen on different sets of monitors.

Another alternative is to buy a software that simulates different sound systems in different surroundings like dSoniq Realphones or Sonarworks.
Probably the most budget friendly option of them all.

(Theoretically you could maybe even create your own EQ curves, but that requires a lot more knowledge, and maybe they should have some dynamic feature to work properly. IDK.
dSoniq and Sonarworks are used by many pros and I'm guessing that's why there's a huge market for these softwares, rather than creating EQ curves?)

[MeastrasElKachelino]

M-Audio BXs series sound better than these in my opinion. I know producers with sets of HSs(8, 7, 5) and are putting out trash mixes. Nothing special about Yamahas...🙂

[Frank]

these monitors are not good . the sound is not neutral. and the inside are cheap. capacitors are shit.. if you want one of the best monitor. then you need yamaha msp serie, s these have high end components . mackie hr824 are also high end inside