Ns10's or not

[DR Music]

1.What is the closest thing to ns10's?
2.Most of my fav producers have them,
Do they track with them? I understand why to mixing using them.

[work2do]

If you don't have them and never mixed on them, don't get them. No need to buy because others producers have them. If you NEED to have them to get clients then by all means. Be prepared to first, find them in good conditions and find spare parts. Then you will need a more than decent power amp.

If you never mixed on NS10's you have a chance to not get on that train of a discontinued product. There are a bunch of alternatives these days.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by DR Music

1.What is the closest thing to ns10's?
2.Most of my fav producers have them,
Do they track with them? I understand why to mixing using them.

Originally Posted by work2do

If you don't have them and never mixed on them, don't get them. No need to buy because others producers have them. If you NEED to have them to get clients then by all means. Be prepared to first, find them in good conditions and find spare parts. Then you will need a more than decent power amp.

If you never mixed on NS10's you have a chance to not get on that train of a discontinued product. There are a bunch of alternatives these days.

+1.

Don't go for "the closest thing" to NS10s. If you like NS10s get them, otherwise get something else.

[teknatronik]

I am happy with the hs80m. I am not sure how close or different they are.

[Liquid360]

I have some NS10s and I say avoid them. Very harsh and dry sound. I only use them to test the midrange, and then switch back to more pleasant sounding speakers.

[DR Music]

I have the yamaha's hs80's, I've tried everything but Adam A7's (under $1500) to replace the Yammy Hs80's.. The only other monitor's I've love to work with are the DSM3's. So I have those 2. (and a newer krk sub, I use them 25% of the time, more for clients)
And a pair of BX8a's by my midi-controller that's off to the side.

Thanks lads!!!
Great info...
Disagree?
Keep it coming..

[Ward Pike]

There's a reason they were so prevalent for so many years and why a lot of albums were mixed on them: They sound awful.

The belief is that if something sounds good on NS10M's, it will sound good on anything.

If that, and the mind-numbing ear fatigue appeal to you... get a pair.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Ward Pike

There's a reason they were so prevalent for so many years and why a lot of albums were mixed on them: They sound awful.

The belief is that if something sounds good on NS10M's, it will sound good on anything.

If that, and the mind-numbing ear fatigue appeal to you... get a pair.

That's just not true...as I never se to tire of saying, it's the transient response.

Fwiw they're not really harsh when paired with a good amp. No deep bass, but not harsh...unless your mix is!

Anyway, the op should search - million opinions on ns10s on here already.

[DR Music]

Psycho, Those are old posts and threads.. I want to know what others are using instead of ns10's now, who have used ns10s previously. Thanks for adding you .02 though..

[fremantlerecords]

I do my best mixes on ns-10s. Really they kinda suck but the results are true.

[Alex Breaux]

I have a pair in my studio. I bought them because most all engineers, producers, and musicians know what they sound like. I ended up using them a lot. They have their ups and downs. If this is for your personal studio, not a business, I would say unless you have a lot of experience with them and like em, there is a lot better ways to invest your money.

[Rupert Limehouse]

Agree with the other posters here, but if you want a good modern alternative to NS10s, check out the Acoustic Energy AE22s, available in active or passive. A closed back design like the NS10s, but better bass response and much less fatiguing.

[Sm58]

Originally Posted by teknatronik

I am happy with the hs80m. I am not sure how close or different they are.

Complete different story. The hs80 are cool monitors, and very cheap. But they have nothing to do with the ns10 exept the color of the membrane.
Ns10 are hmm lets say the oposite. Not so cool monitors, that means, they sound not so nice, but again, that has nothing to do on how they translate to the "real world". My opinion is they do it really well!
A second fact is, many studios have them. So if you go from studio to studio, you have a referenz between. A small constante.

[Sotsirc]

Originally Posted by Sm58

So if you go from studio to studio, you have a referenz between. A small constante.

This might be the main attraction, but I believe you can get other speakers that sound boring yet honest.

[dxavier]

Originally Posted by Rupert Limehouse

Agree with the other posters here, but if you want a good modern alternative to NS10s, check out the Acoustic Energy AE22s, available in active or passive. A closed back design like the NS10s, but better bass response and much less fatiguing.

Good shout on the AE22's

Nothing wrong with the NS10m's. Easy to get hold of on ebay and if you use them with a very good amplifier and leads, they can sound pretty good, but the most important thing is I find they translate well. They are not my main monitors, but I use them to A/B and I really like what they tell me. The AE22's have a similar tone and are very good monitors in my opinion. Very nicely priced for what they do.

[Ward Pike]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

That's just not true...as I never se to tire of saying, it's the transient response.

Fwiw they're not really harsh when paired with a good amp. No deep bass, but not harsh...unless your mix is!

I'll be in London again in the spring. I must get some of your cush.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Ward Pike

I'll be in London again in the spring. I must get some of your cush.

Cush?! Qu'est que c'est?!

[DavieB]

I owned some NS10's but I found them awful as monitors. I couldn't hear anything accurately enough to make a decent judgement. I always ended up doubting everything I did with them. I moved onto others, too many to mention actually but have now settled on PMC TB2's. Had them for quite some time now and they fit the room space and give me everything I need to know. I actually wanted some ATC SCM 50's but couldn't justify the spend.

[legato]

Not.



Henk

[NewfoundlandRec]

If you haven't mixed on them, a lot, forget it. Your lowend will likely be wild and you will wonder where all the highend went.

If you know them, they're great for transient clarity and midrange.

I have a set of MSP5s and while they are MAYBE remotely similar in the mids, the lowend is totally different (better imho).

I go with something else.

[Sptz]

I never mixed on NS10's , but I've heard them in person and I didn't hear anything "OMG SO HARSH THESE ARE TEH WORST SPEAKERS EVAH", I quite liked them to be honest, they were being driven by a really old yamaha amp, cant remember the model though, they were huge! I wasnt expecting them to sound that good to be honest

[Studio507]

I ran the HS50's for like 4 years at my home setup, finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a pair of 10's and a Yammy amp. Big difference. I feel comfortable again.

I love NS10s. Always have, always will. And Auratones.

[Tom Hakala]

I used to have NS10's. Bought Adam A7X and sold them because they stayed on my closet and I needed the money... I wish I had never sold them. I really love dry and focused sound they have. I would get them but I really don't have room for extra monitors for that size. And I really like working on these Adams but someday I will buy NS10's back. My next purchase is Auratones (or AKG LSM50) because it gives me nice secondary monitors for my Adams. But what I remember working on pair of Auratones a few years ago it was actually pretty nice! And I also liked their sound.

So hell yeah go for NS10's if you like how they sound. Dry and focused. Just lovely.
Closed thing to NS10's? I had HS80 and HS50 here with my NS10's. Different sound. My Adam A7 (I had those for a while) and A7X came closer. A7X had more bass and highs. But somehow sounded somewhat similar to NS10's.

[DR Music]

Originally Posted by Tom Hakala

I used to have NS10's. Bought Adam A7X and sold them because they stayed on my closet and I needed the money... I wish I had never sold them. I really love dry and focused sound they have. I would get them but I really don't have room for extra monitors for that size. And I really like working on these Adams but someday I will buy NS10's back. My next purchase is Auratones (or AKG LSM50) because it gives me nice secondary monitors for my Adams. But what I remember working on pair of Auratones a few years ago it was actually pretty nice! And I also liked their sound.

So hell yeah go for NS10's if you like how they sound. Dry and focused. Just lovely.
Closed thing to NS10's? I had HS80 and HS50 here with my NS10's. Different sound. My Adam A7 (I had those for a while) and A7X came closer. A7X had more bass and highs. But somehow sounded somewhat similar to NS10's.

Thanks for the info!!! I want a monitor that gonna help my mixes translate better... A7X might do the trick...
$1400 though...
Hmmm $500 plus a $600-$900 amp
O boy lots to thinking
Room is very well treated!

[TonyD]

As others here have said, people have got very used to them to the point where they can't do without them but, if you haven't mixed on them before, they're not going to give you a magical monitoring solution that solves all your problems.

Despite having worked in numerous studios with NS10s, I personally can't get on with them. The amp makes an *enormous* difference to the response, and the only ones I actually felt like I could mix on were powered by a Bryston 3B - which are over £1000/$1500 second-hand. Suddenly, it becomes a very expensive monitoring chain, and for that kind of money there are many more options.

i'm much happier on my ADAMs and Genelec 1031s... because I learned to mix on them! Then again, I just ordered a set of Eggs so that might change things.

[jcc449]

The closest thing I ever heard compare to ns10m is ADAM S2A. (note not the SX series). S2A is like a turbo version of NS10M. They have very similar high frequency character and lower mid punchy if ns10m is powered by the right amp.
A7 has similar frequency response toward ns10m, however the high frequency seems to react slower than Ns10m and s2a, also, the lower mid seems to be more blur and undefined compare to them.
Yamaha's new series indeed did not sound close enough to ns10m, however msp7 might be closer.

[daez]

Originally Posted by work2do

If you don't have them and never mixed on them, don't get them. No need to buy because others producers have them. If you NEED to have them to get clients then by all means. Be prepared to first, find them in good conditions and find spare parts. Then you will need a more than decent power amp.

If you never mixed on NS10's you have a chance to not get on that train of a discontinued product. There are a bunch of alternatives these days.

Exactly spot on. Those people know those speakers and I would argue clients won't be impressed by the sound of those either.What ever speakers you choose to get take a lot of time listening and learning what they sound like. A speaker is only as good as you are familiar with it. I have a pair of tiny sony pc speakers that I could mix on. They suck compared to my monitors and brand new I wouldn't say I could mix on these but Ive listened to them for so long I know what I should hear.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by Ward Pike

If that, and the mind-numbing ear fatigue appeal to you... get a pair.

bingo!!! If I never mix on a pair again, it will be too soon.....

[6th_World]

I didn't read all the posts above, so sorry if I multiplicate story...


I own a pair of ns10s. And yes you could call it harsh! Yes they do NOT sound good (hifi-ish) for you to listen new production music on them as newer monitor models..

But if you're doing let's call it 'vocal' music genre (excluding instrumental trance, techno or familiar) I would say go for it.. It will take you some time to 'understand' them, but that's the 'rule' with any speaker as you probably know..

Their 'harshness' is infact their biggest strenght imho.. When you get to use to them, they truly reveal whats happening in the midrange (generally most crowded part of the spectrum) and yeah I trust em there.. I listen to them at preety low levels..

But remember.. I'm not sure I would like to use them as only pair of speakers! But I'm also sure they're not going anywhere from my control room too.


Cheers

[teo]

I bought a pair as second pair of monitors a couple of months ago, and I'm very happy. There's something about switching to them from the big speakers and having a completely different prospective on the mix that really helps my mixes, its about transients and midrange. If they're going to be your only monitors, forget them!