Behringer 3031a vs Yamaha HS80m?

[Yummerz]

I sold my 3031a's before moving cross country, then bought HS80m's once I arrived and settled in.

Honestly I was surprised at how similar they sound, when I played back my old mixes. There are a couple differences though:

The Behringers have a little more high end 'zing' and bass response, while the Yamahas sound slightly more neutral and natural.

They have roughly the same detail and stereo imagery, though I would give the edge to the Yamahas.

The Behringers were dead quiet, while the Yamahas have low-level hiss.

The Yamahas look better. That doesn't mean anything while mixing, but every time people come into the room, they say, Wow, nice speakers. Never got that with the Behringers.

If I knew how close these speakers would sound, I would not have given away my Behringers and bought the Yamahas for $400. They are a little better, but not enough to justify the extra money I spent. If possible, I would try to borrow both pairs and listen to them in the same room, and see which you like better. Honestly it's a toss up, but for the same price I would personally stick with the Yamahas. Otherwise go for the best deal you can find.

[Neodym]

Originally Posted by Yummerz

I sold my 3031a's before moving cross country, then bought HS80m's once I arrived and settled in.

Honestly I was surprised at how similar they sound, when I played back my old mixes. There are a couple differences though:

The Behringers have a little more high end 'zing' and bass response, while the Yamahas sound slightly more neutral and natural.

They have roughly the same detail and stereo imagery, though I would give the edge to the Yamahas.

The Behringers were dead quiet, while the Yamahas have low-level hiss.

The Yamahas look better. That doesn't mean anything while mixing, but every time people come into the room, they say, Wow, nice speakers. Never got that with the Behringers.

If I knew how close these speakers would sound, I would not have given away my Behringers and bought the Yamahas for $400. They are a little better, but not enough to justify the extra money I spent. If possible, I would try to borrow both pairs and listen to them in the same room, and see which you like better. Honestly it's a toss up, but for the same price I would personally stick with the Yamahas. Otherwise go for the best deal you can find.

what if I told you I can have both for exact same price but I like deep low extension and ribbon tweeters,but I also need them to deliver best mixdown.... will it Yamaha still win? how much more neutral it is? isnt the ribbon behringer tweeter better?

[Yummerz]

If it's a modded Behringer set, then sure, I guess it would be worth it. If you want a speaker with more highs and lows, go for it. But if you want your mixes to translate with more highs and lows, you should go with the Yamahas, which sound a touch more middy.

[ingmar]

I suppose you read my review.

I'm surprised Yummerz found that 3031a sound similar to HS80m, maybe a room change affected this? I can't comment on stereo imaging on the HS80m vs the 3031a as listening conditions were not ideal ... but definitely both monitors are useable, you'll probably get better resale on HS80m but I found that HS80m lack bass definition/stacking where the Truths do a good job, apparently much lower and without any hype, HS80m also sounded harsher in the mids. I've heard better stereo imaging than the 3031a, but with a much higher price tag ...

If you want more ribbon hype, the Prodipe Ribbon 8 can do that for you, the Truths are more polite which I preferred personally.

I think mixes will translate well both ways, none of them is a show stopper.

[Yummerz]

Originally Posted by ingmar

I'm surprised Yummerz found that 3031a sound similar to HS80m, maybe a room change affected this?

Yeah, the rooms were extremely different. I also forgot to mention that I used the EQ on the back of the Behringers to make them more mid-forward, while the EQ on the Yamahas is flat.

[ingmar]

Ok I understand, you like the NS10m sound

Personally I hated NS10m for composing or mixing, but I did use them to double-check my mix about 1 minute at a time, or when something was extremely hard to place in a mix. On the other hand, many engineers worked almost exclusively on these and hated the monitors I was mixing on (Genelec 1031apm mostly), both were profusely available in all larger recording facilities, it all comes down to personal taste in the end. My mixes on the Genelec's still sound good almost 20 years later and translate well, the stuff I did on EV Sentry and NS10m (oh and some huge Urei blue cone monitors) in my own smaller studio has lots of imperfections.

So yes I guess you could EQ the Behringers to sound similar to the HS80m, the reverse seems impossible though given the understated and a little muddy lows of the Yamaha's as well as the ribbon style open end of the Truths.

[DAH]

When you check Yamahas, try +2mids and -2hoghs dip switches.And I plugged ports in mine, work fine, bass is inteeligible and translating.

[MustacheVerra]

Originally Posted by DAH

When you check Yamahas, try +2mids and -2hoghs dip switches.And I plugged ports in mine, work fine, bass is inteeligible and translating.

Just wondering, aren't you worried about heat?

[mattjew24]

I have Behringer 2031As and they sound fantastic. Very similar to Mackie HR824s if that helps you decide. I bet the 3031 is even better.

[ingmar]

Originally Posted by MustacheVerra

Just wondering, aren't you worried about heat?

Heat gets dissipated by the metal backplate in most monitors ...

[DAH]

Originally Posted by ingmar

Heat gets dissipated by the metal backplate in most monitors ...

This^

[monoxido]

3031 has a great low end definition with a good converters