Studio Monitor Shootout

[beezwax901]

My buddy and I just got back from Guitar Center. We tested out a bunch of studio monitors, playing the song "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters. Thoughts:

Yamaha HS50m

Really harsh mids. Kinda hurt my ears at higher volumes. Ruthless speakers.

Yamaha HS80m

Nice and flat. Less harsh mids than its little brother. Sounded good at high volumes.

M-Audio Studiophile BX8a Deluxe

A noticeable improvement from M-Audio. Pretty clear, accurate bass response.

Mackie MR5

These were the real winners here. Phenomenal balance, more bass than I expected out of these little guys, sounded flat across the spectrum. Great for the price.

Mackie MR8

After hearing the MR5's I had high hopes for the MR8's. To my surprise, they sounded just like the MR5's, but almost a bit muddier... The MR5's totally measure up to these.

Adam A7X

I expected "legendary" clarity, but instead found "great" clarity. I found these monitors to be a bit overhyped. However, they sounded great. Nice and smooth, very clear. Slightly bright.

Tannoy Reveal 501a

Excessively bright. Expected better bass response.

JBL LSR2325P

Wasn't too impressed. Loud, not very accurate.

Behringer Truth B3031A

[djanthonyw]

No Dynaudio?

[beezwax901]

we were going to listen to Dynaudio's but the guitar center guy was like "oh shit, we forgot to hook those guys up!" fuuck

[djanthonyw]

Originally Posted by beezwax901

we were going to listen to Dynaudio's but the guitar center guy was like "oh shit, we forgot to hook those guys up!" fuuck

[loopy]

Interesting.
Personal opinion is the Mackie Mr series sucks, real bad.
The HR series, even the China stuff, is much better.

M-Audio is under rated IMHO. Kind of sleepers.
The top of the line is really a nice monitor IMHO.

Surprised you didn't like the Tannoy...They are pretty good.
Sweet spot is real narrow though.

Don't like anything Yamaha is making these days.
Just my 2 cents.

[SquashPile]

I thought 501a were pretty good.

Thanks for your thoughts

[loopy]

Originally Posted by SquashPile

I thought 501a were pretty good.

Thanks for your thoughts

Me too.
Within the frequency range that they are rated for, they sound pretty good to me.

Not my choice for rap or hip hop etc but for basic stuff they seem pretty accurate to me.

[Jules]

It's possible to reduce the HF on some models via switches on the back.

[beezwax901]

Possibly my opinion could have been different with different settings on the monitors, different rooms, songs, etc. It was a pretty basic monitor shootout just to raise some opinions. Good to see some discussion though.

[YRLK]

Unbelievable that they wouldn't have Dynaudio's hooked up.
BM5a's are fantastic for the price, and I think they'd probably kill anything else in that line up.

[Turdadactyl]

For the benefit of people searching this topic in the future, I'll throw in a link to an earlier discussion along the same lines:

I Tried All The Powered Monitors @ Guitar Center Today And...

[knerd]

Originally Posted by beezwax901

My buddy and I just got back from Guitar Center. We tested out a bunch of studio monitors, playing the song "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters. Thoughts:

Yamaha HS50m

Really harsh mids. Kinda hurt my ears at higher volumes. Ruthless speakers.

Yamaha HS80m

Nice and flat. Less harsh mids than its little brother. Sounded good at high volumes.

M-Audio Studiophile BX8a Deluxe

A noticeable improvement from M-Audio. Pretty clear, accurate bass response.

Mackie MR5

These were the real winners here. Phenomenal balance, more bass than I expected out of these little guys, sounded flat across the spectrum. Great for the price.

Mackie MR8

After hearing the MR5's I had high hopes for the MR8's. To my surprise, they sounded just like the MR5's, but almost a bit muddier... The MR5's totally measure up to these.

Adam A7X

I expected "legendary" clarity, but instead found "great" clarity. I found these monitors to be a bit overhyped. However, they sounded great. Nice and smooth, very clear. Slightly bright.

Tannoy Reveal 501a

Excessively bright. Expected better bass response.

JBL LSR2325P

Wasn't too impressed. Loud, not very accurate.

Behringer Truth B3031A

Nice! I have the MR5's with a Rokit 10S sub to just take some of the load off the MR5's... Before these I had KRK V8s. I have to say that these are very nice monitors. I do prefer KRK monitors over Mackie, but I am getting used to these. Mixing my second album on them as I type! For the price, you really can't beat them.

[beezwax901]

Originally Posted by loopy

Interesting.
Personal opinion is the Mackie Mr series sucks, real bad.
The HR series, even the China stuff, is much better.

M-Audio is under rated IMHO. Kind of sleepers.
The top of the line is really a nice monitor IMHO.

Surprised you didn't like the Tannoy...They are pretty good.
Sweet spot is real narrow though.

Don't like anything Yamaha is making these days.
Just my 2 cents.

What is it about the Mackies that you don't like?

[imaginaryday]

Originally Posted by beezwax901

My buddy and I just got back from Guitar Center. We tested out a bunch of studio monitors, playing the song "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters. Thoughts:

Yamaha HS50m

Really harsh mids. Kinda hurt my ears at higher volumes. Ruthless speakers.

Yamaha HS80m

Nice and flat. Less harsh mids than its little brother. Sounded good at high volumes.

M-Audio Studiophile BX8a Deluxe

A noticeable improvement from M-Audio. Pretty clear, accurate bass response.

Mackie MR5

These were the real winners here. Phenomenal balance, more bass than I expected out of these little guys, sounded flat across the spectrum. Great for the price.

Mackie MR8

After hearing the MR5's I had high hopes for the MR8's. To my surprise, they sounded just like the MR5's, but almost a bit muddier... The MR5's totally measure up to these.

Adam A7X

I expected "legendary" clarity, but instead found "great" clarity. I found these monitors to be a bit overhyped. However, they sounded great. Nice and smooth, very clear. Slightly bright.

Tannoy Reveal 501a

Excessively bright. Expected better bass response.

JBL LSR2325P

Wasn't too impressed. Loud, not very accurate.

Behringer Truth B3031A

was the room at guitar center treated in some way?

[beezwax901]

yes, there was foam paneling in the room.

[Enlightened Hand]

I think "Everlong" is a terrible song to use as a mix reference because when you hear it on high quality speakers it sounds like ass. It was not mixed particularly well.

But that aside, if you really want to know how those speakers sound then you've got to get the pair you're most interested in home to your mixing space and work with them for a while. Everything else is chasing ghosts.

[thenoodle]

I just heard most of those on the op list and didn't really like any of them. But then, you know how shootouts are. Here's a post I made five years ago that still stands to this minute for me. But then, you know how shootouts are, and if price is a factor, well, that's a consideration too-
Powered Monitors..general update

[SquashPile]

This too

Originally Posted by Enlightened Hand

I think "Everlong" is a terrible song to use as a mix reference because when you hear it on high quality speakers it sounds like ass.

[beezwax901]

Maybe so. I really should have brought my own ipod. But alas, all I had was a limited iTunes library in the guitar center, and frankly, this was one of the only songs I actually recognized.. So I put it on. However, using the same track for all the monitors should give me some comparable idea, no?

[Teddy Ray]

do yourself a favor.

get a real reference CD.

(these are fine to distro, btw)

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