Yamaha HS80M

The Yamaha NS-10's have become a staple in the studio. All high end studios in the world have at least one pair of these monitors to use as a reference because of how well they translate to all other listening mediums. However, Yamaha discontinued their line of NS-10’s to release their line of HS monitors.

These HS monitors come in two driver sizes (5 and 8 inches) and they also have a subwoofer (10 inches) option as well. This line of speakers have taken the spot of the NS-10 and added more options for the engineer by adding the 5” driver option and the subwoofer.

I had the opportunity to review the Yamaha HS80’s (8 inch driver), the speaker has a very sturdy squared off structure which makes them sit well in any studio environment whether you’re in a million dollar studio or your own simple home studio. Unlike its previous model of the NS-10 the HS series is geared towards sitting vertical rather than horizontally on its stand. The speaker has numerous options on the back to calibrate its output perfectly to your room and your current setup. First, it has both options of XLR or ¼ inch TRS inputs. There are four EQ options on it as well; Mid EQ (+/- 2dB), Room control (-2 or -4 dB), High Trim (+/- 2dB), and a low cut filter (flat, 80Hz, or 100Hz). These options can all be adjusted to give you the most optimum listening experience when mixing trough the Yamaha HS 80’s.

I compiled a list of various songs to listen to through the HS 80’s ranging from pop, rock, hip-hop, country, and electronic music. When listening I found that the speakers have a phenomenal “phantom center” for tracks that contained vocals it sounded like they were singing a couple of feet in front of me. Every detail of every song was also very clear through the speakers and once I was comfortable I was able to identify what would translate to other mediums such as headphones, laptop speakers, and car speakers. Where most monitors fall through are the low end of the frequency spectrum, most companies either lack below 100 Hz or overcompensate and add too much to make your mixes sound muddy. I felt that Yamaha did a great job dialing in the low end frequency just right to where its not too much but its not too little, whenever you check you mixes on other mediums too is translates perfectly.

Overall I was very satisfied with the results I got with the HS-80’s especially for their price. At about $700 for the pair you can’t possibly get a better pair of monitors, I would say they outperform any monitor in their category and can be compared to some higher end monitors that you’ll be paying $1,000+ for each monitor. I have been using them since and can’t go back to any other monitor for mixing and listening to music.