Yamaha MSP5's...

RezN8

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I haven't got much pocket money, and having read previous threads, the Yam's seem to get the best responses.

Anyone got any?

The other pair I'm going to listen to to compare against will be the Alesis Monitor One Active Mk2.

Ta.

:smokingr:
 
I think you can get the Richard Allan RA6M for less money or the RA8M for a little more - Colin OOOD raves about his...
When my boat comes in I'm going to replace my Alesis Monitor One's. Possibly with RA8Ms, as long as I can get a demo of them somewhere.
The Alesis were a bit of an accidental purchase and fortunately they were OK and I've learned loads but now I think I need a flatter more detailed monitor to progress.. (mental note: test speakers really thoroughly before handing over cash)
 
The only problem with the RA6/8Ms is that being passive, you need to get hold of a decent amp to hook up to them, whereas the MSP5 and M1 Active works straight out of the box.

I've had my MSP5s for about a month and a half now and I have to say I love 'em. As with anything that was based around the NS10 sound though, there is a 'curve' to their response that needs understanding. Now Ott's back, he might correct me, but I think that Yamaha designed them to have a slightly pronounced mid-range response, as the Fletcher-Munson range is the fiddliest to mix well (and the most painful to listeners if you cock it up). From what I've read, the M1 Actives sound 'better', but to be honest I like my monitors to point out where I'm going wrong, not lull me into a false sense of security.

At the end of the day, if you can take a CD of something you think is mixed well, and a CD with some of the stuff you've been working on along to a shop and A/B the monitors you want to try against each other, you'll be able to make the most informed decision.

(I badgered Turnkey into A/Bing the MSP5/Alesis M1/Genelec 1029A/Event TR8s against each other with Shpongle and one of mine as reference material, then found a pair of MSP5s on eBay for £180... cheeky little sod that I am :Wink3: )

As an aside, I've been told that the production quality of the stuff I've done since acquiring the Yammies is a significant notch above what I wa doing before, so I'm a happy camper. :Grin:

J.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm choosing actives as I don't want to worry about amps just yet.

As for reference CDs, I was going to use Ott's Blumenkraft, and one of Soliptic's tracks, as these guys seem to know what they're doing re. EQ usage :Wink3:

:smokingr:
 
Cheers Purusha - I do have an active subwoofer, can this be driven by the Yams, or is this not a good idea?

:unsure:
 
I don't think those speakers have a 'thru'. I used to output to the sub using an output on my mixer.
 
Purusha said:
The big problem with MSP5s (and I used a pair for around 3 years) is the bass response. Pretty-much non-existent.

Personally I find it just about perfect... I'd been struggling with my old setup where the bass just dominated everything, even if it wasn't particularly loud in the mix. With the MSPs I hear enough to know what the bass is doing, but I can hear *everything* else, which is far more important to me.

I tend to use the Hi-fi still when I want to bounce around the room though. :Wink3:

J.
 
JPsychodelicacy said:
Purusha said:
The big problem with MSP5s (and I used a pair for around 3 years) is the bass response. Pretty-much non-existent.

Personally I find it just about perfect... I'd been struggling with my old setup where the bass just dominated everything, even if it wasn't particularly loud in the mix. With the MSPs I hear enough to know what the bass is doing, but I can hear *everything* else, which is far more important to me.

I tend to use the Hi-fi still when I want to bounce around the room though. :Wink3:

J.


Try them against a pair of Mackies and tell me the same.

:Wink3:

I couldn't tell what was going on down below 100Hz on the MSPs. They're not designed to monitor down there.

But, yep - always try on other systems for reference.

I use my minipods on a Rotel amp, the car stereo, headphones and crappy PC speakers.
 
Purusha said:
Try them against a pair of Mackies and tell me the same.

:Wink3:

Hmm....

What I paid for my MSPs (eBay) : £180

Nearest eBay price for Mackie HR624s (nearest equivalent) : £675

Happy Joe making bright, chunky mixes : Priceless. :Grin:

I couldn't tell what was going on down below 100Hz on the MSPs. They're not designed to monitor down there.

Hmm - Yamaha claim 50Hz (40Hz for the MSP10)... I have to say that it doesn't hinder me in the slightest. :Smile3:

Besides, I'm pretty sure that even through a big system the only thing the human ear can perceive at the frequency is whether there's a noise there or not!

J.
 
I wasn't suggesting the Mackies instead!? Just pointing out what the MSP's lack.

Look at the MSP response graph. It falls off at the low end. As I've already pointed out, a sub will help Resn8.

Take it from me, accuracy at the low end is not irrelevant - especially on a big system.

Disagree if you like - that's my opinion - for what it's worth.
 
MSP5 frequency response graph:

Notice how it starts to drop off by a fair few decibels at the low end.

By the time it hits 50hz, it's dropped quite a long way.

As you say, you can mentally compensate, but a sub can definitely help

Even with my Mackies, I still use my Genelec sub to give me an idea of what's happening right down at the bottom. I only turn it on when I want to check out those ranges though.
 
Sometimes I wonder if I come across as more argumentative than I intend to be... I promise I wasn't dissing, just explaining my experience.

A sub will definitely help... trouble is that good ones aren't cheap.

J.
 
AlternateContinuum said:
where did you get that graph anyway? I'd be interested to see the same thing for my monitors...

The manual. :Wink3:

I think it's less useful to include FR graphs for passive monitors, as amp colouring is likely to render them less than useful. The manual for your speakers is on this page though.

http://www.alesis.com/downloads/manuals/index2.html

Those interested in the M1 Actives (MkI and II) will find the FR graphs in the manuals linked from this page.

http://www.alesis.com/downloads/manuals/index2.html

J.
 
JPsychodelicacy said:
AlternateContinuum said:
where did you get that graph anyway? I'd be interested to see the same thing for my monitors...

The manual. :Wink3:

I think it's less useful to include FR graphs for passive monitors, as amp colouring is likely to render them less than useful. The manual for your speakers is on this page though.

http://www.alesis.com/downloads/manuals/index2.html

Those interested in the M1 Actives (MkI and II) will find the FR graphs in the manuals linked from this page.

http://www.alesis.com/downloads/manuals/index2.html

J.


:Grin: Hmm. No idea where the manual went, or even if I got one. I appreciate your 'fact hunt' (say it carefully) :Grin:

:runsmile:
 
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