Monitor suggestions

Newt

Member
Currently I am running the AXE-FX III through the Yamaha HS50M monitors and they sound ok. But when I listen to the AXE FX III through Sennheiser HD280 pro headphones it sounds completely amazing. Someone suggested I move up to the Yamaha HS8 monitors and said it will make a world of difference which I can see.
Anybody else you the HS8 monitors? Any other suggestions? These Sennheiser headphones are these old ratty headphones I had since 2008. They are 64 ohms and they sound 10 times better than my monitors. What monitors are you happy with?
 
Hi @Newt
In my opinion, the HD280s sound great - I guess the best advice I can give is set yourself a budget for monitors, add 1 or 2 thousand to it, then go shopping. You need to hear them or at least have the option of returning them if you are buying unseen. The Adams get a great rap on this forum but I've not heard them so cannot say one wy or the other. I use Questeds for small monitors and I like them.

Thanks
Pauly
 
Currently I am running the AXE-FX III through the Yamaha HS50M monitors and they sound ok. But when I listen to the AXE FX III through Sennheiser HD280 pro headphones it sounds completely amazing. Someone suggested I move up to the Yamaha HS8 monitors and said it will make a world of difference which I can see.
Anybody else you the HS8 monitors? Any other suggestions? These Sennheiser headphones are these old ratty headphones I had since 2008. They are 64 ohms and they sound 10 times better than my monitors. What monitors are you happy with?
I have Adam AX7 monitors which sound great to me. But, I think @pauly hit the mail on the head. You need to try some “better” monitors in person, so you can find what fits your ears and playing style, or know for sure you can return monitors you buy unseen! You might find my monitors aren’t to your liking, or find another brand that really does it for you. Wish there was a one size fits all, but there really isn’t.

Best of luck in your search,
Lee
 
I was on the same road. I had HS5s with a subwoofer and presets tweaked with that were ok on bigger systems.
But somehow that system could not display the low mids that well and it wasn't much fun using it. Ok as a tool, but not amazing. To be fair, that setup might be a perfect display of what could happen on gigs as well when they bring one of these FOH systems with too tiny heads and subwoofers and without any bigger loudspeaker for the midrange. Crappy for rock music.

So I was torn between Yams HS7s and HS8s.
The HS8 are fatter and get the lower tones easier and without a subwoofer they should be the better choice.
However I took the HS7s and I run them with a subwoofer. Totally happy with it.
When the house is empty and I can crank up the volume I take big monitors though.
 
From what I know, Yamahas tend to be pretty flat (learning from the success of the almighty NS-10s). That's great for mixing but not necessarily ideal from a guitar player's perspective. With a limited budget I would certainly entertain options such as the Adam Audio T series or my personal budget favorite, the Kali Audio LP-6s.
 
From what I know, Yamahas tend to be pretty flat (learning from the success of the almighty NS-10s). That's great for mixing but not necessarily ideal from a guitar player's perspective. With a limited budget I would certainly entertain options such as the Adam Audio T series or my personal budget favorite, the Kali Audio LP-6s.
The HS series is an entirely different world than NS10s.
 
Mackies 8" HR24 series are wonderful and the T7 Adams are excellent too but for a little more the Adams A7x with a sub is all I need for the studio.
 
I've owned the HS50M back before I upgraded from AX8 to current gen, and I found that they are good for dialing in tones as the midrange is pretty revealing. However, they fall flat when it comes to enjoying playing, as the top end can be a bit harsh and the bass is lackluster.

Having only heard the HS8's a couple of times in a friends studio I will say that they're a good step up when it comes to perceived fidelity, but I would strongly recommend finding a studio or a music store so you can decide for yourself.

Personally I find Genelecs to be the most "fun" monitors to play guitar on, but they are very sensitive to listening position, which is why I prefer doing mixing on other brands. They are also pretty durable/sturdy, so I wouldn't have any issues buying them used. The most accurate speakers I've tried are the Focal Trio 6 Be's - but I wouldn't recommend going that pricey if you aren't gonna use them for paid audio work.


That aside, it might just be that you really enjoy playing through headphones, or that your room needs some treatment. In my experience, treating a room does a lot more per dollar spent than monitor upgrades.
 
Currently I am running the AXE-FX III through the Yamaha HS50M monitors and they sound ok. But when I listen to the AXE FX III through Sennheiser HD280 pro headphones it sounds completely amazing. Someone suggested I move up to the Yamaha HS8 monitors and said it will make a world of difference which I can see.
Anybody else you the HS8 monitors? Any other suggestions? These Sennheiser headphones are these old ratty headphones I had since 2008. They are 64 ohms and they sound 10 times better than my monitors. What monitors are you happy with?
I thought the HS8's sounded great, but too loud for my home setup. I used a single HS7.

I would bet that if you dont like the HS50M's, you might not like the HS7s. I know the Adam A7X\A8X get a lot of love... worth checking out.
 
HS8s for what they are, IMO not a bad deal. Gets loud, translates well for the $$$.

I think even Cliff said he was surprised how well they sounded.


But it’s a very personal choice.
 
Put these Impulse Response .syx files into your cabinet block to "flatten'"/correct your HD280 Pro's , make sure you pan the Impulses left and right respectively in the Cab Block (you may have to adjust the level)

This should make your headphones sound more neutral and better suited for adjusting your guitar tone

Put the cab block just before the Out 1 block

Edit: Left and Right are technically the same IR file so can swap , but these are only for correcting the HD 280 PRO headphones and no other (also misspelled the files so don’t worry id it says hS280)
 

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To answer your question HS8 are best value for the price , fractal uses them as I read aomewhere in the forum

I also have a pair of Hs8 and they are amazing

Looking at the frequency response of the HD 280 Pro , I can say they are quite flat so no surprise they sound pretty good , saying that read my previous message to make it even more better
 
No headphones are anything close to flat so if you like how it sounds on headphones just means you like the particular character of said headphones. I've got BeyerDynamic DT 990 Pros, Sennheiser HD6XX, AKG K-400, AKG K-272 HD and Jabra Elite 85H and all of them sound different on my FM3. The best and flattest is the HD6XX, it requires the least correction out of the box. The DT 990 Pros have too much high end and the worst of the bunch are the Jabras but they are my work meeting headphones so I wasn't expecting much from them in the first place. The K-272s are quite well suited for guitar but are clearly colored in their own way. I've only tried correcting the frequency response of the DT 990 and HD6XX and especially the DT significantly benefits from it and makes it sound closer to the HD6XX.

With studio monitors the room itself comes into the equation and that can heavily influence the sound depending on the placement of the speakers and any anomalies the room itself causes. Even on my Genelec M040 speakers it's best to use room correction or else in my specific room it will have a distinctly hyped ~130 Hz frequency. Likewise the proximity to walls means that low end needs to be trimmed. The dip switches on most monitors can correct things to a degree but are not as granular as you could get with the Axe-Fx parametric or graphic global EQ.

I find that I like the presets I have dialed with my headphones just fine when I run them through my Genelecs and vice versa. I use the FM3 global graphic EQ with AutoEQ's settings for the HD6XX and use the parametric EQ for room correction on the Genelecs based on what I have measured using Sonarworks Reference ID and their reference mic.

I wish that Fractal had presets for the output settings because it would help a lot for this sort of adjustment. I would love even more bands on the parametric EQ too so it could be more granular. Global IR-based output correction would be amazing.
 
From what I know, Yamahas tend to be pretty flat (learning from the success of the almighty NS-10s). That's great for mixing but not necessarily ideal from a guitar player's perspective. With a limited budget I would certainly entertain options such as the Adam Audio T series or my personal budget favorite, the Kali Audio LP-6s.
Ditto for for the Kali LP6s. Cost/benefit is outstanding
 
Very happy with my ADAM A7 (discontinued, A7X is the current product).

I find them neutral sounding, which is essential IMHO.
 
Monitors are very personal, and you need some serious time to compare them side by side. Problem is finding a place to do that. When i shopped for mine, GC had a well stocked and maintained listening room. Now they have half a dozen models, half of which have poked out drivers or don’t even power on. I don’t know where I’d go now.
 
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