VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Zach Meissner]

I may be splitting hairs here... not sure, this is new territory for me.

I'm getting my first set of studio monitors and have an interesting situation.

I can get a pair of Yamaha HSM50's for $230, comes with a lifetime guitar center warranty, this is local.

Or I can pick up a set of M-Audio CX5's for about $250 that would have to be shipped to me.

I've also heard the BX5a's and KRK Rokit 5's are excellent too. But these are even less than those. So... is this one of those things when you're looking at the high end TV's at the store next to the mid level one's and they so much better, but once you get home you'll never know the difference??

I've heard great things about both the Yamaha and CX5's... just no experience with either.

[Scott Pollak]

Zach, the only ones I can comment on are the ones I have, M-Audio BX5-D2s, and I love 'em. For the money, they're really amazing. Super flat frequency response.

http://www.amazon.com/Avid-9900-65174-09-M-Audio-BX5-D2/dp/B005F3H6Q8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360340180&sr=8-1&keywords=m-audio+bx5+d2
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

[Charlie Channel]

I've had/have both. I like the Rockit 5's (personal taste). I also used/use them for music production and to me, the KRK's seemed cleaner + had a little more punch. But, to be fair, one BX5 went bad about 3 years ago (or more) and my recollection should be understood in that context.

In terms of reliability, go KRK wins on the 5 side of things.
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Charlie

[Zach Meissner]

Thanks for the replies Scott and Charlie! Now to decide...

[Lance Blair]

The KRKs sound pretty scooped (extra highs and lows)

The MAudios are really nice for the money.

The Yammies are really flat and detailed for the money. Sometimes they're ugly to listen to! They are best used with subwoofers.

I used to have the KRK 5s but found things sounded off on other systems. Now I have the HS 50M
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and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[Frank F]

From a practical point of view, which have you heard in YOUR studio? I use a pair of Focal's. Bu before I bought them I listened to them in MY studio. I also tried KRK's, Genelac's, JVC's, etc.

Look deep into yourself and try before you buy. If you cannot do that, don't buy them unless you can re-sell them for at least as much as you paid for the monitors.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Dayo]

Almost any speakers can "learned" but you'll want something that's not too fatiguing for long edit sessions. The key is to check your recordings regularly on as many different systems of all shapes and sizes as you can. That way you'll get a good handle on how things travel.
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Colin Day - UK Voiceover
www.thurstonday.co.uk

[sb4vox]

I have the HSM50's and love them! As mentioned already, they are linear, flat as a pancake, which is the main reason I went with them. If you want the raw truth, I recommend them highly. And $230 is a great price.

That said, this is, as is true with most gear from mic-to-monitor, a very subjective choice. Any of the others mentioned here will get the job done just fine, if you're paying attention to what you're doing.

MHO

Steve
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Steve Black
sb4vox@gmail.com
www.firstclassvoiceovers.com

[Zach Meissner]

Thanks for the fantastic advice everyone, much appreciated.

So I ended up getting the CX5's with a pair of Monster Prolink TRS cables thrown in.

I've had these for a little over a week, and although I have no reference other than my Logitech z-2300 set, i think they sound fantastic. They're my first studio monitor set, so i'm sure i'll sample a few more over the years.

Thanks again!