David Mellor: The Yamaha NS-10M Studio near field monitor. Some would say that they're the worst speakers in the world. So why do I have two pairs? 00:15 - Why NS-10Ms Became a Studio Staple I'm David Mellor and I've known the NS-10M Studio for the proverbial donkey's years. Actually since the original NS-10M, without the 'studio' tag. In my researches and writings for Sound On Sound magazine, I got to visit loads of studios, when big commercial studios were much more of a thing than they are now. Nostalgia can be a sad thing sometimes. So yes I saw NS-10M's everywhere, transitioning to the more robust NS-10M Studio when they became available. Did I say robust? Well I can remember one pretty swanky private studio where I was treated to a demonstration of what they were working on. The engineer whacked the volume up to full and the sound was painfully loud. I can fully understand why there were occasional failures previously. Anyway, despite the fact I'd seen and heard the Yamahas plenty over the years, I didn't get round to buying a pair myself. No bass to speak of and a distinctly not flat frequency response. But then things changed when I got to do some work in a studio that had the NS-10M Studios, as well as a hulking great pair of main monitors. You know, I'm not the greatest producer or mix engineer in the world. I recognise my shortcomings, but I don't let it put me off. I do what I can and in the past I've made it a useful part of how I earned my living. Now more of a hobby but I still like to work to my best standard. So this is what I found from my first experience actually using the Yamahas. You'll have to imagine the drum roll. What I found was that I could get to my best standard of work much more easily with the Yamahas than I had been able to with other monitors. No they didn't sound as good, but I could quickly find my way to the best mix I was capable of, which would then translate pretty effectively to other systems. 02:11 - Making Better Mixing Decisions As a more general point, I like to consider what's the problem. What's holding me back from my Grammy award? I'm absolutely not the only person to think like this. Coming across successful producers and engineers there's a commonly found theme that in their earlier days they felt that there was always some elusive piece of equipment that they didn't have, or have access to, that if only they could have it their work would be so much better, so much more competitive at the highest level. It could be a microphone, it could be a preamp, a compressor, plug-in, whatever, even a pair of monitor speakers. Not having that one magic item was holding them back from success. But over time they discovered, as did I, it's not a matter of what's the problem, it's who's the problem and in my case the answer was me. I've had all the equipment and software for years, decades, that would get me my Grammy and the only reason I haven't got one is that I'm the weakest link and I don't need Anne Robinson to tell me that. So there's no magic equipment or software. Yes you need adequate equipment and software and at least adequate acoustics but it's the person making the music or the person behind the controls who is the limiting factor. Anyway, that's philosophy. But now that I've realised that the limiting factor in my own work is me, what I need from my equipment and software is that it will help me get to my own highest level of ability quickly and easily and that's where the NS-10M Studio's come in. They're not magic, but they help me to be my best self. 03:49 - A Second Pair of NS-10Ms So my first purchase of a pair of NS-10M Studios was in I think around 2016, secondhand of course because they haven't been available new for over two decades. I wanted to tell the guy I bought them from what a mistake he was making, but selfish thoughts prevented me from doing that. I was doing all my work in one room at home at this time so I used them for both my music and my video production. They replaced a pair of equally-sized reflex speakers, but more on that later. A couple of years ago I decided to split my video, which I consider work, from my music, which these days is my hobby. Work, life balance and all that. So since I didn't have my second pair of NS-10M Studios at that point I bought a similar pair of speakers which were also closed box, again more on that later. These were fine to work with, but they didn't suit me quite so well as the Yamahas so when a pair of NS-10M Studios came up on that popular online auction site you may have heard of, at the right price, I snapped them up. And drove 200 miles there and back to get them. For completeness I'll mention that since these speakers are passive, they need power amps to drive them. I'm using what some people might call cheap but I'd call them good value Chinese Class D amps and they work just fine. Not holding me back from my Grammy. So this is where I am, making videos in my video studio and quote-unquote music in my music studio. This is what I call a happy life. 05:23 - Mixing With Missing Frequencies I'm keeping history to a minimum here but if you want some of that I'll refer you to Phil Ward's excellent article in Sound On Sound September 2008, which is online. But the essentials are that at some point in the late 1970s or early 80s the story goes that producers realised that they could carry around a small pair of speakers from studio to studio, position them close-to, or in the near field as we say, and enjoy a consistent acoustic environment. I think that's a pretty good history lesson in around 50 words. Now for most of us, the near field part has faded into irrelevance because we work in rooms so small that there isn't space for anything else. If you're not among most of us then congratulations. We envy you. The fact that the NS-10M was anointed by the production gods and goddesses, rather than any other model does though need explanation. I'll start with what's wrong with the NS-10M Studio and there's a lot wrong. Firstly if I say that there's no bass, clearly that's an exaggeration, or a hyperbole if I want to sound posh. I'll put it like this.. It feels like there's no bass. So if I put a 42Hz sine wave through the NS-10M Studio, which is the fundamental of the lowest note of a standard bass guitar, I can just about hear it and what I can hear may just be second or third harmonic distortion. If I touch one of the cones gently I can feel that it's working hard, but all that hard work is having little effect on my ears. This obviously is bad. If you're producing or mixing and there's something bad going on down in those low frequencies, you're not going to hear it. The solution, I find, is to check on headphones and I wouldn't let a mix leave my room without doing that. What's also bad is the frequency response of these speakers, other than the bass. There's a useful paper linked from Phil Ward's article that I mentioned early that quotes the frequency response of the Yamahas as being plus or minus 5 dB from 85 Hz to 20 kHz, which when you consider the response of the rest of the equipment that we use, other than perhaps microphones, is as flat as an optical bench. This is not good, not good being nearly a synonym for bad. So if two wrongs don't make a right then surely two bads don't make a good. Well the lack of bass response can't ever be a good thing. You could use a subwoofer and I haven't so far but I wouldn't mind giving it a try. But there's an upside. When you're mixing bass you want your listeners to hear it and how many listeners have speakers that go down to 42 Hz. I reckon that in this age of bluetooth smart speakers, earbuds and the like, it would be comparatively few. So what you'll do is make sure that your listeners can hear some harmonics. Rough it up a little bit so there's a bit of warmth and the wonders of the human hearing system will ensure the that listener hears the pitch of E two and a bit octaves below middle C even if the fundamental is virtually absent. But other than the bass, what about the wonky frequency response? It has been said and I believe it, that the reflection from a mixing console's surface ameliorates this, to the extent that the Yamahas are flat enough. Not flat, but flat enough. Add to that it has also been said and I also believe it, that the frequency response of the Yamahas helps with mixing vocals. There are few things that can go more wrong in a mix than the vocals being harsh. The Yamahas will not let you do this. The quite pronounced peak between around 1 and 2 kHz will tell you when to tone things down. 09:11 - Reflex vs Closed Box Monitors I feel that I've been rabbiting a bit on the flaws of the Yamaha NS-10M Studios and flaws there are, but there are considerable benefits that you'll find hard to get elsewhere. So I'm going to imagine a mast and in my imagination nail my imaginary colours to it. I like closed box. Closed box, there, I've said it. OK, I know that you know this but a bit of revision will tell us that with a speaker that is closed all round, the springiness of the air inside the cabinet is fighting the movement of the woofer cone. But add a tuned port, tuned to the right frequency of course, there are great big long equations for this, and cabinet size-for-size, the bass response can be extended down to lower frequencies. More bass. What's not to like abut that? Well what manufacturers of bass reflex loudspeakers will normally be quite slow to tell you is that the resonance of the port causes resonance. Maybe not so much in terms of frequency but certainly so in terms of spreading the bass out over time. If you have ever seen so-called waterfall charts of loudspeaker responses, and if you haven't you really should look the term up, you will notice that speakers do tend to resonate over time at some frequencies, at some frequencies more than others, and some speakers resonate more than others. The worst culprits - bass reflex. The noble knights in shining armour - closed box. The Yamaha NS-10M and NS-10M Studio - closed box. I could say QED here but I strongly recommend checking out out the paper linked in Phil Ward's September 2008 Sound On Sound article where you'll see waterfall charts of a range of speakers. And which resonates least - the Yamaha NS-10M. Well it's a close call between that and a couple of others, but really some of the more resonant speakers - well they're so resonant it's scary. Science. Who believes any of that? Well unfortunately my sarcasm emoji isn't available right now but it is reasonable to consider whether what works in facts and figures translates to the real world of subjectivity, which apart from designing bridges, sending rockets to Mars, open heart surgery and the like, is the final arbiter of so many things in our lives. 11:35 - Why Pleasant Isn’t Always Better I'm perfectly sure that there are many people who can describe and explain the science of all of this much better than I can but what matters to me is whether I can get a good result. What happens in between in facts and figures isn't so important, as long as it works. So let me go back to the speakers I was using for my music before I bought my second pair of Yamahas. No mystical secrets here - B&W DM100s. Small loudspeakers intended for bookshelf listening in the home. I mention this because I had a pair in the 1980s and, as with the Yamaha's I found them easy to mix on to get my personal best results. But then came the error of my ways. I switched to B&W 801s - huge and as nearfield as I could get them. These, I really do have to say that they are great to listen on and I still have them now on either side of my television. But, and they are closed box again, they really do just sound too pleasant. In my view, and I recognise that opinions will differ, it was too easy to make a mix that sounded good, but wouldn't maximise its potential on other systems. And then things got worse. Reflex. Still near field but reflex tuned. I'm not going to name them because for what they are I think they're good speakers and people who like the reflex sound will like them, I'm sure. But for me this is key... the reflex sound. Bass reflex speakers really do sound, to me, too reflexy and considering near field placement this can be exaggerated by the position of the port and the acoustics of the room. I'll just throw in there that not all may be lost and active reflex speakers with some bass management can be tamed considerably. And then I replaced the reflexes with another pair B&W DM100 bookshelves. Firing on all cylinders again. 13:29 - Mixes That Translate I have at some point to ask myself whether I really like the Yamaha NS-10M Studios, or have I just gotten used to them? There's a bit of both in the answer to these questions. Do I like them? Well if I consider listening for pleasure that might be a different issue to listening for work, even my music which I've said I regard as a hobby. Well believe it or not I am human and I do things other than work from time to time. So I might for instance, brace yourself, watch YouTube videos at my desk. Actually this is probably more work than anything else because the topics are usually work or music related in some way. So during the day when I'm oriented around one or other of my studio desks, yes I might take a break and watch a few videos. I recommend the Collins Kids. Go on, you won't regret it. And I do enjoy listening to the Yamaha's. It's a funny thing that unless I'm watching something like Fast and Furious on my TV with my monster B&W 801s, I don't mind the bass being a bit lightweight. Despite the issues that we know about, I'm not sure I could find a pair of speakers that I could enjoy more in this context. But what about professionally? What is it about the Yamaha's that helps me with my work? Well I've said already that they seem to help me get my personal best results quickly and fairly painlessly, compared to other speakers. To add to that, I've had several engineers, of world class abilities, say directly to me or I've read in print that they find mixing on the Yamaha's difficult but in a sense that's the point because when they've overcome these difficulties what they have is an excellent mix on the Yamaha's, that will translate smoothly to other systems. This is a bit in conflict with what I've said but you may bear in mind that these are top engineers and in comparison I'm just a dabbler. I'm going to stick to what I said though. I don't find mixing on the Yamahas difficult, I find it easy and also as I've said, it's only me and my abilities that stand in the way of my Grammy. It's not the equipment. Any of it. 15:40 - Making Rapid Mixing Decisions OK, going back to that frequency response issue. 5dB up 5dB down within 85 Hz to 20 kHz. But smoothed out by the reflection from the surface of the mixing console. Mixing console? Who has one of those these days? Obviously they have their purpose still in large-scale recording but I think most of us here today presenting or listening to this podcast will have a computer running digital audio workstation software with their speakers on their desks. By desk I mean a table with a horizontal surface, not a mixing desk, and I always say console any way. The problem is that the mixing console phenomenon is, as far as I can tell from my reading of history on the topic, a happy accident. But the surface of of a large-scale mixing console is angled. Your table, or mine, is horizontal and though there will be reflections that very likely will affect frequency response, any such accident may not be so happy at all. But here's my theory. You don't need the speakers with the best frequency response, which will be messed up by the room anyway. Frequency balance and EQ are intensely subjective and it's widely thought that any EQ decisions you make you need to make quickly before your ears have accommodated to any problem in the audio you're working with. So in this sense the frequency response of your monitors doesn't matter so much, as long as it's not crazily bad, because your ears, or rather your brain, will learn and accommodate. This is why reference material is important. Collect together a few CDs of tracks that you like, play them through on your newly acquired monitors. Play them lots and return to them often. You'll learn your speakers. Did I say CD? Lossless streaming should be OK but the CD you hold in your hand today will sound the same for the rest of your career. Streaming, maybe not so much, but that would be a different story for another day. This is why I'm not so troubled by the frequency response issues of the Yamaha's. What you can't correct in a speaker though, not fully anyway, is resonance which, as I've covered, is something that affects reflex speakers more, simply due to the way they work. They hang on to the resonant frequencies over time and in the worst cases anything that is approximately bass seems to come out as the same note. OK there are room correction systems and software that can to an extent ameliorate resonance by not pumping out so much energy at problem frequencies, which helps with your room too as the name suggests. I have absolutely no problem with this but it's best that the speaker is 'fast' in the first place. Different listeners will interpret 'fast' in different ways but to me it's the lack of reflex resonance. How this translates to helping me mix, everything just seems faster and more detailed. I feel that other speakers, reflex or not, obscure details that I need to hear to do my work properly. With the Yamaha's, I hear what's bad instantly and I have confidence that whatever I do to correct it will be precise and I won't need to change my mind later. 18:52 - The Case for Closed-Box Monitors Moving on... firstly I really do hope you'll look up the references I've given in this podcast because a) I've really just scratched the surface, and b) You need to hear more opinions than just mine. In a wider sense though I'd like to see a rebalance between closed box and reflex that really does seem to have swung too far in the reflex direction. If I had to buy another pair of speakers now then I'd be going back onto eBay for a pair of NS-10M Studios, in decent condition. But I really would like there to be closed box speakers that I can buy right now off the shelf, rather than speakers that are a quarter of a century or more old. And I'd like a choice. I'm David Mellor and I suspect I'll be mixing on my Yamaha NS-10M Studios for some years to come, at least until closed box becomes fashionable again. The thought though occurs to me that I was thinking of getting a spare pair from eBay. I think that with this podcast I might just have pushed the price up. Oh well.