FANPAGE FOR YAMAHA® NS-10M

In 1978 Yamaha first introduced the NS-10 design with the iconic white woofer. At that time they were marketed as home audio compact bookshelf speakers. And they did a terrible job at it. Long listening sessions proved fatiguing to the ear, due to tweeter-woofer alignment/phasing issues and the harsh quality of the tweeter, when used with the original crossover.

However, a couple of well known mixing engineers revealed by word of mouth that some of their recent multi-platinum productions had been mixed on NS-10s, instead of the Auratone cubes that were the untouched standard at that point. For a good reason, most purchases and decisions in the audio world are made according to what the more experienced and successful use, and how they use it. So, by word of mouth, more and more engineers started using them in their studios. They were the only speaker design with a contrasty white woofer on a black enclosure, so they were easy to spot and recognize in any control room.

But the tweeter was indeed too harsh, and some engineers started modding their NS-10 with some paper or cloth over the tweeter, to absorb and phase cancel the high frequency output, or even performing after market crossover modifications. (See also: “The tissue phenomenon”)

Yamaha, confused that engineers were more interested in their home speakers than home users grabbed the business opportunity and started catering to that new target market. - The NS-10M STUDIO monitors were born.

Engineers were using the speakers laying on their side on a console, and complaining about the harshness, so they addressed those modifications in a new revision, NS-10M STUDIO (M standing for Monitor). These had an improved crossover circuit with slightly less tweeter output, and were designed to be placed horizontally, with the logo turned 90 degrees and the tweeter shifted to one side (always in the top-outer corner).

And now they were selling like candy. Engineers were discussing about the best amplifiers to use with their passive NS-10M, and later even adding subwoofers to compensate for lack of low frequency response. The white woofers were being used as kick drum mics, and due to the fragility of the tweeter, prone to burnouts, replacement parts are constantly being traded on eBay.

Thousands of albums were made using the NS-10M nearfields as the main source of monitoring. Virtually every well-known mixing engineer in history (people such as Andy Wallace, Terry Date, Brendan O’Brien, the Lord-Alge brothers, Charles Dye, Dave Pensado, Ben Grosse, you name it) used them to make some of the most amazing production works ever. In 2007, they were awarded the Technical Grammy® Award.

But in the new millennium Yamaha started having trouble finding the wood pulp to make the white woofer cones, and they weren’t yet prepared to release a new model. Quickly they put together a new line of active black-woofer monitors, the MSP series. They were well built and great for mixing, but sounded smoother, and people were missing the NS-10 raw feel of present midrange - the “Yamaha NS-10 sound and looks”.

So why not do things right? Why not release a redesigned line of white-woofer, active nearfields, with improved technology and lower price for home studio affordability? That’s exactly what Yamaha did in 2006.

The Facts: why NS-10M became the standard
I love hearing the “little experts” bashing the NS-10 based on a 5-second listen, even more than I love hearing the clueless followers claiming that they sound “amazing and flat”. They’re both right and wrong. But they don’t know why, or how.

Myth: “The NS-10M have a flat frequency response.”
False. Their 2 kHz bump of + 5 dB and low frequency drop starting at 200 Hz is part of what made them a studio workhorse. Far from being flat, they “open” the frequency range with a midrange-based response that exposes the most problematic and worst-sounding frequencies. In your consumer hi-fi, the EQ preset that makes most music sound “better” (”Loudness”, “Rock”) is exactly the NS-10 frequency response, flipped upside down… Coincidence?

Myth: “The NS-10M sound plastic, harsh and ugly.”
That’s because you’re either speaker-spoiled, listen to bad mixes, or don’t know how to mix. They boost the uglier frequencies and hide the confortable ones. They’re like the mixing version of Simon Cowell on American Idol. If you can’t mix, they will tell it like it is. If you’re too childish to accept that, you’ll probably leave the room cursing the speakers and promising to someday become successful and show them they were wrong! And that’s what happens to a lot of people. Similar situation, same effect.

Myth: “The NS-10M sound great!”
Well, they are defined in the midrange (see above) and very analytic - good if you’re used to clinical listening.But I wouldn’t use them in a living room to play jazz records at the fireplace.

The explosive popularity of the Yamaha NS-10M speaker system for near- field monitoring in professional sound studios throughout the world has resulted in the development of the NS-10M STUDIO model. The NS-10M SUTDIO maintains the quality and performance of the original NS10M, but has been refined and redesinged specifically for professional applications. To begin with, you can throw away the tissue paper. The high-end output of the NS-10M STUDIO has been modified - on the basis of extensive testing and feedback from the field - for optimum balance in the studio control room.

The NS-10M STUDIO retains the unique sheet-formed white-cone 18cm woofer of the original NS-10M, but employs a redesinged 3.5cm dome tweeter to achieve high-end response that is more suitable for studio use. Optimum woofer/tweeter matching and careful crossover design ensure smooth, natural transition between frequency ranges with minimum phase variation. Frequency response is remarkably flat from 60 Hz right up to 20 kHz, and superior transient response delivers crisp, transparent sound. The exceptionally tight, clean reproduction and precise overall response of this system is a must for accurate sound evaluation and image positioning.

While the original NS-10M was primarily a vertical design, the NS10M STUDIO has been remodeled to facilitate on-console horizontal placement. Overall construction is more rugged to withstand the rigors of nonstop professional use.