NS10M Studio

by **Aearth** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:17 pm

Well who has them, who likes them and why, because I have a pair which I bought second hand (very good condition so they're not broken) and I still don't like them. What's all the hype and fuss over these over rated "the standard" speakers.
I had a pair 5 years ago just when they stopped making them and just couldn't get them to work me, so I sold them. Now I bought another pair, so now I remembered why I got rid of the first pair of NS10's.
What is the big deal using these for mixing? I just don't get it.

nIC

by **Thirteen** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:29 pm

They are definitely unpleasant sounding speakers, I could never understand when I saw them in some musicians homes as hi-fi speakers, they always sounded nasty to me. Having said that, they do have a mojo for rock mixing, perhaps because they really are to close for comfort to the sound of consumer speakers, and they accentuate all of the things that you really need to be reminded to deal with in the mix. I do miss having them around, they pull the skeletons out of the closet and wave them in your face, and my Dynaudio's don't do that. Such impolite speakers from a polite country, NS10's.

Perhaps the other really important thing to note: NS-10's sound awful with any amp with less than a good 300W RMS of clean power, and they start to sound reasonably good with a really nice 600W RMS/channel amplifier.

by **heathen** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:32 pm

I like em for the fact I can stick my head right in between them , I think they are good for hearing whether vox are way to harsh and good for hearing detail in fx.

Also once a mix is sounding pretty good between them and other sets of monitors you know you're nearly done.

Sometimes I find drums sound good through my bigger monitors then switch to the ns10 s and sometimes they lose detail and punch, so then I get a good balance between both monitors and things start getting better in the mix, usually.

by **Aearth** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:44 pm

Thirteen wrote:They are definitely unpleasant sounding speakers, I could never understand when I saw them in some musicians homes as hi-fi speakers, they always sounded nasty to me. Having said that, they do have a mojo for rock mixing, perhaps because they really are to close for comfort to the sound of consumer speakers, and they accentuate all of the things that you really need to be reminded to deal with in the mix. I do miss having them around, they pull the skeletons out of the closet and wave them in your face, and my Dynaudio's don't do that. Such impolite speakers from a polite country, NS10's.

Perhaps the other really important thing to note: NS-10's sound awful with any amp with less than a good 300W RMS of clean power, and they start to sound reasonably good with a really nice 600W RMS/channel amplifier.

Hmmm, the amp thing is interesting.

nIC

by **Sheer Noise** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:51 pm

I got rid of mine when I stopped mixing and started composing/arranging/producing. I could mix on them for a while but I got so tired after a few hours that I almost needed a day off to recover. I never liked the sound of them, but the mixes always transferred pretty well. I got 824s instead and am enjoying being able to hear everything fairly well, listen for long periods of time at level without fatigue... AND pass the mix off to someone with much better ears than mine to polish! :) Not that the 824s are GREAT, they just suit what I'm doing right now... I'm sure one day I'll wish I had the NS10s for something, but not tonight.

Dave

by **jeep** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:30 pm

i never thought i'd say this nic, but i really like them..
i recently acquired a pair of NS10s and they're all i've been using for tracking and mixing for the past few weeks
i've got the ASP8's like you, and found that they didn't translate too well (for me anyway)
almost anything on them sounded much better than the average home speaker
after i started using the NS10s, my work began to improve

it is a tad harder to get everything sounding the way i want it when tracking, but once i'm there, it's quite rewarding
and it makes mixing easier too

i've only got the NS10s hooked up right now. my ASP8s are in the corner on the floor, and i don't intend on switching them over anytime soon..

by **Linear** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:06 am

Firstly I think they need a good amp. Very important, something with way more than the 60 watt rating on the box.

Secondly, I think that they're not exceptionally great sounding, but sounding 'great' isn't the most important aspect of a studio monitor - familiarity I think is the most important thing. And the thing about NS10's, they're everywhere so if you can go somewhere and hear them you know what you're getting. I think this is the reason why they are so popular, because people just got used to them.

I think personally they work well as a second pair of monitors - as like a midrange and vocal mix check. I used to have them as my primary monitor, but after about 6 hours they'd give me a headache. Focal's on the other hand - wow.

Cheers

Chris

by **NYMo** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:22 am

Hi there,

Yeah...what Linear says....for checking mid range stuff.
As the old saying goes...if they sound good on NS 10s they will translate anywhere.
If anyone has a set of NS 10m ST, I'm looking for some.

BTW My Focal Twin 6's come next week ! Ye haa
(was going to be the Barefoots :-(

Cheers
N
Y
M
O

by **otto ruiter** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:43 am

NYMo wrote:If anyone has a set of NS 10m ST, I'm looking for some.

Cheers
N
Y
M
O

I have a pair of the original NS10s with 2 x spare tweeters that are for sale. I'll get the details if your interested. PM me.

by **Aearth** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:46 am

otto ruiter wrote:
NYMo wrote:If anyone has a set of NS 10m ST, I'm looking for some.

Cheers
N
Y
M
O

I have a pair of the original NS10s with 2 x spare tweeters that are for sale. I'll get the details if your interested. PM me.

How much for the tweeters?

nIC

by **Aearth** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:55 am

As the NS10's are so rare I'll keep working with them, see how I go. At least I look like a pro. My other speakers are the Event ASP8's, smooth and pleasing so I'll use the NS10's for reference only.

nIC

by **heathen** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:27 am

That's how I use them.

by **tunetown** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:09 am

Aearth wrote:As the NS10's are so rare I'll keep working with them, see how I go. At least I look like a pro. My other speakers are the Event ASP8's, smooth and pleasing so I'll use the NS10's for reference only.

nIC

nIC,
I've got an Alesis RA300 i'm about to sell. It's a studio reference amp, silenced and gives 150 watts rms per channel at 4 ohms. Its as new and hardly used. I'll do you a good deal if you want it. Might make em sound better.

Cheers
Peter

by **Aearth** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:38 am

tunetown wrote:
Aearth wrote:As the NS10's are so rare I'll keep working with them, see how I go. At least I look like a pro. My other speakers are the Event ASP8's, smooth and pleasing so I'll use the NS10's for reference only.

nIC

nIC,
I've got an Alesis RA300 i'm about to sell. It's a studio reference amp, silenced and gives 150 watts rms per channel at 4 ohms. Its as new and hardly used. I'll do you a good deal if you want it. Might make em sound better.

Cheers
Peter

I'm using a NAD 214 80 watts aside, not sure if it's good or not for the NS10's, but it cost a alot when I bought it.

http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/nad214e.html
I love google.
Anyway how much?????????

nIC

by **tunetown** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:58 am

I was thinking $300. It's like new with manual.

You can try it before you buy it if you like.

Let me know. I'll be back from Gold Coast next Tuesday.

Cheers
P

by **heathen** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:05 am

With a 150 a side watt amp make sure you run it low or you'll blow em, guaranteed. I know. :) I've only blown 1 set of tweeters and it probably won't happen again, well not with the ns10s anyway.

by **Ryan Collings** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:19 am

We have a set of NS-10M's for sale here if anyone is interested -

We also have an ns10amp.

I'm thinking of buying them myself...

by **Thirteen** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:11 pm

Most studios put 1A fuses on each of the 4 drivers to protect them, with fuse holders on back for quick changes. If your amp is under powered it will clip and blow woofers. If you set up a big power amp with the gain set low enough that you can't accidentally turn it up too loud on your desk or DAW, then you will have great sound because the amp will be grunty enough that it will always have absolute control of your voice coils, and will be delivering effortless power. If you have a small amp and you turn it up so that it is operating near it's limit to get the volume you want it will be transient clipping, it will also not be handling the inductive load of the voice coils and crossover well.

of course a great low powered amp is still better than a poor quality high powered amp.

by **Jed** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:51 pm

Had them since '95 and still use them all the time. Good article in the latest Sound On Sound as to why they are what they are. I've never had any problem with them but I don't run them that hard anyway. They work for me. Little Miss Six, when she was two, couldn't resist the white cones and poked in the dust covers. They're still like that.

by **Aearth** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:38 pm

Jed wrote:Had them since '95 and still use them all the time. Good article in the latest Sound On Sound as to why they are what they are. I've never had any problem with them but I don't run them that hard anyway. They work for me. Little Miss Six, when she was two, couldn't resist the white cones and poked in the dust covers. They're still like that.

I've seen a few like that.

nIC

by **wez** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:08 pm

we have i don't know how many i think 4 pairs, if anyones selling sure we'll buy more.

i hate them they make me tired and make my ears hurt, eq-ing a snare on them is like having root canal... but they work, i don't care why or how they just do.

ours are all fused.

funny how people always bag the shite out of NS10s and protools, umm except for the guys who actually use them to make money every day.

this post brought to you by shiraz. and lots of it.

by **Aearth** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:18 pm

I love Protools just don't know what the big deal is about NS10's. I just want to know how to use them, what to look for to make them work for me. If I can't, Wez you can buy mine to add to your collection.

nIC

by **wez** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:29 pm

there's no secret, they're just dumb speakers that somehow manage to have the right qualities of translation. they have unusually good imaging, that might be part of it.

having said that... if i was buying new speakers for a home/project/hell even a reasonably serious studio i would look at the 750 other options there are before the NS10s. but if you have a big commercial facility with a lot of engineers coming and going then you might want some. or not. i don't know i'm a bit drunk.

did i mention i hate them? but i would quite like another pair for home.

i'll let you in on a couple of secrets... actually you've already worked out the first one... good amp. not too big not too small.

number 2 - subwoofer. think about it.

by **reddirt** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:32 am

I have the ASP 8's and have exactly the same thoughts -big and benign - so have paired them with passive Avantones which do much the same job as NS-10s re mid range. The 2 different makes are a good match as each does what the other doesn't.
BTW I have an Amcron DC300A FS if anyone wants a great amp to drive NS-10s or whatever - PM me.
Cheers, Ross

NS10M Studio

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