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[Eric Snodgrass]

Andy Peters wrote on Thu, 18 January 2007 13:24

Today's acronym: WIF (Wife Acceptance Factor). -a

Wouldn't that be WAF?

[Ian Hunt]

I always heard it was SAR (spousal approval rating)

[Michael 'Bink' Knowles]

Greg Cameron wrote on Thu, 18 January 2007 14:35

Dave Unger wrote on Thu, 18 January 2007 13:21 Speakers are NS10Ms and are driven by a Crown D75A.  All pro live gear and sounds better than most "audiophile" systems I've heard. Hmm. While the NS10's are an industry standard for near-field studio monitors )because if you can get a mix to sound decent on them it will sound decent on almost anything), they'd be my last choice for a home system. I've always hated they way they sound. Greg

Yeah, hated. The way I understand the progression is that some prominent studio guys brought in home consumer "bookshelf" style speakers so they could preview their mixes on something less wonderful than their Westlakes. The home speakers happened to be Yamahas. Then a bunch of other studios caught on to the idea and standardized on the Yamaha. Time passes. New people come in to the studio and hear how awesome everything sounds and they also notice the NS10Ms seemingly sitting the place of honor on the meter bridge. The NS10s get their reputation boosted by association. Now NS10s are considered studio monitors.  

Funny that didn't happen with those awful Auratone 5C cubes.  

Ugh.

-Bink

[Ian Hunt]

I always thought that was 'horrortone', thanks for putting me right, on an allied theme I used to do spoken word work using the BBC LS3/5, I liked them so much I bought a pair and rapidly discovered they were great at that, and lousy at everything else.

[KeithBroughton]

Isn't thete supposed to be a small piece of tissue hanging in front of the tweeter on those NS10's?

awful speakers.....

[Yngve Hoeyland]

KeithBroughton wrote on Fri, 19 January 2007 12:35

Isn't thete supposed to be a small piece of tissue hanging in front of the tweeter on those NS10's? awful speakers.....

The tissue issue ( ) is dependant on which model you've got - there's the original NS10's (tissue series) and the NS10M's, which featured a different tweeter design.

As for the NS10 as a speaker, by any measure, it's a disaster. It is, however, true that most mixes that sound "good" on NS10's usually do translate well to other systems.
The Auratone AC5 is, undoubtedly by todays standards, a pretty bad-sounding speaker. I find them very useful for identifying level balance problems, though...

[John Roberts {JR}]

Michael 'Bink' Knowles wrote on Thu, 18 January 2007 17:35

Yeah, hated. The way I understand the progression is that some prominent studio guys brought in home consumer "bookshelf" style speakers so they could preview their mixes on something less wonderful than their Westlakes. The home speakers happened to be Yamahas. Then a bunch of other studios caught on to the idea and standardized on the Yamaha. Time passes. New people come in to the studio and hear how awesome everything sounds and they also notice the NS10Ms seemingly sitting the place of honor on the meter bridge. The NS10s get their reputation boosted by association. Now NS10s are considered studio monitors.   Funny that didn't happen with those awful Auratone 5C cubes.   Ugh. -Bink

In one of my sundry incarnations I was involved with studio monitors (AMR). The back story on the NS-10s I heard was that some big shot mixed a hit on them and they became his lucky speakers. Since those guys are bigger whores than Uli about copying from each other they became "the" hot monitor.

While often mentioned dismissively it's true, if you make a mix sound good on them, it will translate to sounding good elsewhere. It probably doesn't hurt that they had white speaker cones that showed up so well in all those tiny studio photos. There actually is some science (or rationalization  depending on your POV). We as humans are very familiar with the human voice, so the NS-10's hot upper midrange is very revealing of distortion when tracking vocals. A flat loudspeaker is only arguably useful during mix-down and at that it needs to mimic the general hifi population not the creme of the crop. Thus the ubiquitous use of Auratones too.

JR

[Mike Butler (media)]

John Roberts  {JR} wrote on Sun, 21 January 2007 16:03

...While often mentioned dismissively it's true, if you make a mix sound good on them, it will translate to sounding good elsewhere....

Or, to be less diplomatic than JR, if you make a mix sound good on them, it will translate to sounding good anywhere!  

[Too Tall (Curtis H. List)]

Andy Peters wrote on Thu, 18 January 2007 16:24

Dave Unger wrote on Thu, 18 January 2007 14:21 I've just finished putting together my "home p.a."  All my connections are balanced.  I have an old Yamaha mv802 and run the subs off an aux!  Speakers are NS10Ms and are driven by a Crown D75A.  All pro live gear and sounds better than most "audiophile" systems I've heard. Heh, my computer gaming audio system is a pair of Infinity speakers driven by a D75.  Various computer outputs feed a Rane MLM82A which drives the D75.  Works for me.  One day I'll put in a switch box that disconnects the speakers so I can use the headphone outs and play Doom3 without scaring my wife. Quote: What I really don't understand with "audiophiles" is why their gear isn't rack-mountable. Today's acronym: WIF (Wife Acceptance Factor). -a

The main reason for rack mounting is so it can be trucked around easily.
The only other situation is professional installs.

For the "look" rack mounting puts a straight jacket on the box width and style.

Just the sheer number of boxes involved may argue for rack mounting at home.
I look at the over 4' tall selving unit I use-
CD player
Home Theater Preamp
DVD payer
VCR
DIRECTV box
Old receiver used for surround sound

My main power amps and active xover won't even fit.

There is enough there to warrant rack mounting. On the other hand these stores make big money on AV cabinets and the wife will have some input here also.

Hmmm, maybe your right.
It's the Significant Other and all the other factors are secondary.



For a profesinal install in most cases it is in racks for safety and effeciency. The basic look needs to be "professional"
not necessarily stylish, though I wonder how much the look of pro gear effects its sale.
"Toy Factor" from well placed flashing lights and huge back lite VU meters has been known to sell PA and recording gear.

[Dave Unger]

People love to hate the NS10s.  It's like a badge of honor in the studio world.  I'm not trying to mix a hit record.  They are my home speakers.  I listen to mp3s, dvds, and npr on them.  They are good enough for me.  I like the tweeter's sound in the ns10m.  I've never heard the original.  They are certainly not as good as the kick ass Tannoys I heard not long ago.  If I was working in a studio I'd want something better.  But in my tiny living room these seem to work ok for me.  I do have a sub run off an aux.


Anyone else out there have pro-audio gear in their home system?  For years all the best sound guy I knew had crappy boomboxes at home.

d