Yamaha HS8 Powered Studio Monitor – Excellent Quality

Studio monitors may very well be the most important pieces of gear in your home recording studio. You can have the best computer, the best audio interface, the best music gear, and the best musicians but, if you can’t hear properly to mix then it’s all in vain.

It’s true, you need a good set of studio monitors to clarify your mix. Not all studio monitors are the same. Today we are going to take a look at the Yamaha HS8 Powered Studio Monitor.

Are the Yamaha HS8’s A Good Quality Studio Monitor?

In Short. Yes, the Yamaha HS8 studio monitor is a good quality studio monitor that will allow you to hear what is truly happening in your mix.

Time tested with a proven track record of excellent flat response, clarity, and chosen by industry professionals. This is a studio monitor you definitely want in your home studio.

Excellent Cabinet Design

Yamaha has been designing pianos for over 100 years and drew on their piano build expertise to design the HS8 studio monitor cabinet. A great cabinet design means you will be getting a great sound from this set of studio monitors.

Yamaha developed a 3 way mitered joint construction for the HS8 speaker cabinets that make the cabinets very durable and very low cross – resonant. A good durable speaker cabinet ensures you will be getting great sound out of the speakers.

High Performance Speakers and Mounting System

Yamaha’s white cone speakers have been around for a long time and were first used in the famous Yamaha NS10 studio monitor. The original white cone speakers were designed by Akira Nakamura and were released in 1978. Todays Yamaha HS8 speakers follow in the foot steps of that same great technology.

The speakers are further enhanced by a carefully designed mounting system consisting of a specially designed mounting ring and screws to eliminate vibration and resonance allowing the speakers to deliver crystal clear sound.

Built In Power Bi-Amplification

Powered studio monitors mean you do not need an additional amplifier to power your studio monitors. This saves you money and space.

One of the true advantages is that Yamaha designed the built in bi-amplification to perfectly match the speaker characteristics. This ensures you get the best sound possible out of your speakers.

Bi-amplification means that separate power amplifiers are used to power the lower sub or 8 inch cone and a separate amplifier is used to power the tweeter cone. This ensures each speaker within the cabinet is properly powered giving you optimum performance. There is also a built in crossover to ensure each speaker is working within it’s appropriate frequency range.

Large Magnets With Advanced Circuit Design

Yamaha placed an extra large magnet inside the HS8 speaker cabinet. The magnet works in conjunction with the advanced circuit design to provide a tightly controlled flux field. This ensure smooth, even frequency response with crisp audio output.

Why Should I Choose Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors?

If the high performance speakers, excellent cabinet design, advanced circuit design, and special large magnets aren’t enough to get your attention, I’ll list the specs below.

Features:

• Low Frequency Driver – 8 Inch
• High Frequency Driver – 1 inch
• Input Connectors – XLR and TRS
• Frequency Response – 38 Hz to 38 kHz
• Room Acoustic Control – Yes
• Output Power – 120 watts
• Power On Indicator – Yes
• Compatible With Subwoofer – Yes
• Active Powered Monitor
• Width – 9.8 inches
• Height – 15.4 inches
• Depth – 13.1 inches
• Weight – 22.5 lbs.

The Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitor is a solid pick for your home recording studio setup. Yamaha has been making studio monitors for a long time and they know how to build a studio monitor right.

How Much Do The Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors Cost?

Currently the Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitor retails for $499.00 dollars but you can pick them up new below retail cost for around $375 currently.

This is a very good deal for an excellent quality 8 inch powered studio monitor.

Keep in mind that prices change from time to time so the cost could go up or the cost may go down.

Regardless if the price changes some, the Yamaha HS8 monitors will be a good investment and will serve you and your home recording studio well.

What Will I Need With My Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors?

If you are just getting started with your home recording studio set up you may be wondering what other equipment you will need to get your home studio up and running. I’ll list some basic gear below that should get you started so you can start creating your own tunes.

Of course you don’t have to get everything on this list to get started. This will help give you some ideas to get you started.

I will say that when you are picking out cables for your home studio monitors, be sure and get Mogami Gold cables. Yes, they are expensive but they really do block interference and keep the noise out of your studio monitors. You will thank me later.

Home Recording Studio Setup Equipment

• A Good Computer – M1 or Intel core i5 processer or better
• Plenty of RAM – 16GB will work but I highly recommend 32GB or 64GB
• Audio Interface – See my articles on the Focusrite Scarlette Audio Interface
• DAW Software
• Midi keyboard
• Studio Monitors
• Condenser Microphones
• Desk
• Smart TV For A Computer Monitor
• Headphones
• Instruments
• Mogami Gold Cables For Studio Monitors
• Good Friends

This should be enough to get you started. You may not need everything listed here but this is a good place to start.

Not everyone plays keyboards but I do recommend you get a small midi keyboard regardless if you can play one or not. Trust me, You will thank me later.

What Real Users Say About The Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors.

952 reviews and 90 percent of them are 5 stars. Let’s see what people are saying about the Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors

1.  I bought these on a recommendation to move away from audio speakers to reference monitors. The basic idea is that these do not "paint" the sound but instead given a totally accurate output of the master/mix. This means you can hear the lower quality in a poor audio file (e.g. a poor quality mp3 or audio stream) BUT when you listen to a high-quality input i.e. Itunes, vinyl they sound amazing. You can actually hear what the artist and/or professional sound engineer want you to hear. Not exaggerating when I say it makes songs I've listened to for 20 years sound new - I can hear things I never heard before. High and low-end response are nuts!! I added the HS8S sub to share the bass load - but these work well alone. I'd recommend buying these first and adding the sub as an up-spec. The build, design, and controls are all top-notch. Pro tip: buy Mogami Gold cables too.

2.  These things truely live up to the reputation. They are so clean. As an electronic music producer I wanted clean, accurate, and precise sound. I have found comfort in these. I like the room control and trim options as I do not have a treated room for producing. If you're looking for some non enhanced studio monitors for production perfection or you want them simply for entertainment…. these will suffice and more!

3.  You won't be disappointed with these Yamahas HS5's! These have taken my mixes to another level. Once you place these in a properly treated room, they force you to mix and tweak your music because of their balanced audio response. And if you get your mixes sounding right on these monitors, then the translation on other speakers is 10x better!

4.  These monitors are classics in the making. What are you waiting for? Get these! These are a wonderfully affordable option to get an upgraded version of the industry-standard NS10 sound (but without the fatigue!)

As a pro audio engineer and composer, I'm happy to recommend these. They are very hard to beat at this price.

Note: I found the low end to be shockingly robust. If you're monitoring in a near-field situation, you do not need the sub. You can also dial down the lows and highs with three switches in the back.

5.  OMG! I own HS80s which is the older/larger versions of these guys and OH MAN does it sound the same. Of course sub 100hz isn't as juicy but I got these because my space changed and is much smaller (30-50 sqf). I did a shootout with these, KRK 5's, XR 624's (couldn't find the MRMK3's), JBL LSR305's, and some Genelec 8330A's. I will say the Genelec's won the shoot out by a good stretch. Problem is the Genie's are like 800 bills a piece. These Yamaha's may not have had the low end response the Genie's had but man are they much more clear than the rest I listed. Most of the others have a very colored sound, mainly dipping the mids. The HS8's were the flattest of the bunch. it's worth the $100 bucks more for these guys over the rest. DO IT! It's worth the hassle of sending back if you don't like them.

Where Can I Buy Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors?

You can find the Yamaha HS8 Studio monitors at most major online music retailers.

I will bring you more information on this soon.

Time To Take Action

I hope you enjoyed this article on the Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitors.

If you enjoy writing, singing, playing, recording, and mixing your own music then you are in the right place. I have many articles that I think will help you with setting up your own home recording studio. Click here to learn more.

What are you waiting for? I want to encourage you to follow your dreams and intuition and get started on your own home recording studio setup today. Please leave your questions or comments below.

Mitch

Mitch@homerecordingstudiosetup.com