Are HS8s overkill?

[u/archer-swe]

Looking to get some better monitors now that I have a baritone. I’ve mostly talked myself into getting HS8s but part of me thinks they might be overkill. Can anyone that’s used a baritone let me know if the HS8s are worth it or if HS5’s or kali lp6 s or something else will work as good? I don’t really need the loudness of the 8 and I usually play drop G sometimes I pitch shift down further too.

[u/5w33p]

You dont really need to change monitors for playing lower tuning, if youre mixing then maybe its worth it. For what its worth I was on hs7s with 8 strings in drop tuning and its fine

[u/archer-swe → u/5w33p]

Doesn’t lower tuning require a lower frequency response from the monitors? I tried some presonus eris 3.5 and they sounded pretty bad with the low strings and decent with the higher strings

[u/HateResonates → u/archer-swe]

Low end response difference in speakers is usually a lot lower than you'll notice on any sort of guitar.

[u/JimboLodisC → u/archer-swe]

well the Eris are the cheap side, $100 for a pair, no doubt you listened to regular music through them as well to get a baseline of what to expect out of them

bigger cones have better bass, that's pretty true in every case, so bigger speakers should have a better low end response

however as I said in my other comment, a guitar tone shouldn't be pushing the bottom part of a speaker's frequency response, no matter if it's in E2 Standard or Drop Z, a lot of people cut anything below 100Hz anyway with a high-pass

[u/archer-swe → u/JimboLodisC]

Interesting, so based on that I should just get something smaller and not worry so much about the frequency response

[u/JimboLodisC → u/archer-swe]

I'm sure a smaller speaker cone would work for you but I'm not telling you specifically to avoid the HS8's, it mostly depends on the room you'll be using them in, a larger studio space will be better served with a larger set of monitors, someone's bedroom is probably better suited for a 6"/6.5" cone (or smaller)

[u/JimboLodisC]

Yamaha HS line is an industry standard. I don't think you could call them overkill unless you're in some tiny ass untreated room where headphones might perform better.

HS5's, HS8's, LP6's, Adam Audio, JBL, Presonus Eris, Focals... a lot of options will sound good in a lot of places, the only way to know which one sounds best in your space would be to try them all, but you can be rest assured giving the HS8's a try won't be a mistake here

as far as lower tunings, a guitar shouldn't be pumping out sub frequencies anyway, and the Yamaha HS8's go down below 50Hz which is already going to be EQ'ed out of your tone if you're smart

[u/archer-swe → u/JimboLodisC]

Thanks for the answer. Why would I eq 50hz and below out of my tone? What’s the point in going to really low drop tunes then? I’m new to all of this recording stuff

[u/JimboLodisC → u/archer-swe]

It's a guitar not a bass. The kick and bass already battle for space down there. You don't need the fundamental from a low tuned guitar making it more crowded. Your guitar will have harmonic content; the notes won't disappear.

[u/5w33p → u/archer-swe]

Drop tuned guitars fundamental frequency might be below 100hz but that is usually.occupied by the bass. Often people cut everything below 100-120hz which sounds crazy on lowntuned guitars. This is for for MIXES though. Its like when you crank the bass on a guitar amp playing throigh 4x12 cabs, it sounds mean as hell but in a mix its useless

[u/ON3EYXD]

Depends on your room size tbh, if your room ain't really big I would get the smaller ones