I am one of the many people that has a very small personal studio space. It’s 14 x 14 with a closet and two windows, but the view is gorgeous. I needed small studio monitors for this room, and I took advantage of a Christmas special to get a set of Yamaha HS4s. We run HS8s in our main studio, so it made sense to me to try the smaller version. I was a bit unprepared for how different they are, though.
There is one difference that is probably not due to Yamaha. You need to be directly on axis for these monitors. This is true for any speaker, but I guess due to the size, it’s extremely true for these. If you are even a few inches off the axis of the larger speaker cone, you can hear the sound change. This is a hugely important point: you have to be able to place them either at ear level when you are working at your computer or use wedges or an articulating mount so you can point them at your head. Again, this is likely way more a function of the size of the speakers than anything else. My HS8s are sensitive like this, but with an 8-inch cone, you can move around more within the axis of the monitors and still get decent sound. I quickly realized that my desk layout or shelves would have to change to accommodate the relatively small area of best sound. I was planning on a sit/stand desk, which really complicates things, because the speakers either need to have an expensive articulating mount or be mounted to the desk so they don’t change relative to my head when I am in either a sitting or standing position. That was something I hadn’t anticipated.
The other thing I hadn’t anticipated was how different the design and packaging are. With the HS8s, each has an independent amplifier and takes a 1/4″ connection. The HS4s, however, have all the electronics housed in the left speaker. The right speaker is just a speaker, and you connect it with speaker wire and terminal clips. For me, this design introduces a lot of issues. I don’t even know where to begin.
I hate stranded wire and terminal clips. And I mean hate.
Yamaha ships really basic stranded-core 18 AWG speaker wire. The problem is, this stuff is notorious for untwisting or now being able to cleanly insert it into the clip. I suspect they did this because there is more potential contact area with stranded wire, but it’s a pain in the ass for me, because every time I add more things or change setups, I have to worry about retwisting the strands and reinserting that mess into the clip.
I decided to tin the wires so I would only have to do this one time, and then they would at least be durable. However, I read that a solid core wire has less connection surface area for an electrical signal (because it’s a circular object making contact with a plane). So tinning the wires would just make it more spherical. I then found some inexpensive speaker connectors. They have a braided wire tip that allows for lots of surface area without loose strands of wire. You just put the existing wire in there once and screw it in place. They should include a set of these connectors or a speaker cable with them already on the ends.
Left speaker connector overload
Everything that plugs into the left speaker is located in the same general area, including an immovable power cord. And, worst of all, the terminal clips are buried in the middle of this. That means my fingers have to get around all these other cables (and my carefully stranded cable needs to not lose any stray strands), or I have to unplug the other stuff while I futz with the terminal clips. I feel like it would have been possible to put additional space between some of these components, especially those that don’t require a lot of internal clearance like the terminal clips.
Lack of symmetry
Look, it’s probably just an aesthetic thing at this point, but it feels wrong to have monitors that are not symmetrical. I know it probably has almost no effect on the sound coming out, but my brain doesn’t want to believe it. However, it does have an impact on my studio design. I had not planned on a wire connecting the two speakers together. I assumed I would connect each directly to the left or right output on my recording interface. I had planned to put the speakers on small shelves mounted on the wall. This plan fell apart for a few reasons, but I realized I’d have to run the speaker cable down to the floor with the power cable, then across the baseboards and up the wall to the right speaker. Ugh. Instead, I will probably put them on some kind of desk mount so they stay at the same relative position regardless of sitting or standing, and I can run cables on the back side of the desk.
Fit and finish
These speakers generally look great. Mine had a slight issue. The volume knob was not installed perfectly flush. It comes out at a slight angle. This is a little annoying, because the knob is backlit, so it exaggerates the effect. I could probably file a return on them and get a new set, but it seems kind of petty, frankly.
Performance
I have not done scientific tests of these monitors, and I am still building out the studio, so not all of the sound treatment is in place. With those as caveats, I have three observations about how these units perform. By perform, I mean, how accurate do I think they are in representing what I have mixed up in Logic Pro. My main point of reference is the Yamaha HS8s that I have in a sound-treated studio.
- Overall performance is great! Noting that you have to be on-axis, once that is set up right, the monitors perform similarly to their larger sibling, the HS8. I did notice differences, though…
- I hear more high end (10k+ Hz) on the HS8s. This became noticeable when I was mixing some lofi beats into a track that includes that signature, high-end hiss. Those sat in the mix better on the HS4s—sounded great, actually. But on the HS8s and headphones, the hiss is a few dB higher than I’d like.
- I heard less low-end on the HS4s. This is completely unsurprising, given the smaller speaker. However, it still does a great job of reproducing bass-heavy mixes. When you are sitting in the sweet spot listening to a bass drop at a decent volume, you will feel it. They can move a bit of air. The HS8s might be a bit hot on the bass, so mixes on the HS4 tend to boom a bit on the HS8.
- Mid-range sound reproduction was accurate, although it felt like it was a bit louder relative to the bass than on the HS8. That is, a synth voice in the mid-range popped out of the mix a bit more on the HS4s, which was unexpected.
Bear in mind these are my subjective experiences. Given that the two monitor sets mentioned are in two different rooms with different size, geometry, and sound treatment, there are many, many other things that could account for the differences.
Conclusion
I depend on these speakers for mixing, and I find them to be very capable reference monitors for that task. I am frustrated by the packaging. In the end, that will not stop me from purchasing another set. However, the next time I purchase monitors, I will also be factoring in the speaker connections and ease of interconnect.