Hercules Monitor 5 Review | Best Studio Monitors Under $300?

[@joentell]

Buy the Hercules Monitor 5's on Amazon: bit.ly/HerculesMonitor5

[@matthewhilty4209]

I continue to be impressed with the ability of manufacturers in the last 5-10 yrs to make good sounding gear at a reasonable cost. Sound that measured that well a decade ago would have costed over a grand. It is a great time to be a music lover.

[@_thevaporz]

Their Inpulse 500 dj controller is awesome. Hercules and Akai are my favorite companies this year. Free MPC Beats software, MPK mini, MPC One, Live 2, tons of affordable gear available today for sure.

[@SianaGearz]

Hercules used to be an American company, but has been absorbed 20 years ago as a brand of Guillemot, after it was gutted by ELSA in the interim. Guillemot is a French electronics company that used to make semi-pro soundcards in the 90s, but switched to PC speakers later, and then cheap home DJ products - controllers, software, and monitor speakers. As to the driver being too small for the enclosure... well these are speakers made under cost pressure, so high driver Vas is just what they have to deal with, i have eyed similar midbass drivers in Intertechnik catalogue and just couldn't get myself to put a box as big as they need around them, so didn't commit. All too often you see instead such drivers pressed into enclosures which are way too small for them, with lumpy bass without real depth being a result. I'm happy that they went for solid engineering here instead. This is an updated product, previous version had been around since 2013, current version was seeded to a number of European retailers, predominantly music instrument specialists plus Amazon, between November and December 2019. I'm not even sure whether there have been any serious changes. Looks as if they replaced the glossy plastic piece by a matte one and called it a day, but drivers might or might not be different. They probably simply completely fail at seeding their products outside Europe, their home turf, i think that's just it. BTW the company is closely related to Ubisoft, and also owns Thrustmaster, so all the people involved have bigger fish to fry than niche cheap pro audio products.

[@RonnieVaiArovo]

I love the fact that these are really balanced in the frequency spectrum. Would you say these Hercules 5 are good for mixing and mastering?

[@joentell]

Yes, I think they would be good. From talking with other sound engineers, they get to really know their gear so they have an idea how it sounds on other devices.

[@nomad1517]

Hercules is an awesome company. They make premium products at a good price. They focus on education mostly for aspiring DJs. But their gear is well built. Their Impulse 500 is top notch for a $300 controller. Built to last basically. Also, interesting fact, they are apparently the first company to develop DJ controllers. Before Pioneer, Reloop, Rane, etc.

[@_thevaporz]

I finally decided to buy these monitors after watching a few reviews, and your frequency response analysis sold me as well as your high leaderboard ranking. I found a refurbished pair on ebay on the cheap and they sound incredible. I hope "refurbished" really meant "open box" as everything was wrapped/sealed in the retail box. The build quality is very good. And I'm glad I went with 5's, they are very loud for filling a 1br apt space (sorry, neighbors!). Have you reviewed the new KRK CLASSIC 5's yet (not Rokit but CLASSIC 5)? The KRKs and the usual suspects JBL 305p, Kali LP6 were on my short list too but the complaints about loud hissing noise made me choose Hercules. Excited to see more affordable gear from them. Their Inpulse 500 dj controller is fantastic too!

[@joentell]

So what do you think? I still use them at my desk!

[@peterotremba8980]

I have a pair of Edifier db1850bt for 200$. I used acoustic treatment and now I am getting way better sound than any movie theater I have ever been in! You truly don’t need much money to set into this hobby.

[@peterotremba8980]

On top of that, the Edifier has a bass/ treble adjustment +-6 dB. I am able to put it in any room I ever want and get the bass and treble very nicely. I am not using a sub with the Edifiers and I really don’t miss the bass at all!

[@joentell]

It's fun to see what you can do with affordable gear. It makes this hobby more fun an accessible to everyone.

[@riteshdhoot7]

Great Review. Thanks, Joe. If possible; please consider more studio monitors and relative comparisons for your future reviews.

[@skyleroffenbacher9796]

I am new to all of this and looking for some good speakers for my desk setup. How can I connect these two speakers to my computer? I plan to have the speakers placed on the left and right sides of my computer monitor?

[@farrang]

Thanks so much. So helpful to hear your reviews. I really appreciate you!

[@joentell]

Glad it helped! 🙌

[@ELJefeReviews]

Excellent review Joe!

[@joentell]

Thanks El Jefe! I got some those KS10 Pros you recommended, some foam tips to mess around with and a nicer cable. It should come one of these days. It will be more for video podcasts. I've also started to like live monitoring my audio while doing the talking head stuff for my videos.

[@Ankah]

Hey Joe ! Thanks for the vidéo, im kinda new and wanted to ask : "monitor", does that mean its meant to WORK with or you can simply listen and enjoy music ? Or both ? Thanks !

[@joentell]

Good for both.

[@Ankah]

@@joentell thanks !

[@_thevaporz]

I'm very happy with my purchase. They sound great and the price is nice. Check out digitaldjgear on ebay they have a few sets left

[@nicohuijden1652]

What if you have a small room of about 12m^2?

[@TheWorldWillBeOK]

how would these compare to krk rokits or v series? you know, it's yellow vs yellow after all

[@ChrisKeyman]

For mix, mastering would you suggest these or the Kali's 6 ? Thank you

[@joentell]

Either will do a good job.

[@ChrisKeyman]

@@joentell would suggest something better with some more money ?

[@joentell]

I think the best investment after some decent speakers is a MiniDSP 2x4 and UMIK-1 for room calibration. If you're not into that, you can spend more on speakers. A lot of people like the Adam Audio stuff but I haven't reviewed it. After DSP, a sub would be my next move. Get some good stands too to reduce the desk reflection. I like the SoundRise Pro 5 for my desk.

[@ChrisKeyman]

@@joentell thank you

[@junglist1soldier]

I still haven't seen the Fluid FX50’s compared against Kali LP-6's, done by anyone!

[@MonteiroM]

Should I get these or the Logitech 906 for listening music, watch youtube videos and play some games?

[@Trelloxo]

will these connect into my focusrite audio interface?

[@joentell]

I think it will

[@backup7305]

Would you recommend this over Kali lp-6? (using on a desk)

[@RahzAlGhul]

Yes

[@enastypos3801]

are these good for producing?

[@PsyK1c]

When will you be reviewing the sony SSCS5's? These go on sale for $80 pretty regularly and sound way better than the micca mb42x.

[@OfficialRayGonzalez]

What’s your opinion on the Rocket 5s?

[@amanieux]

better than similar sized and priced kali lp6 ?

[@joentell]

We'll find out soon ;-)

[@DanRichardsonTV]

How will these do compared to the LSR 305's?

[@joentell]

I've never tested the 305's only the 306P's.

[@flak73]

Did you mean that Vanatoo has released updated T1E firmware so that they're louder or that they've changed the T1E design to be louder?

[@joentell]

The update is not about loudness, but more about refining the sound a bit. I haven't done the update yet so I can't say. I plan on doing it soon.

[@flak73]

@@joentell So there IS a firmware update for the T1E? I looked and can't find it on their site. TIA.

[@joentell]

@@flak73 Please email the guys at Vanatoo. I promise you they are very responsive. I don't want to send you the update they sent me because it's possible that they've made more updates since then.

[@flak73]

@@joentell Thanks, guy. I have the T0's on my desk and then got the T1E earlier this year to replace the Mirage 5.1 system in my medium-size living room. There was an issue with my initial T1E set and they were very responsive in taking care of the problem. They have been FANTASTIC so far, but.I've been a bit underwhelmed with the volume/loudness though which is why I was asking the question about the firmware. Just curious since I'm signed up for email updates and I haven't received any notices regarding firmware updates. Thanks for the work you guys are putting in with these reviews and whatnot.

[@AudioElectronicsChicago]

Hercules monitors, they will take over the speaker businesses :)

[@arena_rock_man9030]

You throw these up against the Fluance SX6's. The Fluance use a similar principal, 5.25 woofer in a large for box, which allows for more bass than one would expect. Newegg has the monitor 5's.

[@joentell]

I have never tried the SX6's actually. I always wanted to. I just looked on Newegg and saw some other models, but not the Monitor 5's.

[@arena_rock_man9030]

@@joentellYeah, I think what I saw were probably the DJ's, sorry. Here's a couple of sound demos of the SX6's: kzbin.info/www/bejne/npbSZ2mPqa-CZ9k kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZqpaJ5mmr6VhKs

[@WarerBrow]

lol, they just look nice. tannoys gold look like they're from alien ship. presonus eris looks ok but kinda authistic... jbl causes vomiting, mackie got the phase inverter on the back side. and these... also, thanks for Frequency graphs, kinda good to see it. yea. so, i will think about them, thanks again.

[@willemjacobs7902]

Have they inbuild amplifiers

[@joentell]

They do

[@frosty6845]

Studio monitors almost always do

[@willemjacobs7902]

Tnks

[@nolashdemon]

Hey Joe! Just subscribed :) Do you recommend the KRK 8400 headphones?

[@joentell]

Thanks. I've never tried them

[@CraciunAlexandruGh]

Very nice review. But I really hope you get to hear the iLoud Micro Monitor and JBL 104.

[@frosty6845]

As well as the Kali Audio LP series, the under $300 market is stacked with a lot of really good choices

[@joentell]

Those iLouds look cool. I have some JBL 306P's. Review will be out soon.

[@joentell]

I would be down to try out the Kali ones.

[@kaliaudio]

@@joentell let's make it happen!

[@rocknez2604]

What's up Joe, nice review ...

[@johnskeene7296]

B&H Photo/Video order, not in stock. They are excellent speakers.

[@Av-gurusBlogspot]

Here is a link to buy in EU (DE) - www.thomann.de/gb/hercules_monitor5.htm

[@williaml1570]

"this sounds astonishing, where was it mastered?" "my shed"

[@joentell]

??? 😂

[@williaml1570]

@@joentell oh hah just that its affordable now that if someone has the talent they dont have to (in a dream world) be hired by a studio to work with equipment or be limited by a high entry price. If im not mistaken, the iphone mic is almost flat to 105 db.

[@joentell]

I don't know about the iPhone mic, but physics still applies. Small mic won't capture bass the same as a large diaphragm capsule. Like speakers you know. But yeah, this democratization of music/video etc. is a beautiful thing. Content is still king though.

[@SianaGearz]

@@joentell A tiny little omni electret or MEMS mic actually captures bass just the same as a larger one, because all it needs to do is sense the sound pressure, which is not dependent on the area. Cardioid mics, i.e. mics with compensation ports, have to have a larger baffle in order to lose less of the bass, because they reject rear or off-axis sound by subtraction, so with lower frequencies, you always have some sound pressure both coming in from the front and from the ports in the back, pushing on the same membrane from different sides, cancelling the pressure out, thus the bass roll-off. In omni mics where the back of the membrane is sealed, there is no bass roll-off. Of course a problem of a 4mm or 6mm omni mic is that it's fairly noisy, doubly so, once electrically, and once by collecting unwanted noise from all around. But have you looked at your measurement microphone? The end of the less expensive ones is usually a straight up electret omni capsule, and it's fairly small, 6 or 9mm. Depending on electronics, they could get it sensitive down to almost DC levels, but it's usually cut off somewhere sensible. And you said it yourself, you can get any bass frequency out of any speaker size, the question is only, how loud. The how-loud question is also relevant for microphones, but in reverse, since you can imagine sound spreading in a sphere section or some kind of area pattern from any given source, the less area you have for the membrane, the less energy you get to harvest useful signal, and the more difficulty there is fighting inherent thermal and electrical noise, and this issue affects all frequencies equally. This is why you probably don't want to record vocals with an iPhone, besides weird compensation behaviour via DSP and secondary microphone hidden at the camera. Phones use omni microphones specifically, and use at least two of them at opposite ends of the handset for DSP noise suppression. That being said you can get so much cheap, perfectly workable stuff, it's amazing. Superlux PRA D1 is like $20. I have seen $10 dynamic mics which sound perfectly fine, especially if you can just clamp them in there and resist touching them. $15 condensers from China are junk, but there are people modifying them into something fairly reasonable. Usually stuff musicians discard is fairly easy to repair and get going again.

[@joentell]

Thank you for correcting me. That's awesome. I appreciate you taking the time to inform me and others. 🙏

[@HifiVega]

Hercules>Dinas 😱😱😱

[@joentell]

For editing. Let's not get it twisted! You know I love bass bro!!!!

[@99bigjim]

these are absolute junk..... get 2 kali's for $300.00... you will never need another studio monitor

[@toyzinthehoodmobeatz9192]

Do u not like tannoy speakers i carnt find a review on your page

[@joentell]

I just haven't reviewed them

[@toyzinthehoodmobeatz9192]

okay your reviews are very detailed love your page