KRK Rockit Monitors

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:28 pm

So your recommendation is ....

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:30 pm

oh, what price range?

I guess discussing cheap ass monitors is a necessary evil, it's just like going to a car forum and reading about everyone getting all excited over the new Toyota Camry.

briandervish · Post by **briandervish** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:31 pm

DrXparaMental wrote:
Tone Deft wrote:people really like them on this forum. for cheap I'd rather try to find good monitors used. YMMV, have fun, new monitors are a joy.

Here's what I've found. I own and am currently using the RP8s. They do not work well for my needs. The reason is simple. The inexpensive Rokit 8s sound excellent. Problem is, they make the mix sound better than it really does. They are not truly flat which in my opinion is the most crucial aspect of a monitors functionality. The trick when buying cheap monitors (300.00 and down ea.) is to start small. The RP5s are much more accurate in most cases than the 8s.

Happy owner of RP5s, definitely second this opinion

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:49 pm

A set of RP5s for $200(US) is just about ridiculous and how anybody would recommend someone to not get them is absurd. For that price every studio should have a set just for comparison if anything. IMHO

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:58 pm

put those things in my studio and I will kick your ass.

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Mon May 19, 2008 7:23 pm

PS - A word from KRK on there design philosophy.

Design Philosophy
A studio monitor is really a tool used to aurally “measure” the changes in an audio
path. Ask any pro or semi-pro recordist what they think makes a great studio monitor
and you’ll get basically the same answers: “Accuracy, transparency, “flat
response”, and “the truth”.
Everybody is saying the same thing – they want the electrical signal going in to a
monitor to be reproduced mechanically by the transducers and they want that to
happen without any degradation to the original signal. Professionals need to trust a
speaker to deliver their artistic vision in a way that will translate to a variety of audio
mediums. How you get there from a technical stand point is by designing a speaker
that eliminates or minimizes several damaging conditions. The KRK design philosophy
is manifested by paying very close attention to what we call the three cornerstones:
1. Spectral Balance (Timbre)
What people tend to think sounds good is not necessarily “flat response.” A perfectly
flat monitor tends to sound harsh and abrasive – technically correct but not very
musical. Research shows us that a speaker with the proper spectral balance is
most often considered “a great studio monitor”.
Spectral balance is defined by:
• Smooth on-axis response (not necessarily flat)
• Smooth octave to octave response
• Smooth off-axis response (not flat)
From years of listening to feedback from some of the top engineers and producers
we’ve come to understand how a properly tuned monitor can become a valuable
recording tool.
2. Distortion Management – Physical (Non-linear) and Electronic
Distortion: Any deviation of the original audio signal is a distortion. Various amplifier
distortions have been identified; the most commonly measured being intermodulation
and harmonic distortion.
Distortion can be present in an amplifier circuit but can really be a problem when
the acoustical waveform is impacted by physical conditions such as port turbulence
and driver distortion. KRK engineers implement design concepts that eliminate or
minimize these damaging conditions.
3. Resonance Management
Resonance: The prolonging of the sound at a certain frequency and the tendency
of something to vibrate at a particular frequency after the source of energy is
removed.
Resonances also play a major role in impacting the performance of a speaker. KRK
design elements minimize cabinet vibration, speaker frames and cones resonating
or standing waves inside the cabinet that impact the performance in a negative
way.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Mon May 19, 2008 8:17 pm

omfg gtfo with that shit.

f#$%ing n00b.

DrXparaMental · Post by **DrXparaMental** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:44 am

Tone Deft wrote:
DrXparaMental wrote:...Problem is, they make the mix sound better than it really does...
Doc - what does that mean?

good monitors are transparent. if they make the mix sound better then they compliment the producer's crappy style.

these monitors are in most gear shops, they suck donkey dick, I wish people would stop putting this kind of crap on a pedestal. they're just cheap ass speakers, nothing more, nothing less. there is worse but FFS get over it. I'm no pro but fuck me this forum has some real fucking n00bs on it.

if you're cheap and you want speakers, go for it. I just don't get all excited over Fischer Price gear. (on a monday morning. )

You're right. That was put terribly. I just find that when I mix with them vs. a decent quality non powered speaker they are incredibly inaccurate. They make the bass and treble far too exaggerated. What sounds good on the RP8s does not sound good on a high quality flat stereo system. The exact same system that all my well produced and mastered commercial CDs sound killer on. Is that clearer?

To me a studio monitor is only as good as it's ability to ACCURATELY translate & represent what the mix will sound like "out there" as opposed to "in here" (studio)

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:51 am

true. louder is generally heard as sounding better.

basically I just went from low end speakers like the Rockits (Event PS5) to Adam A7 and am kicking myself for not upgrading earlier. what did the Adams do for my sets? some sounded worse, some sounded better, THAT kills me. me loves these things. anything in this price range will be GREAT, IMO. dunno what I'll be into in 10 years, maybe I'll want to step up, but I doubt I'll regret not getting Genelecs (and vice versa if I had gone for the Gennies over Adams.)

it doesn't matter what synth you buy, what plug ins you have or what music you make if you have crappy monitors, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g goes through your monitors! it makes no sense to me whatsoever why people would, for example, buy a $1500 Virus but cheap out on monitors. idiocy IMO.

BUT not everyone can spend that much on monitors, 10 years ago I couldn't, so I got the Events. again, it's like getting excited over a Toyota Camry. <yawn>

Mesmer · Post by **Mesmer** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:44 am

Rule no.1 _disregard_the_marketspeak_mumbojumbo_ , it's a sales pitch. they know, we know. the end.

Rule no.2 if this is important to you, you'll need to find a way to go and have a listen somewhere somehow. You take some nice CD tracks you know top to bottom, you find a friend, a studio, a megastore, a cheapstore, you sit down. In my case, I took a day extra from a week long training trip to Atlanta. I waited for this occasion 4 months.

Rule no.3 you'll find intersecting and economically restrictive boundary conditions trying to balance out (a) a quality listening environment and (b) quality hardware monitors. Each person, according to their particular brand of cult will place more imporance on a or b. They are BOTH important. to me, this and roookieness and snobbery explains the wide range of opinions regarding the KRK RP line. Rule no.3 forces you to make a choice, have your peace. You can always review your choices later on, having bad monitors is not The End.

Rule no.4: make nothing out of stranger's advice: including inane rules blurted out in some shady forum

BTW, if this thread picks up, and people start actually providing solid advice I'll have to recommend to put it into our weakling Knowledge Base ("KB") thing.
best of luck.
-h

--
edited for spelling errors :p

KU · Post by KU » Tue May 20, 2008 5:10 am

I own the white RP6 + the RP10 sub.

I have used all the Rockit monitors and this combination is the best of the series for a small/mid bedroom studio (IMHO).

DrXparaMental · Post by **DrXparaMental** » Tue May 20, 2008 12:46 pm

Mesmer wrote:You take some nice CD tracks you know top to bottom, you find a friend, a studio, a megastore, a cheapstore, you sit down. In my case, I took a day extra from a week long training trip to Atlanta. I waited for this occasion 4 months.

Waste of time unless you have an audio photographic memory and the ability to program your mind's ear to accurately represent the changes you'll be HEARING in terms of physical dimensional acoustic differences. What you need to do is an A/B comparison in the same exact environment in order to have any real element of control in your experiment whatsoever. Otherwise your favorite CDs yield zero point of reference. That's my whole point. You do NOT want monitors that just sound good in and of themselves. You want monitors that accurately translate your studio's audio mastered or mixed state of affairs to an average or above average listening environment. It is not enough to simply hear what your hearing in an idealized sense. ANY cheap monitor can pull that one off. I'll be saving my money. There is NO short cut or cheap ticket to studio monitored accuracy.

Rule no.4: make nothing out of my advice: including inane rules blurted out in some shady forum

BTW, if this thread picks up, and people start actually providing solid advice I'll have to recommend to put it into our weakling Knowledge Base ("KB") thing.
best of luck.
-h

eh...

Moody · Post by **Moody** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:00 pm

The guy who started the thread stated he could not afford anything spectacular right now and would these be worth it otherwise. Again, for $200 I would have to say they are well worth it in this situation. If you don't like them in a couple of months and you can afford something better then throw them in the trash, set them on fire, piss on them or whatever for that price. Over analyzing to the infinite degree on this one.

thelike5 · Post by **thelike5** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:06 pm

Moody wrote:The guy who started the thread stated he could not afford anything spectacular right now and would these be worth it otherwise. Again, for $200 I would have to say they are well worth it in this situation. If you don't like them in a couple of months and you can afford something better then throw them in the trash, set them on fire, piss on them or whatever for that price. Over analyzing to the infinite degree on this one.

+1

Toine Deft is good at trying to tell people what to do with their money. I own the RP5's and they sound good. Sure, they aren't supposed to be ADAM or even Mackie quality but they do provide a nice, rich balanced sound.

I've mentione dhthis before but I went to the store specifically to test out Yamaha and Blue Sky Monitors and didn't even think to try KRK stuff. In my opinion I left with the better set of monitors and saved a couple hundred bucks.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:19 pm

thelike - please explain my Toyota Camry analogy, if you can.

I did write about not saying everyone can get $1k monitors and for entry level stuff, get the Rockits.

I'm about elevating the forum past idiot twats like yourself who would, for example buy Rockits over Blue Skys to save money but still get the $1500 Virus.

I love great sounding audio, you don't, piss off.