Ableton Forum

Hi,

Im planning on buying a pair of KRK Rokit's for my home studio. The room is small. About 11' x 13' completely untreated unfortunately.

The speakers will also have to be near the wall hence KRK with the forward firing bass ports. The KRK RP8's appeal to me. A bit more power and bass response (i will be using them as DJ monitors also but primarily for mixing). I am however, concerned that the 8" may end up being a little too bass heavy for my environment and affect my mixes.

Would the 6" be a better option for me. Or should i even just buy the 8" for the reason that neither monitors are going to be perfect anyway i will have to take time to learn the sound so either way it will just be a slightly different learning curve?

Any thoughts much appreciated!

Thanks!

Hi! I have the rokits 6 myself in a very small untreated room. Of course it leads to problems like when I move towards the wall the bass goes louder. I can still mix ok within a range nearby the speakers.

I would say you could get the 8s and providing you do not play too loud you will have an area where you can enjoy the extra bass response... these are nearfields after all.


I had the opportunity to hear some of my stuff in a mastering room, man I would mix a lot better if I had such an acoustic space.

obviously a matter of opinion and personal tastes here i suppose, but i've got both alesis 820s and m-audio BX5As, which are 8" and 5" respectively. neither one sounds that great on it's own but together they sound good. the 8" are too close to me in my 11' x 10' room for the sound to expand. if i move back 3' from my desk in the middle of the room, that's when i can really hear the low-end of the mix. i've been so tempted to get the genelec 8040s or even just the jbl 4326s. but either pair is a lot of money to throw down on monitors that you have no idea what they will sound like in your room. i've also thought maybe the genelec 8030s is what i need for my small room. in any case, i'd say go with the 6" KRKs. 8", like you said, might be too much for your room.

I use KRK Rokit 6" in my untreated bedroom. There are obviously more amazing and expensive ones out there but these do the trick for making electro and techno. For me anyway.

McQ714 wrote:obviously a matter of opinion and personal tastes here i suppose, but i've got both alesis 820s and m-audio BX5As, which are 8" and 5" respectively. neither one sounds that great on it's own but together they sound good. the 8" are too close to me in my 11' x 10' room for the sound to expand. if i move back 3' from my desk in the middle of the room, that's when i can really hear the low-end of the mix. i've been so tempted to get the genelec 8040s or even just the jbl 4326s. but either pair is a lot of money to throw down on monitors that you have no idea what they will sound like in your room. i've also thought maybe the genelec 8030s is what i need for my small room. in any case, i'd say go with the 6" KRKs. 8", like you said, might be too much for your room.

man, i have genelecs 8020 (which are 4") and have exactly the same problem as you

I've got a couple of the 6s that so far I'm liking quite a bit. I believe some Guitar Center locations have a special on the Rokit 6s right now where its buy one and get the 2nd for half price.

4.33 wrote:

McQ714 wrote:obviously a matter of opinion and personal tastes here i suppose, but i've got both alesis 820s and m-audio BX5As, which are 8" and 5" respectively. neither one sounds that great on it's own but together they sound good. the 8" are too close to me in my 11' x 10' room for the sound to expand. if i move back 3' from my desk in the middle of the room, that's when i can really hear the low-end of the mix. i've been so tempted to get the genelec 8040s or even just the jbl 4326s. but either pair is a lot of money to throw down on monitors that you have no idea what they will sound like in your room. i've also thought maybe the genelec 8030s is what i need for my small room. in any case, i'd say go with the 6" KRKs. 8", like you said, might be too much for your room.

man, i have genelecs 8020 (which are 4") and have exactly the same problem as you

For 8020 and 8030 you really need the 7050 B, that will give you as good as it gets compact monitoring setup. I have it setup that the sub is hardly noticeable but it shines when you need it- detect problems. Obviously the 8020/8030 will work better once the crossover frees them from choking lower frequencies.

From experience in numerous rooms and various KRK's get the 8's.
They will last you forever and the 6's are just not enough for proper mixing.

Before you upgrade anything, fix yer room acoustics. If you need to move around from yer sweet spot to get proper bass, yer mixes will be lacking regardless of which monitors yer using.

Plus, it's way cheaper to fix a room than it is to get new monitors.

Before you upgrade anything, fix yer room acoustics. If you need to move around from yer sweet spot to get proper bass, yer mixes will be lacking regardless of which monitors yer using.

Plus, it's way cheaper to fix a room than it is to get new monitors.

^^^ That's 100% true. I recently purchased the KRK6 (which are great, btw), but I always had problems in my room in the 117Hz frequency area. It always resonates in the spot where I'm sitting (in the back of the room, it sounds fine, but moving the the workspace around isn't a real option. And new monitors also didn't change this problem!

At the moment I just mix with a EQ on the master dipping the 117Hz, which is not ideal.
Anybody any tips for solving this?

(sorry to break in your thread like this Vass)

a factor to keep in mind is not just the room size itself but also your listening position distance...
for any 8'' you need a greater listening position distance then for a 5'' or 6'' speaker.

and sorry to be a dick, but anyone saying you can't mix good dance music on 5'' because of lack of bass, can't mix for shit no matter what system he uses. just make sure you set up and position your speakers real properly and if you have a bad sounding room to spend some effort and money treating it. (in lucky cases this is not necessary)

on genelec 8020s i make you mixes that have so much bass you will throw up from it in a club because it's gonna massage the shit out of you.

8'' make total sense if you meet a certain room size AND a certain listening distance position.

cheers
axel

The 6s are more than good enough for mixing on in the right conditions and indeed, in a smaller space are preferable to 8s. as described by Axel and others here - and ditto the message about bass end and needing subs.

Ideally, you would have a larger room, with acoustic treatment and then the 8s are going to give you an advantage, but the best ones to buy are variable according to your room size (and additionally monitoring conditions).

So is a sub preferred in a smaller room then?

interceptor wrote:So is a sub preferred in a smaller room then?

not at all, it's even worse.

you don't need that for mixing properly. get skills. (sorry being a dick again, but it is the truth) a sub is OK depending on the room, etc. but in any case more difficult to set up properly then a fullrange system.

if you have a small room AND sit very close to your speakers (it is at home typically around 1m distance) then a 5" or 6" is totally sufficient, if you cab't mix properly on those (even super bass heavy dance or whatever) then it's your skills, not the lack of bass in the monitor.

again, a big speaker is totally OK, if you have the room AND LISTENING DISTANCE for it.

i used to have RP 8s for a while, when my old genelecs got stolen... they where overkill in my little room sitting about 80cm / 1m away from them...
everything was happening behind my head. and they are great speakers for the money, i like the RP series (especially the 6) for low budgets.
now i have 8030s i could have gotten 8040s but they are simply to big for my circumstances, if i would set up a bigger studio again and have the size and listening distance for it, i would get 8040s or 8050s... or the new 8260a
but in my small room and a listening distance of about 80cm it does not make any sense.

also keep in mind that a proper monitor positioning should be an even triangle, same distance between the two speakers and to your head, an 8" nearfield typically around 1.5 - 2,5m, then you need the width for a proper placement, too. (and the speakers still should not be squeezed into a corner! at all)

with a proper and good positioning you will get much, much more out of your monitoring system then just having MF big speakers for the sake of it.
i know, they look sexier and more important.

I would get the 8's or the 6's with a sub .but i would invest in some acoustic treatment for $699 you can get a great setup here is the link http://www.primacoustic.com/index-broadwayRK.htm
also i have the jbl msc1 room correction cause i'm in a temporary room i just bought a house so i have yet to set up a studio The JBL Msc1 changes how you mix in a good way and it is only $299(if you have a mac like me you will need a pc) and if you want to use a sub it can correct for that as well. here is the link
http://www.jblpro.com/MSC1/MSC1_RMC.html
Also Subs are good so you dont get any surprises in a club, you just have to set it up right and this is where the msc1 and the Room treatment come in to play
I have Dynaudio Bm5a'they are great i also have the matching sub on order

SubFunk wrote:on genelec 8020s i make you mixes that have so much bass you will throw up from it in a club because it's gonna massage the shit out of you.

that may be so.. but you couldn't hear the fucking bass when you were mixing because you're on a 4" monitor woofer and relied on your eyes instead of your ears.

quit being so passive aggressive toward people that comment on here. you only know what works best for you! not what's best for others. don't present your opinion as fact. it just makes you seem like a conceited asshole!