Why KRK Active Monitor Speakers?
Studio monitors need to present an accurate tonal balance so
that you know what your recording really sounds like, but at the same
time they need to be able to focus on subtle details within the sound.
They also need to be able to play adequately loudly without distortion.
KRK’s designs meet these requirements and offer exceptional
value. There are three ranges to cover different budgets and monitoring
requirements: KRK Rokit, KRK VXT and
KRK Exposé .
What do I lose by buying the inexpensive Rokit G2 models?
All KRK speakers present an accurate tonal balance of your mix
where even the less expensive models are excellent at resolving fine
detail within the sound. However, the more sophisticated VXT range is
capable of finer resolution and more accurate stereo imaging while the
Exposé is the result of our engineers designing the very
best possible, no compromise system. It's rather similar to camera
lenses — there are some very good budget lenses around that
give great results under typical conditions, but for specialty
applications, the more expensive ones deliver a higher level of
quality.
Why Active?
All the KRK speakers are active so you don't need to worry about
choosing a matching amplifier or expensive cabling. KRK Active speakers
also have the advantage that protection for both the amplifiers and
speakers is built in.
What Size Monitor?
Once you have worked out your budget, which determines which KRK range
you'll be looking at, the next thing to take into consideration is room
size and shape.
For small rooms where the wall length is under three metres,
using too large a speaker with an extended bass response may produce
misleading results, as the room will distort the bass response of the
speaker. More accurate results will be obtained using smaller speakers
such as the Rokit 5 G2 or VXT 4. As a rule, small rooms with solid brick
or concrete walls are the most problematic as they reflect all the bass
energy back into the room. Plasterboard walls allow some of the low
frequency energy to escape, so whist they’re not as good from
the soundproofing point of view, they can help improve monitoring
accuracy.
Notes For Small Rooms
Avoid sitting in the exact centre of a small room, particularly one
that is close to being square-shaped. In this environment, bass
reflections tend to cause a dead spot near the centre where the bass
level seems to drop dramatically. This can lead you to compensate and
actually add too much bass to your mixes. The worst possible rooms for
acoustics are cube-shaped where the wall lengths and room height are
equal. Here your best bet it to use smaller monitors and work close to
them. Avoid sitting too close to the centre of the room.
ALWAYS set up the speakers so they are directed down the
longest wall of a rectangular room as this produces the most even bass
response. Aiming the speakers across a small room invariably leads to
bass accuracy problems.
Check the evenness of the bass response by playing a track
with a busy bass line and listen to see if all the notes are roughly
equal in level. If not, try moving the speaker further from, or closer
to the walls. Avoid placing speakers too close to corners as this can
also result in unpredictable bass behavior.
In medium sized rooms measuring around 3 x 4 metres, you can
take advantage of a slightly larger speaker to give you better bass
extension and a little more overall level. Here the Rokit 6 G2 or VXT6
will produce good results, and if the room is slightly larger than 3 x
4 metres, consider a speaker with an eight inch bass driver such as the
Rokit 8 G2 and VXT8. If the room is to be used for serious music projects
or commercial work, then the Expose E8Bs would be perfectly suited.
Basic Room Treatment
In all cases, some basic acoustic treatment will significantly improve
the clarity of the monitoring and also improve the stereo imaging.
Fitting acoustic foam panels to either side of the listening position
makes the biggest improvement. As an alternative, you can make your own
panels from high-density rock-wool slab covered with a thin, open-weave
fabric.
To find the exact place to hang your panels, get a friend to
hold a mirror flat against the wall. When you can see an image of the
speaker from your normal monitoring positions, that's where you should
place the centre of your panel. In small rooms, additional absorbing
panels can be useful directly behind you and also behind the speakers.
However, don't cover more than 20% of the wall area with absorbers,
otherwise the room will start to sound boxy. As a rule, the thicker the
absorbing panels, the more effective they are at low frequencies where
most are from 50 to 400mm thick.
Subwoofers
Note that all the Rokit G2 and VXT models can be used with a sub-woofer,
such as the KRK10S for the Rokit G2 / VXT range or the V12s for use with the VXT and Expose ranges. So, if you buy small monitors for a small room and then move into a larger space, you don't have to trade in your existing
monitors. Just add a sub. While subs are not ideally suited to very
small rooms, they work well in medium and larger rooms to extend the
bass end of the system and also to increase the maximum monitoring
level of which the system is capable. Those who do a lot of dance-style
mixing may prefer the depth of bass that a sub can provide.
Where To Put The Sub?
Positioning the sub isn't difficult but it should ideally be in front
of the listening position and close to, but not at, the centre of the
wall behind the main monitors. If necessary, a sub can be positioned
well off to one side without compromising the stereo image since the
human hearing system is relatively insensitive to positional
information at bass frequencies.
A good tip for finding the best sub location is to first stand
the sub on the floor where you normally place your listening chair.
Then, with some well-balanced music playing, sit on the floor in all
the different positions where your sub could go. One of those positions
should give the most even bass level (no obviously loud or quiet notes)
so that's where you put your sub. Where the sub is fitted with a phase
switch, try both settings to see which sounds most natural. Avoid
putting subs under desks with enclosed sides as the cavity created by
the desk may resonate.
Notes On Setting Up
All conventional monitors work best when the tweeter is aimed directly
at the head of the listener so you may need to angle your speakers
vertically as well as horizontally to achieve this. Dense foam wedges
are good for this and also help isolate the monitors from desktops or
shelves.
Where the monitor speakers are set up on separate stands,
‘Blu Tak’ or non-slip matting is all you need to
support the speaker securely.
Avoid any obstacles between you and the speakers that might
reflect the sound and degrade the stereo imaging. This includes large
expanses of desktop, the edges of computer screens, equipment racks and
so on.
All speakers sound slightly different depending on where they
are in the room, and on the acoustic properties of the room.
Fortunately, your hearing can compensate providing you play some
commercial mixes over the system to get used to the way they sound in
your room. However, you should endeavor to find the best location for
the speakers first, the main priority being an even bass response. If
you have a synth or sampler that can play pure sine wave tones, you can
program a chromatic (semi-tone steps) scale covering the bottom two or
three octaves of the audio spectrum (make sure all the notes are the
same level) and then let this sequence through as you listen. If you
detect a hot note or find that some notes sound very dead, move your
monitors forwards or backwards to see if you can make an improvement.
Sometimes a movement of just a few inches can make a huge difference.