New Near Field Studio Monitors?

LukeSnyder

Gold Member
Hey forum, I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on these monitors: http://www.zzounds.com/item--KRKRP8G2

To anyone with experience in the field, do you think I could get a better pair of monitors for the same $500 or less? I'm pretty set on having 8 inch cones, I'm mixing a lot of electronic dance/dubstep type stuff these days, so I need as accurate of a low end as I can get. From what I've read, the KRK Rokit 8s do an absolutely fantastic job of that; as good as can be had for the price.

So what say ye, yay or nay? Any opinions or other options I should consider?
 
Instead of ordering by mail, I would check out your nearest Guitar Center just in case you decide you really don't care for them. I can take the same monitors and place them into six different rooms and they would probably sound different in each room. The price doesn't seem too incredibly high on the ones that you listed, but I've heard a lot of pros and cons, mostly cons on this exact monitor. The Rokit design in both the 8" and 6" drivers is just not quite on par with KRK's other siblings. Here again it all depends on what you have now to which you're comparing them to. No two individuals hear exactly the same.

Check out the Gearslutz pro audio forum for more details on these and some other contenders in their price range. I don't like to recommend the monitors I use because of the same explanation as above. I use Yamaha MS10s, Tannoy 8's, JBL and Alesis monitors for close to mid-range applications. My Yamahas are not shown in the pictures, they were replaced with the Tannoy 8 system on the suspended shelves.

DSC_0049.jpg


DSC_0009.jpg


DSC_0030-2.jpg


Dennis
 
Last edited:
Dennis, somehow I had a feeling you would respond ;) Thanks for the response, I'm heading over to Gearslutz to do some more reading. I know they aren't the greatest, but I have heard over and over that they're the best for the price.

Offhand, can you name any monitors for $500 that you feel are better? To be honest, $500 is pushing it for me, haha. I suppose I really should shop used, and spend more time looking.

By the way, thats a pretty sweet looking studio!
 
Last edited:
One thing to consider is a good pair of mixing headphones. Although mixing on headphones and monitors are different, the price/quality ratio of a good pair of headphones will get you further than monitors for the money. They're not the same thing and you're best off still 'checking' with monitors but if you're on a tight budget, that's what I would do. In fact, it's what I did. I didn't have the option of sound treating my mixing area and instead bought a very good pair of reference headphones.

Just a thought there.
 
One thing to consider is a good pair of mixing headphones. Although mixing on headphones and monitors are different, the price/quality ratio of a good pair of headphones will get you further than monitors for the money. They're not the same thing and you're best off still 'checking' with monitors but if you're on a tight budget, that's what I would do. In fact, it's what I did. I didn't have the option of sound treating my mixing area and instead bought a very good pair of reference headphones.

Just a thought there.

I actually have a pretty decent set of phones that I use most of the time for mixing. I've managed to get to the point that I know them well enough that I can get halfway decent sounding mixes out of them. I definitely need to finally bite the bullet and get some monitors though, its time! Right now, for monitors I'm using some little AKAI RPM3s, they can barely put out 80Hz, haha.
 
If it's low end you want, have you thought about adding a subwoofer?
 
Well, I made the decision and pulled the trigger. I read up a good bit more on the RP8G2s, and while they're definitely not the best, I think they'll be perfectly sufficient for my purposes. I was given a killer deal on them from the awesome Musician's friend. I talked to a representative, and he sold me a pair of them new for under $450, and threw in a pair of heavy duty monitor stands and Auralex isolation foam for free! I couldn't pass up on that, so I went for it.

Moral of the story? Musician's Friend lives up to its name :D
 
the rokits are awful, read gearslutz & then order 5 pairs of monitors
set them all up in your room and see which sound the best, send the rest back
if your room sounds awful good monitors won't help you
good luck
 
the rokits are awful, read gearslutz & then order 5 pairs of monitors
set them all up in your room and see which sound the best
if your room sounds awful good monitors won't help you
good luck

edit: didn't see last post, seeing as you got the free shiz i guess it's a good deal
ebay the monitors when you get bored of how hyped they are and get some others (when you have a bit more money to spend)
 
the rokits are awful, read gearslutz & then order 5 pairs of monitors
set them all up in your room and see which sound the best
if your room sounds awful good monitors won't help you
good luck

edit: didn't see last post, seeing as you got the free shiz i guess it's a good deal
ebay the monitors when you get bored of how hyped they are and get some others (when you have a bit more money to spend)

Yup, thats what I figure. And the reality is that if I learn the monitors well, I can still make great mixes. I just have to make sure to mix a little heavier on the bass, haha.
 
well yeah, if they sound good in your room then it's fine.
you could pay $2k on monitors and they could still sound rubbish. But some people may enjoy that sound.
it's the reason everyone had NS10s, because people understand them. it's why i have 2 spares...
 
well yeah, if they sound good in your room then it's fine.
you could pay $2k on monitors and they could still sound rubbish. But some people may enjoy that sound.
it's the reason everyone had NS10s, because people understand them. it's why i have 2 spares...

Thats exactly right! I'm going to treat my room here at some point too. From what I've heard, those NS10s were absolutely terrible, haha. But if you learn them... hey, you can produce good stuff, haha. I have some monitors that are pretty shy on the low end that I can AB with the Rokits, and I'll of course play back through stock computer speakers and headphones and the like. I think I can make it work :D
 
yeah exactly.
well me and my friend use mainly ADAM stuff. so the a3x, a7x. i think we have some genelecs somewhere too that we used to A/B once but they were awful.
we also have this old hifi thing that we use, and a dodgy car CD player.
 
yeah exactly.
well me and my friend use mainly ADAM stuff. so the a3x, a7x. i think we have some genelecs somewhere too that we used to A/B once but they were awful.
we also have this old hifi thing that we use, and a dodgy car CD player.

I've heard nothing but great things about the ADAM gear, but its out of my price range for now. Heck, the monitors I just got are out of my price range, really, lol! I should probably also get a crappy old boom box, if you can get it to sound ok on that... well, then you're set, haha.
 
i would have recommended the M-Audio BX8-A.

when i went a-looking for 8" monitors, i A/B'd several in guitar center and found them clean and strong. i found the KRK's fuzzy sounding.
 
Well, they're here, and so far I'm pretty happy with them! The manual says that they're 44Hz to 20kHz +/- 1.5 dB, which is good enough for me (if thats even true, haha) The have a decent signal/noise ratio, and can put out an SPL of 109. No matter how I look at it, they're an enormous upgrade from what I've been dealing with. Once I get some test mixes done on them, I'll post them here, haha.

424103_10150546345078346_322995898345_8753659_675805776_n.jpg
 
I don't know about the Rokit's sounding awful. I bought myself a pair of the Rokit 5 G2 monitors and they sound pretty clean and accurate for what I do. They're not the Blue Sky monitors I get to use at work, but they've been working for me at home.
 
I don't know about the Rokit's sounding awful. I bought myself a pair of the Rokit 5 G2 monitors and they sound pretty clean and accurate for what I do. They're not the Blue Sky monitors I get to use at work, but they've been working for me at home.

only in the context of what i get to use normally when i'm travelling around. the rokits are OK. but the VXT's are much better (my friend owns a pair). compared to iphone headphones they sound incredible.
 
Back
Top