KRK Rokits
KRK Rokit 5 Monitors
Sunday, January 27, 2013
This year’s “after Christmas” present is a pair of monitor speakers to augment the ancient Cambridge SoundWorks speakers I’ve been using to edit and compose music on the Mac Mini. The Rokit series from KRK is very popular as a relatively low cost monitor, and friends have recommended them as near field speakers you can mix on. A mix that sounds good on KRKs will usually sound good on most other speakers.
After listening to the demo pair at Guitar Center, and seeing they were on sale, I bought a pair. The white edition is only paint, I think, otherwise identical to the standard black version.
I’ve been listening to a bunch of stuff on them, and so far, I like them. They image well. Performers stay put in the stereo image when you move your head. Bass is impressive for such a small woofer, but there is a rise before the fall to give the impression of deeper bass than is really there. Mids are pleasant with a tilt to the top, and treble is forward to enhance definition and instrument overtones. If you have a sibilant vocalist or splashy cymbals, it will hurt.
Here are some quick frequency sweeps. FFT resolution 25 Hz, no smoothing, Hamming window.
The dip at 800 Hz may be partly a room artifact. Ceiling reflection, because it lessened when I mounted a foam panel above the speaker and mic, but it never completely goes away.
Flat.
Green = Flat, Yellow HF control @ +1.
Green = Flat, Yellow HF control @ -1.
Green = Flat, Yellow HF control @ -2.
New speakers in the office.
A pair of Rokit 5 “White Noise” special edition monitors.
Here the KRKs are compared with the latest version of some 8” 2-way speakers I’ve been working on. The 8” speakers are twice the size and the raw drivers cost more than the entire Rokit 5.
Green = Rokit 5, Yellow = 8” monitor system.
These are quite good, especially for the price ($300 / pair). I may recommend them to some friends just for music speakers. They sound warm, a bit brilliant with the HF control “flat”, but that can be tamed more like a “HiFi” speaker by attenuating the top. They beat run of the mill stereo speakers in their price range at Best Buy by a long shot. They may see some lab use as well. Recommended.
Update: after almost a year, it turns out they didn’t replace the SoundWorks at the editing computer. They have become all-purpose small monitors wherever I need some good amplified speakers. For instance when setting up an old tape deck to make digital transfers, or on location for quick playback. Handy. Sound good. Still recommended.
