new studio monitors

[skitzodancer]

hey people,

later this year i am rebuilding my studio from the ground up, and im having some trouble choosing my new studio monitors.

i produce electronic music so i need more low end, ive made do with a set of krk rp5's, dont get me wrong these are superb and they will go into a second studio of mine.

i would like to stay with krk and i cant make my mind up between these three speakers.

krk rp8
krk rp10-3
krk vxt8

do any of you own these or could any of you give me any advice on these.

also ive not really thought about a dedicated subwoofer so any advice about that would be great aswell.

thanks guys

[TMRaven]

KRK are not known for low end. I'd get a pair of Mackie MR8 MKIIs. I'd be careful with mastering with a subwoofer. A lot of target audience might not have one, plus subs can be hard to integrate properly-- although there's no mistake having one that's integrated well is a huge plus.

[zimv20]

can you provide details about room size, treatment, and how you plan on positioning everything?

[skitzodancer]

sure... the room size is roughly 12ft by 12ft.

one wall has a window which is where my desk is and i have both speakers on stands.

i dont have any acoustic treatment as of yet, ive not really looked into it but im thinking of it due to this renovation, im just reading up on it first.

short answer to that is, no acoustic treament... yet.

[zimv20]

one can certainly go "all out" with treatment; a few simple actions can vastly improve your bass response and actually give you a good idea what's really going on.

i recommend:

- putting bass traps in each corner (like these (http://realtraps.com/p_minitrap.htm) or these (http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_monster_bass_traps.html))

- putting microtraps (http://realtraps.com/p_microtrap.htm) on each 1st reflective surface (front wall, back wall, side walls, ceiling)

- keeping your monitors at least 2' away from each wall

- putting your listening position in an equilateral triangle with the monitors

- putting that listening position 38% of the room's length from either the front or back wall

- ensure your stands are acoustically isolated

i did all of these things (plus a few more) and i get a very even bass response throughout the room, and the listening position has great L/R separation.

ethan winer has a nice writeup here (http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm) about room setup. i highly recommend his products.

[skitzodancer]

one can certainly go "all out" with treatment; a few simple actions can vastly improve your bass response and actually give you a good idea what's really going on.

i recommend:

- putting bass traps in each corner (like these (http://realtraps.com/p_minitrap.htm) or these (http://www.gikacoustics.com/gik_monster_bass_traps.html))

- putting microtraps (http://realtraps.com/p_microtrap.htm) on each 1st reflective surface (front wall, back wall, side walls, ceiling)

- keeping your monitors at least 2' away from each wall

- putting your listening position in an equilateral triangle with the monitors

- putting that listening position 38% of the room's length from either the front or back wall

- ensure your stands are acoustically isolated

i did all of these things (plus a few more) and i get a very even bass response throughout the room, and the listening position has great L/R separation.

ethan winer has a nice writeup here (http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm) about room setup. i highly recommend his products.

thanks for the advice, but do you have any advice over the speakers themselves ?

[zimv20]

thanks for the advice, but do you have any advice over the speakers themselves ?

not about the krks, i haven't used them. do the room first, then get in a bunch of pairs to try out. i ended up with a pair that weren't initially on my radar (focal solo 6).

[bwhli]

Have you looked at the HS80M (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QPHCB4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bristum-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QPHCB4) from Yamaha? I have a pair in my home studio, and the low end is pretty great. You can also add an optional subwoofer. I don't produce electronic music, though.

[paolo-]

Sub and room treatment are probably a good way to go. Getting a good sub is probably a better investment than the marginal upgrade from RP5 to RP8. If you get a good sub you can always upgrade the monitors later on. Your room might also be cancelling the bass out, some room treatment is always good.

I recently bought some rp8. I tested the rp6 side by side. The difference in bass depth was not that big. Actually, on most track I listened at the store, the difference in the high frequencies was much more noticeable. For some reason the rp6 lack high end content. It's kind of counter intuitive considering the smaller speaker size. The HS80 are great speakers as well, though the rp8 felt like they had a bit more bottom end. Mind you the HS80 are a bit clearer.

[ChrisA]

sure... the room size is roughly 12ft by 12ft.

one wall has a window which is where my desk is and i have both speakers on stands.

i dont have any acoustic treatment as of yet, ive not really looked into it but im thinking of it due to this renovation, im just reading up on it first.

short answer to that is, no acoustic treament... yet.

I'd not even worry about speakers yet. A bare 12 foot square room is the worst case. Get headphones and use those until you can do something with the room or you money spend=t on speakers will be wasted. Heck, ANYTHING you do will help. It need not be expensive "studio foam". Fiberglass insulation from Home Depot can work as well. I'd move the speakers out rom the wall and at the __very least__ cover the first reflection spots on the walls and ceiling with "something" Bass traps made with rolled up foam carpet padding are dirt cheap.


One thing about sub-woofers is that should cross over very low. Get 8" monitors that go below 50Hz and cross over the sub below 60Hz. Human hearing is such that we can't locate the source of low sounds so cross over well below that threshold.

But really, work on the room first. Otherwise you will not even be able to audition the new speakers

[TMRaven]

http://www.atsacoustics.com/recycled-cotton-batts.html

You can treat your room with 4 bass traps and two points of first reflection for roughly 150-200 total if you diy.

[ChrisA]

http://www.atsacoustics.com/recycled-cotton-batts.html

You can treat your room with 4 bass traps and two points of first reflection for roughly 150-200 total if you diy.

Even less, like $50 if you shop at Home Depot and don't care to much what stuff looks like


I have a question? A square room is about the worst possible shape. What if you rotated the furniture, speakers and so on about 30 degrees so that now nothing is symmetric. I've never tried that. But then I've never had a square room either

[TMRaven]

I think it'd still be the same. Bass would still get trapped in corners and parallel walls would still cause standing waves.

[ChrisA]

I think it'd still be the same. Bass would still get trapped in corners and parallel walls would still cause standing waves.

I was thinking that if you rotate by some odd amount the distances to the various reflection points would all be different and sound would add up out of phase. At least a finer toothed comb filter effect. I'm guessing.

The worse plan would be to set up the speakers centered on one of the four 12 foot walls.

[TMRaven]

Oh if you're talking angles that aren't 45 then I dunno.

[MisterSensitive]

http://www.atsacoustics.com/recycled-cotton-batts.html

You can treat your room with 4 bass traps and two points of first reflection for roughly 150-200 total if you diy.

And DIY is going to be much better than crappy assed foam. Find an industrial insulation supplier and buy Owens-Corning OC703 fiberglass. Wrapp it in some fabric, mount it on walls and diagonally straddling corners and your room will vastly improve.