First Studio Monitors Help - Page 2

Yes, unless he's a midget contortionist, I'd say speaker placement and positioning is suboptimal.

I also own the Rockit 5's, I find the mopads were a necessary upgrade and well worth the $$. They would also raise the speaker up a couple more inches. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimus Praim 

I know that they are huge but when you listen to your music through them you will forget how much space they aquire,trust me on this one..

 

O.k the sweet spot is quite wide but play around with the HF switch..

 

And get a pair of Mopads for the vibrations..

This is a gain control switch and not a volume control(different things) and you won't have to further adjust it after you've done with your ''experiments''..

They are huge, lol. I thought it would bug me because of my experience w/ the AV40's. Those had a very small sweet spot and I had to keep them directly next to the monitor and as close to my mouse and keyboard as possible. Very in my face. :( Not so w/ the RP6's. They sound great on the ends of the desk scooted all the way to the back, whether in my chair or the "music" recliner w/ head tilted back and low! This is gonna sound weird and maybe it's because I listen to them immediately after yoga, but w/ my eyes closed, I feel like I'm getting hit w/ waves of color. The detail just rips through my body...voices, instruments...nothing gets cluttered either. Listening to the Tron album, a song called, "Derezzed" has some pretty intense bass lines and they do not drown out the rest of the track like the AV40's did. These really are a fantastic speaker!!

I will try messing w/ the HF switch on the weekend. Thanks for mentioning the Mopads as well. I'm not sure if I need those as the vibrations don't seem to bother me and I'm leary about putting them up any higher. I sit really low w/ like ear to the midwoofer when lounging. What do the Mopads do to the sound? I suppose I could aim them down somehow...

The issue w/ the lack of volume exists because I have a Little Dot MkIII connected to the same sound card (which hasn't been turned on all week BTW.) :p I could use it as a preout, but I'm not sure if the bass shaking fired up tubes is a good idea, haha!

Anyway, here's a pic of my setup...

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowei006 

im not getting much help on my thread so i guess ill come here..sorry superzero but i have $200 to spend and have no idea how to wire these.

 

i like bass. not soo much that it drowns it all out.

I just have them connected via RCA to 3.5mm stereo cable to sound card.

I'm the same way w/ the low end. I like it to be there, but it needs to complement everything else, not overtake it like a bumpin' car. It's more than satisfied w/ the amount. When comparing the RP5 to the RP6 w/ the "Derezzed" track, I noticed the RP5 seemed to hide the upper frequencies behind the bass. The RP6's had an easier time w/ this track, giving equal weight to everything. It sounded less "muddled" to use a super audiophile term!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW 

I also own the Rockit 5's, I find the mopads were a necessary upgrade and well worth the $$. They would also raise the speaker up a couple more inches. 

What did it do for you if you don't mind my asking? Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperZero5225 

 

Hmmm.... Never heard of them, I gotta check them out. But I'm a little low on funds now but I will check them out.

I just ordered a set (of 4) for us. Shoot me your address in a PM and I'll send em when they arrive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodiuh 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote:

I will try messing w/ the HF switch on the weekend. Thanks for mentioning the Mopads as well. I'm not sure if I need those as the vibrations don't seem to bother me and I'm leary about putting them up any higher. I sit really low w/ like ear to the midwoofer when lounging. What do the Mopads do to the sound? I suppose I could aim them down somehow...

 

The issue w/ the lack of volume exists because I have a Little Dot MkIII connected to the same sound card (which hasn't been turned on all week BTW.) :p I could use it as a preout, but I'm not sure if the bass shaking fired up tubes is a good idea, haha!

 

Yeah you should try to mess with the HF and maybe you 'll like the sound better..

Give the MKKIII a try and see if it suits your setup,at least you will have your volume control through it..

The Mopads absorb the vibrations and they will make the bass slam a bit more refined and controlled..

Thy have an angle so your speakers will aim down if you like to position them that way..

 

 

Quote:

Anyway, here's a pic of my setup...

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the desk...

Plenty of space  for an audiophile setup..

As you mentioned, the Rp5 are a little "muddy" and the lower end can be somewhat boomy. These are the main area's the Mopads helped with. I was getting alot of resonance off my desk, the mopads went a long ways to fixing that.

^^To be completely fair they were being heard @ Guitar Center and I noticed one of the midwoofers had been pushed in. :D

It was a less than ideal setup. I'm sure I'd be fine w/ the 5's if I had gotten those. But I don't care much for odd numbers except for 3. :p

Your impressions were mostly accurate actually. It's my biggest complaint about these speakers, when they hit the lower range they sound like a box. a bit resonant and sloppy. Keep in mind, they still sound great for the money, but this is an area that I noticed needs improvement. Im still overall very satisfied with them, also the "other pair" of speakers I listen to regularly is Pardigm Studio 20's. It's not a fair fight hehe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodiuh 

^^To be completely fair they were being heard @ Guitar Center and I noticed one of the midwoofers had been pushed in. :D

 

It was a less than ideal setup. I'm sure I'd be fine w/ the 5's if I had gotten those. But I don't care much for odd numbers except for 3. :p

Fostex makes good monitors for the money I ended up getting a pair when I was in your budget a while back unfortunately they dont carry them at Guitar center to demo.

In general you'll find that the manufacturers and products aimed at the studio and (semi-) professionals are less hyped and more no-nonsense, and give you better overall value.  Why?  One reason is that there is less of the information asymmetry, elitism and posturing that characterizes so much of the so-called "hi-fi" and "home video" markets segment.  With the coming down in prices of computers, speaker manufacturers have also race to the bottom of price given that it will be a non-starter to sell quality computer speakers than cost more than the computer.  Monitors are marketed to people who know music-making technicians and its associated technologies.  It is more difficult to peddle snake oil to this more technologically-savy crowd, and this crowd is a lot more inclined to question the products since their livelihood, rather than just their hobby, entertainment or bragging rights, depends on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW 

...also the "other pair" of speakers I listen to regularly is Pardigm Studio 20's. It's not a fair fight hehe.

Not familiar, not googling. I plan on living in a box w/ my RP6's for as long as possible. :D

Update:

I got the Auralex (should be Aurasex IMO) Mopads today. I have noticed...

1. low to mid has tightened up

2. soundstage sort of floats as opposed to being grounded (my favorite feature)

3. overall accuracy has improved

I have them set on the main set of pads wo/ the thinner layer, so angled down 5 degrees IIRC. Very happy w/ the purchase, thanks guys!!

Also, I noticed some comments on Guitar Center's reviews about neighbors not getting pissy about the noise level anymore. I live in an older apt, so anything that can mask my desire to "feel" the music is appreciated. :p

Studio 20's, Paradigms highest end speaker before the "Signature" series, which are just basically Studio series with real wood veneers and other superficial improvements.  1" tweet and 7" woofer. Large bookshelf, they run 400$ each. Passive speakers, they are pretty high end.

If you'd never heard anything better then the Rockit's it's actually pretty hard to define their weakness. Im very happy with mine at the price paid. (150$ ea). They are really easy to listen too, I do find that proper placement is critical with these speakers, they really should not be more then 4 - 4.5 feet apart at typical listening distance. I had mine 6 feet apart for awhile, and it ruined their imaging. Recently moved them about 4 feet apart and things improved dramatically. 

I was highly skeptical of the mopads until I tried them, i also heard all the same improvements you mentioned. being able to angle up or down is very nice too, i've got mine angled up to help with reflections off my desk.

Im using an O2 headphone amp as a pre-amp for them now, and it works very well. Should be a pretty ideal pre-amp, I run the Volume (gain) at -25DB to get full use of my pre's volume pot. Any higher then -25DB will introduce clipping at the high end of the volume pot. Running the speaker at such a low gain also reduces their "Self noise" to as little as possible. Every rockit i've heard does have some audible hiss if you put your ear to the tweet, no matter the gain setting. It's not noticeable at a typical listening distance of 4.5 feet. I was concerned at first that there may be something wrong with them, I then auditoned several pair from different local stores and found they all do it, to about the same degree. I've never heard them "hum" though. only hiss.

Oh hell...I can hear them hissing now. Thanks.