[descendent87]

I'm looking to buy my first pair of studio monitors, they will be plugged into a DAC (haven't decided which one yet) which will be plugged into my pc.
I listen to punk, ska, reggae & hip-hop music which is all ripped in FLAC
They will only be used for listening to music (have a ps3 for gaming/movies)
The monitors I'm considering are:
M-Audio Studiophile BX5A Deluxe - £147.99
Mackie MR5 - £231.99
Yamaha HS50M - £259.98
KRK RP5 Rokit G2 - £266.40
They all seem to have pretty positive reviews on here and seem to be about the same standard so I'm wondering are the M-Audios a bargain or are the others higher quality?
All except the KRK's seem to be rear ported which could be a problem as I have quite a small desk which is quite close to the wall (probably about 2/3 inches) and the most I could move the speakers forward would be another 2/3 inches. Would this affect the sound badly?
Obviously I'd love to go for the BX5A's as there about £100 cheaper but don't mind paying more if the others are much better quality.
I am trying to find a shop that stocks any of them but not having much luck so could have to buy without getting to test them.

 

[El_Doug]

Unless you go for the M-Audio's, the KRK's are the only other option worth exploring (in my opinion, of course

)

The Yamaha's have an overemphasized midrange that is really awkward, and honestly bothered the hell out of me. The Mackie's were nice and flat, but unlike their higher-end brethren, do not feel like theyre able to offer enough oomph.

My wife has the RP5's (the originals, not G2's), and I can tell you that they make music a lot of fun to listen to - extremely tight and dynamic bass that we often, as headphone enthusiasts, forget is possible

 

[descendent87]

Thanks, one of the reasons I'm going for monitors is I want a nice flat sound and have also heard that the yamaha's lack bass without a sub so guess that's 1 down.
Have you tried the M-Audios? If so how did they compare to the KRK's?

 

[DeusEx]

New thread?

KRK, M-Audio, and Mackie are all good.

 

[descendent87]

Sorry been away on tour, made a new thread as this was just asking about speakers rather than what gear I needed/what plugs into what.

 

[koven]

KRK's are front ported.. not rear

 

[Ham Sandwich]

If you're looking at powered studio monitors for that purpose you'll want to look at some sort of external volume control for them as well. You can use the Windows volume control, but that is inconvenient and can accidentally get reset to 100% volume at inconvenient times (that could scare you to death). There are lots of ways to control the volume ranging from regular pre-ams to specialized studio gear.

Studio monitors like the ones you are looking at will have an individual volume control on the back of each speaker. That volume control is intended for level matching and setting a reference sound level. They aren't intended for controlling the volume while listening and would be extremely inconvenient for that purpose.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Wharfedale could also be an option since you're in the UK. They have a Diamond Studio 8.2 Pro powered monitor speaker. It's front ported and should be in the price range you're looking at. I'm not sure if it is still in production.

 

[descendent87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by koven /img/forum/go_quote.gif KRK's are front ported.. not rear

I know, I said all except the KRK are rear ported.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wharfedale could also be an option since you're in the UK. They have a Diamond Studio 8.2 Pro powered monitor speaker. It's front ported and should be in the price range you're looking at. I'm not sure if it is still in production.

Thanks, as for volume control I have a knob on my keyboard for that until I can afford a pre-amp aswell.
Had a look at the wharfedale diamond pro actives and they're about £99 each so in my budget, anyone have any experiences with them?

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by descendent87 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks, as for volume control I have a knob on my keyboard for that until I can afford a pre-amp aswell. Had a look at the wharfedale diamond pro actives and they're about £99 each so in my budget, anyone have any experiences with them?

I was considering them when I was looking for monitor speakers. Didn't end up getting them cause they're a bit hard to find and try in the US.

The reviews tend to say that they're not the best for detailed studio style listening but good for regular music listening. So if you look for reviews from the pro-audio studio people you'll find reviews saying they're not so good. If you find reviews from music listening people they'll get better reviews. The regular passive (unpowered) version of the Diamond 8 series gets good reviews for music listening.

 

[descendent87]

Think I'm going to go for the KRK's, might cost the most but they look the nicest and are front ported which will help as I've got a pretty small room

 

[Scrivs]

Hi,

I was wondering if you bought the KRK's already and what your experience is with them?
I'm also thinking of buying these monitors and I will also use them for music listening only.

So, if you got them, are they any good? And would you recommend getting the 10s subwoofer along with them aswell, or do they produce enough bass on their own (I'm quite a basshead and listen to very bass-heavy electronical music so I need quite alot of bass in my system).

Also I wanted to ask you, do I need to buy anything else, like accesoiries, for them to make them perform properly? or is it just plug-in and play?

Hope to get some answers.

Cheers

BTW, could some1 explain to me what the difference is between rear- and front ported? I'm still quite a noob in these things

I also got quite a small desk and room so I have quite a similar problem as you do, did you get any problems with the space on your desk while positioning the monitors?

 

[mr. nice]

lood for a used pair of ADAM A7s. a little pricier but i assure you that nothing comes close within that price range. they do pop up on ebay or gearslutz or even craigslist all of the time. highly recommended!

 

[jona.p]

I auditioned the KRKs once against some ESI, Yamaha, Behringer and Alesis monitors, KRKs came out as the winners for me. More space more accurate and definately more fun.

For hi-fi and music listening I'd still go for a 2nd hand set, non studio monitor.

Quote:

BTW, could some1 explain to me what the difference is between rear- and front ported? I'm still quite a noob in these things

Check out this link

Regards,
Jonatan

 

[TheEhkolite]

What I use for the KRK Rokit 6's is a POD Studio UX2. They feed out through two male XLR to 1/4" patch cords, and I control them with the volume knob on the UX2. They sound great currently using this method. I am not sure what the "S/PDIF Digital out" port is used for, but it seems to be a possibility, however I have not used it.