[dean0]

I have just received a pair of KRK RP5's and I am loving the sound so far, but... I am having trouble with volume. 
My setup:
 
Creative ZXR soundcard (Phono RCA Out) > KRK RP5 (Phono RCA In)
Creative ZXR soundcard (Sub-Out)          > BK XLS200 (Low-Level In)
 
They are currentley set at -30db on the volume knob and even with windows volume set to 50% they are very loud (subwoofer aswell). 
I have done some research on this and it seems I need a passive attenuator. 
Will this resolve my problem? any recommendations will be appreciated, budget £100
 
Thanks in advance

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

Mmmh. Bearing in mind your existing gear this is a surprisingly tricky problem to solve elegantly and stay within budget.
 
The ideal solution would be one of these.
 
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/sm-pro-m-patch-2-passive-monitor-controller-switch-box
 
It has the great advantage of giving you a single, physical knob that controls the entire system gain. Sadly it's it's £30 over budget.
 
The least expensive solution I can think of offhand would be 2 of these @ £40 all up.
 
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/fostex-pc1e-volume-controller-black
 
Connect one to the KRks and another to your sub.
 
or slightly more sophisticated and with the option of doing away with your existing soundcard for only £80 total.
 
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/native-instruments-traktor-audio-2-96-khz-24-bit-2x-stereo-usb-interface-607-dawbench-llp-traktor-pr.
 
The fact that the main out and sub out can be adjusted separately on the above two solutions need not necessarily be a disadvantage. You might want to turn down the relative sub volume late at night for example.
 
If you really did want one knob for full system control within a £100 budget you could get a small 3/4 channel mixer with aux outs and /or a splitter cable.
 
here is an example.
 
http://www.thomann.de/gb/mackie_402_vlz3.htm
 
There are even less expensive examples from Alesis, Alto and Berhinger. Among others.
 
That said what I really think you ought to do is save up a little bit longer and buy one of these for £150.
 
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/focusrite-scarlett-2i4-2-in-4-out-usb-audio-interface
 
Perfect! Loads of room for future expansion and upgrade too. It makes sense to buy a pro or semi pro audio interface to work with pro or semi pro actives like you own. They were designed for one another.

 

[dean0]

thanks!