Hey guys I know this question has been asked a couple of times already but anyway, let me have another go. I am going to rearrange my bedroom because my Desktop setup is pretty imperfect for producing (I used to be a gamer, so basically, everything was dedicated to that) and the more gear I get the harder it gets to place it in a smart way. I am currently building a new table which will be about 2m*0.90m and I am going to put it on one of the “longer” sides of my room.
Now I am unsure about whether it’s good to buy the 5’s or I should rather go for the 6’s. I think, my room dimensions are quite on the edge between the 2 sizes. I mostly produce DnB, Trap, Big Room, Deep House and all kinds of metal so the amount of bass is quite important here, but I really wanna have a well-balanced frequency allocation (basically, the most neutral sound possible) and I think buying another sub would be a wrong approach to this. For 10 years now, I really was in love with my Logitech X-530 (still loving it), but mastering something on them and then doing the same on my friends KRK’s made a HUGE difference which is why I think it’s ok to go ahead and say good bye to the Logitech ones for the purpose of music production.
Second question: how much influence does the positioning of the speakers have on the overall sound? As you can see in the sketch, the table won’t be centered on that side of the room (but I could make it be like that tho) and I am kinda afraid of this resulting in a distorted or, unclear, sound.
The most noticeable difference will be in the low end. There is a 5-8Hz difference in the low end roll off. Beyond that, until you get the speakers into the “11” range, both will have similar mid and high characteristics.
The KRK 5’s and 6’s are both 40Hz (ish) speakers. Based on your typical genres, a sub would be needed. Anything in an active 10" or 12" sub would be sufficient given the room size.
Speaker position and acoustic treatment will both make a noticeable difference. Keep the table where it is. Put the sub under the desk, as close to the room corner as practical. Keep the monitors at eye level, 45deg from your “center” at a distance of 4-5 ft from your ears.
Any acoustical treatment you can manage on the read wall, the room corners, and on the wall closest to the desk would be helpful.
Thanks so much soundinmotiondj for that extensive reply!
So I won’t get around buying a sub.. was hoping for someone to tell me that don’t need another box for the lows >.< haha
Will be looking for an affordable sub then, it will probably not be the 10s ($$$) although I’d quite like the idea of having a set completely from one brand.
Will post updates as soon as I find time for that!
The best way to position a sub is to put it at your listening position, then move your head around the room until you find the place where the bass sounds right…then put the sub there. Putting it in a corner may be right, and it will make it louder…but depending on how it interacts with the room, it will probably cause more problems than it solves.
In a typical small room, the consensus is that subs generally cause more problems than they solve…unless you’re actually treating the room.
Here is an article about speaker positioning. You want your head and the speakers to make an equilateral triangle, which means they’re each 30-degrees off from your centerline, not 45.
Also, I’ll go ahead and say that if you haven’t bought the KRKs yet…they sound terrible. Almost anything else in the price range is better.
I won’t buy the sub too early but I am going to get my speakers quite soon and so far, KRKs are the ones that sounded the best to me.
Also, it is kinda difficult to rate speakers that you hear in a store compared to the ones your hear in studios (and I don’t know too many producers in my area + all studious have a different resonance anyways). Room treatment and everything else of course has a huge influence on this, but even in a store, where the conditions are the same I am pretty sure I would blind-pick the KRKs as well.
Last point: most of my listeners are the “typical” 15 y/o EDM fans, which is a field in which KRK play the alpha role so mastering with them would make sure it sounds good to the majority of my audience
