6th May 2012
|
#1 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter | Monitor Advice: KRK Rokit 5 G2 vs Fostex PM0.4n
Okay, so my short term situation is that in the next 18 months I'm going to be living in about 3 or 4 different places. Decent room treatment is therefore out of the question for the time being as I'm going to be moving around so much, however I would like a pair of monitors to get me by during this period (before shelling out on something a little more high-end once my living situation is slightly more permanent).
The Fostex would set me back about £160, whereas the KRK Rokit's would cost about £250. Given the price difference, if I get the Fostex I could also shell out for a decent pair of headphones/put the extra money saved towards improving my setup in other areas.
I was wondering what people's thoughts were about these two particular monitors? I know that neither are going to be perfect, and whatever I choose I'm going to have to learn them well, and I'm also aware of the importance of room treatment and how I'm going to have to treat my production room in the future in order to get the best out of my equipment and warrant the expense of purchasing a higher end pair of monitors.
Another thing to note is that for the time being, this is about the size of monitors that I'm after as living in London I'm not going to have a massive amount of space so anything larger would be overkill.
So yeah, basically I'm aware that these two pairs of monitors are low end, and in the future I'll therefore be selling/using this pair as secondary monitors, but what would people's recommendations be? The Fostex are a lot cheaper, however I've struggled to find any real decent information about these monitors and how they'd handle, particularly in comparison to the Rokit's.
Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.
| 
|  | |
6th May 2012
|
#2 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter |
Anyone?  | |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#3 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2010 Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1,299
|
I've had my fostex PMO.5s for 7 years and they still work great. They sound decent, useable.
__________________
"Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind. Withering my intuition, leaving opportunities behind."
Maynard J. Keenan - Artist, Deity, Waffle-Lover
| |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#4 | | Jack of all Trades
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,268
|
I have Rokit 5's as my secondary set. I really enjoy them, but them are so bass heavy that I wouldn't want to mix on them. Just make beats and enjoy the sound your hearing.
| |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#5 | | Gear nut
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 148
| Quote:
Originally Posted by JoRillo  I have Rokit 5's as my secondary set. I really enjoy them, but them are so bass heavy that I wouldn't want to mix on them. Just make beats and enjoy the sound your hearing. | Are they bass heavy because of their design? Or could it be tamed with better placement, isolation and changing their settings? I've not used them but was considering getting a set myself. If they are inherently bassy then i'll probably look elsewhere...
Sent from my HTC Desire
| |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#6 | | Jack of all Trades
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,268
| Quote:
Originally Posted by peeej1978 Are they bass heavy because of their design? Or could it be tamed with better placement, isolation and changing their settings? I've not used them but was considering getting a set myself. If they are inherently bassy then i'll probably look elsewhere...
Sent from my HTC Desire | They are front ported, which helps get some extra umf in the low end, but at the cost of inaccuracy.
I go between HS80's and Rokit 5's and the Rokit 5's are a little more rolled off in the highs, and a little more exaggerated in the lows. My honest oppinion is that they are great speakers if you don't need to make any critical decisions on them, but if you looking for a mixing monitor, I would look a little higher up the food chain.
The only tweakable setting son the Rokits is High End. No Low end cut option. Right now they are in my treated mixing room right next to the HS80's and they are still trying to bang harder (Notice I said try  ).
| |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#7 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 653
|
I don't remember the krks being bass heavy so much as muddy. And really, the mud was in the low mids. They don't really do 'bass'.
That said, I learned a ton about mixing on them and for their price, I think they're decent.
I bought a used pair of the old krk v6s for $300 though. That was a major upgrade.
| |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#8 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2010 Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1,299
|
Krk's need treatment in the room to shine. The low mids and lows can be unfocused and flabby.
| |
| | |
7th May 2012
|
#9 | | Gear nut
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 120
 |
Have to agree. My KRK 5s are pretty mucky in the low mids too.
| 
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#10 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter |
Does anyone have any input on how the KRK 5's perform compared with the Fostex? I read somewhere that the Fostex lack definition, and that they suffer in the upper mids/possibly in the low end too. Although to be honest I've read so many conflicting stories about both of these models that I'm not entirely sure where I'm at anymore.
To begin with I was slightly more drawn to the Fostex (for aesthetic reasons, but also for the fact that they're nearly £100 cheaper). Affordability isn't really an issue though, so I don't really want to be saving that money if the performance is markedly lower than with the KRK's.
I guess what I'm really asking is, in the short term, which monitors will I get the most enjoyment out of?
Should probably also point out that I play bass guitar, and have in the past dabbled in producing drum and bass so that could possibly be something that makes the KRK's more desirable?
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#11 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 653
|
Sorry I can't give you input on the Fostex, but it's worth mentioning that I got my Rokit 5s for $150 on craigslist.
I'd go with the Rokits, just because it's a much more tested product around here. They aren't perfect, but you know what you're getting. And I got some great mixes out of them.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#12 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Apr 2009 Location: Houston
Posts: 223
|
They're both horrible monitors. KRK's have a super innaccurate mid range, every time I'd translate my mixes the 700-3k area was ridiculously high, and I couldn't hear it on the monitors.
Look into the Equator Audio D5's.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#13 | | Gear maniac
Joined: Apr 2011 Location: Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way
Posts: 158
|
i worked a long time with the rokit 5,
they sound nice, making beats, cool,
but they are not very accurate, when i upgrade to adam, found a whole new world
mostly about the depth in the mids,
anyways, when i check my old mixes on the adam, i think they not suck at all
so i think you can work with them
__________________
flowing with cosmos
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#14 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by dfahb44 Look into the Equator Audio D5's. | Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately I'm in the UK however and won't be able to get hold of these.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#15 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2010 Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1,299
|
I own Fostex PMO.5s and I regularly hear my friends KRK 6's.
The Fostex has punchier low end. But the KRK has silkier smooth highs.
The KRK also sounded boomy in the lows but it was a horrible room.
| |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#16 | | Gear nut
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 149
| | |
| | |
8th May 2012
|
#17 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by tyedie | Just found them for about £100 less than that at Juno which actually makes them a little cheaper than the Rokit's.... I think I may have just found a winner!
| |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#18 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by altukdotnet Just found them for about £100 less than that at Juno which actually makes them a little cheaper than the Rokit's.... I think I may have just found a winner! | Actually, having researched this further, I'm now not entirely sure what to go for; the KRK Rokit 5's, or the Prodipe Pro Ribbon 5.... So much conflicting information again!
| |
| | |
9th May 2012
|
#19 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2010 Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1,299
|
Access to try them out? Is there a guitar center or Sam Ash near?
Ive never even really heard much about the prodipe monitors. I'd go with them though...because KRKs look hideous! Lol
| |
| | |
11th May 2012
|
#20 | | Gear interested
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 7
Thread Starter | Quote:
Originally Posted by mattjew24 Access to try them out? Is there a guitar center or Sam Ash near?
Ive never even really heard much about the prodipe monitors. I'd go with them though...because KRKs look hideous! Lol | Yeah..... I don't know. I'm back onto thinking that the KRK's may be my best bet actually. Seems that a lot of people have had problems with the Prodipe Pro 8 from what I've been reading about them in the thread on here, so maybe it's the KRK's I should be going for.
| |
| | |
11th May 2012
|
#21 | | Jack of all Trades
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,268
| Quote:
Originally Posted by altukdotnet Yeah..... I don't know. I'm back onto thinking that the KRK's may be my best bet actually. Seems that a lot of people have had problems with the Prodipe Pro 8 from what I've been reading about them in the thread on here, so maybe it's the KRK's I should be going for. | I feel like you might want to A/B the Rokit 5/6's vs the HS50's
| |
| | |
11th May 2012
|
#22 | | Lives for gear
Joined: Dec 2010 Location: Nashville, TN
Posts: 1,299
|
Hs50s would be far superior
| |
| | | |
New Reply 
