KRK ROKIT 5 Gen 4 Review (Studio Monitor)

[Zerohour]

wait, so this is actually better than the Classic 5 for not much less and have a built-in EQ? now that's a pleasant surprise.

and no hiss too for near-field use, but seems like KRK is quite competent in this regards, Classic 5 also doesn't hiss (from what I've gathered asking around).

 

[Martin]

I have really liked my Rokit 6 RPG2. I got a killer deal on them about 12 years ago. They are a fantastic near field monitor. I use them for non-critical listening in my office. They’re currently running off a Project Polaris through a Topping D50. I’ve never been disappointed in their sound.

Martin

 

[Phorize]

Video review posted to the review text:

What a pleasant surprise, it’a very gratifying when such an affordable product delivers the goods, especially when much more expensive ones fail. I have a question about the practice of doing the subjective listening after knowing the measured performance-realise that you aren’t doing a controlled test here but wondered if you’d thought about listening first to avoid biasing your experience? Would be quite fun to know what you thought you heard before the measurements were done.
Really liking the new videos BTW

 

[Puddingbuks]

The reviews keep getting better. Video is much appreciated!

 

[PeteL]

I agree that a smooth directivity is even more important for usual domestic hifi listening where reflections and sound power dominate more but even in studio near field application the perceived tonality and imaging are partially influenced by it.

Fair enough, but in all cases, this is not a Studio targeted product, not at this price, this SPL capability, and this size. The "pro" or "studio monitors" Tag gets waved a bit losely nowadays. This is for bedroom producers or for basically anybody that need better than horrible sound sitting at his computer no more than a couple of feet from em. Solo use. We shouldn't ask them to be more than this, but no less neither, this is a huge market.

 

[Lambda]

Not to shabby for 170$!

If they head digital ASE/EBU or SPDIF in would instandly buy them!

 

[AndreaT]

Amirm,

excellent review, you are spoiling us. I would keep the 96 dB distortion graph for comparison. As the peak volume of live symphonic orchestras achieve similar dB, it is a useful reference to decide how much to invest in speakers.

A

 

[AnalogSteph]

Not perfect but decent and certainly better than the Classic 5s (and, I assume, previous series). Low noise and wide dispersion should make them a fave in budget nearfield circles.

Input level seems to default to a nominal +4 dBu, which I presume may play a part in keeping output noise low; you can up the volume if you need consumer level. There does not seem to be any analog input level switching like the JBLs have, which makes me wonder what ADC they may have used, it might be a slightly fancier part. Anyone know?

If they head digital ASE/EBU or SPDIF in would instandly buy them!

The STA350B(W) (assuming they are using that) only has one I²S input which is already taken up by the ADC. Hence the phenomenon of DSP speakers with analog input only - see JBL 30x, Kali LPx, ADAM TxV.

I do hope they went easy on the black goo this time.

 

[Lambda]

he "pro" or "studio monitors" Tag gets waved a bit losely nowadays. This is for bedroom producers or for basically anybody that need better than horrible sound

You would not believe how many of today's "profession content creators" working from there bedroom with equipment like this.

Sound cloud, YouTube,twitch,IG,tiktok,Onlyfans,patron... and so on is actually a profession for some
And even more want to make it there profession but failing at it.

 

[PeteL]

You would not believe how many of today's "profession content creators" working from there bedroom with equipment like this.

Sound cloud, YouTube,twitch,IG,tiktok,Onlyfans,patron... and so on is actually a profession for some
And even more want to make it there profession but failing at it.

Sure, I wasn't saying this in a condescendent way, yes it totally can be used professionally and even successful albums where created at home. The future is there and as I said, huge market.

 

[Lambda]

The STA350B(W) (assuming they are using that) only has one I²S input which is already taken up by the ADC. Hence the phenomenon of DSP speakers with analog input only - see JBL 30x, Kali LPx, ADAM TxV.

Is the dsp getting its clock from the ADC or the ADC getting the clock from the DSP.

If the ADC is the clock source it would be easy easy to replace it with an digital input.

 

[RickSanchez]

Video review posted to the review text:

An Eddie Bauer sweatshirt Amir? Really? There's no way you're going to get sartorial levels of "warmth" and "detail" and "airyness" from a $45 sweatshirt. I strongly urge you to upgrade to this $3,000 Supreme sweatshirt for future reviews. Ignore the measurements; trust your arms!

/sarcasm

 

[PeteL]

You would not believe how many of today's "profession content creators" working from there bedroom with equipment like this.

Sound cloud, YouTube,twitch,IG,tiktok,Onlyfans,patron... and so on is actually a profession for some
And even more want to make it there profession but failing at it.

What I was trying to say is, more than anything, what this is is good computer speakers, but most sales departments would agree that "Professional studio monitors" is a better marketing shtick than "good computer speakers", not that there is anything wrong with trying to move products. ... After that sky's the limit on what you use them for, wether to make money or just fun.

 

[kernelpanic]

With these DSP monitors, isn't that a counterintuitive design to include an ADC/DAC which is likely inferior to what the user is using upstream? Or is the tradeoff to gain built in EQ > the drop in quality from a second ADC/DAC stage of lesser quality?

Seems to me the preferred signal path is analog only after the DAC from your source and to perform EQ in the digital domain at the source right?

 

[Lambda]

kernelpanic Yes i can't live with DAC-->ADC/DSP/DAC.
its like taking a screenshot with a camera.

 

[Zensō]

Fair enough, but in all cases, this is not a Studio targeted product, not at this price, this SPL capability, and this size. The "pro" or "studio monitors" Tag gets waved a bit losely nowadays. This is for bedroom producers or for basically anybody that need better than horrible sound sitting at his computer no more than a couple of feet from em. Solo use. We shouldn't ask them to be more than this, but no less neither, this is a huge market.

But aren’t most “studios” in someone’s bedroom these days?

 

[Zensō]

These are a pleasant surprise and hard to beat at this price.

 

[Jim777]

Every time I see a powered speaker with analog inputs only, knowing that the best ones probably do DSP, I wonder if we're not wasting an opportunity. You're going to hook up a great DAC, only to have that signal convert to D and back to A again. Aren't there any powered speakers with digital inputs? Maybe you'd just need a switch to specify left or right channel on each speaker (or a kind of rotary that would work with more than two channels).

 

[Lambda]

These are a pleasant surprise and hard to beat at this price.

I would love to see a compression with the Yamaha HS50

 

[dominikz]

These are a pleasant surprise and hard to beat at this price.

Seems like there is quite a few as well (or better) measuring alternatives around the same price point (JBL 305/6p MKII, Kali Audio LP-6, Adam T5V to name a few) so I wonder what would be the value argument for the KRKs specifically? Note that EQ facilities KRK G4 provide are not parametric - they are 25 EQ presets, in reality similar in function to the ones available in Kali and many others via mechanical switches.
Is it the combination of smallish size, front port and reasonably good measurements? Is the SPL capacity or distortion significantly better than the rest?

Not saying they are not a good option, just genuinely interested!