Customer Reviews

KRK RP5 Rokit Powered Studio Monitor, Single Speaker

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was looking for a pair of inexpensive computer monitors. Listened to everything in the $100-200 range at the local Frye's...yech. Rode over to my local Guitar Center and heard the Rokit 5's vs. the M Audio's. Rokits are built very well, I am still surprised they can eek out a profit. They use a soft dome tweeter, a glass fiber woofer (looks like Kevlar cones), and have a 1/4", RCA, and Balanced XLR inputs, for amazing flexibility. The box is sturdy MDF with a nice black finish, and the port is a reflex port. The box sounds great when you do the knuckle rap test. I hooked them up to a Soundblaster sound card using mini-plug to RCA cables ($8 from Radio Shack).

So how do they sound? Highly musical. Mids and vocals have a nice rich tone, very sweet and balanced. High end is a tad soft, a bit like listening to a tube amp. The tweeters are definately on the warm side, and will not sizzle your ears one bit. Keep in mind, however, if you are mixing with these speakers, your mix may end up a bit hot if you are compensating for the soft highs this speaker puts out. Low end is good considering the size, but this little speaker will not shake the room. What do you expect from a 5.25" cone? Still, an all around good balance for the price, and absolutely kills the computer speakers from creative, logitech, altec, and jbl.

My main system is VAC Avatar powering Merlin TSM's and a REL Strata III, costing around $22k total when you add everything. Heck, my AC cables cost 3x the price of these ROkits. So I am jaded when it comes time to audition computer speakers. That said, these are great for the price. You may also wish to try the Swan M200, available from newegg online, and selling for about $200 pr. Great reviews, but less features than the Rokit.

If the monitor will do double duty in a musician setup, the Rokits are really the way to go.

After years of mixing in my amateur home studio without studio monitors (with varied success), I finally decided to try out some monitors within my budget to see if they were worthwhile. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to find anything decent under 500, but I had heard a lot of good reviews about the KRK RP5's and decided to try them out.

First off, they were impressive out of the box. They are both visually attractive and solidly built. I connected them with XLR to 1/4" cables to my Behringer 1202FX mixing board, powered them on, and played through some songs I have recorded using Logic and a Presonus Firebox.

Right from the start I was very impressed by the power and accuracy shown by the Rokits. Vocal tracks, guitars, and MIDI instruments came through very clearly and distinctly. I was also extremely impressed by the amount of bass that comes out of the 5" cones, since I was expecting them to be very light on the bottom. I have not purchased the subwoofer that one can get for these, and at this point, I don't think I will, since the music I make is not very boom-bastic. There's more than enough volume for my needs, and the speakers still sounded good when I cranked up the volume to test them out (I did not go all the way).

I have yet to make any mixes on these to see how they sound, but my first impression is very positive, and I'm extremely impressed that one can get monitors of this quality for under 300.

After years of mixing in my amateur home studio without studio monitors (with varied success), I finally decided to try out some monitors within my budget to see if they were worthwhile. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to find anything decent under 500, but I had heard a lot of good reviews about the KRK RP5's and decided to try them out.

First off, they were impressive out of the box. They are both visually attractive and solidly built. I connected them with XLR to 1/4" cables to my Behringer 1202FX mixing board, powered them on, and played through some songs I have recorded using Logic and a Presonus Firebox.

Right from the start I was very impressed by the power and accuracy shown by the Rokits. Vocal tracks, guitars, and MIDI instruments came through very clearly and distinctly. I was also extremely impressed by the amount of bass that comes out of the 5" cones, since I was expecting them to be very light on the bottom. I have not purchased the subwoofer that one can get for these, and at this point, I don't think I will, since the music I make is not very boom-bastic. There's more than enough volume for my needs, and the speakers still sounded good when I cranked up the volume to test them out (I did not go all the way).

I have yet to make any mixes on these to see how they sound, but my first impression is very positive, and I'm extremely impressed that one can get monitors of this quality for this price tag. Also, I haven't seen anything lower elsewhere. Although made for studio mixing, I can almost understand those people who are getting these for computer speakers, since at this price point, I'm sure they blow everything else out of the water.

I have nothing bad to say about these speakers. They push the sound and are absolutely great for mixing. Though these are some of the lowest priced studio monitors you can buy, they are definitely making it worth the penny. They have a very good flat frequency and even plugged through an unbalanced signal I'm getting great sound. If you don't do your mixing through monitors, get some and if you can't afford expensive ones, these are just as good. They are very heavy and durable and every bit as good as the expensive ones. KRK is a very good brand and comes highly recommended by everyone at guitar center.

I had my pair of KRK Rokit 5's stolen out of my car, I was just a bit lazy after I spun a party in Santa Cruz (long drive) so I forgot to bring them from my car. But I can't go back to mixing without a pair of monitors like these. Using a home stereo system actually delays sound output, so when you're trying to line up Vinyl beats or even just want to know whats happening when its actually happening on your output device you need monitors like this, otherwise its just not accurate enough. The idea here is if you're a dj, you need to rely on your ears and if you tune your ears to a system that has a delay or is otherwise not accurate you run the risk of screwing up your performance in a real environment like a club, bar, Radio station etc.. So i had these for about 2 years before they were stolen and it improved my dj skills and I am about to order another pair. I already have the 10 inch Subwoofer and togeather they're totally kick ass. I don't belive an M-Audio product would be as sturdy or well built as these. I considered the M-Aaudio ones that are comperable but they don't have the RCA jack (which i don't use but still) and they are $199 for a pair so I doubt they'd live up to the KRK's. I also recomend you use the XLR cables from the Sub woofer to the Rokit 5's I DJ Using Ableton now, and I have an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, the output on this are the balanced outputs (like guitar plugs) and i have cables that go from balanced to XLR, then XLR to the Rokit 5's. ROCK ON MY SON!

You really cannot go wrong buying a pair of these for your home recording needs (or home office, if you like being able to hear everything in your music). I've had mine for over a year and I could not be more pleased with them.

The following review is a audiophile's point of view. I use the monitors only for listening (never for mixing).

1 - The KRK Rockit 5G2 is not a neutral monitor, I would say it's on the warm side. Rockit 5's treble is quite warm and velvet. Very suitable monitor for listening bright recordings, such most MP3 files. On other hand, it may be a trouble when mixing a recording.

2 - Great macrodinamics. KRK's bass response can be defined as punchy and is just suitable for Rock and Pop. I wouldn't care if KRK's bass was faster and had a better resolution but it's not a deal for the price.

3 - Rockit 5 is perfect for electronic music (Rock, Pop, Rap, Techno, etc) but its mids and highs are not subtle nor refined enough for jazz and classical music. Compared it to my reference system and for my ears the mids lack transparency and resolution. The highs are sweet and velvet (on the warm side) but its resolution at the very top frequencies could be better.

I compared KRK Rockit 5G2 + Marantz SA8001 to entry level stereo setups like Cambridge Audio 640A / Marantz PM5001 + Infinity P162 /JBL E30 and frankly speaking the former outperformed the later by far. I know Rockit 5G2 was designed for pro audio purposes, but I am sure its audiophile qualities shall please many audio enthusiastics like myself. Excelent as computer speakers, but KRK 5G2 does a good job connected to a CD/SACD player as well (Recommend for those on tight budget).

The sales assistant also recommended M-Audio BX5A but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to listen to them.

These are nice sounding yet very revealing monitors. One drawback for normal listening is that flaws in the original recording really stand out. In a recording or broadcasting environment, you want that. Distortion really stands out on these; so you may not want to use them if you're listening mostly to indie bands via MySpace. :-)

I'd recommend using these with the KRK sub, unless you're not going to listen at very loud levels. These speakers can generate some low notes, but they can't generate them at high volume levels. Add the sub, and run XLRs from the Subs to the 5s. I go from my computer into a Mackie Big Knob and via balanced outs to the KRK sub, and XLRs from the sub to the Rokit 5's.

I had a couple issues with build quality; the power supply in one died after about 2 hours of use; and another one had a faulty balanced audio connector that dropped out when the bass played. The unbalanced connectors worked fine.

I'm not convinved they'll last a long time, but I think you'll be able to abuse them for a few years before they fall apart. They're a good value in today's dollar.

I'll probably buy another pair for the office.

4 stars rather than 5 due to the build quality issues I had.