Producer TECH
VERDICT BUILD QUALITY
EASE OF USE FEATURES
7.0 8.0 7.0
VALUE FOR MONEY 7.0 SOUND QUALITY
7.0
HYPE Three-way midfield monitors at
a bargain price with a punchy sound, great for dance music.
GRIPE Whilst the sound is punchy,
there is a trade-off: not quite as neutral for some users’ needs.
Big and brash in black and yellow, these monitors pack a lot of bottom-end punch and volume, making them a decent choice for DJ/producers who want one set of monitors for both DJing and production duties.
7 /10 MidField Generals KRK’s new monitors deliver a tasty punch, but can they go the distance?
THERE is no shortage of choices on the market for budget studio monitors. Making the right choice is more difficult than ever. To make this decision even harder, KRK have released their Rokit Powered 10-3 speakers into this already crowded arena. However, because the RP 10-3s are three-way studio monitors, they’re something of a rarity within this particular market niche. In keeping with the rest of the KRK Rokit range, the 10-3 monitors have a front bass port, one-inch dome tweeter and a Glass Aramid Composite woofer (a 10-inch bass speaker in this case). But unique to the 10-3 is the additional four-inch mid-range speaker. The obvious advantage of a three-way speaker design is improved clarity across the frequency spectrum, as well as the chance to push the bottom-end a little further. The 10-3 is described as a midfield speaker by KRK, sitting somewhere between near-fields and main speakers; this means that they have a serious amount of power and thump to deliver, and are perfect to showcase banging club tracks to clients as well as giving some serious satisfaction to DJs in the mix. The downside to being midfields is the fact that the proper listening position is set back a fair way from the speakers — especially to get a decent bass response — so they are not going to be suitable for small rooms.
The RP part of the RP 10-3 name is Rokit Powered, and that means that these monitors are active and have their own amplifiers built into the unit. The RP 10-3s have three amplifiers built into their cases, with one taking care of driving the tweeter, another for the mid and the final amplifier driving that beefy 10-inch bass
WHEN YOU ARE STUCK Take a break, go for a walk and listen to some fresh new music across a broad range of genres — it’s amazing where inspiration can spring from.
DO MORE WITH LESS Rather than layer lots of instruments and effects on top of each other, concentrate on the basic musical elements and sounds to make them as powerful as possible.
speaker. The result is a very decent volume, with deep and powerful bass response and clear, detailed definition of the rest of the frequency range. When compared with the two-way RP8 speakers, there is a dramatic increase in the clarity as well as the detail, so clearly the three-way design is delivering as promised.
Size matters, especially for those running short on space in a control room, and these speakers are not small or lightweight, so it is important to ensure there’s space to fit these beasts as well as sturdy speaker stands. The build quality is good, and the adjustment features found on the back are adequate if not massively feature-packed, including a master level adjustment, low-frequency level adjustment and high frequency level adjustment knobs.
When it comes to getting a good mix down, the most important piece of equipment to get right is the choice of monitors. Studio monitors come in all shapes and sizes, not to mention price ranges, and this is, of course, because one size does not fit all, with factors such as room size, style of music and personal preference all playing a major factor in getting the right monitors for specific requirements. It makes sense to take some time for research, then once a shortlist has been compiled, have a listen to the speakers in person and if possible, get a pair on demo and see how they perform. The KRK RP 10-3s are good active speakers, especially for dance music, but there are other good choices on the market too. The KRKs offer thumping club sounds for a reasonable price, which will go down nicely in some quarters.
WRITE MUSIC FOR YOURSELF Forget what everyone else thinks and make music for yourself. This will allow your creativity to come out fully and will stop you second- guessing your decisions.
www.djmag.com
KEEP IT INTERESTING If an idea is keeping you interested, then the chances are it will do the same thing in other people. But if it’s boring the hell out of you, it is likely to turn everyone else off, too.
095
PRICE $499 each
CONTACT
krksys.com
TIPS
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