Studio Monitors and Room Acoustics

[sam156e]

Hey I'm new to the forum
I'm looking for a pair of studio monitors that would suit my room. My budget is €300-€400 and I've been leaning towards the KRK RP5's and RP6's.
You can see the room and measurements in the attached sketch I did. It's not done to scale and it seems bigger than it actually is. The room is 2.9 metres high and has a wooden floor. As you can see there's two windows, and the curtains over them cover almost the whole wall. Currently my computer is in the narrower part of the room, and there's a slight echo, however I can move it if I would get better acoustics elsewhere in the room.

Which of the two KRKs I mentioned would best fit my room or are there other brands that might suit better?
Also what could I do to improve the acoustics of the room?


Thank you!

 

[sheggs]

Hey I'm new to the forum
I'm looking for a pair of studio monitors that would suit my room. My budget is €300-€400 and I've been leaning towards the KRK RP5's and RP6's.
You can see the room and measurements in the attached sketch I did. It's not done to scale and it seems bigger than it actually is. The room is 2.9 metres high and has a wooden floor. As you can see there's two windows, and the curtains over them cover almost the whole wall. Currently my computer is in the narrower part of the room, and there's a slight echo, however I can move it if I would get better acoustics elsewhere in the room.

Which of the two KRKs I mentioned would best fit my room or are there other brands that might suit better?
Also what could I do to improve the acoustics of the room?

View attachment 43952
Thank you!

Acoustics wise try out some of our articles, they are a great way to start reading up -
Articles - GIK Acoustics Europe
Educational Videos - Acoustic Panels | Bass Traps | Diffusors | GIK Acoustics

 

[JD Young]

Hi Sam,

I would personally go for the RP6’s because they are a little more accurate in the low end and have some more power. It depends on what kind of music you create of course, but getting the low end right in a home studio is always a challenge… Listening on higher level when working on the low end and checking everything on good headphones is good practice.

I would put your mixing-desk and speakers on the other side of the room – where your bed is now but in the middle - so you have some space left between your speakers and the side walls. This will also improve the low end, ánd the stereo image because you keep the asymmetrical side of the room further behind you. For acoustic treatment it might be wise to put some bass-traps in the corners and maybe create something they all an RFZ (reflection free zone). Try to use broadband absorbers, but don’t overdo it I think on the Gik Acoustics website they have a free service where they make a design for you based on your room.

Good luck!

JD

Ps. You might want to check the speaker brand ‘Adam’. They are going out of business and might have some good deals…

 

[Free Spirit]

Hey I'm new to the forum
I'm looking for a pair of studio monitors that would suit my room. My budget is €300-€400 and I've been leaning towards the KRK RP5's and RP6's.
You can see the room and measurements in the attached sketch I did. It's not done to scale and it seems bigger than it actually is. The room is 2.9 metres high and has a wooden floor. As you can see there's two windows, and the curtains over them cover almost the whole wall. Currently my computer is in the narrower part of the room, and there's a slight echo, however I can move it if I would get better acoustics elsewhere in the room.

Which of the two KRKs I mentioned would best fit my room or are there other brands that might suit better?
Also what could I do to improve the acoustics of the room?

View attachment 43952
Thank you!

Either monitoring system will work fine. Try to get an Avantone Mixcube or an equivalent mono speaker to check mixes on too.

Just aim to have your monitors slightly off-center in your room with as much space between them and the walls as possible

Put a few acoustic foam panels on every wall right where the sound would reflect off of (including the ceiling between you and the speakers)

Get a few bass traps for the corners

Then above all that, listen at a relatively low volume while you mix and it'll take care of 90% of the problem there. We like loud sounding music but we have a much better overall perspective of mixing at low volumes since it's the crucial midrange that we'll hear and naturally try to gel out first.

Hope that helped!

 

[itsatrap]

I totally agree with what Free Spirit said.

Before I bought my monitors, I produced music for over two years. After finally saving up enough money I could just afford the RP6's. I tried the RP5's at other people and I must say that I made a good decision with going for the RP6. If I bought the RP5, I know that I would have regret it. So if you can, take your time and save up some more to get the RP6 since they fit perfectly in "Bedroom studio's ".

I purchased mopads, (Isolation pads for monitors) (You can make them yourself as well). and this increased the sound quality since it isolated the monitors from my desk. Mind that KRK's do have a 'built-in' isolation pads underneath the monitors but still these are too thin in my opinion.

I also changed my entire room. It is important to create an acoustic room which really increases your mixing! I bought a couply foam / absorbing sound 'waves' and placed these on the corners of my walls. I also made acoustic pannels which do the most of the work actually. I have made two right now, and I will create some more. Do not forget to cover your ceiling as well.

As free spirit said, do not forget that it is not only about the monitors. Making your room acoustic is just as important! Good luck