M-Audio BX5 D2 VS. KRK Rokit 5 [Studio Monitors]?

had em both.
they are both ok.....
I used the bx5a pair and had them to where i knew the sound anywhere they were set up. i bought a krk rp10 sub so i had this idea that i would sell the maudios and buy the krk rokit5 pair... so i did.
I regreted it. its not that they are bad krks but i just had to relearn that shit and get use to them.. with the sub too, it was crazy.. kept them around for like a year, they did the job well and i started to actually like them.
I would go with theBX5a pair tho.. but for that price, i bought me some big ol Truth monitors and they blow both them other ones out the water man 4rill maybee its just me but i would recomend the Truth monitors.
 
61Key said:
had em both.
they are both ok.....
I used the bx5a pair and had them to where i knew the sound anywhere they were set up. i bought a krk rp10 sub so i had this idea that i would sell the maudios and buy the krk rokit5 pair... so i did.
I regreted it. its not that they are bad krks but i just had to relearn that shit and get use to them.. with the sub too, it was crazy.. kept them around for like a year, they did the job well and i started to actually like them.
I would go with theBX5a pair tho.. but for that price, i bought me some big ol Truth monitors and they blow both them other ones out the water man 4rill maybee its just me but i would recomend the Truth monitors.
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thanks a lot man! is there much difference in the bx5a and bx5 d2? and yeah i might go with the m audios then... ima check the truths out!
 
Neither.Well... let me rephrase. What do you plan to use them for? That's what makes the difference. Are you just producing for enjoyment? Are you just recording and not producing or mixing? Are you mixing your own music so that it actually sounds good/semi-profressional/professional?I have the BX5's. I can tell you that if you're going to be mixing music.. these are a big choice. The post above hints why. They are not accurate... which is why the poster above had to take a lot of time to learn the monitors. You shouldn't have to do this to such a degree if you're mixing. Granted you have to learn ALL monitors... but some much less than others. Some will help you create your music in a way that when they sound good on the studio monitors, they also sound good on other mediums (ie. car, club, radio, headphones, etc). The monitors that usually come to mind here are Yamaha HS50, JBL, Events, Alesis M1 Active. These are waaayyy better choices in this price range.If your only purpose is to just enjoy music... or produce music without really caring al that much about how it will translate when you pop the CD in your car.... then sure.. the BX5's or the KRK Rokit's are okay. They're good to listen to professional music on... professional music that';s already been mixed/mastered on much better speakers (ironically... probably the ones I mentioned above). But.. you will probably care about mixing. If not now... then you will soon, when you pop your CD in your car and wonder why the f-ck your bass drum is all over the place.... or your voice is so damn sharp it's piercing your ears. The reason is b/c you didn't hear this the first time... b/c your monitors didn't tell you that ur voice was too sharp. The car speakers are more unforgiving.The BX5's pump the bass too much, and don't provide accuracy in the mid/high range, where the vocal usually sits. They also feel muddy/jumbled in the mids. Not very clear. The KRK's from my memory are similar... but they seemed to drive the highs way too much, and the bass is difficult to hear. Granted thei'r 5 inch monitors... so u can't hear much bass anyway.... but the bass that you can hear feels like it overpowers the monitors too quickly. Just my opinion.I'd personally stay away from them for anything music related. You see/hear about them a lot b/c they are a marketing win for MAudio and KRK. They are not a sound engineering win by any means lol.---------- Post added at 05:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 AM ----------ps... i have the previous version of the BX5... not the brand new models they just came out with. I can't comment o nthe brand new model... however i'd still remain hesitatant, even if they state they improved them. If they claim they improved em... 1) that means they admit the first pair was a piece of crap.... so why should i trust the 2nd pair if they marketed the hell out of the first pair?.... 2) they are known for making budget gear that's only "useable" but usually is NOT the best choice at the price range. The exceptions would be the ProFire interfaces and the Oxygen midi controllers... those are in fact great valued purchases. However... there are often companies that make much better equipment for the same price.... they just don't have the proper advertising at Guitar Center or Sam Ash.
 
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Its hard to hear the bass accurately on 5 inch monitors, With that being said i have both, and use the KRK's for making beats because im used to them and my room treatments help out a lot as well.
 
CPhoenix said:
Neither.Well... let me rephrase. What do you plan to use them for? That's what makes the difference. Are you just producing for enjoyment? Are you just recording and not producing or mixing? Are you mixing your own music so that it actually sounds good/semi-profressional/professional?I have the BX5's. I can tell you that if you're going to be mixing music.. these are a big choice. The post above hints why. They are not accurate... which is why the poster above had to take a lot of time to learn the monitors. You shouldn't have to do this to such a degree if you're mixing. Granted you have to learn ALL monitors... but some much less than others. Some will help you create your music in a way that when they sound good on the studio monitors, they also sound good on other mediums (ie. car, club, radio, headphones, etc). The monitors that usually come to mind here are Yamaha HS50, JBL, Events, Alesis M1 Active. These are waaayyy better choices in this price range.If your only purpose is to just enjoy music... or produce music without really caring al that much about how it will translate when you pop the CD in your car.... then sure.. the BX5's or the KRK Rokit's are okay. They're good to listen to professional music on... professional music that';s already been mixed/mastered on much better speakers (ironically... probably the ones I mentioned above). But.. you will probably care about mixing. If not now... then you will soon, when you pop your CD in your car and wonder why the f-ck your bass drum is all over the place.... or your voice is so damn sharp it's piercing your ears. The reason is b/c you didn't hear this the first time... b/c your monitors didn't tell you that ur voice was too sharp. The car speakers are more unforgiving.The BX5's pump the bass too much, and don't provide accuracy in the mid/high range, where the vocal usually sits. They also feel muddy/jumbled in the mids. Not very clear. The KRK's from my memory are similar... but they seemed to drive the highs way too much, and the bass is difficult to hear. Granted thei'r 5 inch monitors... so u can't hear much bass anyway.... but the bass that you can hear feels like it overpowers the monitors too quickly. Just my opinion.I'd personally stay away from them for anything music related. You see/hear about them a lot b/c they are a marketing win for MAudio and KRK. They are not a sound engineering win by any means lol.---------- Post added at 05:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 AM ----------ps... i have the previous version of the BX5... not the brand new models they just came out with. I can't comment o nthe brand new model... however i'd still remain hesitatant, even if they state they improved them. If they claim they improved em... 1) that means they admit the first pair was a piece of crap.... so why should i trust the 2nd pair if they marketed the hell out of the first pair?.... 2) they are known for making budget gear that's only "useable" but usually is NOT the best choice at the price range. The exceptions would be the ProFire interfaces and the Oxygen midi controllers... those are in fact great valued purchases. However... there are often companies that make much better equipment for the same price.... they just don't have the proper advertising at Guitar Center or Sam Ash.
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that was a great read man! made me think about my decision. so you would rather yamaha hs50s for mixing rather than the two? thanks

---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------
Cam Citi said:
Its hard to hear the bass accurately on 5 inch monitors, With that being said i have both, and use the KRK's for making beats because im used to them and my room treatments help out a lot as well.
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yeah thats aight bro thanks
 
abso... freakin... lutely.

I'm trying to ditch mine. Its just hard to sell them for the same price as used Yams. If you grab some Yams... lets trade lol.

Either that or the JBL's.. which had a great reputation for being accurate. Even the Events were better in retrospect.

I got sold into em at Guitar Center. I didnt know any better... brought a CD to listen to the monitors, and i picked heo nes i thought had the "best bass". It was stupid.... b/c i shouldve picture the ones that had the truest sound to what the song should sound like... and not the one that pumps up the bass.... terrible for mixing. Only great for listening music that's already been professionally mixed. Like... these things did great when I threw parties and did performances. tey full the room nicely and push the bass which is what ud want. But to mix? no sir. i have to do too much work to get a good sound. granted its possible... but i have to do too much back n forth. i never truly know what things are sounding like until 4-5 versions of the mix later.
 
CPhoenix said:
abso... freakin... lutely.

I'm trying to ditch mine. Its just hard to sell them for the same price as used Yams. If you grab some Yams... lets trade lol.

Either that or the JBL's.. which had a great reputation for being accurate. Even the Events were better in retrospect.

I got sold into em at Guitar Center. I didnt know any better... brought a CD to listen to the monitors, and i picked heo nes i thought had the "best bass". It was stupid.... b/c i shouldve picture the ones that had the truest sound to what the song should sound like... and not the one that pumps up the bass.... terrible for mixing. Only great for listening music that's already been professionally mixed. Like... these things did great when I threw parties and did performances. tey full the room nicely and push the bass which is what ud want. But to mix? no sir. i have to do too much work to get a good sound. granted its possible... but i have to do too much back n forth. i never truly know what things are sounding like until 4-5 versions of the mix later.
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haahah appreciate it man
 
NagraBeats said:
thanks a lot man! is there much difference in the bx5a and bx5 d2? and yeah i might go with the m audios then... ima check the truths out!
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Yea there is a differnence in the newer pair, they are just better lol i cant explain it but there are def better.. they feel better, they have Kevlar woofers, i dont know if that even matters LOL but its bullet proof vest material, and they look sweet with that little blue light.. my homeboy had the older pair, and thats what im comparing them with..

but this is the thing thugh, maybee they DO sound just as good, maybee its all in the way that dude was producing his music, maybee his mix was just ass sounding.. you never know. but my judgment was that the BX5a were definitly a step up from the older pair..
 
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61Key said:
but this is the thing thugh, maybee they DO sound just as good, maybee its all in the way that dude was producing his music, maybee his mix was just ass sounding.. you never know. but my judgment was that the BX5a were definitly a step up from the older pair..
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No.... anyone who's worth their salt and has used BX5a's (the previous generation) says the same thing. I get good mixes now that I've learned them... but it's too much work getting a good mix on 'em. Imagine trying to paint a picture while wearing busted glasses. That's what it's like. Granted... if you remove the glasses multiple times and switch to different busted pairs of glasses, eventually you will get your mix good. But... why not just get one good enough pair of glasses. That's what the BXa's are like. It's not my mix ;)

Again... this is just for mixing. The bass is louder... so in a wall full of monitors, an inexperienced producer is always going to grab the one w/ the loudest bass. One who's experienced knows that mixing is a big part of producing... so they'll great the more accurate monitors. I hope the D2's are better. I'd probably seek elsewhere though... b/c MAudio's purpose seems to be to make money moreso than provide super accurate monitors. THey sell the "wow" factor. So... on that shelf... they want the ones that will "impress" you the most w/ a louder bass. Just my thoughts. I could be wrong... but this is the reasoning why i'd look elsewhere. MAudio is far from the end-all be-all. It's usually the companies you haven't heard much of (unless you've been making music for awhile) that have the better products. Emphasis on usually.

I never even heard of JBL, Focal, Dynaudio, Event... etc before i got deeper.
 
the D2's LOL i didnt even know about those, i just googled them..
I was talking about the Bx5's and the Bx5a's.
Damn im behind alittle bit keeping up with new products but i have the internet now so im checking all the websites again lol D2's huh? damn. i bet they sound good though, cant see how they could be bad.
 
CPhoenix said:
Neither.Well... let me rephrase. What do you plan to use them for? That's what makes the difference. Are you just producing for enjoyment? Are you just recording and not producing or mixing? Are you mixing your own music so that it actually sounds good/semi-profressional/professional?I have the BX5's. I can tell you that if you're going to be mixing music.. these are a big choice. The post above hints why. They are not accurate... which is why the poster above had to take a lot of time to learn the monitors. You shouldn't have to do this to such a degree if you're mixing. Granted you have to learn ALL monitors... but some much less than others. Some will help you create your music in a way that when they sound good on the studio monitors, they also sound good on other mediums (ie. car, club, radio, headphones, etc). The monitors that usually come to mind here are Yamaha HS50, JBL, Events, Alesis M1 Active. These are waaayyy better choices in this price range.If your only purpose is to just enjoy music... or produce music without really caring al that much about how it will translate when you pop the CD in your car.... then sure.. the BX5's or the KRK Rokit's are okay. They're good to listen to professional music on... professional music that';s already been mixed/mastered on much better speakers (ironically... probably the ones I mentioned above). But.. you will probably care about mixing. If not now... then you will soon, when you pop your CD in your car and wonder why the f-ck your bass drum is all over the place.... or your voice is so damn sharp it's piercing your ears. The reason is b/c you didn't hear this the first time... b/c your monitors didn't tell you that ur voice was too sharp. The car speakers are more unforgiving.The BX5's pump the bass too much, and don't provide accuracy in the mid/high range, where the vocal usually sits. They also feel muddy/jumbled in the mids. Not very clear. The KRK's from my memory are similar... but they seemed to drive the highs way too much, and the bass is difficult to hear. Granted thei'r 5 inch monitors... so u can't hear much bass anyway.... but the bass that you can hear feels like it overpowers the monitors too quickly. Just my opinion.I'd personally stay away from them for anything music related. You see/hear about them a lot b/c they are a marketing win for MAudio and KRK. They are not a sound engineering win by any means lol.---------- Post added at 05:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:44 AM ----------ps... i have the previous version of the BX5... not the brand new models they just came out with. I can't comment o nthe brand new model... however i'd still remain hesitatant, even if they state they improved them. If they claim they improved em... 1) that means they admit the first pair was a piece of crap.... so why should i trust the 2nd pair if they marketed the hell out of the first pair?.... 2) they are known for making budget gear that's only "useable" but usually is NOT the best choice at the price range. The exceptions would be the ProFire interfaces and the Oxygen midi controllers... those are in fact great valued purchases. However... there are often companies that make much better equipment for the same price.... they just don't have the proper advertising at Guitar Center or Sam Ash.
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great post - very informative- im in the market for a nice pair of home studio monitors and i think im being sold on the yamahas

---------- Post added at 09:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:29 AM ----------
61Key said:
the D2's LOL i didnt even know about those, i just googled them..
I was talking about the Bx5's and the Bx5a's.
Damn im behind alittle bit keeping up with new products but i have the internet now so im checking all the websites again lol D2's huh? damn. i bet they sound good though, cant see how they could be bad.
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wtf does this guy keep lol'ing about
 
monitors

Went to GC today to listen to the two monitors I was thinking about buying. One was the Yamaha 50's and the other was the Rokit 5's After listening to all the hype on line about both of these, I found the Yamaha 50's to sound like crap. They were way over the top on the high end and was lacking 95% of the bass. The Rokits just sounded like a boom box to me. What blew me away were the M-audio BX5 D2. They had the high's, mids and lows and it was a pure clean sound. I am going to be buying them because I thin they are the best monitor out there for under 400 a pair.
 
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acoustic58 said:
Went to GC today to listen to the two monitors I was thinking about buying. One was the Yamaha 50's and the other was the Rokit 5's After listening to all the hype on line about both of these, I found the Yamaha 50's to sound like crap. They were way over the top on the high end and was lacking 95% of the bass. The Rokits just sounded like a boom box to me. What blew me away were the M-audio BX5 D2. They had the high's, mids and lows and it was a pure clean sound. I am going to be buying them because I thin they are the best monitor out there for under 400 a pair.
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really? thats interesting man i might get a pair too
 
monitors

As you know from doing your own research, you can line up 10 people to listen to one pair of monitors all 10 people will give you feedback anywhere from, they are incredible to they suck. Everyone hears diff. things. i have been playing music for 30 plus years but that does not make me an expert on monitors but i am able to hear the diff between them and I also know what sounds good. What i wrote before was just my opinion.
 
Just make sure you listen to your tracks on multiple different speakers/headphones/cars/etc. That's honestly the best way in ensuring your song sounds good across the board
 
I personally would not buy any cheap ported studio monitors, any professional producer will tell you the same. I suggest if you don't have a whole lot of money just go with something sealed.
 
The longer you listen to a single pair of monitors, the more your ears adjust to them. So I don't think which brand you use really matters that much, though it is still important that you don't buy any cheap garbage monitors. I've actually found more positive reviews for the M-Audios than for the KRKs, but its all up to you.

The best piece of advice I can give is to use multiple mediums. Listen to a track on your monitors (whichever ones you choose to buy) and then take that mix and listen to it on regular computer speakers, a hi-fi system, your ipod with plain earbuds, and your car system. These are the mediums most folks will jam your music through. The more mediums you use, the more audio-perspectives your ears can work with to adjust the mix if necessary. I've never officially owned a pair of studio monitors except my studio headphones, but using this different mediums technique has improved my mixes.
 
^ While this is technically true of course.... it's honestly just too much got damn work lol. There's no other way I can put it.

Yes you can learn any pair and get good mixes out of it. But... there are certain monitors that are true in the sense that if the mix sounds good on medium A, it will also usually sound good on medium B and medium C. Of course you still wanna check your different mediums... but eventually you'll trust your true monitors more n more and not worry as much. The spot check will moreso just be for quality control as opposed to part of the actual mixing process itself to find what you need to tweak. That sh-t gets old real fast man. I been doing it for about 3-4 years now.

I'll be able to really let you know the truth in about 2-3 days. I finally sold enough old equipment to grab the Yamaha's and put my money where my mouth is. I'll report back on my findings as I usually do. If it's not in this thread... it'll be somewhere obvious. Might start a new thread for it. We'll see.
 
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