Rokit monitors + rokit sub

[Barnelby]

So I was checking out the recent post about rokit speakers and ideal room size and what not:

 

 

http://www.logicprohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=67026

 

 

Someone mentioned that in a smaller room smaller monitors provide an ample amount of bass. Seems pretty obvious, sure...However; I produce trance and downtempo electronic where bass tones and levels are crucial, so when I got the cash several months ago I threw down on the rokit sub.

 

I currently work in a small bedroom where, after reading the post about the rokits, I realize now that I should possibly reconsider having the sub blowin' and goin' all the time to see what the 5's have to say about the bass, but I am about to move into a MUCH larger basement area where I have a feeling the 5's may not cut it anymore...

 

So David said in that post that it's better to use a high quality 5 inch speaker than a cheaper 8. I would think that this would especially hold true with a good sub, right?

 

I would think that if the 8s were providing a good amount of their own bass then using the rokit sub might be a little extreme...unless the room was huge?

 

Has anyone out there tried different configurations with different monitors (rokits or not) and the rokit sub and even different rooms?

 

What would be a logical upgrade from the rokit 5s in terms of quality if I'm gonna be in a larger room with the sub?

 

 

Did I ask enough questions?

 

[druu]

I was in the same situation and sold my 2.1 Samson Rubicon setup for 2x Yamaha HS80M's and haven't looked back.

 

I went all out, really digging into acoustics, etc and treating my room with bass traps and currently have eight surrounding my setup now. As soon as I installed the HS80's I then realised that having a sub can cause all sorts of grief in a small room. The HS80's were much easier to manage with room tuning and now I have a much flatter response.

 

Some smaller monitors will be fine no doubt but in the case of both of us, I believe the larger monitors are so much easier to work with for electronic 'bass' music (I produce drum and bass so really needed low end). As you'll probably read, most of the cheaper 5" monitors will roll off around 100hz, some a little lower. Initially this left me to reference with some Beyer DT-250 headphones for anything below that.

 

I personally think you'll benefit from 'full range' monitors for that type of music and even mixing at lower levels (as to not excite room modes too much) you'll find your mixes may translate easier.

 

Just my thoughts, but of course you could go into a store and listen to a bunch of monitors of different sizes. Going from 5" to 8" in my case was like night and day. Oh and my suggestion is to avoid using a sub! Too much of a headache to tune right in smaller rooms!

[jazzyjoepass]

I've just updated the post that you mentioned back there ... and forgot to mention some other stuff.

 

I built a demo showroom for a pal of mine who was distributing Nords and we had grief with the smaller KRKs Rokits and even the VXTs ....

 

With program material that had lots of unexpected peaks, especially with synths, the KRKs clipped terribly when it was moderately pushed. In the end we couldn't even use them to demo any of the Nords. We moved to cheap no name monitors and things improved tremendously. I would also include that even Genelecs 8030s (from our studio room) had slight problem with the material.

 

I've come to the conclusion that physics is at play here. No matter what ingenious design behind the speakers, size is dominates the bass parameter here. You can never beat 8" versus a 5" for bass freq.

 

Also do note that manufacturers tend to dedicate better components to larger monitors - eg. smaller monitors tend to have lower watt amplifiers. Compare the VXT6 and VXT8 - a 60W difference at the LF stage. Especially with material that has not been mastered, compressed or limited, you'll have trouble with the limited headroom these smaller monitors allow.

 

The answer here is not to give you the solution to your problem cos everybody has different opinions about them; their room, requirements and experiences are different. But an education based on our experiences. Making an educated decision will minimise your purchasing grief.