Correct Feed for Active Nearfields (or: ~!@#$%^&*)

  • Thread starter Thread starter mark4man
  • Start date Start date
mark4man

mark4man

MoonMix Studios
Man...

Somebody please kick my ragged ass !!!

Got my KRK Rockit8's about 6 months ago; & fed them (for some reason) with unbalanced RCA lines (1/4" TS > Coax.) Right away I thought they were kinda' on the LOUD side...had to set the hardware outs on my AI (Echo Audio Layla 24/96) nominally to -10dBv; & pull the output level down to -12dB (all the while setting the volume on the KRK's to -30dB...the bottom of the scale.)

Posted in a couple of gear forums; & other guys said: "yeah...I do that"...so I continued on my merry way.

Today I went out & got balanced lines & hooked them up.

The volume is not NEAR as loud.

The sound has more clarity, depth & openness (I've actually come to hate that term..."openness"...incidentally.)

Anyway...they sound 100% better !!!

So, with this being the case...why do they even outfit active systems with unbalanced hookups?

I AM doing it correctly now, right...this IS the way active nearfields were intended to be used, correct ??? It sounds so much better...it's gotta' be right.

Anybody have any thoughts on this (on KRK's or just in general)...did I discover something or just wake up?

Thanks,

mark4man
 
Now that you are running balanced lines you should bump the monitors back up to +4 and readjust the settings to suit the new gain structure.

They include the different hookups so the monitors can be used in a variety of situations.

I use a pair of KRK V4's as my small monitors, alongside Mackie HR824's. I love the V4's, they are not fatiguing at all and I spend a lot of time listening on them.
 
Albert...

Thanks, man.

Do you calibrate your monitors (& is there a surefire calibration method available anywhere)?

Merry Christmas,

mark4man
 
To calibrate monitors, I first turn the trim all the way down on each monitor, then bring the trim all the way up on my audio interface (in your case, the echo layla hardware outs, I believe), then slowly bring the trim on the monitors up until they are at a level you would want to monitor loudest at.
 
I use pink noise and radio shack digital sound pressure meter to calibrate. it gives me accurate results.
 
A while back I bought a disc on eBay for something like $10-12. It's called the "Lasertrak CD2000, professional audio system testing disc". It has a bunch of test tones, CD player diagnostics, and stereo system setup and testing, among other things. I've found it to be well worth the money.

If you want to find it, type "audio test" into the search on eBay and a bunch of test CD's will come up. I personally like the Lasertrack CD2000 that I have, but maybe one of the others will suit you better.

By running the test tones on the disc I was able to determine several problems and inaccuracies in my monitor setup, which I have since corrected. Ideally, you'd have a qualified sound tech come to your place with test instruments and analyze your room as well, but short of doing that, a test CD like this will be helpful.
 
you can try a measurement mic and some RTA software.

its dead simple.
approx $30-40 measurement mic
free trial or $10 full version Allen Heath RTA software
and an old pc computer w/ soundcard.

basically it plays Pink Noise out the soundcard thru your monitors
and the mic recieves it into the soundcard, the software plots it.
i have a few examples over on the DYN5A vs YSM1p thread.
this is entry level, like the Radio Shack SPL meter...but it works.
 
I'm about to get some monitors with bal/unbal inputs on them. Neither my mixer nor my soundcard have XLR outs, so is it going to make a huge difference in sound hooked up unbalanced?

If it is, is there a way to hook up a couple of direct boxes and run them balanced that way?
 
Venesectrix said:
I'm about to get some monitors with bal/unbal inputs on them. Neither my mixer nor my soundcard have XLR outs, so is it going to make a huge difference in sound hooked up unbalanced?

If it is, is there a way to hook up a couple of direct boxes and run them balanced that way?
Click to expand...

check your specs. you may have balanced 1/4" outputs. instead of XLR.

picture- note the three lead plugs, Balanced 1/4"
http://www.samash.com/catalog/showitem.asp?ItemID=21495
 
Thanks everybody...

Aprreciate the input. Like both ideas (test CD & SPL meters) & will sort it out.

Thanks again,

mark4man
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top