monitor showdown at the studio!
so tonight i rigged up both sets of speakers and did a head-to-head A/B comparison between the Wharfedale 8.2 and the KRK ST6. the results? i'm not so sure....
the very first thing i noticed when comparing them directly is that the stereo imaging on the ST6 seems WAY better. at first i thought maybe i was having some type of phase problem, but really the KRKs were putting me IN the music, tremendous depth. i don't know if it's because of the amp or the speakers, but compared to the Wharfedales, i can hear things i didn't realize were there in some of my reference material, the panning became much more obvious. the ST6 also seemed "easier" to listen to, the highs and high mids seem a bit smoother, and when switching back to the Wharfedales, i could tell that they did seem a bit fatiguing to my ears compared to the KRKs.
my earlier statement that the KRKs have better bass response was just based upon testing the KRKs for a brief moment on my home stereo to make sure they worked OK. turns out my home stereo probably just had hyped bass. in direct comparison, the low end on both speakers seemed pretty similar, with the ST6 maybe being slightly more defined, and the 8.2s being a bit boomier.
the KRKs i think could use a bit more focus in the highs, but to me i found them much easier to listen to than the Wharfedales. but does that make them more accurate? damned if i know! but i get the feeling i could sit in front of these things for hours and probably not get my ears worn out too quickly.
even without the crystal clear highs, i could hear very intricate details on the ST6, such as body noise from an
acoustic guitar recording, stuff that wasn't entirely apparent to me before. i'd classify the overall sound as being smooth, with the 8.2s seeming to have a "bump" somewhere in the mids (couldn't tell you exactly where) in comparison. also, the ST6 sounded better at lower volumes compared to the 8.2s, but at higher volumes they're comparable.
an interesting note on the 8.2s is that it seems like i could hear compressor "pumping" better on them compared to the St6, maybe the 8.2s could be good for mastering?
i get the feeling that maybe with a better amp (using a Crest CKS200 right now) like a Bryston or something, the KRKs could be even better, and remain as keepers even after a significant monitor upgrade. i'm not sure if i feel the same about the 8.2s as of right now. but i'll continue to work with them for now and see how the actual mix translations come out. i don't think my ears are really that good anyway, so take this "shootout" with a grain of salt. i could be completely off base here!
References include songs from:
- Tenacious D - Tenacious D
- Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (this album actually has some dynamics!)
- The Confession - Requiem
- Deftones - White Pony (love the mix on Digital Bath)
- Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First
- A Perfect Circle - The Thirteenth Step
- Sublime - Sumblime
for the $1000 range monitors, i'm definitely not gonna go used though, 
