Monitors riddle... can you figure it out?

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musixgood

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I have 2 pairs of monitors:

KRK Rokit 5 G2
Alesis M1 Active 520 75W (not USB)

I live in a rectangular dorm room with limited padding/cushioning to absorb and trap sound. My desk/monitors face the shorter side of the room mainly because that's where the outlets are.
This is my "workspace" in front of my desk. Reflecting tile flooring and dry wall

img1344h.jpg


Worst of all, the desk I have to resort to using is this:

img1342h.jpg


img1343y.jpg


When I position the KRK's further into corners of the desk (where I originally place my Alesis 520's) they just sound terrible. Even though the setup looks great and less awkward, the sound is everything bad you'd expect from placing monitors into corners.

img1345as.jpg


On the other hand, my Alesis 520s work great with this setup, since they have an "acoustic space" switch to compensate for the sound being reflected in the corner etc. The KRK's don't. I'm not eager to let go of the KRKs yet since they do seem to be THE entry-level monitors that people drool over (and I got them as B-stock pairs for only $200 from MF, Alesis 520s new cost $185), but I'm not sure as to how to get good sound from them in my current setup.

So the "riddle"... what can I do?? The main issue here is the desk. Hacking the top hood off of the it would probably get me in some deep trouble with the housing office (although if they never find out...). Or would dropping a carpet in my workspace do much? I will upload more pics of the room later for reference, but hopefully this explains my situation.

-EDIT-
I realize the pictures aren't showing up [if you really want to see, right click + copy url]... hopefully I explained it clear enough
 
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Well, you're in a crappy situation, depending on allowances to room changes, I'd put as many rugs as possible on the tile floor, maybe a couple on the wall and if you could try to get your monitors facing the longer side of the room as it would give more time for the sound to disperse. I imagine you wouldn't be allowed to do any real acoustic treating as they may consider that being "permanent"

I've got a pair of KRK's and I think they're great. I listened to the alesis 520's and I remember them having a very piercing hi end, plus they have rear bass ports which will cause bass build up as it bounces from the rear wall back to the front, where the KRK's have front firing ports that come right at you to give an accurate bass response.

Just do what you can do and make it as easy and quick to take down as it was to put up.

Good Luck!
 
+1 rugs

Your perception might just be the frequency range difference of the two monitors.

Alesis 520's = 56 Hz - 20kHz = weight 13 lbs = Watts HF 25W / LF 50W
KRK 5 G2's = 53 Hz - 20kHz = weight 13.8 lbs = Watts HF 15W / LF 30W

Not as dramatic as it could be I guess. Spec wise, they're almost identical. A little more heft to the KRKs, which should boost it's perceived bass abilities. In that range, 3Hz is significant, but not really as much as you seem to indicate. Basically rugs. Maybe some carpet or something right behind the monitors. Keep the reflections behind you and of the weaker variety. Otherwise extension cords and power strips should get you where ever in the room you desire.
 
Well I knew about the slight freq difference b/w the two beforehand. I meant to say the KRK's sound muddy even on mid to high frequencies w/o an acoustic space switch the Alesis 520s have (not sure how, but they DO adjust well for placement in corners). Given the time, I'll work the room arrangement to the long end and possibly find foam/rug to throw around.

But just out of curiosity, the general vote would be to keep the KRK's? Simple reason why would be good too, at this point starting out I can't seem to really tell yet.
 
The KRKs are more popular and will likely keep their value better. Plus they use less power so when you're paying that part of the bill because it's not part of the rent package, getting to splurge on hot pockets instead of ramen is a good thing. Or if you're in a ratty old trailer that has limits or quirks on how much power you can draw from a single socket.

The Alesis's were probably money on the bonfire when they were purchased. Not that they're bad by any means, just not that popular IMO. In part because some of their other gear is not known for it's reliability traits. Better than some other brands, but not a rock in a mud slide either.
 
Some of the difference might also be the specs. One's a lie, the other isn't. Or they're measured by different means. You might try an HPF on the content near 200Hz and see how similar the KRKs sound to the 520s with THAT content. Not that that is how you want your results to be. Just a test to see why / how the 520s sound the way they do. Relative to the KRKs.
 
Also remember that a studio monitor is not supposed to sound good, it's supposed to sound like whatever is going into it. When I listened to the KRK's everything sounded even to me, nothing jumped out, Bass, mid or treble, When I heard the Alesis I immediately moved my head when I heard the hi freq's, The mid's were jumping out as well. I asked the guy if they had a loudness switch on and he said they didn't have one......
 
Thanks for input, I'll probably be returning the Alesis soon. Guess I got too attached to them after blasting dubstep on them for the first time hehe. Now that I think about it, the mids and highs did seem pretty exaggerated...

Here's the last question I have then... would it be better for me to just get a good pair of headphones (i.e. ATH-M50) given the harsh acoustic conditions? I currently use Sennheiser HD202's which work OK.
 
It can help, to be nice to your neighbors. But you'll want to know how the stereo image behaves outside of headphones. I had an issue where the editing software was shifting the timing of L relative to R to the point of being in full phase reversal half the time for a 40+ minute take. Something which you wont notice on headphones because L and R don't mix. On the ever so slightly scale like mine was, the low end suffers. On the more extreme end it shows up as a sort of echo effect. Basically you want to be able to hear how the mix mixes with itself. So while headphones can help with the balancing of most instruments. It does little for the mixing of a stereo image.

Sony 7506
ATH-M50
Senn HD280
Grado's
Stax's
And others are good things to have.

Head-Fi.org - Headphone forums and reviews for audiophiles
 
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