Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards The New KRK Rokit 10" 3 way monitors ...a quick review

Not on the pair I have, virtually silent.

I never heard any noise with my RP8's nor 10s. That's strange and disturbing. It sounds like it comes from both, so it's less likely to be just a bad speaker.

BTW, besides the noise, how is the sound when compared with your truths?

The S/N on each, or what I think is the S/N are fairly close, so could be from a bad run. However, when I google, there are various reports of noise issues with the Rokits. My studio is on the second floor, but when I lugged one downstairs (definitely on a different electrical circuit) same idle noise. I also tried plugging them into the same electrical outlet as the Behringers, and no difference.

I was concerned about the physical size, which is one reason for getting a pair of loaners. The size in the studio is OK. I quite like the sound, apart from the noise. I will be returning the loaners, and will then have to decide about ordering new pair (unopened box), and maybe getting lucky, with no noise issues.

Still, why are some having these issues, and others not? Poor quality control? Not instilling confidence.

Baffling. It's amazing that any speakers that cost more than $100 produce noticeable noise when they are not plugged in to any audio source. I had an M-Audio BX5 that would start out quietly but then develop a noise that got louder and louder over time as the speaker warmed up (whether attached to a sound source or not). It must be a hard thing somehow to make a quiet set of speakers.

People complain all the time about Behringers producing noise, but I think all monitors at reasonable price levels have QC problems, irrespective of brand. Low quality built-in amps maybe?

It's NOT hard to make a quiet set of speakers.
But it's very easy to make junk.

Its interesting there is a lot of noise of forums about Yamaha HS80m's producing a humming noise but mine don't but I have had noise from a $17k pair of Focal SM11's on some occasions. I don't pretend to know much about speakers and why they produce noise except I know what my ears tell me.

Monitoring from what distance? How quiet is your room?

Monitoring from what distance? How quiet is your room?

Dr Popper and gvfarns -

I'm trying to determine if the 10-3's I have are defective.

You both report "virtually silent" and "never heard any noise". As I wright this, I can hear the 10-3's from about 6 feet away, and that's over the noise of the computer. (The computer is a Mac Pro and pretty quiet, but still not silent).

What do you hear with your ear up to them?

Thanks,

Lawrence

Guys I have the HS 80's and I definitely have a low hiss coming from both speakers even with no cables connected and tried in a number of different outlets thru out the house-

Not very loud and not heard when playing even at low volumes--

Spoke to Yamaha and they acknowledge that it is there and is the amplifiers producing the VERY low hiss-

Now I use the monitors thru a mixer and I can increase the volume of the hiss if I do not have the gain set correctly on the mixer--again the hiss is not at all annoying but is definitely there and from what I have read on other forums seems all HS 80's exhibit this low hiss.

Jack

I no longer have my KRK's (sadly) but I used to have the RP8's (generation 1) and the 10S (also generation 1). I used balanced XLR cables to connect to my DP. I never noticed any extraneous sound at all, even sitting just a foot or two away in a silent room. I never put my ear all the way right up to it, but for practical purposes, I can say they were silent.

I've never owned monitors, but the comments, above, don't speak well of the low-cost kind.

I use a conventional 5.1 stereo receiver. With no inputs and volume set to maximum, I hear absolutely nothing from the speakers. With the mixer connected I get a very faint hum and hiss, barely audible. But I normally listen with the volume set to -40 dB, so that hum is 40 dB below barely audible. No problems at all.

With everything off and my ear up to them I can hear a slight noise but it isn't audible say 1 meter away unless I'm REALLY listening for it.

Thanks gvfarns and Dr Popper.

It would seem that the pair I have are defective, based on what you are saying.

When I spoke with the store they said "turn them down". Well, I had already tried that. Adjusting the volume control on the back of the monitors had no effect on the volume of the hiss. They then said that is because the control is only turning down the preamp stage, and the amp is running at full level.

I need to find another pair, even at another store, to see if I can get the quiet levels you guys are.

I of course, don't typically put my ear up to a monitor, but only did this to compare the Behringer with the KRK.

What a strange thing to say. What could they be referring to when they say "turn it down" besides the gain (i.e., preamp or volume) on the dial in the back?

They did understand you when you said that the noise happens even when it is not plugged in, right?

They did mean the control on the back of the monitor. Also, I did make it clear that the noise occurs even with no audio attached.

Basically, I was told (a) they've never had anyone make this complaint before, (b) the monitors are too large for my room, and (c) my room is too quiet for the monitors.

LOL @ C

I can't find a SNR spec for the RP10-3, but if it's "only" going to manage CD levels of dynamic range, then at 1 metre the background noise would be 113dB (the max rated SPL of this speaker) - 96dB = roughly 17dB SPL, which is definitely audible, but rather quiet. In this age of high definition audio though, you'd expect it to do considerably better than CD quality.

Greg.