Active speaker help

[pidgeonbeats]

I have recently purchased a KRK rokit 6, having been impressed with it used as a dj/production monitor by friends. However i'm struggling to reach its potential.

roberts digital radio to krk

Using the 3.5mm line-out on my Roberts digital radio means I have to use the volume control on the back of the speaker, annoying. Also with the volume turned completely down at the back of speaker you can still hear the volume all be it pretty low. With the volume turned fully up it's not even close to being as loud as it should be. These things should crank

Using the radios 3.5mm headphone socket allows me to control the volume directly through the radio which is much better and the volume reaches its potential. But surely a line-out was made for connecting to speakers, no?

laptop to krk

The same goes for connecting my friends ipods and my laptop to the krk. The volume is limited when going from my eithert 3.5mm to the KRK

How can I reach my KRK's potential. I have read about DACs and pre-amps. Do i need one of these? Would be nice having a bass or eq control for the KRK.

I have stacks of my Nans vinyl that I would like to play through the KRK from a technics 1210...would this require a DAC?

Also the back of my KRK has three outputs. RCA unbalanced or balanced TR and XLR...what should i be using?

I have a very tight budget...perhaps an old dj mixer would help resolve some of these issues?

Sorry for my gross lack of knowledge, rookie

 

[Overdose]

You will need a preamp for connecting multiple sources and to also provide for a centralised volume control. The volume knob on the back of the monitors is more for trimming the volume to suit the source connected, to provide a suitable base line for volume. It should be set to '0' to start with.

The connections at the back of the monitor are inputs and you will need to connect to the unbalanced input if using unbalanced sources on their own.

A pro audio preamp will probably give the option of balanced or unbalanced connection, with balanced having the advantage of a higher gain than unbalanced, so would sound louder for any given volume setting.

A DAC would only be neccessary if connecting a digital source that did not have its own internal DAC.

 

[Richard Allen]

Further to what overdose has said and also your comments as regards DJ mixers, the KRK is a pro monitor and as overdose says, the volume controls on the back are essentially trimpots.

Best way you can drive these is with a DJ mixer as it is the cheapest option with phono stages built in to at least 2 of the channels and you also get the benefit of a balanced output and also 3 band EQ.

Cheapest on a budget I would say is a KAM mixer. I have had bad experiences with Pioneer DJM600s in club situations so I'm tempted to stay away from them.

Sound quality from these mixers is really quite good considering the price level. Take a trip to your nearest DJ shop and have a listen. If you use a KAM, a Stanton or Pickering MM cartridge is an ideal match for the 1210.

 

[Willferox]

I'd get something like a Cambridge Audio DACMAGIC. It will have sufficient inputs for radio etc, as well as volume controller. It will also improve sound quality greatly.

If you go down the DAC route, look into other dacs with volume controller. I use an Arcam irDAC with a separate volume pot. It sounds amazing.

 

[davedotco]

I'd get something like a Cambridge Audio DACMAGIC. It will have sufficient inputs for radio etc, as well as volume controller. It will also improve sound quality greatly.

If you go down the DAC route, look into other dacs with volume controller. I use an Arcam irDAC with a separate volume pot. It sounds amazing.

No analogue inputs on the Dacmagic plus, so not ideal, particularly if you want to play vinyl.

The cheapest dac preamp I know that also has analogue inputs is this.....

The Aune X1, usb, optical and rca digital plus one pair of analogue inputs, pre amp function but sadly no remote control.

That said it is only £135 (ish) from online UK retailers.