Korg Forums

Loaf Bloke · Joined: 23 May 2018 Posts: 1

Ok so I have a Korg Kronos 2 and I wanna get good audio equipment to match it, I don't preform or anything so speakers are not a must, Right now I'm looking at the Beyerdynamic DT 880 PRO 250 Ohm and for a Speaker I'm looking at the Spacestation. What would be the best option for getting the best sound quality, Also with the headphones should I have any additional equipment such as an AMP? and I heard some audio ports on the Kronos give better sound than the headphone jack on the front, Is this true if so, what port should I use instead? If you guys can think of better equipment than what I listed I'm all ears, I want top notch equipment to match my Kronos.

GregC

davekalbach · Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 1:04 pm Post subject:

I was wondering the same thing. Currently I'm set up through an older Peavey mixer and simple Sony stereo amp out to two stage monitors.

I am likely going to scrap the mixer and the amp and just go with a powered monitor.

So far I like the Yamaha HS8.

Does anyone have any experience with these? I was originally thinking a JBL, but the Yamaha sounded much better
_________________
Dave Kalbach
Music Newbie
Bear with Me Smile

Kronos 2, Pa5X, Drumlogue, Stageman 80, Korg D32XD Recorder
Many Guitars, Roland TD-6 V-Drums, a Trumpet (HELP)
And a Kimball Baby Grand Piano

ChrisDuncan · Senior Member Joined: 17 May 2018 Posts: 389

I have a full studio built out downstairs but I wanted to put the Kronos in my living room. I'm a recovering guitarist who's in the process of getting keyboard chops, so I wanted it to be convenient to just walk up and play. So, I needed another set of monitors. Nothing fancy, just decent quality for playing.

I went with some inexpensive Mackie powered monitors, the MR524s, for the living room. $300 for the pair.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MR524--mackie-mr524-5-inch-powered-studio-monitor

As Greg alluded to, studio reference monitors are a fairly deep rabbit hole. You can get good quality sound for relatively little money, or you can spend $5000 on a pair of Genelecs. There are a ton of good options from cheap to pricey.
_________________
Studio: Cubase 13 | Windows 10 | Yamaha TF5 | Mackie MCU | CMC AI, QC
Keyboard Station: Kronos 2 88 | Fantom 7 | JV 2080 | Cubase 13 | Windows 10 | Focusrite 18i20 | CMC TP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Duncan
Atlanta, GA, USA, Earth

voip · Platinum Member Joined: 27 Nov 2014 Posts: 3776

Internally, the audio sources for the Kronos' L and R signal outs and headphone output come from the same points, which are the main volume pot sliders. The signals for the headphone out and L and R outs have different amplifier stages, optimised for the loads they are driving. Essentially, the headphone amplifier total harmonic distortion figure is less than 0.0003% at reasonable listening volume, and frequency response goes well beyond the upper limit for human hearing, so there are no compromises there. The audio quality will, in reality, be set by the headphones themselves.

The main difference between the main L & R outs and individual outputs 1 to 4 is that the individual outs are not controlled by the main volume pot, so are always at line level. It's possible that, in some situations, these outputs might be perceived to be better quality than main L & R, but any difference will almost certainly be down to the noise in the user's audio chain and the gain distribution. In some cases, the individual outs could actally sound worse than main L & R, if any part of the audio chain that follows goes into distortion. Aim to keep the main volume level at around the 12 o'clock mark, or higher, for main L & R into a line level mixer or powered speakers. This may be too loud for some headphones so, of course, adjust volume to suit.

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Xenophile · Senior Member Joined: 14 Nov 2017 Posts: 349

+1 on a pair of powered near-field monitors.
I have a pair of old KRK Rokit 5's and they sound great for home use.

I also have a Spacestation that I sometimes use for gigging. It is not true stereo, and I haven't been able to get a sound that I'm happy with for the Kronos.

Rich Z · Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 4:13 pm Post subject:

Heck, I had all the components for a 7.2 home theater audio system being unused, so I just set that up to run my Kronos through. Using a mixer to put other components through too, which helps me balance everything. I did disable the center speaker as it caused odd audio results, but all in all, when I piddle on the keyboard, the sound really fills the room. The two subwoofers really enhance the bass response something wonderful, but it did take some tinkering to keep them from overpowering the room.

davekalbach · Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 8:26 pm Post subject:

I just came across a pair of Yamaha MSR 100's.

From what I understand these are a powered monitors for use with a PA setup. Probably decent for gigging (which I am NOT going to do)

Any ideas how this might work in a home studio environment?

Does anyone know of these speakers??

Yamaha MSR 100
https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/speakers/msr100/index.html
_________________
Dave Kalbach
Music Newbie
Bear with Me Smile

Kronos 2, Pa5X, Drumlogue, Stageman 80, Korg D32XD Recorder
Many Guitars, Roland TD-6 V-Drums, a Trumpet (HELP)
And a Kimball Baby Grand Piano

soarsco · Joined: 29 Jun 2021 Posts: 27

For my 60 year old ears, I find Beyerdynamic anything piercing and tiring to listen to. If you are in the Beyer sounds good camp, then not an issue. My ears prefer phones like Senn HD700, AKG712, and recently I have been trying HIFImann 5xx planar phone ( don't like them as much as the other 2 but they are OK ).

For speakers ( 99% of the time I'm wearing phones ) I just run through my PC systems audio. Does not do justice but OK for as little as I use it.

Everything goes through my Yamaha MG10XU