KRK

2009 NAMM Show: At last year’s NAMM show, we were impressed by the technology behind KRK’s ERGO (Enhanced Room Geometry Optimization) room correction system.

It’s a system that automatically measures the acoustics of your listening room and adjust/corrects the output of your monitors to compensate. (See our video demo of the KRK ERGO system).

Just in time for this year’s show, KRK Systems has announced worldwide availability of ERGO. (It was originally expected in April of 2008). The ERGO system retails for $799.

Got bass?

Propellerhead software has announced the 2008 Bassline Battle.

Reason 4 are invited to put together the funkiest, illest, baddest bassline and drum beat combinations for a chance to win grand prizes, provided by Propellerhead Software, Focusrite, KRK and Novation.

Entering the battle is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Use the Reason Electric Bass ReFill, or the Electric Bass demo ReFill available for download here, to create a killer bassline. For competition purposes, your funky masterpiece must conform to the following guidelines:

• It must consist of Bass, Drums and Percussion only
• It must be based on the Reason Electric Bass ReFill (full or demo version)
• It can not use third party ReFills or self-contain samples
• It must be 8 bars long

2. When you are done, upload your bassline as a Reason .rns song file. You can upload up to three separate basslines. You have until November 24 to upload.

3. When submission time is over, it’s time for the Reason user community to rate the basslines. The top 10 basslines will proceed to a final round. In the final round, the top 10 submissions will be rated by our superstar artist panel consisting of Mocean Worker, Arabian Prince, Chaka Blackmon, DJ Babu and Mix Master Mike. The winners will be announced on December 19th. Read more…

KRK Systems launched the second generation of their industry-standard Rokit monitor.

The second generation Rokit incorporates several technologies from the company’s flagship VXT and E8B lines, including radically radiused edges along the front of the cabinet. The new Rokits replace the current Rokit 5″, 6″ and 8″ models.

I’ve got a pair of Rokit in the Synthtopia studio, and have found them to offer great sound for their price.

The new Rokits leverage KRK’s research and development into baffle design and fabrication. The Rokit G2’s curved front baffle was engineered to minimize diffraction of high-frequencies, resulting in a sweet spot that is significantly larger than products with square or lightly rounded baffles. The baffle also houses a molded front-facing bass port that minimizes low-frequency phase distortion and unwanted frequency emphasis typical of rear-facing bass ports. The end result is a harmonious yet accurate blend of low and high-frequency components that result in a more accurate speaker. Additionally, the Rokit G2’s voicing has been slightly enhanced to provide even better mix clarity and precision.

The new Rokit G2’s have a MAP price of $149, $199 and $249 for the 5, 6 and 8 inch versions, respectively. They are available now.

One of the most interesting introductions at NAMM this year wasn’t a synth or new control surface, but KRK’s ERGO – a digital room analysis and correction system.

ERGO analyzes and compensates for bad room acoustics, which can negatively effect your mixes.

The unit connects to a computer via Firewire when it is performing its room analysis, but since all correction processing resides in ERGO, no overhead is needed from the computer audio system. This means that ERGO can function in pure analog systems since it can work as a stand-alone room correction/speaker control unit after room analysis is complete.

Acoustic treatment room correction isn’t as sexy as a new synth, but it can make a big improvement in your mixes.

ERGO is $799, but you can expect this technology to drop in price in the next few years and become a standard part of home studios.

At the Winter NAMM Show, KRK announced ERGO, a digital room analysis and correction system. ERGO (Enhanced Room Geometry Optimization) aims to improve your studio mixing space by correcting for real world acoustic problems.

ERGO analyzes and compensates for undesirable room acoustics which can negatively impact audio mixdowns. The unit connects to a computer via Firewire when it is performing its room analysis, but since all correction processing resides in ERGO, no overhead is needed from the computer audio system. This means that ERGO can function in pure analog systems since it can work as a stand-alone room correction/speaker control unit after room analysis is complete.

In addition to room correction, ERGO also acts as a speaker switcher and master volume control. It is also a 4-in, 6-out Firewire audio interface with 120dB SNR digital-to-analog converters and phase-accurate signal processing.

KRK also incorporates Firewire and S/PDIF input for digital connections to DAWs such as Pro Tools and other systems.

We were able to check this out at the NAMM Show and were impressed with the technology, but the price will probably scare a lot of people off. KRK emphasized that the ERGO wasn’t a replacement for an acoustically treated room, but instead was the next best thing.

ERGO will be available on April 2008 at a retail price of $799.