WORK

The busier we get as creatives, the greater the need for portability and flexibility in our mix environment. Unfortunately, deadlines stop for no one, and we might find ourselves making mix revisions in untreated rooms, or needing to record an idea whenever inspiration may strike. Traditionally, professional monitoring is a bulky and complicated prospect, and while brands like KRK have built their fair share of solid, robust, larger footprint monitors used in studios all over the world, they’re also assisting at the opposite end of the spectrum.

KRK’s GoAux monitor’s 3” or 4” woofers are coupled with a 1” soft textile dome tweeter. They’re a bi-amplified two-way design, so the frequency response is shared across the two speakers for more clarity. The included stands help to decouple the speakers from wherever they’re placed, as well as angling them towards your ears to prevent standing waves bouncing directly off a back wall. Their small size means you can have consistent clarity wherever you may be working, be it in a treated studio, hotel room or in transit.

The GoAux system is easy to set up, requiring a single power cable to be daisy chained to power both speakers. Input is quick, and the built-in high and low frequency EQ lets you quickly tweak to a preferable sound on the go. The GoAux system doesn’t take up much space - a godsend in a world where creativity can strike at the worst times - but allows us to be set up quickly without clearing away the synths, laptops, hardware and coffee cups that inspire creativity. The RCA input allows for better connectivity to things like DJ controllers or decks, both analogue and digital, while the USB allows you to connect directly from a laptop or desktop. The Aux In allows additional channels like a phone, sampler or other instrument to be connected as well. While being designed as a reference monitor, the KRK GoAux speakers are by no means sterile or unpleasant to listen to, as some other monitors can be. They’re pleasing and enjoyable, while still offering a true reflection of the sound they’re playing back. This is all to say that the GoAux’s are equally useful at home as a personal listening speaker as they are a reference monitor for critical listening and fine-tuning an arrangement or mix.

The GoAux 3 and 4 speakers connect via Bluetooth, RCA or ⅛” auxiliary, with the GoAux 4 also accepting balanced 1/4” TRS, or USB Type-B. The woofers are constructed from woven glass aramid, also known as kevlar, an increasingly common material for speaker cones because of its durability, as well as its ability to accurately reproduce precise frequency information. Both the GoAux 3 & 4 have a crossover at 2.5kHz before the 1” soft textile dome tweeter takes over. The ABS plastic speaker cabinets are ported at the rear for a clear bass response, the GoAux 3 reaching down to 60Hz while the 4 accurately reproducing down to 55Hz.

The GoAux’s are powered by a bi-amplified class D amplifier, and both systems boast a negligible < 0.2% THD+N of system distortion from 45Hz up to 20kHz. A little investigation into the input options for the GoAux reveal them as a great companion for the electronic music producer. Having RCA and USB input isn’t all that common on modern monitors, let alone for something as portable and practical as the GoAux. All this is before we’ve even discussed the ARC system available with the KRK GoAux 4’s.

The GoAux 4’s include a measurement microphone and ARC system, and thus the KRK GoAux’s can be optimised for any room you’re working in. The Auto ARC microphone input allows the speaker’s internal processing to do a frequency sweep of the room, figure out any shortfalls or buildups in the space and correct them for playback. What this means, besides treating your room per se, is that you’ll be listening back to a consistent sound wherever you are. Different rooms are constructed from different materials, meaning that sounds bounce around differently and accumulate uniquely, as well as rooms having their own resonances that gives rooms a ‘sound’ as the sum of all these parts. The ARC System included with the GoAux 4’s helps eliminate this, and it’s all bundled up together in a handy carry pack, with stands included, strung across your shoulder at just 3.15kg or 4.3kg for the 3 and 4 respectively.

The GoAux 3 and 4 are a producer’s best friend. They’re reliable, consistent and offer the accuracy of monitors far beyond the GoAux’s size. KRK’s history of reference monitoring speaks volumes, and the GoAux speakers are no different to any of the other famed products in their range. Easily transportable in the included carry bag, lightweight and robust for travelling, the GoAux kit also includes a reference microphone for quickly measuring and treating a room so you can make revisions with confidence, while listening back to monitoring you know and trust. The rear-ported cabinets provide great clarity in the bottom end, aided further by the shared load of the biamp design and woven glass aramid woofers. Permanently set up, bulky monitoring is a great thing to have when you’re home, but a busy creative is often on the move, and the KRK GoAux’s move with you.