KRK Rokit 7 Gen 5 Monitors Review

Video Review

First Impressions / Setting up

There are no surprises unboxing the fifth generation of this speaker. The one we looked at was the Rokit 7, which is the middle size, with the Rokit 5 being a smaller version and the Rokit 8 above them. These are pretty big though, and they’re quite heavy at 7 kilos each.

That said, they’ve had some tweaks to the way they look, with a smart front panel with switchable grills, one of which has actual physical covers for the speakers, making it easier to set them up in places where people might potentially damage them.

The speakers come with two foam wedges that can be put underneath them in three different ways, allowing them to be angled slightly up, slightly down, or just better isolated from whatever you put them on.

They also have a foam pad glued onto the bottom, if you just want to put them straight onto a surface, and four screws for mounting to a bracket as well. Positioning and room acoustics are going to make a big difference with these, as with any such speakers.

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Of course, KRK’s iconic yellow woofer is there, but if anything, it’s toned down a little bit from previous speakers. There’s a smart KRK logo that lights up on the front.

Around the back is the power on/off, the IEC cable input, a single dual balanced input with both TRS and XLR capability, and a small monochrome LED screen with a single rotary encoder that allows you to control the speaker, which we’ll look at shortly.

Once each individual speaker is plugged in and you’ve run a cable from your DJ controller, mixer (or whatever) to each speaker individually, you’re good to go.

In Use

You have three preset audio profiles here. One is designed for producers who need a completely flat frequency response, one more for general listening (and also, I would argue, DJing) that boosts the bass and cuts the mid-range a bit, and finally boosting the treble a bit towards the top end, and another that’s got a large boost for the mid frequencies, which would make sense for editing podcasts or dialogue of other types. They’re really easy to dial in using the LED on the back.

Once you have chosen an overall profile, you can tweak it further in the same way that you can on most monitors like this nowadays, by very slightly altering the low and high frequencies, the shelving, and so on. It’s designed to be “set and forget”, but it is pleasingly flexible at this price range.

There are a few other settings around the back, such as the brightness and contrast of the little screen itself, whether the standby function works (which will tell the speaker to listen for an audio input and automatically come out of sleep when it hears one), and whether the KRK logo on the front lights up or not. But they remain quite simple speakers to set up and use.

Audio quality-wise, we have no complaints. They’re loud. The bass has a lot of clarity and also goes low due to the cabinet size – it’s physics, of course. There’s maybe a slight lack of distinction in the low-mid frequencies when you’re in flat mix mode and being picky, but honestly, for the price, they sound very good indeed. I could happily DJ on these long-term. Plus, I think KRK might have done something to the tweeters, because these certainly sound a little smoother than I remember from a previous test on similar speakers.

It’s worth pointing out that these are Class D amplified. If that doesn’t mean much to you, Class D amplification is a modern way of powering speakers that runs cool, and with developments in DSPs, nowadays it can sound just as good as older designs.

However, if you prefer the older Class A/B amplified speakers, KRK still makes the Classics, which are an A/B amplified series. Gets hotter, probably uses more power, but has a slightly different sound, which you may prefer.

Conclusion

Due to their size and general inflexibility (ie no Bluetooth, Airplay, range of inputs, multiroom etc), you’ll know if this is the kind of speaker you’re looking for: These are a serious tool, not a home all-rounder. They also need careful positioning, whether that’s mounting them, putting on stands, or having them at the correct height some other way for your ears – and although the provided foam pads help, it is something you’re going to have to think about.

And of course, the model we tested (Rokit 7s) are quite big, so these are better used in medium-sized rooms (they were way too big for our studio, for instance). In smaller rooms, the Rokit 5s would be a better choice.

But ultimately, these are speakers designed to be used for one specific purpose, which is making your DJ practice studio or your DJ/producer studio sound really good, and generally, they’re intended to be wired in permanently for that job.

While KRK does have another range higher up and therefore more expensive than these, the Rokits have always been a good value speaker, and these newest ones carry on that trend with the notable addition of the grille, which makes them more versatile.

While I wouldn’t recommend using these as mobile DJ speakers or out-and-out party speakers, if you did want to use them, for instance, in a DJ booth as monitors, they could function really well there.

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Likewise, in schools or other public places where people maybe don’t treat their speakers as well as they should, or even at home, inviting a few people around and having a house party, I think they could deal with it – which is something I’ve not said about this kind of monitor speaker before.

All in all, we enjoyed reviewing these, and we can recommend them.