KRK GoAux4 Portable Monitor Speaker System Review

Video Review

First Impressions / Setting up

Firstly, the marketing department needs someone to have a word with them. I’ll save you the pleasure, but promo shots for budget monitors featuring a bearded producer making music are fine, but when he’s spread out across multiple seats on a private jet with the product artfully set up on his tray table… nah. It doesn’t make me – or I am going to guess 99% of target buyers – want to buy these. We’ll move swiftly past that faux pas though and on to the speakers themselves.

What the GoAux4 – the bigger of two models in the GoAux range – remind me the most of are the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro Monitor speakers, and if you know that model, you know these: Portable desktop monitors in moulded ABS with supplied adjustable angled stands for easy positioning, a primary/secondary speaker configuration, and a range of inputs including Bluetooth. They’re a speaker designed for the DJ or producer on the go, who needs semi-decent monitoring wherever they work – yes, I guess even on private jets.

They’re instantly recognisable as KRK with the yellow woofer, 4″ in this case, along with a 1″ fabric dome tweeter, both speakers being behind tough black metal grilles. These units are rear ported, but the front of the primary (left-hand) speaker has a convenient on/off button and volume knob combined, plus a headphones socket and a socket for the tuning mic (more on that later – it’s a big feature).

Because these are a primary/secondary design, the left-hand speaker has all the features, the right being just a passive speaker, connected to the left with a supplied 4.5 metre cable. There are five types of input: 1/8″ minijack (aux in), RCA, TRS, USB audio (USB type B) and Bluetooth. This makes them super-flexible, and it’s unusual to see a speaker able to accept USB audio directly from a laptop.

Around the back of the primary speaker there are also low and high frequency boost and cut buttons (+2dB, flat, or -3dB) with indicator LEDs, and a power on/off switch. Speaking of power, we loved the fact that the transformer is built in to the speaker, meaning it doesn’t come encumbered with a power brick, just a simple mains cable.

We also loved the supplied stands, which are a simple design that you can nonetheless set to nine possible positions angling up, or – if you need to – down. They come with sturdy screws to attach them to the speakers (no tools needed) when setting up, and are just as quick to fold away.

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Everything tucks into a pretty decent branded black padded case, which has both hand and shoulder carrying straps.

To set them up, you position them, add your choice of input, plug in and turn on. Alternatively, Bluetooth pairs in the usual way, with a pairing button tucked around the back of the primary speaker.

In Use

Since its launch we’ve been big fans of the IK Multimedia iLoud Micro monitor, but for only slightly more money, these take it up a notch. Just like the IK model, these sound decent for the size (they’re Class D amplified, similar specs), but these have more inputs, stands that can position the speakers at more angles, no inconvenient external power brick, and – crucially – auto room correction (ARC) tuning.

What ARC does is allow you to plug a (supplied) microphone into the mic socket on the front of the primary speaker, and on pressing a button, have the speakers emit a range of tones, which it uses to tune themselves to the space. Hotel room, spare bedroom, corner of living room – wherever you’re producing or practising, the acoustics will be different, so having this on portable speakers makes loads of sense. Just position the mic where your head will be, and it tunes the DSP to that spot.

We tested in two places: The Digital DJ Tips main studio (a smallish and acoustically “dead” space) and my desk at home in the corner of my living room (all hard surfaces, glass and wood, lots of reverb). In both instances – but especially the second – tuning the monitors with ARC made an audible improvement to the sound.

So, the sound. Here’s the truth: It doesn’t matter how many bells and whistles you pack into a monitor speaker, size counts. The bottom line is that bigger speakers make better bass – and these are not big speakers. With their DSP, room tuning and rear port, these speakers sound decent for the size, but inevitably the bass is lacking a bit, and there is a boxy, hollowness to the sound, a lack of fullness. Compared to similarly sized speakers, they’re fine – just don’t expect them to defy the laws of physics or give that “wow” factor on powering up.

Apart from that, they are detailed and distortion-free, and plenty loud enough for the purpose. We didn’t experience any hum or excessive background hiss, which can sometimes be a problem with this type of speaker.

Conclusion

So who exactly are these for? After all, for around the same cash you could buy a pair of KRK Rokit RP5 G4s, also with DSP room tuning, and a much fuller, better sound. But the crucial things here are convenience and portability – which is where the GoAux4s win in spades.

With three analogue wired inputs plus Bluetooth and a digital input, excellent and flexible stands, and a carry case supplied, the very specific use case here is producers, musicians and DJs on the go. You wouldn’t want to use these as primary studio monitors, but as a secondary, “touring” pair, they’re excellent.

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I can also see these being a hit with non-touring DJs who have a small space to practise in and really can’t fit bigger monitors, especially if these would also be used as general speakers too.

The range of inputs including Bluetooth and computer means you could plug all your devices permanently into them, controlling everything from the convenient on/off/volume knob on the front – even plugging in your headphones when it’s time to listen without disturbing others. They’d be more convenient than more dedicated monitors.

Finally, the stands are actually useful, because they angle quite a lot up or even down (most such stands only angle the speakers a little), meaning it’s easier to get the speakers into the right positions for optimum listening than any others I can think of.

If you like the look of them, and the feature set ticks your boxes, these are a quality speaker, and you should buy with confidence – they sound good for the size, and there’s nothing else quite like them on the market right now.