Hey guys and gals. Me again.
This time I’m looking to upgrade my monitors.
I have some acoustic treatment, diy rock wool panels, 2 on the walls. Gonna make about 5 more on my next days off and finish my room off nicely.

I’m looking for budget monitors.
I went down the rabbit hole for hours last night here and on other sites.
There’s so many mixed opinions.. it kind of scares me.

I’m looking to spend no more than $500 CAD.
Currently using some $100 Mackie monitors to mix on.
I want to upgrade.

I’m looking for flat monitors.
True to the sound.

I make hip hop music, so I definitely need something that will help with mixing low end.
But at the same time I don’t want to neglect mid and highs.. as I also record my own rap..
And will branch out and start recording other artists.

I really need an all a rounder.

My room is small-medium sized, but also my kitchen and living room.

My monitors will most likely be seated on my desk close to the wall (I know..) until I can afford some stands.. even then they will be close to the wall because I just don’t have enough room to move my desk back and create some distance between me and the monitors really.


I’ve been looking at

KRK Rokit 5 (people seem to love or hate these for some reason.. can’t get a clear answer)
Also, are these big enough to properly hear my low end?

Kali LP 6.
I also see so many mixed reviews. Some people hail them, some say they are awful.

Yamaha HS8
are a little out of my price range, but if I really budget I could get them.
I hear they are very flat and true to the source which is what I really want and need.

I need my mixes to translate across the board well in all environments.

Any other suggestions? Thoughts? Opinions? I’m really stressing here because this is a critical decision for me when it comes to mixing.
One I don’t take lightly. I want to take it serious, and be taken seriously when it comes to producing, as this is my passion, and I want to make a full time living off this eventually.

Thanks so much for reading my rant and taking the time to formulate a educated reply. I really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Whatever you do, don't get the Rokits.

The JBL LSR305/306 are really, really good but not so much for low end. AFAIK the Kali's are fairly similar though I haven't used them.
The HS8's were my first monitor pair and they're pretty good but even with the 8" woofers the low end ain't that great and can be a little too forgiving in the top end, not to mention they really don't handle higher volumes well.

If you were cool with bumping up the cost a little I'd highly recommend APS Klasik's. Got them for Studio B and they're insanely good. They go ridiculously low, with clarity and have more clarity in the mids and up top. Seriously couldn't recommend them more. My mains are a pair of Unity Audio Boulder's and the APS are the only monitors we have here which don't sound broken next to them

I have Rokit 6s. They sound fine even good for what I do, but I wouldn't buy them again. They have a stupid auto sleep feature that is really annoying. They are also prone to noise/hum issues more than other stuff I've had. In hindsight I would probably go JBL or Kali but I do rock, metal, industrial. If I was doing pop, classical or soundtrack I'd probably choose Yamahas.

When I went around doing listening tests of monitors and chose the KRKs, one thing I learnt was that all monitors from reasonable makers will get the job done. In fact, they all sound like speakers in their size class - or, at least, they have a lot more in common than the small differences between them. Everybody obsesses over the last 5% of difference and sure, Yamahas sound a bit more mid-focussed, KRKs have a bit more pushy ported bass, Adams have forward sounding tweeters. But, really, it's not as big of a deal as people make out. If you are picky and have a personal preference, the only way to decide is to listen to them all. But I wouldn't stress about it too much.

Your room matters more here than the monitors. Above their port-determined bass roll-off frequency, most monitors are acceptably flat.

You have a room that is a kitchen, a living room and a studio, it's small to medium, you want to mix low end music, and you have 2 rock wool pannels plus 5 more on the way.

Ok. Since you're not lazy, built some bass traps for the corners, and have them as thick as you can. This is major if low end is key for you in mixing.

Forget about KRK and Yamaha. The Kali's I haven't heard yet.

The APS's suggested above it's a great option for your needs, but if too expensive look at the Tannoy new Gold series. They have an 8" that goes fairly low, down to 50hz or so. Also, mixing is a breeze on this. If not low enough, I'm afraid your best bet has to be a subwoofer added to the monitors. In this case, you could go with 5" monitors + whatever sub you decide for.

So, there has to be a compromise somewhere, but either way you need those bass traps. I'm not going to suggest to mix the low end on cans, I think you're only wasting precious time going this route.

Hope this helps,
Andrei

The Kali’s would be top of my list though these have a little more hiss than some of the other options.
I’ve used the JBL LSR305 and Eris 5’s and these are also surprisingly good. The JBL’s do sound a little more hyped in the highs and lows but are quite nice to listen to. The Eris sound a little flatter to me and also have less hiss than the others. In fact the self noise is impressively low. The Eris range have been updated to the Eris XT’s which have wider dispersion with improved stereo imaging and low end extension but I haven’t heard these personally.
If the slightly higher hiss levels won’t bother you then the Kali’s would be my first choice with the Presonus Eris/Eris XT being a close second.

However, Kali recently released the IN5 monitors which are said to be quite a step up from the LP6’s (and the IN8’s). Also the Neumann KH80dsp’s would be a step up as well but I’m not sure how much these options cost where you live?