My new RCF NX12s arrived today. I was super excited! I have multiple FRFR options but, having heard great things about these, and being too impatient to wait for Atomic’s Coax speakers, I decided to go for the RCFs. Mike Pyle did a great job for me and got them shipped very promptly and at a great price.I’ve spent most of the day A/Bing them with my other FRFR setups. I thought I would share my observations since I would like to have seen this prior to ordering the RCFs w/o hearing them.
I 1[SUP]st[/SUP] need to state the obvious: monitors are a personal & subjective thing. These are my personal observations and I know they will fly in the face of some other things I’ve heard on this forum. My goal here is largely to compare 4 pretty commonly used monitor setups I have in my studio. I tried to keep it fair. I used stock Axe II patches (both clean and distorted) so as not to unfairly compare presets that were created for one set of monitors by using them on a different set. I used both SCs (Suhrs) and HBs (LPs). Here are the monitors I use and a few thoughts as to how they compare:
Mackie SRM 450s (old RCF versions): I have really liked these monitors. I was lucky enough to get a number of them shortly after Mackie bought RCF. They are not super flat but they are very “present” and cut through the mix very well. I sense they are a little brighter than flat. But, they have been my go-to for live. They are very loud. As far as a monitor to mix with or to judge how your Axe will sound recorded, I would not recommend them. But, live, they are great. However, they do not work very well for my acoustic guitars (which I run through the Axe)
JBL LSR 6332 powered by a Bryston 4B SST: I have 2 pairs of these, 1 mid and one far field. I love them in the studio but they obviously aren’t useful live. I would say they are the flattest and best sounding monitors I have, particularly for acoustic guitars. The Con: they are not very loud. I could push them with the Brystons but I fear I’ll blow them up (I’ve replaced 2 tweeters already). I can’t really rock them and they don’t move much air. But, if I’m doing low volume stuff (I don’t much) or mixing, I go to them every time.
Mackie HR 824s: I use these nearfield but tend toward the JBLs above. They are brighter and have less bass than the JBLs but their sound is decent. I don’t really use them for the Axe much as they don’t move enough air. But, they do a good job with the Axe for small monitors.
RCF NX 12s: As you might expect, since I like the RCF SRMs, I figured these would be awesome. I hate to say: I am underwhelmed. They are very flat. But, they are not present in the way that the SRM 450s (or even the JBLs) are. They seem to be a bit muffled and do not cut through the mix nearly as well as the Mackies for live use. Even more surprising, they are about ½ as loud as the SRMs I don’t understand this at all. The SRMs have 300/ 150 watts low/ hi. The RCFs have 500/ 200. But, the NX12’s output pales compared to the SRM 450s. They lack “bite” and "punch"(I know, kind of unscientific terms). They seem to lack some of the high end & presence I get from the SRMs and the HR 824s. I think that high end may be hyped in those 2 speakers so this may not be good if you are after true FRFR. But, they are definitely missing some cut & punch. They do sound very accurate, not unlike the JBLs, but you can get them pretty darn loud without concern for blowing them up. I would say they could be close to as accurate as the JBLs but they don’t do it for me live. They do have excellent and detailed bass. But, my feeling is that they have a seem to sound like they have a blanket over them. Their form factor is excellent. The small, lightweight wedges are a huge improvement over the SRMs
I will likely keep the NX12s. The best of all worlds is using the SRM 450s and the NX12s together. I think the NX12s give balance to the SRMs (although I have to turn them full up with the SRMs at 1/2 to compete). I really don’t understand why they seem so much quieter than the old RCF/ Mackie’s. My only thought is that they may be cleaner (and hence seem less loud). I am essentially comparing 2 very similar RCF speakers built nearly 20 years apart. I can’t say that the $2300 I paid for the new RCFs is justified.
If I couldn’t afford to keep both, I’d keep the SRM 450s (I know, you’ll all think I’m nuts!)
Just one guys opinion...
I 1[SUP]st[/SUP] need to state the obvious: monitors are a personal & subjective thing. These are my personal observations and I know they will fly in the face of some other things I’ve heard on this forum. My goal here is largely to compare 4 pretty commonly used monitor setups I have in my studio. I tried to keep it fair. I used stock Axe II patches (both clean and distorted) so as not to unfairly compare presets that were created for one set of monitors by using them on a different set. I used both SCs (Suhrs) and HBs (LPs). Here are the monitors I use and a few thoughts as to how they compare:
Mackie SRM 450s (old RCF versions): I have really liked these monitors. I was lucky enough to get a number of them shortly after Mackie bought RCF. They are not super flat but they are very “present” and cut through the mix very well. I sense they are a little brighter than flat. But, they have been my go-to for live. They are very loud. As far as a monitor to mix with or to judge how your Axe will sound recorded, I would not recommend them. But, live, they are great. However, they do not work very well for my acoustic guitars (which I run through the Axe)
JBL LSR 6332 powered by a Bryston 4B SST: I have 2 pairs of these, 1 mid and one far field. I love them in the studio but they obviously aren’t useful live. I would say they are the flattest and best sounding monitors I have, particularly for acoustic guitars. The Con: they are not very loud. I could push them with the Brystons but I fear I’ll blow them up (I’ve replaced 2 tweeters already). I can’t really rock them and they don’t move much air. But, if I’m doing low volume stuff (I don’t much) or mixing, I go to them every time.
Mackie HR 824s: I use these nearfield but tend toward the JBLs above. They are brighter and have less bass than the JBLs but their sound is decent. I don’t really use them for the Axe much as they don’t move enough air. But, they do a good job with the Axe for small monitors.
RCF NX 12s: As you might expect, since I like the RCF SRMs, I figured these would be awesome. I hate to say: I am underwhelmed. They are very flat. But, they are not present in the way that the SRM 450s (or even the JBLs) are. They seem to be a bit muffled and do not cut through the mix nearly as well as the Mackies for live use. Even more surprising, they are about ½ as loud as the SRMs I don’t understand this at all. The SRMs have 300/ 150 watts low/ hi. The RCFs have 500/ 200. But, the NX12’s output pales compared to the SRM 450s. They lack “bite” and "punch"(I know, kind of unscientific terms). They seem to lack some of the high end & presence I get from the SRMs and the HR 824s. I think that high end may be hyped in those 2 speakers so this may not be good if you are after true FRFR. But, they are definitely missing some cut & punch. They do sound very accurate, not unlike the JBLs, but you can get them pretty darn loud without concern for blowing them up. I would say they could be close to as accurate as the JBLs but they don’t do it for me live. They do have excellent and detailed bass. But, my feeling is that they have a seem to sound like they have a blanket over them. Their form factor is excellent. The small, lightweight wedges are a huge improvement over the SRMs
I will likely keep the NX12s. The best of all worlds is using the SRM 450s and the NX12s together. I think the NX12s give balance to the SRMs (although I have to turn them full up with the SRMs at 1/2 to compete). I really don’t understand why they seem so much quieter than the old RCF/ Mackie’s. My only thought is that they may be cleaner (and hence seem less loud). I am essentially comparing 2 very similar RCF speakers built nearly 20 years apart. I can’t say that the $2300 I paid for the new RCFs is justified.
If I couldn’t afford to keep both, I’d keep the SRM 450s (I know, you’ll all think I’m nuts!)
Just one guys opinion...
But what do you mean with 'cut through in the mix?' You don't mike the full range speakers, do you? Or do you use your monitors as the primary sound source for your guitar?
