NAMM 2013: Behringer NEKKST K5 and K8 Studio Monitors

January 29, 2013 By 6 Comments


Behringer NEKKST K5 K8 KRK monitors speakers NAMM 2013 (1)

We know it steps almost outside of the DJ realm, but as more DJs are either stepping into the producer’s shoes, or coming from the production realm, reference monitors become more and more important.  Fortunately for us, Behringer teamed up with the brains behind the first KRK releases (Keith R Klawitter, so… yeah, KRK) to create its own line or affordably priced reference monitors – the Behringer NEKKST K5 and K8. While we didn’t get any official prices, we were assured they will be priced competitively.

It’s another splash this year, putting out a pair of reference monitors that boast a few really awesome features.  First, they have blue tooth, allowing really powerful wireless sound.  But better than that, they can have audio presets loaded, allowing you to customize the sound.  To go along with that they are going to be giving the monitors to professional sound engineers and letting them build their own presets to release to all of us, so you can truly dial in the sound you need in your home or professional studio.

Save for a small, boutique line of reference monitors shown last year, Keith has remained relatively outside of the industry.  To have him be involved in the design of a new, affordably priced set of monitors is huge news in and of itself.  And that this is coming from Behringer, it is just showing how seriously they are taking the changes in the market place.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , ,
  • Mike_Safari

    They appear to have properly bollocksed the placement of the XLR connectors relative to what I assume is the “Other speaker output”. My XLR cables would most certainly run into that connector. Why more move it over another inch?

  • BelgianJungleSound

    Had a friend who had Behringer monitors (2 for 150 euros). They broke after about a month, although Behringer seems to have upped their game somewhat quality wise. Still, won’t be buying these in a hurry.

  • hampster.slide

    Interesting idea about the different sound profiles however any sound expert will tell you that the room is the most important part of getting good sound. It won’t make crap speakers sound good, but it will make it can make great speakers sound underwhelming. To have engineers make presets would be for their own room and not for the person buying the speaker. This is why KRK produced a separate piece of kit called the KRK Ergo. This unit has a mic and EQs the sound out of the speakers to deal with the room. Behringer actually have a similar piece of kit called the Ulracurve which does the same kinda thing. This is much more valuable than any engineer’s present. Remember the MegaBass button on the Sony walkmans anyone?

  • http://www.facebook.com/jake.edgar Jake Edgar

    Question is, how do they sound?

  • zeum

    $399 and $499 according the the Behringer rep at Namm a few weeks ago…..

  • Pingback: FLASHBACK: DJ gear back in 1998 - Sunnylicious | Sunnylicious