KRK GOAUX4 Review: Portable Studio Monitors That Might Save Your Life

Every once in a while, a product is released that is the solution to a problem you didn’t know you had or that you could never see coming. And when I initially heard about the KRK’s latest GOAUX4 portable studio monitors, my gut reaction was that they would be another novelty studio toy.

But after having these in my studio for about a month and during a somewhat turbulent time in my life, which I will briefly explain here shortly, the KRK GOAUX4 was a complete lifesaver in more ways than one.

So let’s dive into the full review in hopes that you can decide for yourself if these things will be as handy for you as they were for me. They’re not perfect by any means, and I will certainly chat about that too, but they serve many purposes – so let’s dive in.

Learn More About These Monitors While Helping Support Our Small Team Of Writers Through Our Partnership With Sweetwater Here 👈

What Are The KRK GOAUX4

The KRK GOAUX4 is the company’s offering to the budget and travel-friendly monitoring market that has been slowly rising over the past few years. Companies like Mackie and Yamaha have allowed producers and musicians to get reasonably clean mixes while on the road touring, and it’s high time that an industry-leading name like KRK throws its name into the ring as well.

But KRK’s technology has managed to go above and beyond what most other portable speakers have managed by including pragmatic solutions to the most common on-the-go mixing problems. The speakers come packed with all the essentials for mobile mixing, including speaker stands, a carrying bag, and a few choice accessories. It’s the one-stop solution that is easy to grab, go and mix.

What I Liked About The KRK GOAUX4

Having been sent a set of these monitors before their official release, these things had been sitting in my studio for a couple of weeks before the official announcement went public. My review of them was delayed, though, as my life was upended when we decided to start selling our house and packing up our lives to move to a new city.

In this tumult and chaos, these speakers’ best features and qualities came to light. Here are my favorite features of the KRK GOAUX4 that became true lifesavers in my artistic career while living out of boxes and preparing to resettle.

Room Correction

In theory, the idea of portable studio monitors sounds excellent as they ideally would allow you to mix records in hotel rooms, tour buses, and anywhere else while you’re on the go. But the reality is that each room is different and unpredictable, meaning that headphones are almost always the move when on the go.

But KRK offered a pragmatic solution to this most common problem. KRK’s built-in Auto ARC (automatic room correction) makes this issue a breeze. And while the technology isn’t perfect, it allows for far more predictable mixes in whatever room you’re in. It even comes with a small calibration mic similar to Sonarworks’ and can quickly adapt the speakers to whichever room you’re in.

After I had taken down all my acoustic treatment, diffusion, absorption, and other wall hangings, my room sounded completely different. I almost had a nervous breakdown as I had a deadline for an upcoming release to mix.

But the room correction and audio quality these monitors brought to my studio allowed me to finish the mixdown and get the song into the label in time for release. Again, life-freaking-saver that wouldn’t ever have been possible with any other speakers but these. Below is the track I mixed using the room correction if you want to hear what types of mixdowns you can get.

It’s Got It All In The Bag

Scroll to Continue

Most of the best studio upgrades can rarely be used straight out of the box. Studio monitors need cables and other features for the producer to start using them. But these portable monitors have everything you need right in the bag, and once again, this proved to be a lifesaver during my moving process.

Between slowly moving my studio into the new house, packing and unpacking in between stagings and shows, and more, most of my studio wasn’t accessible to me during the entire month before writing this review.

This turned out to be just fine, as this portable monitor setup provided everything I needed to produce in a consolidated and easy-to-organize bag. Once again, this a super impressive feature that I don’t think is offered by many other of KRK’s competitors.

What I Wasn’t Crazy About

With its many benefits and features, this wouldn’t be an honest review if I didn’t express a bit of hesitation about what I found with these monitors. So let me break that down for you now.

They’re Not Primary Studio Monitors

I know that the KRK GOAUX4 don’t bill themselves as being designed to be your main set of monitors, but at the price point and technical specs, I can see a world where many producers or family members of producers would purchase these as their first set. But that’s not what they are designed for, and your money might go further by investing in a different line of speakers.

If you are looking for a set of stationary speakers that you don’t plan on moving, you would be much better off looking at one of KRK’s other offerings. For about $30 more, you can snag yourself a set of ROKIT 5 G4s which are a much better option for entry-level studio speakers.

But if you plan on mixing on the go and need a portable solution while on tour, then there is no better option than these monitors.

Who Are The KRK GOAUX4 For?

With all this in mind, many different types of producers and music lovers might benefit from investing in these travel-friendly studio monitors. So let’s unpack who would get the most benefit from them.

Touring Artists

This one is obvious, as pretty much all the marketing and branding for these speakers are being pushed on touring musicians looking for a portable solution for mixing on the go.

Music Lovers

Don’t think these speakers are only for music producers and audio engineers. Their portability and sound quality make these speakers perfect for office spaces, dorm rooms, and more.

And with more and more vinyl turntables offering Bluetooth functionality, I could see these speakers being the obvious go-to pairing for these systems as well. Because vinyl is becoming more popular these days, many who are just now getting into vinyl expect higher levels of audio quality but lack the audiophile level of technical acoustic knowledge to get the most out of their collection of wax. But this is solved almost instantly with the room-correction functionality in these speakers, allowing top-quality sonics with only the clicks of a button.

Producers Whose Life Is In Flux

Okay, this is more anecdotal evidence, but mainly because KRK couldn’t have slid into my DMs with a request to review these speakers at a perfect time in my personal life.

Between moving houses, packing and unpacking studio gear between stagings, and all the chaos that comes with moving to a new city (while still having deadlines to adhere to), these things were a total lifesaver, and I couldn’t have been more thankful for them.

But because of that, I can’t imagine a set of speakers that checked more boxes than these did, and I am eternally grateful.

Specs On The KRK GOAUX4

Powered: Yes
Power Configuration: Bi-amped
Quantity: Pair
LF Driver Size:4″ Woofer
LF Driver Type: Woven Glass Aramid
HF Driver Size:1″ Tweeter
HF Driver Type: Soft Textile Dome
LF Driver Power Amp:33W
HF Driver Power Amp:17W
Total Power:100W (50W per side)
Frequency Range:55Hz-22kHz (-10dB)
Frequency Response:60Hz-20kHz (-3dB)
Crossover Frequency:2.5kHz
Maximum Peak SPL:108dB SPL
Input Types:1 x Dual RCA Stereo, 1 x 1/8″ TRS, 2 x 1/4″ TRS
Output Types:1 x 1/8″ (headphones)
USB:1 x Type B
Bluetooth: Yes
Enclosure Type: Rear Ported
Enclosure Material: ABS
Height:8.07″
Width:5.35″
Depth:5.51″
Weight:9.48 lbs (Including both speakers, stands, carrying bag, included accessories)