Miami, FL (October 20, 2025)―Mixers need speakers that will translate anywhere, which is why Venezuelan engineer Erik Aldrey welcomed a surprise package from a friend.
“When I opened the box, I honestly thought they’d sent me a record or some kind of merch,” recalls Aldrey, one of the first Venezuelan engineers nominated for a Grammy. “But inside were these tiny speakers, and I remember thinking, ‘Okay, let’s see what these can do.’ I set them up just to test them out and, suddenly, I was mixing full tracks on them without even realizing it. Hours passed, and I was still working on them. That blew my mind because I wasn’t expecting that level of usability and accuracy from something so small and portable.”
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The KRK GoAux monitors have since become a secret weapon in Aldrey’s workflow, allowing him to set up quickly, move between spaces and still trust what he’s hearing. “I’ve mixed entire EPs on them. What really convinced me was when I sent the mixes off to clients who are usually super picky about details. They didn’t send me crazy revision notes like they sometimes do. Instead, the feedback was minimal, and the tracks translated beautifully everywhere. That’s when I knew I could actually trust these little things. They are more than just a travel option; they are real mixing tools.”
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What surprised Aldrey most wasn’t the sound in the audiophile sense, but the way the GoAux monitors make him work. “If you ask me if they’re good for mixing, I’ll let you know that they’re great,” he says. “The monitors are not designed to flatter you. They push you to make decisions quickly and with confidence, and force you to address balance, EQ, and dynamics—all the fundamentals. The best part is that those decisions translate perfectly to the outside world. For me, that’s more valuable than having a system that just makes everything sound pretty.”
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As he explains, “Most people don’t listen on $10,000 speakers; they listen on phones, laptops, Bluetooth speakers, in cars—basically anywhere that’s not a pristine studio environment. As a result, what we mixers really need are tools that help translate music to all those systems.”
