MIAMI ― Serving South Florida with a unique blend of jazz, Latin jazz, salsa, reggae, blues, and culturally reflective programming, WDNA 88.9FM operates as both a traditional FM radio station and a live performance venue, hosting local institutions, including Florida International University and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. The Miami-based public radio station, known for its diverse programming and deep connection to the region’s music and culture, recently upgraded its studio monitoring environment with KRK Kreate Series monitors.
In support of its evolving production needs, WDNA deployed KRK Kreate 5 and Kreate 8 studio monitors across three of its production and broadcast spaces to create a more consistent and reliable workflow for both live and pre-recorded content. The Kreate 5 monitors are installed in one of the station’s production studios, where hosts and producers create recorded programming, edit shows, and develop promotional content. Meanwhile, Kreate 8 monitors are featured in WDNA’s primary production studio and its live-to-air studio to support content creation, mixing, and live broadcast operations.
“As an all-purpose audio engineer here, I’m involved in recording shows, conducting interviews, producing spots, and maintaining our audio systems,” says Daniel Collazo, Audio Engineer at WDNA. “One of the biggest improvements with KRK has been the consistency. Before, each studio had different speaker brands and moving projects between rooms made it difficult to know whether changes were coming from the mix or the monitors. Now that we’re standardized across the station, the transition from room to room is minimal.”
Collazo, who has worked at WDNA for three years and oversees a wide range of audio production responsibilities, says the station prioritized both audio quality and reliability during the upgrade process. “The KRKs have noticeably better fidelity across the entire frequency spectrum, especially in the low end,” he notes. “Even the five-inch monitors have strong bass response and clear highs. A lot of monitors in that size range tend to sound more mid-focused, but these feel balanced throughout.”
The Kreate 8 monitors installed at WDNA provide additional output and detail for critical listening applications and live operations, giving hosts flexibility to monitor content through speakers or headphones, depending on preference. “In the live studio, a lot of hosts prefer monitoring through speakers while they’re cueing content and running shows,” says Collazo. “The Kreate 8s provide the fidelity and output needed in that environment.”
The benefits also extend beyond the studio itself. According to Collazo, “When I mix on these KRK monitors and then listen somewhere else, whether that’s in a car or another environment, the audio still reflects what I intended. That’s what you want from a reference monitor.”
In addition to performance improvements, Collazo cited reliability and a smooth deployment experience as factors that reinforced the decision. “Working with KRK has been great,” he adds. “Everything arrived promptly, in excellent condition, and communication throughout the process was really strong.”
By implementing a unified monitoring platform throughout its studios, WDNA has created a more streamlined production environment while maintaining the audio quality expected from one of Miami’s most distinctive public radio voices.