[Dixielandjazz] Sound systems

Wed Mar 1 15:01:09 PST 2006

Some comments on Gus's great review.
Larry Walton
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Talegatorz at aol.com>
To: <bbiffle at brgcc.com>
Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 4:12 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Sound systems

> Hello Bill,
>
>       The subject of mics has been recently exhausted, so I won't mention
> that at all.
> There are many good brand names out there and most are OK. Mackie, 
> Community,
> JBL, Yamaha, Fender and EV come to mind. Behringer is a very economical 
> brand
> and though I have no experience with their PA gear, their amplifiers seem 
> to
> give great performance for very little $$.

LW.  I have been interested in the Behringer Keyboard amp but after reading 
the owner reviews that are posted I'm a little put off.

> A big question is powered or passive speakers. Powered have amplifiers 
> inside
> the speaker cabinet and passive types need a 'powered mixer' or mixer and
> power amp.
> I have some powered JBL EON G2/15's which are very powerful, clean and
> versitile. They work on stands or as floor monitors and each has a small 
> three
> channel mixer

LW. I have a pair of the EON's and they are great - mostly  -- mine has a 4 
channel EQ

> (one input balanced, two not), which makes them useful for little gigs as
> single units without an external mixer.

LW.I now use an external mixer but with three inputs they are good for most 
things just as they are.

> The disadvantage is that they weigh more and require an AC cord as well as 
> a
> signal (balanced mic) cord.

LW. Personally I think the balanced mike cord is an advantage.  Actually 
they weigh less than a head and separate speaker.  Most 15" enclosures with 
a horn are about the 40 pounds that the EON's  weigh.  I find their shape to 
be really aqward.  They tend to roll over if put upright in a truck and 
aren't flat when placed on their side. this makes them somewhat 
problematical to stack and transport. They want to fall off my Rock and 
Roller and slide 4 or 5 ft because they are slick as a hocky puck.  Having 
said that they are rugged.
.
 Lots of grounded AC extension cords are a must as
> well as a noise cancelling power supply. They will pop when a light switch 
> or
> the bass player's amp is switched on or off without one of these. 
> Otherwise,
> they soung great aand have been reliable. In a pinch, they make a usable 
> bass
> guitar or keyboard amp.

LW.  I really havent noticed the popping mentioned.  The first one I heard 
was being used for a keyboard and vocalist.

> If you have a choice between additional watts of power or extra features,
> always go for the power. You won't really use that extra 300 watts except 
> in the
> sense that it adds headroom. That means that you will get the volume you 
> want
> at half power instead of wide open and it will be much cleaner. Its like 
> the
> difference between a Yugo and a Cadillac. Both will climb the hill; but 
> the
> Yugo will moan and strain at full throttle and the Caddy will smoothly and
> quietly go and pass the semi half way up.
> Speaking of headroom, the best way to get more of it is to get the 
> keyboard
> out of the PA mix. It needs its own 'keyboard' style amp of at least 100 
> watts
> power. It will not only sound better, but the sound will come from out of 
> the
> keyboard instead of from out in space somewhere.

LW. Does anyone have any suggestions about a reasonably priced keyboard amp. 
Something fairly small with adequate power, 100-150 watts, for a medium size 
room and preferably self contained.

In the PA a keyboard takes up
> so much power and headroom that there is almost nothing left over for the
> mics. If you want the horns and vocals out front and the rhythym section 
> out
> back, thats the way to go. Make this change and maybe you won't need a new 
> PA
> after all.

LW.  It's sometime a problem to have the speakers out front.  I use a 
computer for backgrounds and used the Balanced in for a mike.  I have 
changed the setup and use a mixer now.  I added a cheapie Euro mixer with 
effects.  I have two of them, one with two mike in's and one with 4 mike 
in's.  When I work with a vocalist and a bigger room I use 4 mikes and the 
computer so that's six inputs and it works great.  I patch the output of the 
mixer into the two instrument inputs with a couple of short patch cords. 
The mixer will set on top of the speaker but not well because of the four 
posts (for stacking) on top of the cabinet.  With the mixer I can control 
the different inputs much better and fade the whole thing if I need to. 
Most of the time I only need one but I haqve a second in the car.

LW. The real advantage to having double set ups is when I have 30 minutes to 
get between gigs.  I make arrangements ahead of time to get my stuff and set 
up early.  I throw the horns in the cases and split for the next gig. 
That's how I do three gigs on NY eve and Fat Tuesday.  The only monkey 
wrench is bad weather which has happened a time or two.  I have split from a 
gig a few minutes early letting the rest of the guys finish up and get to 
the next gig and start playing while waiting for the others to catch up. 
I've never had anyone throw a fit doing this.  After I'm done I go back, 
sometimes the next day and pick up the stands, EON and other stuff.

LW - All things considered they are very good, but pricy.  I think I paid 
about $750 each.  The bad news -- I don't think they make them anymore.

> I hope this has been helpful.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gus Bloch
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