mikeg1058@gmail.com Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'm looking to replace my Roland KC350 amp. I am using a PX5s and a Hammond SK1 and I'm not happy with the sound that comes out of the amp. The clarity of the voices seem to get washed out. We're doing small bars and clubs doing mostly 60s and 70s classic rock so I need some power. Any thoughts on using a stand-alone PA system to amp my boards? What other amps have you using? Any recommendation would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Name Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi Mike and welcome to the forums. Most pros I have talked tend to agree that PA's sound better than keyboard amps. Of course, they tend to cost more. The one Mike was using at the Casio booth in at the Nashville NAMM show sounding amazing. I will find out what brand and model he was using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarkr Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 so many models... I can't recall the exact models but the 1000W QSC, EV, and Yamaha 12" speakers and a matching sub seems to be the best fit for many keyboarders I've seen in many forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmusician Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 If you have the money, I thoroughly recommend the Bose L1. See PianoManChuck's thread on keyboard amps for comments from me and Crem on the L1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I use the QSC K10 and am very happy with it. Most say for that series and ones like it, you don't need the 12" model, the 10" is fine. I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Another option.....Peavey Impulse 12D. They weigh 2 lbs more than the PX5s. I haven't used this model yet, but I'm convinced into getting at least one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeg1058@gmail.com Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Does anyone have any experience using a Lucas Nano or Yamaha StagePas to amp you keyboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Name Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Does anyone have any experience using a Lucas Nano or Yamaha StagePas to amp you keyboard? I use a StagePas 500. Beats the socks off my Roland KC110. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leoaprilia2001 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Hi I'm using the HK Lucas Nano at home for practising and on stage as personal monitor (or for very small venue). Great crystal clear sound! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebonivor Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 After reading leoaprilia2001's comment, has anyone else either bought or tried the HK Lucas Nano. I'm interested in getting one, but since I'll have to buy it online without the luxury of actually seeing or trying it (and will be unable to return it!), I want to gather as much hands-on information as possible.BTW, I made the mistake of buying a Laney AH150 based on reviews and endorsements, and it is terrible. I bought it mainly for rehearsals, small gigs and onstage monitoring - it's lightweight, has 4 channels (mic, instrument/guitar, line in/ keyboards, iPad etc.) but I need to push the 2.5k EQ slider to its maximum to get anywhere near a decent sound. I even get a better result from a little Fender Frontman 25R amp (10" speaker and open back) that I used to take to practice to run my guitar through!Worse still, my band members reckon that they would rather listen to the sound from the Yamaha DGX-505 that I used to own and now resides where we practice. What an insult to the PX-5S!I hope there's no one else here that has a Laney AH150 and is offended by my comments! Feel free to disagree ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh O Kelly Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 I use a L 1 bose compact ( weighs nothing )and use any other cheap PA speaker for stereo when neededwith the PX5-s and a hammond XK3c and musebox works for me If I had more money and needed more volume I would useL1 Model 1s with B1 bass and a light EV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspeter Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Hey Scott! How do you like the KC110 for just home use? I plug into a PA at gigs, so I don't need it for that, I'm looking for a (relatively) inexpensive and compact stereo solution for plugging into at home and maybe small gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebonivor Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Hugh, I like the idea of the Bose L1 Compact, but at around $1700 here in Australia, it's a bit more than I am intending to spend. For that amount of money I can get two HK Lucas Nanos, or a pair of Yamaha HS7 studio monitors and a QSC K10!Not that don't like Bose - I use Bose speakers for my stereo, home theatre system and Mac-based video production setup; and used Bose 802's with my band's PA system before I retired in the early 80's.Since the band I'm occasionally gigging with these days use a pair of Yamaha DXR12's for front-of-house and a number of DXR10's and 8's for on-stage monitoring, I really only need to cover home use and practice/jamming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebonivor Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Scott, I'm also interested in your opinion of KC110. I was originally quite interested in this at the time that I was considering the PX-5S and following PianoManChuck's YouTube reviews ( thanks PianoManChuck! ). Since then, I seem to have nothing but negative comments and reviews - plus at $640 in Australia, it seems a bit overpriced.I'm looking for something that I can also run my guitar through, bearing in mind that for gigging I use a MusicMan 212 HD130, which I wish was much lighter! When I bought the PX-5S, I was hoping to run guitar through the external input so would only need something basic but with a good frequency reponse for practice and quiet jamming. Unfortunately the (?) noise gate (?) that clips the input signal before it has fully decayed makes it impossible.I am also interested in the Yamaha Stagepas series. Your Stagepas 500 would be over the top for my needs, but I can a 150M for about the same price as the KC110, and the 250M for not much more. Have you (or any other member) had a chance to try either of these?What I would really love is something that I can easily cart around to show off the superb piano sound that I hear through my Sony MDR-V6 studio monitor headphones - but that might be asking too much ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choppin Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 This is a little off topic but I'm curious, have you played a guitar through the Px-5s? What is the effect you describe and at what volume? Is the guitar running straight into the PX-5s or through a preamp first? Is the input using a split adapter to run the guitar through both left and right inputs or just through the mono left? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh O Kelly Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Ebonivor, Yes the bose is a silly price ,£900 here and not many watts too.(£1600 and £2,200 for the bigger ones)but it sounds great,I can carry it in one hand and I don't get complaints about it being too loudexcept when I played with a really loud blues band and turned on full and the lead guitar player playing through the PA said I was too loud.(great!) What I hate is seeing a company make an amp and speaker and it just the same as we had 50 years ago. Line 6 AMPLIFi 75 Guitar Amp with Bluetooth ? Looks different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebonivor Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Hi Choppin, thanks for your imterest. This issue has been discussed on another thread: http://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/4279-noise-gate-on-audio-input/My inital intention was to run the guitar through either Amplitube or JamUp Pro on my iPad into the mini jack input. When I discovered the clipping, I suspected that the software was the culprit, so I tried going direct into the line inputs, and then via both an active and a passive DI box. The result was the same. Adjusting the input level made no difference. One poster recommended adjusting the compressor settings, but that also had no effect. Another suggested that I should try sending a tone through the input, recording it to the USB drive and then check the resulting signal waveform in Audacity to see exactly what was happening. Curiously, his post has been removed... possibly due to his suggestion that some electronics manufacturers were using a noise gate to mask the effects of low quality components. I think that it is more likely that Casio is using it to reduce noise from attached devices and if so, it would nice to be able to either turn it off or adjust it. Of course, it might be nothing like that.Anyway, I actually did something similar what was suggested by the poster (sorry, I can't remember who it was). I generated a repeating series of 5 second 400Hz sine wave tones with a cosine fade. I saved it as a WAV file and loaded it onto my iPad. I then played the file through the PX-5S and recorded it. The clipping was clearly evident both audibly and when comparing the the graph of the original and the recorded signal in Audacity. I was intending to post images of the waveforms and mp3s until I saw that the post suggesting the approach had been removed. Also, earlier in the thread Mike Martin had said that he had made Casio aware of the issue, and I was really only looking to see if the had been any update.Sorry for the lengthy reply, but it might help anyone else who is experiencing the problem. Hopefully a fix is in the works, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebonivor Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Hugh,I don't have problem with the lead guitarist, because that's me too! But the drummer and bass player...that's a different story!That Line 6 amp looks interesting... pity the don't make one just for keyboards with stereo 1/4" jacks.How do you run that cheap second speaker off the Bose to get stereo? And wouldn't you get a noticable drop in quality? I guess I'm just a little bit tempted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh O Kelly Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Ebonivor, From what I can see the Line 6 is in fact a stereo amp and you can play your hi fi through blue tooth and they make a more powerful one tooI was surprised but I have not had first hand experience but take a look at this ; What I use is a stereo mackie mixer and because the bose is so sweet the dirty whatever on the other side of the stereo makes the sound better and meaner.When you buy the bose first if you are used to 1200 watts you will find the bose not loud enough but will I sell itNOIt's the best lightest amp/sp I have ever had.Over the years when I buy loud gear I'm asked to turn down.Now when I'm at full whack Its not too loud but great for me.The strange thing is that 200 watts is not twice as loud as 100 watts.1,000 is twice as loud as 100 watts. Just as long as you don't buy silly and heavy ,you will be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjames Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I have a KC-110 and a pair of EV ZLX12P's. I use the KC-110 as a monitor when I run directly into the PA for band practice or some gigs. I run the PX-5S and my NE4 into the KC-110 then use the stereo lines out through a stereo direct box to the PA. This way I have a stereo monitor feed as well as a stereo house feed. I have also used the KC-110 for guitar...I actually think it is a better sounding amp for acoustic guitars than it is for keyboards. The final thing I use the KC for is when going on a vacation...it travels very well due to its small size and weight. As to sound quality, it's OK, but not great. Note, if you push the volume it will clip. My alternative set-up when I don't run through the PA (which can happen for a variety of reasons) is running my keys and guitars (I run my electric guitar through a Boss ME-25 using the headphones for the feed) into an Alesis mixer then out to the EV ZLX's. I like the EV's, but note at lower volumes, you will here some buzzing with electric pianos sounds so listen carefully before buying if you are playing jazz or the like, but they are great for a rock band setting IMO....big and bold. Hey jaspeter, great job on all the Stage Settings you have created...sorry I haven't been around here to thank you for the couple shout-outs you gave me along the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Name Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Jimmy: My experience with the KC110 is the same as yours. It's very good "utility amp".. travels well and is very versatile. I like that it has every input you could ever need (XLR, 1/4", 1/8" and RCA) is stereo can be powered by 8 AA's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspeter Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Thanks, Jimmyjames and Scott, that's exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for on the KC110. It sounds decent enough for my purposes and the convenience is a primary factor. It's funny that most reviews of it (and most other gear, for that matter) go something like, "I don't own it, I've never heard it, but it's crap and you should use what I use." For what it is intended to be, it sounds like a decent piece of equipment. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyDaye Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Before I bought my Bose L1 Compact system, I used an Acoustic Image Coda+. Probably the smallest, lightest amp with real power on the market. Weight and size is a priority with me. AI makes several models. Great warranty, great service. They are a bit pricey...actually more than a bit! But, I recommend them highly.But, I'm loving my Bose L1! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh O Kelly Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 EV ZLX12P ?Jimmy JamesYou like the EVs…..they look good to melight?" you will here some buzzing with electric pianos sounds"What buzzes ? Is it the EVs on a stand or a buzz internally Roland KC-110 Keyboard Amp - 2x 15W with power supply, (2x 10W with batteries, 2x 6.5" speakers and 2x thomann tweeters, 3x channels (1x XLR/jack and 2x jack), 2-band EQ (master section), XLR & jack input (channel 1), left/mono & right input (channel 2), left/mono & right input (channel 3), aux in (phono & stereo mini-jack), left/mono & right line out, stereo headphone thomann output, footswitch jack input. Dimensions: 420 x 244 x 320mm. Weight: 7.3kg. Includes power supply. Can be powered via batteries for up to 8 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjames Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Hugh, it's something internal in the EV's. Thought is was just my pair but I went back to GC and tried another pair and the same buzz was there. I posted about this on the KC and Nord forum about six months ago (see link below). In general, I find EP sounds stress out speakers but this was just a bit beyond that. Nonetheless I still own and like them. They are about 32 pounds I think....lighter than my old KC-300 amps. http://www.norduserforum.com/nord-electro-forum-f9/ne4-and-ev-zlx-12p-s-t5645.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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