Am I CRAZY? (Live Rig Alternatives)

pablomigraine · #1 01-25-2012, 06:15 PM

So in the last few months my music life has been forced to get with modern times.... I've gone from jamming in a practice room with several acts through full rigs..... to jamming with several acts either thru a Jamhub and headphones with ipads etc or jamming thru ipads into protools and headphone monitors.... feeling my age here but adapting to it....

And then today this nice bass player fella comes in with his "bass rig" to try out some new pedals. His live rig consisted of a pedal tuner, a reverb pedal, a Sansamp Programmable 3-ch bass driver DI and a QSC KW153.... and I gotta tell ya... it sounded really, REALLY good!! He also had his post-gain out on the QSC going to his Ipad which tracks his whole performance for use / reference later...

When he switched to his hi-gain SVT setting on his bass driver and turned up the volume.... this thing sounded like the end of life on earth..... monstrous!

A Small Gator pedalboard and a QSC KW153. Stage and FOH sound for any situation.....

Im seriously considering it.....

Your thoughts Talkbass?

Jim Carr · #2 01-25-2012, 06:23 PM

Very interesting!

NGJBeaner · #3 01-25-2012, 06:32 PM

If you dig it, go for it! The QSC will provide a FULL range of power backed sound and the Sansamp is your preamp. I don't see the problem.

logicman69 · #4 01-25-2012, 06:32 PM

Paul.. I ran a Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live and a K12 for a show. It sounded great. I would use it for small cramped rooms (like Scorpion Bar in Foxwoods) where space is an issue. Plenty of headroom to boot!

**gfaulkner** · #5 01-25-2012, 06:35 PM

I've thought of doing this but using a Radial Bassbone for the pre-amp and a Mackie active speaker of some sort.It gives me more incentive to go that route.I also like the link to the iPad scheme,except mine would go to my Macbook.What kind of cable/interface was this cat using?

pablomigraine · #6 01-25-2012, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by logicman69

Paul.. I ran a Line 6 Bass Pod XT Live and a K12 for a show. It sounded great. I would use it for small cramped rooms (like Scorpion Bar in Foxwoods) where space is an issue. Plenty of headroom to boot!

HA!! That rooms SUCKS!! NO kinda good sound there.... glad to hear Im not the only one who thinks so...

Nev375 · #7 01-25-2012, 06:39 PM

I've been considering something like this for a few years now, just haven't seen it done by anyone else so was hesitant. I've always thought it would work great in theory.

pablomigraine · #8 01-25-2012, 06:42 PM

I just demoed this setup with a used A-Designs REDDI into a KW153 & KW181 Sub.

.................... this is INSANE powerful.....

The specs dont tell half the story

will33 · #9 01-25-2012, 06:50 PM

I've heard a couple acts do cd-release type one-off gigs at record stores etc. that used those as PA mains. Quite the good sound there. They do what berg was doing with the IP series bit do it better, and at a full-range, PA main level. Basically powered speakers with baked-in DSP.

It's a cool way to go but you do run into the same limitations you do with any powered speaker/all-in-one setup. Basically lack of versatility and servicability. One component goes bad, your whole system's down.

But, yeah, pretty good sound when used within their limits. The QSC's do a better job of sounding natural, not so "processed" for lack of a better term. Pretty good (and expensive) stuff. Being able to take a recording directly to your ipad....cool. Relying on anything like that for your whole tone/gig success or failure....kids toys in my book.

Was pretty impressed with what I heard though.

ksandvik · #10 01-25-2012, 06:53 PM

The KW153 is 87lbs. You could get same kind of performance with a Class-D amp that weights lbs or so which you could put into your gig bag. And then a 4x10 Neo cab, might get some even below 50lbs if you look around. Plus more flexible, you could switch the amp out to something else, add more cabinets and so on...

logicman69 · #11 01-25-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pablomigraine

HA!! That rooms SUCKS!! NO kinda good sound there.... glad to hear Im not the only one who thinks so...

PA system is terrible, the space is cramped, and the "monitor" situation is laughable.... BUT the half naked women dancing right across from the stage (right in your line of view) make everything all better.

singlemalt · #12 01-25-2012, 07:03 PM

Kind of heading down the same route as the fEarfuls, a three way, full range cab. The fEarfuls are more bass oriented with the 3015LF driver, the 6nd410 mid driver and horn, and a custom crossover. And they are a bit lighter. 55 lb for a 15/6/1. Of course, the DIY route is not for everyone.

At $1200 or so for a cab with power amp built in, the QSC are not bad at all. Slick look too.

If you already have a good preamp with a DI out, into a beefy FOH system with good monitors, you have the same sort of thing going. I've been plenty happy with a good PA set up and my amp inadvertantly muted. (oops)

Buy a pair and you have a PA!

I'm running a pair of fEarfuls powered by the Carvin 1500HD amp. 1500 watts at 4ohm, bridged. The power amp weighs 9 lb and was $300 new. For a pre I use the Zoom B9, or a MXR M80 into a small Yamaha mixer. The full range setup handles multiple inputs, for drum machine, looper and vocals as well.

But yeah, bass sounds great through a full range cab with lots of watts!

domestique · #13 01-25-2012, 07:21 PM

Singlemalt already beat me too it. But....

It looks like a cheaper fEARful alternative. My only fear (pun intended) is the same with TVs with the DVD player already built in..... you spend all that money and if something blows you are stuck for the rest of the gig.

greenboy · #14 01-25-2012, 07:29 PM

Real nice, provided the porting and woofer choice allows full output lower down without chuffing. Sometimes that's the case with cabs designed to be used with subwoofers, but I'm relatively confident this box is a good full-ranger...

Only down side I see is when playing extremely close to it, that the source paths of the HF and MF waveguides are so close to the ear compared to the woofer that you might be tempted to EQ content out that would be desirable out in the mid-field and beyond. Thaqt could be countered by the vertical dispersion of the 'guides somewhat anyway and if you have a little distance from it it should be a winner.

Looks like a real step up from the similar JBL 3-ways, regardless. Amp and hidden processing should be top-quality too.

pablomigraine · #15 01-25-2012, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksandvik

The KW153 is 87lbs. You could get same kind of performance with a Class-D amp that weights lbs or so which you could put into your gig bag. And then a 4x10 Neo cab, might get some even below 50lbs if you look around. Plus more flexible, you could switch the amp out to something else, add more cabinets and so on...

I think a lot of the goodness I'm hearing is in the DSP ... just amazingly well balanced.... not a hit you in the gut punchy as the Bergantino IP310 and not quite as loud... but all the same sweet sweet midrange perfection. Without the KW18 it still has a lot of low-bass extension.... I think I might just do this....

nortonrider · #16 01-25-2012, 07:57 PM

I don't think that your crazy.
I think that it's the wave of the future.
I would have a setup like that right now if I had the extra money.

Sav'nBass · #17 01-25-2012, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pablomigraine

So in the last few months my music life has been forced to get with modern times.... I've gone from jamming in a practice room with several acts through full rigs..... to jamming with several acts either thru a Jamhub and headphones with ipads etc or jamming thru ipads into protools and headphone monitors.... feeling my age here but adapting to it....

And then today this nice bass player fella comes in with his "bass rig" to try out some new pedals. His live rig consisted of a pedal tuner, a reverb pedal, a Sansamp Programmable 3-ch bass driver DI and a QSC KW153.... and I gotta tell ya... it sounded really, REALLY good!! He also had his post-gain out on the QSC going to his Ipad which tracks his whole performance for use / reference later...

When he switched to his hi-gain SVT setting on his bass driver and turned up the volume.... this thing sounded like the end of life on earth..... monstrous!

A Small Gator pedalboard and a QSC KW153. Stage and FOH sound for any situation.....

Im seriously considering it.....

Your thoughts Talkbass?

The weight would prevent me from gong this route .. but if it floats your boat by all means..

Ds1 · #18 01-25-2012, 08:01 PM

I think its a great idea! There was a time when my main rig broke and all I had for backup was a dual 15 with horn Yamaha PA cabinet and a cheap Behringer head... I ran it for a couple gigs and it KICKED!

jungleheat · #19 01-25-2012, 08:07 PM

Seems like for the price and weight you might as well just get a head and cab. For $400, I picked up a 500w (a 8ohm) Trace Elliot head and a Carvin 1x15 loaded with a JBL M151 (added later, which actually would bring the price down a bit if I sold the Peavey BW it came with, maybe -$50). The whole setup weighs about 85 pounds and it sounds amazing (as long as you don't need a tweeter, but I get PLENTY of high end out of it).

Now, obviously I got killer deals on everything, but even considering you could roughly double that gear for $1200, the QSC stuff doesnt seem like that great a deal.

A better alternative would be to get 2 K12s or something like that, which might end up being slightly more, but then you basically have a full PA that doubles as a bass rig.

nortonrider · #20 01-25-2012, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jungleheat

A better alternative would be to get 2 K12s or something like that, which might end up being slightly more, but then you basically have a full PA that doubles as a bass rig.

that actually sounds like a pretty good idea.