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AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...
- Thread starter Thor
- Start date
I swear I've seen the number 1203 come up constantly in everyday life the last couple months. Look at the clock: it's 12:03. Look at the back of a truck: it's truck 1203. Doing a calculation: answer 1,203. Look at a receipt: $12.03. This happens with 212 a lot, too. I'm clearly torn.
Duke, you probably didn't even realize it, but you're getting a ton of free marketing from the world.
It's a sign!!! You need to order one asap.
Tucked in the corner at rehearsal. Time to channel Chuck. Report to follow.
So I'll be putting the 1203s through their paces and when steubig gets off the road we'll do another cabpalooza. Tonight was Steely Jam rehearsal so I know the room but I was using my backup head (I have been taking a QSC K10 for the last few rehearsals here). The GK Fusion is a pretty aggressive head and I typically roll the treble off, back the hi mids off a bit, then run low mids and bass flat. With that setup the 1203 sounded damn near perfect. Interestingly enough my strings are getting a little tired so I've been opening up the passive tone on the YYD when running the QSCs to get some bite out of it. No need with the 1203. I was also sitting right in front of the cab and the low E gave a nice pant leg vibration even at low volume. Really even response from the cab and more bottom than I'd expect. At first blush Duke pretty much nailed what I look/listen for in a cab.
Tomorrow I have a gig at one of my regular haunts. I'll probably take the pair and run the stack with Monique/Minnie just because. I have a hunch that I could probably cover the gig with a single cab but no need to push. They are small/light enough to haul the pair. Next week I have jazz hits at two other rooms where I'll take a single cab. So far big thumbs up. If you liked the TC but wanted a bit more edge, this seems to hit the spot. More later...
Tomorrow I have a gig at one of my regular haunts. I'll probably take the pair and run the stack with Monique/Minnie just because. I have a hunch that I could probably cover the gig with a single cab but no need to push. They are small/light enough to haul the pair. Next week I have jazz hits at two other rooms where I'll take a single cab. So far big thumbs up. If you liked the TC but wanted a bit more edge, this seems to hit the spot. More later...
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As a possibly interesting aside, I plugged my Nord Stage 2 into the GK/1203 combo just for grins (Monique is in the car and I'm too lazy to go grab it). Acoustic piano is a bit too colored (I bet the TC112 is a better fit for that). But the electric pianos and organ sound sick through the rig. Way better than the QCS K10s. That has me thinking...
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,951
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Nice report! I have to admit, my love affair with the 1203 continues. I need to send mine back to Duke for the smoothing switch, but I hate to see it go!
- Nov 24, 2008
- 4,343
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- Disclosures
- Owner & designer, AudioKinesis; Auth. mfg, Big E (Home Audio only)
Thank you very much. I know you've had hands-on with some really nice cabs, so I really appreciate that.
Very encouraging that my cab is competitive with the your QSC in some ways. I really like the design philosophy of the QCS K-line (constant-directivity waveguide pattern-matched to the woofer in the crossover region); in fact some of my home audio speakers use a waveguide designed by the same guy, Mark Engebretson, before he joined QSC. Mark is now with VUE Audiotechnik, which was a pretty scary pairing for their high-end prosound competition, considering that Mark's designs took QSC's powered PA cab line from 5% to 50% of the market share. Before that, Mark designed JBL's market-dominating line arrays.
The TC112.8 in acoustic-friendly guise would probably be my nomination for a small piano-friendly cab. You said "acoustic piano" - I assume you mean the acoustic piano setting on your the Nord, rather than actual acoustic piano?
Also, a bit off topic but I should warn you that there's some joker on TED that I recently realized is using your name. But he doesn't look anything like you... no black Devo hat, no curly hair. He even plays bass, so he's stealing more than just your name. Must admit his talk is among the few I've listened to twice.
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Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,075
- 46,027
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Finally got to try out my new amp on a gig last night with the (old style) TC112AF. Scary cowboy bar, I survived and someone even dug it enough to buy me a round. Best EUB sound yet, but this cab has always worked well for that with whatever amp I've used it with. Next time I'll ask the keyboard player to give it a whirl.
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- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,951
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,075
- 46,027
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
We ran that amp through a bunch of Duke's cabs up in Seattle, so I knew this was going to work pretty well. Link Removed
been reading nostatic's comments with great interest. i get to check out the hathors in about a week.
really wanted to steal one from him for my little sojourn to norcal this week, but couldn't quite swing it.
luckily i had my tc112 and it shook the house (literally).
really wanted to steal one from him for my little sojourn to norcal this week, but couldn't quite swing it.
luckily i had my tc112 and it shook the house (literally).
I'll post more recordings from last night later. Here is the short review. I ran both cabs, with the bottom one having switches off (high-end rolloff, smoother mids) and top cab high-end engaged, but smoother mids. One thing I want to experiment with are the switch positions as they change the character of the cab, though not night and day. I did briefly try just the top cab during soundcheck and it was a bit thin in the room but it also was on top so it wasn't coupled to the floor. Next week I have two gigs where I'll just take a single cab, and my experience at rehearsal was that single cab on the ground had nice heft.
Comments from the house were that they could always hear the bass - this with no FOH. The drummer was happy as he could easily hear but wasn't overwhelmed. The proof was in the pudding as I did looping lines in two songs and he had no problem locking. For me, I could always hear what I was doing and never felt too much low-mid push. Articulation is very similar to the Baers, with maybe just a tad less low extension but a little more low-mid heft. I think the 1203 reacts to slap a bit better than the Baer, but part of that is the bass and the walnut body (which tends to compress). I'm not sure that a single cab would have carried this room whereas the Baer will no problem. I'd expect that as the Baer is almost twice the size. From a logistic standpoint, the 1203 is freakin' perfect. Small footprint, easy carry, and great dispersion so I can hear even if I'm right on top of the cab. It frees up a bunch of space in the back of my car (I leave one cab in the car all the time).
I also was using less bass eq on Monique with the 1203 than I typically would with the Baer - due to having a bit more low-mid heft baked in. I still need to work with the cab and find out how it takes eq and technique. But so far, it is great. I'm not sure I have any "gee, I would change this..." comments yet. Which is pretty rare for me as I'm somewhat of a pita about gear.
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and a bit spacey [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Comments from the house were that they could always hear the bass - this with no FOH. The drummer was happy as he could easily hear but wasn't overwhelmed. The proof was in the pudding as I did looping lines in two songs and he had no problem locking. For me, I could always hear what I was doing and never felt too much low-mid push. Articulation is very similar to the Baers, with maybe just a tad less low extension but a little more low-mid heft. I think the 1203 reacts to slap a bit better than the Baer, but part of that is the bass and the walnut body (which tends to compress). I'm not sure that a single cab would have carried this room whereas the Baer will no problem. I'd expect that as the Baer is almost twice the size. From a logistic standpoint, the 1203 is freakin' perfect. Small footprint, easy carry, and great dispersion so I can hear even if I'm right on top of the cab. It frees up a bunch of space in the back of my car (I leave one cab in the car all the time).
I also was using less bass eq on Monique with the 1203 than I typically would with the Baer - due to having a bit more low-mid heft baked in. I still need to work with the cab and find out how it takes eq and technique. But so far, it is great. I'm not sure I have any "gee, I would change this..." comments yet. Which is pretty rare for me as I'm somewhat of a pita about gear.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
and a bit spacey [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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The QSC does surprisingly well as a bass cab, but it tends to fall apart when you push it and doesn't have as much punch in the mids as I typically like. As a keyboard amp it is good but some guys think it isn't quite there for a good acoustic piano sample (my Nord has a really nice Bosendorfer patch). I am thinking about trying a pair of the RCF NX-M10A from their touring series and those would double as PA mains with the K10 moving to monitor use. That said I'm curious about TC112.8 for double duty. Downside for keys is that you need a stereo amp and that starts to get to be more stuff to carry.
Rumor has it the TEDx was all CGI and smoke/mirrors...
nostatic's QSC makes for an interesting comparison.
I did a church gig for 4 years, where we used QSC HPR122i's as wedge monitors, and later added a pair of K10's. Stage levels were pretty high. We had an un-baffled acoustic kit, and rock drummers.
The 122i's worked fairly well at my position, although they lacked some authority in the low end, and didn't have enough headroom for slap. I prefer a more open sound than most, so I didn't mind the tone.
Unfortunately, I was in the back row beside the drummer. While I was fairly comfortable with what I was hearing, the other performers mostly heard the backwash off my wedge along with the PA sub, so my bass sounded pretty diffuse, and lacked punch. The other performers could have asked for more bass guitar in their wedges, but most didn't. We were pushing the QSC's pretty hard, and they were fighting for vocal intelligibility.
The K10's sounded more rounded and musical at low levels, and the waveguide gave better dispersion. The vocalists liked them, but they didn't cut it as bass guitar and drum monitors in that venue. I could get the voice coils to rattle without a lot of effort, and it took a pair to function as my monitor.
I got my TC112AF (1st-gen 4 ohm version) while I was on that gig, and everyone agreed that it was far superior. It handled our stage levels effortlessly, while the QSC's always sounded a little stressed.
Driven by a Genz Streamliner 900 and standing vertically, it gave everyone on stage a better representation of my bass. My mids and highs were present enough to help with pitch definition, and the bass felt more punchy and rhythmic. Pedal notes below low E sounded and felt better with my 5-string basses, as well.
When we tried the TC with keys, the results were the same. Not surprising really, given that a Thunderchild and a suitable amp cost about 50% more than a single QSC...
Portability-wise, Duke's solution knocked the socks off the larger QSC's. They weighed in at a fairly porky 50lb or so, and had poorly-placed handles.
Sent from my iPad using TalkBass
I did a church gig for 4 years, where we used QSC HPR122i's as wedge monitors, and later added a pair of K10's. Stage levels were pretty high. We had an un-baffled acoustic kit, and rock drummers.
The 122i's worked fairly well at my position, although they lacked some authority in the low end, and didn't have enough headroom for slap. I prefer a more open sound than most, so I didn't mind the tone.
Unfortunately, I was in the back row beside the drummer. While I was fairly comfortable with what I was hearing, the other performers mostly heard the backwash off my wedge along with the PA sub, so my bass sounded pretty diffuse, and lacked punch. The other performers could have asked for more bass guitar in their wedges, but most didn't. We were pushing the QSC's pretty hard, and they were fighting for vocal intelligibility.
The K10's sounded more rounded and musical at low levels, and the waveguide gave better dispersion. The vocalists liked them, but they didn't cut it as bass guitar and drum monitors in that venue. I could get the voice coils to rattle without a lot of effort, and it took a pair to function as my monitor.
I got my TC112AF (1st-gen 4 ohm version) while I was on that gig, and everyone agreed that it was far superior. It handled our stage levels effortlessly, while the QSC's always sounded a little stressed.
Driven by a Genz Streamliner 900 and standing vertically, it gave everyone on stage a better representation of my bass. My mids and highs were present enough to help with pitch definition, and the bass felt more punchy and rhythmic. Pedal notes below low E sounded and felt better with my 5-string basses, as well.
When we tried the TC with keys, the results were the same. Not surprising really, given that a Thunderchild and a suitable amp cost about 50% more than a single QSC...
Portability-wise, Duke's solution knocked the socks off the larger QSC's. They weighed in at a fairly porky 50lb or so, and had poorly-placed handles.
Sent from my iPad using TalkBass
That matches my experience. I use the K10 (or even a K8) as a bass cab for low volume gigs or rehearsals when I didn't want to haul the ML112 - either me just being lazy (one small box) or needing a really compact rig due to a tight stage. At low volumes the Foderas wound sound pretty good. When pushed the kids would fade and the highs start to get a bit brittle. When I use them as PA mains they are fine as I'm only running vocals and sax through them, sometimes keys. Given the size/weight of the 1203, I can't really see the need to take any of the QSCs for bass. I may end up ditching the QSCs for a pair of RCF NX-M10As to use as keyboard amp and PA mains, maybe keep one K10 as a floor monitor.
