AudioKinesis Cabs V!!!!

[PDGood]

A quick question, especially aimed at those of you whose cabs have the rear-firing tweeter:

Do you find that your drummer benefits from the rear-firing tweet, by being able to hear what you're doing better? Or is that not really an issue?

Would you rather it be a bit louder, or a bit softer?

Have you ever found it to be detrimental?

Thanks!

Duke

I think it helps, although it's hard to say since I'm not sitting where the drummer is. If anything it should be louder. I played drums for 3 years and it's nothing but a rumble back behind the band. Anything that can define the sound is a huge plus. And I think some commented that it currently is a luxury and that its mostly effective at acoustic volumes. If it were louder it would increase its usefulness. Certainly it can't hurt anything.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Thank you very much, Passinwind & PDGood. Both of your observations are very helpful.

PDGood, your perspective from having played drums that "it's nothing but a rumble back behind the band" is illuminating and encouraging, at least from the perspective of justifying rear-firing-tweeterness.

 

[Chef]

Last week I played with a drummer whom I hadn't worked with for a few months.
First words out of his mouth after sound check:
"Where are those cabs you used to use? The ones with the rear port, and the rear firing tweeter? I could hear you much better with those."

So; there's one drummers words...

Originally Posted by DukeLeJeune View Post
A quick question, especially aimed at those of you whose cabs have the rear-firing tweeter:

Do you find that your drummer benefits from the rear-firing tweet, by being able to hear what you're doing better? Or is that not really an issue?

Would you rather it be a bit louder, or a bit softer?

Have you ever found it to be detrimental?

Thanks!

Duke

 

[PDGood]

Thank you very much, Passinwind & PDGood. Both of your observations are very helpful.

PDGood, your perspective from having played drums that "it's nothing but a rumble back behind the band" is illuminating and encouraging, at least from the perspective of justifying rear-firing-tweeterness.

That was one factor in moving back to bass. I loved drums but you really feel isolated from the rest of the band - partly by where you are physically and partly because you aren't playing melody and are often left out of discussions on arrangements etc.

 

[Passinwind]

Thank you very much, Passinwind & PDGood. Both of your observations are very helpful.

Forgot to mention my favorite leveraging of the back tweet: the TC112AF is just outstanding when used in my stereo rig for ambient time-domain effects. Something a little smaller would actually work just as well most of the time for this though...(hint, hint).

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Gosh, I'm wondering whether my calling in life might be to build cabs that reach out to isolated drummers, and in particular that bring dummers and bass players together. Thanks so much for the education!

 

[Jazzdogg]

Most of the PA drum monitors I've seen attempt to solve the problem of drummers being able to hear the rest of the band by brute force; aiming a 15" wedge directly toward the drummer; on larger stages, often stacking a wedge atop a sub. No wonder so many drummers suffer hearing loss! When playing live music, the sound musicians experience upstage is usually an afterthought - at best; downstage musicians seem to get most of the attention from sound providers.

The vast majority of jazz trios I've worked with prefer to arrange ourselves physically on stage to make it easier to hear each other acoustically - preferably without stage monitors. For louder gigs or larger stages I will often stack two bass cabs, aiming the upper cab toward me, and aiming the lower cab across the stage toward the drummer and keyboard player. If I could achieve the same thing with a single cabinet, I'd be a very happy camper.

 

[Wild Rice Chris]

Most of the PA drum monitors I've seen attempt to solve the problem of drummers being able to hear the rest of the band by brute force; aiming a 15" wedge directly toward the drummer; on larger stages, often stacking a wedge atop a sub. No wonder so many drummers suffer hearing loss! When playing live music, the sound musicians experience upstage is usually an afterthought - at best; downstage musicians seem to get most of the attention from sound providers.

The vast majority of jazz trios I've worked with prefer to arrange ourselves physically on stage to make it easier to hear each other acoustically - preferably without stage monitors. For louder gigs or larger stages I will often stack two bass cabs, aiming the upper cab toward me, and aiming the lower cab across the stage toward the drummer and keyboard player. If I could achieve the same thing with a single cabinet, I'd be a very happy camper.

I recently played a stage that had two! Bag End 215 monitors on the drummer, one from either side. Plus six Bag End single 15 monitors across the front of the stage. Best sounding monitor system I've heard in a long time, if a little overkill for our band.

 

[RColie]

Hi Duke,

This all sounds great! I can't wait to get mine!

I understand the midrange switch - a lot of guys like a more aggressive midrange, and I'm interested to hear the effect. However, I'm hoping that the "normal" midrange selection will be nice and smooth like your other Thunderchild designs - for me there's nothing better!

Thanks,

Bob

I've had some delays on compression drivers for the forthcoming TC112-8 (thanks for your understanding, those with orders in place), so I've taken the opportunity to spend a bit more time refining this and that. The TC112-8 will incorporate a couple of significant changes over the original, in addition to being an 8-ohm load instead of a 4-ohm load.

First, the TC112-8 will have a 90 by 90 degree horn (with a new polymer-diaphragm compression driver), instead of the 90 x 50 degree horn that I've been using. The idea is to increase the vertical dispersion so that it's easier to hear the overtones when you're standing very close to the cab.

Second, the TC112-8 will have a switch that lets you toggle between "midrange smooth" and "midrange aggressive". Won't be the snarliest cab ever, but will do the "cut through the mix" thing better than the smooth voicing my cabs usually have. We'll also have the familiar top-end rolloff switch, giving us a pretty good variety of voicings available even before you start to fine-tune with the EQ functions on your amp.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Hi Duke,

This all sounds great! I can't wait to get mine!

I understand the midrange switch - a lot of guys like a more aggressive midrange, and I'm interested to hear the effect. However, I'm hoping that the "normal" midrange selection will be nice and smooth like your other Thunderchild designs - for me there's nothing better!

Thanks,

Bob

Don't worry Bob, the "smooth" will still be there when the switch is in the "normal" position.

 

[Passinwind]

Don't worry Bob, the "smooth" will still be there when the switch is in the "normal" position.

Excellent. Will the form factor of the cab change any, given the different horn format?

 

[banditcosmo]

Where can a get a cover with velcro strap for a TC115 ?

 

[RColie]

Good news! To celebrate, here's a pic I posted in another thread. It doesn't get any better than this.

Don't worry Bob, the "smooth" will still be there when the switch is in the "normal" position.

 

[PDGood]

Where can a get a cover with velcro strap for a TC115 ?

I got one from LeCover - they can make whatever you want and are very reasonable. Don't know what you mean about the velcro strap though.

They have my measurements for a TC115 wide, however it's best to take your own measurements for boutique builds. I started to use someone else's and discovered he had a different handle than I have. Small builders can make changes (and improvements) on the fly without concern about it being different than the photo in a catalog that's shipped to hundreds of stores.

My one suggestion is to get a non-padded one. I got the thinner padding and it gives the cover enough structure that it resists folding up. You have to store is somewhere you can get weight on it or it forms itself back to the shape of the cabinet.

 

[Joebone]

Have not gigged out in a while, but did so on Saturday night, and was absolutely, positively thrilled with my composite TC15 Wide. What a great, great cabinet! Used it with an Aguilar TH500 and a Sadowsky Metro 5/24, alder/morado, with Big Singles and TI Jazz Flats. I had every sound I wanted at my disposal, able to get gobs of timbral and dynamic range through my hands, with minimal knob-twiddling. I feel blessed to have such excellent tools at my disposal, and the TC is a huge element of the toolbox.

Thank you, Duke!

 

[Lia_G]

I got one from LeCover - they can make whatever you want and are very reasonable. Don't know what you mean about the velcro strap though.

The velcro strap goes under the cab to secure the cover to the cab. I think both Lecover and Tuki offer it as an option.

Cheers,
Liam

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Excellent. Will the form factor of the cab change any, given the different horn format?

The short answer is, no.

But I did think about it. The only dimension I could readily change is the height; I could shave off about an inch and a half.

The width is set by the woofer diameter, and the depth is set by the need for clearance between the ports and the woofer magnet.

And if I do make the cabinet shorter, the internal volume would decrease acccordingly, so I'd have to increase the port length to keep the same tuning frequency... and I'd have to make the cab deeper to do so.

There, that was the long answer!

 

[rpsands]

You could always make it bigger Mm, bass.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

You could always make it bigger Mm, bass.

I thought about that too, but you see, there's this other designer out there whose cabs are fRIGHTfully good, and he's using the 3012LF in a very well designed bigger box that goes deeper. I'd like to offer something that fills a slightly different market niche, trading off bottom end authority for a size and weight savings. I figure the community of bass players is better served by having a wider variety of choices, rather than having two cabs whose only real difference is mid/tweet vs PA-style horn.

 

[John D Harris]

I thought about that too, but you see, there's this other designer out there whose cabs are fRIGHTfully good, and he's using the 3012LF in a very well designed bigger box that goes deeper. I'd like to offer something that fills a slightly different market niche, trading off bottom end authority for a size and weight savings. I figure the community of bass players is better served by having a wider variety of choices, rather than having two cabs whose only real difference is mid/tweet vs PA-style horn.

I think you're on the right track, there Bro.