Cabinets : Front Ported vs. Sealed vs. Rear Ported

[seamonkey]

Okay here's my stupid question, so at the end of the day if you are going to have just one cabinet to use what would be the best all-round cabinet to cover everything: ported-rear, ported-front, sealed?

Just ported. Doesn't matter where the ports are.
Many heads can be EQ'd by cutting the bass, or an aggressive HPF to sound just like a sealed cab. It doesn't work the other way to EQ a sealed cab to reach the performance of a ported cab. You'd lose too much volume.

 

[Kro]

It makes no difference.

Right, but given that the baffle isn't a square (it's 19.5" x 23.5") it does make me wonder if the orientation of the baffle might make a difference in this case. What do you guys think, would the difference be so small as to be imperceptible?

 

[Redbrangus]

What do you guys think, would the difference be so small as to be perceptible?

I think the difference would be imperceptible

 

[Kro]

I think the difference would be imperceptible

Yes, that is the word I was looking for. Edited.

 

[HelpImaRock]

I think the difference would be imperceptible

I think the difference is the tweeter is higher so any difference in porting is masked by the treble anyway.

 

[agedhorse]

Whichever cabinet you like the best.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Okay here's my stupid question, so at the end of the day if you are going to have just one cabinet to use what would be the best all-round cabinet to cover everything: ported-rear, ported-front, sealed?

There are examples of great, pretty good, average and poor versions of all three.
You have to go deeper into the cab than just its hole.

 

[sunnpeg]

I am a science teacher by day and play gigs on weekends, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the input from the various sources. Science Rules!!!

One of my concerns with rear-firing ports has to do with how the bass sound is perceived by other band members on stage. Volume is always a concern, and as most of know, bass frequencies from many instruments (even guitars and keyboards) tend to wreak havoc on stage sound. What one person hears on stage left can be drastically different than what is heard on the other side. A person can have trouble hearing his/her own notes and be inundated with another persons bass frequencies coming from the opposite side of the stage.

I had one cabinet many years ago (2x10) that was rear-ported and I felt like I was flooding the stage. I have avoided rear-ported cabs ever since. As my GAS expands, I keep wondering if I should have tried other rear-ported cabinets built by other manufacturers.

 

[chris_b]

I have been told by several drummers they don't like rear ports, because when they are sitting behind the back line they predominantly get is the sound from the ports.

Sometimes I have to play on small stages and leaving 6" at the back of a cab may not be possible, so always front ports for me.

 

[seamonkey]

I am a science teacher by day and play gigs on weekends, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the input from the various sources. Science Rules!!!

One of my concerns with rear-firing ports has to do with how the bass sound is perceived by other band members on stage. Volume is always a concern, and as most of know, bass frequencies from many instruments (even guitars and keyboards) tend to wreak havoc on stage sound. What one person hears on stage left can be drastically different than what is heard on the other side. A person can have trouble hearing his/her own notes and be inundated with another persons bass frequencies coming from the opposite side of the stage.

I had one cabinet many years ago (2x10) that was rear-ported and I felt like I was flooding the stage. I have avoided rear-ported cabs ever since. As my GAS expands, I keep wondering if I should have tried other rear-ported cabinets built by other manufacturers.

Science Rules!

For low bass frequency the sound is radiated 360 degrees out of the cabinet.
Here's a graphic from QSC
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
More info here: KS212C

It doesn't matter where the ports are: front, back or side.
What your band-mates may be hearing is lack of mids and highs and they perceive it to be too much bass. Give them some cone - and they'll hear a better balanced full spectrum better.

Room might also be subject to boundary effects. People on stage standing in different null positions. For example see:
Speaker Placement 101: Is Speaker-Boundary Interference Killing Your Bass?

If you're an educator you school lib might have a subscription to AES where you can find many peer reviewed papers on such subjects.

IEMs are good for controlling stage volume. Keeps the volume from becoming damaging to musicians ears. Many pro's are aware of this and use them just for this, but IEMs are also marvelous for monitor mixing. Controlled stage volume lets the FOH control the room levels better.