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PA for busking band

S

Swoopster

Dec 21, 2019
6
4
#1
Looking for thoughts on a battery powered PA for a busking band my daughter and her friends want to start. A vocalist, guitarist, bassist/backup vocals and drummer.

My daughter had to come up with a way to do a fundraiser/earn money for a charity for school. Her mom suggested a bake sale . Her and her friends all go to School of Rock and perform very good shows, so I suggested they go to the city square and busk. They loved the idea and did pull it off. Just was a pain getting setup and no drums. So they want to continue busking as they had lots of fun.

They are 14 to 17 years old so I am looking for a setup for them to continue.

Thinking of getting a Pearl Compact Traveler drumset for the drummer to be included.

Now for a PA that will handle the rest.
Looking at options I see a lot of setups that seem to fit the job. So looking for input on easiest moving and setup for them.

lightest setup maybe:
Bose S1 Pro Plus for vocals and guitar + another PA for Bass and backup vocals?

All in one maybe:
Roland BA330? Just a heavier setup.

Any input would be appreciated!!! Thank you
 
#2
Swoopster said:
Looking for thoughts on a battery powered PA for a busking band my daughter and her friends want to start. A vocalist, guitarist, bassist/backup vocals and drummer.

My daughter had to come up with a way to do a fundraiser/earn money for a charity for school. Her mom suggested a bake sale . Her and her friends all go to School of Rock and perform very good shows, so I suggested they go to the city square and busk. They loved the idea and did pull it off. Just was a pain getting setup and no drums. So they want to continue busking as they had lots of fun.

They are 14 to 17 years old so I am looking for a setup for them to continue.

Thinking of getting a Pearl Compact Traveler drumset for the drummer to be included.

Now for a PA that will handle the rest.
Looking at options I see a lot of setups that seem to fit the job. So looking for input on easiest moving and setup for them.

lightest setup maybe:
Bose S1 Pro Plus for vocals and guitar + another PA for Bass and backup vocals?

All in one maybe:
Roland BA330? Just a heavier setup.

Any input would be appreciated!!! Thank you
Click to expand...

The Roland Cube Street EX is about half the size and weight of the BA330. The Cube Street EX is rated 50W total and it has a pair of 8" woofer. The BA330 is rated 30W total and it has four 6.5" woofers. My impression is the BA330 is a bit louder and fuller, probably due to the extra radiating area...but this is an educated guess as I have not played through either.

Ideally each person would have their own amp. This will spread the carry out and also should result in far superior sound. For mobility my choice would be the Cube Street EX. It's a nice little grab N go package. These can be stand mounted although I think you need proprietary stands that are not cheap. They also kick back like monitor wedges, so you can just put them on the ground in front of the band. Also two Cube Street EXs can be linked together to produce a stereo PA...and I think this also double the number of inputs.

I would probably buy a variety of the Roland/Boss amps. Low frequencies need more power. A guitar or keyboard playing through a Boss Cube Street 2 (10W) would be plenty. For bass I would go with the Cube Street EX or BA330.

For vocals the Boss Cube Street 2 would probably be fine compared to how loud the bass can play with a Cube Street EX or BA330...If possible I would get a pair of the Roland Cube Street EXs to have a bit of headroom.

Another option would be to use some sort of cart and regular gear with a pure sine power bank. Here is my thread on the Jackery 300 I bought to experiment with. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/battery-powered-mayhem-jackery-300.1567820/

Take note that they are using pedals to shape their tone as well. I.E. This is not just the Cube Street EX.

Of course, I know money does not grow on trees, so budget will likely limit what you can buy. Here is an example with a single Cube Street EX.

They have several video you can listen to...I think this is the best one.

Other options if the budget is large and you want more SPL

Sounboks 4
JBL Partybox 310
Anchor Audio Beacon 2
Anchor Audio BigFoot.
 
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#4
I have a JBL EON One Pro. Lives in a Gator transporter case. Battery driven with IEC for charging. 8" sub with a sectional pole supporting a module with some small mid/hi drivers. 4 channel on board mixer plus bluetooth.

Works just fine for busking.

Behringer makes a small mixer that can be battery powered. I've thought about adding one...


I also have an EcoFlow Delta 2 plus extra battery that will, hold up a Yamaha powered 12 and horn box for ages. Mostly that setup runs an induction plate, rice cooker and hot pot in my sound co work truck/rough camper.
 
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#5
Mike Caldwell said:
I'll add the EV Everse 8 to the list of choices. Good battery life, fit on any standard stand and sound good.
Click to expand...
Just had a look at it. The Yamaha Stagepass 200BTR looks very interesting, too. A 8“ driver combined with a tweeter, 180 W, 125db, a bit cheaper in Germany
(700,- vs. 800,- for the EV, 570,- without battery, additional batteries can be bought for 160,-, runs 10 hours).
I like the mixer on the Yamaha. Would be enough for a bass, a guitar, voc. and a stereo keyboard. Our drummer would play an unamplified Cajón.

Both Yamaha and EV have a very good reputation regarding their PA speakers. Anyone here, who tried the Yamaha?
 
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#6
If I was doing that, I'd get a small Lithium Ion battery of about 10 A/h or so and a PSW power inverter and run everybody's combos and PA off of that.

With such a setup, you can run a total of 300 watts for at least 6 hours with no worries (or 600 watts for 3 hours). The battery/inverter combination will fit inside a small, portable case that should weigh about 12 lbs or less and shouldn't cost more than around $150 total.
 
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#7
Mike Caldwell said:
I'll add the EV Everse 8 to the list of choices. Good battery life, fit on any standard stand and sound good.
Click to expand...

I just picked up one of these secondhand to do some busking with, after looking at all the various options. Knew they are expensive, but secondhand it was tolerable. It seems loud and sounds good. 60Hz F3 seems pretty reasonable for bass guitar; I’ll try it out and see how it goes.
 
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#8
DirkP said:
Just had a look at it. The Yamaha Stagepass 200BTR looks very interesting, too. A 8“ driver combined with a tweeter, 180 W, 125db, a bit cheaper in Germany
(700,- vs. 800,- for the EV, 570,- without battery, additional batteries can be bought for 160,-, runs 10 hours).
I like the mixer on the Yamaha. Would be enough for a bass, a guitar, voc. and a stereo keyboard. Our drummer would play an unamplified Cajón.

Both Yamaha and EV have a very good reputation regarding their PA speakers. Anyone here, who tried the Yamaha?
Click to expand...

I looked at the Yamaha. Weighs about 30lbs, same frequency response as the EV8, similar price, similar power, and similar SPL. I left it because it weighed nearly twice as much as the EV8.
 
#9
Just noticed there is now an EV Everse 12

upload_2024-3-14_1-37-44.png


It is about double the weight of the Everse 8 at 14.16 kg (31.22 lbs)

Ref: EVERSE SERIES by Electro-Voice (electrovoice.com)
 
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#10
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#11
Well, the Everse EV8 is an absolute beast.

I’ve practicing through it for a few days at home and been impressed. Sounds good with or without using my Helix Stomp as a preamp, plenty of gain either way.

However, I just tried it out at a band rehearsal with a loud guitarist and drummer, and it rocked. Loud - had to turn it down, still had plenty of headroom - and handled effects very well. And the battery was still 2/3rds full after 2 hours of playing. I’m sold; I’ll use this for some busking and I can see this working fine for pub gigs. I am amazed.

(To be fair, I used the Helix global EQ to high pass filter off everything below 60Hz, the F3 of the cabinet. That allowed me not to waste any power and the Everse even tolerated me using an octaver really well when I did that. The band were extremely impressed.)

As an aside, I put the guitarist through the Everse at the same time as me, and I tried a backing track at the same time too. Again the Everse handled all the signals at the same time like a champ. Loud, loud, loud.

I do actually like cabinets tuned slightly lower - 55Hz or even 50Hz for the F3 -which means I’d probably like the Everse 12 even more - but the 8 is compact and fab.

I can only imagine the volume of the Everse 12…!
 
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#12
I would be very wary of investing in any portable PA solution that relies on proprietary lithium-ion batteries or any batteries that cannot be replaced, particularly after the manufacturer goes out of business or simply discontinues the line.

Also, from a power standpoint, it’s really not optimal to use DC battery power that is inverted to 120 VAC, only to be reconverted to DC by your equipment power supplies. There are losses in both stages that waste a lot of power that could have be used. I would suggest looking into using a custom system built from 12 V automotive or marine amplifiers with standardized, replaceable, deep cycle or sealed lead-acid batteries and DC-DC voltage regulators.

Also, bear in mind that weather protection is a thing. If you are going to go out there busking, there is always the probability of getting rained on, and electronics, musical instruments, and rain generally do not mix well. Theft is also a possibility.

Of course, lithium-ion batteries do rule in the power to weight ratio game, so any other solution is likely to be heavier and more cumbersome, so ultimately ease of use may be the deciding factor. Just try to limit your exposure.
 
#13
Good points @amper

For me, I started off looking at the Jackery portable power supplies and the like, and then using my usual amp/cab. (Berg B Amp and LFSys Silverstone 1x12 FRFR cab). I also looked at the portable drill battery-type solutions, but the idea of having lots of different parts with inter connectors was not appealing. Every connection is a possible point of failure…

I realised the power supply needed would get moderately heavy and expensive relatively fast, and that existing solutions (Roland Bass Micro Cube or Dual Street EX, Roland BA 330, Bose S1 Plus Pro, Everse EV8, Yamaha Stagepas 100 BTR, and others) had a lot of benefits, including being designed for the exact job I want.

This list turned out to be really helpful -



I like it when someone can speak directly from experience.

The EV8 has rainproof cover which I could use even whilst playing through it (if I want to buy it), comes from a major manufacturer who isn’t likely to go bust, is designed to be flat in response and has good dispersion, has enough inputs for my purpose, and can be carried easily in one hand. The phone app is really good. It will also power my Stomp from the USB-C port, once my USB-C 5v to 9v converter plug arrives. (myVolts USB-C PD Step Up Tip, 9V c-ve 2.1mm/2.5mm)

And, it cost £400 second-hand, which was reasonable comparing to the Jackery portable power supplies of the size and power I might need. (£570 for 1000W or £330 for 500W). New, it would have been a harder sell, at £680 or so.

I guess everyone’s mileage will vary. For me, this seems to be a good portable solution, which makes compromises I can live with.
 
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#15
Wasnex said:
The Roland Cube Street EX is about half the size and weight of the BA330. The Cube Street EX is rated 50W total and it has a pair of 8" woofer. The BA330 is rated 30W total and it has four 6.5" woofers. My impression is the BA330 is a bit louder and fuller, probably due to the extra radiating area...but this is an educated guess as I have not played through either.

Ideally each person would have their own amp. This will spread the carry out and also should result in far superior sound. For mobility my choice would be the Cube Street EX. It's a nice little grab N go package. These can be stand mounted although I think you need proprietary stands that are not cheap. They also kick back like monitor wedges, so you can just put them on the ground in front of the band. Also two Cube Street EXs can be linked together to produce a stereo PA...and I think this also double the number of inputs.

I would probably buy a variety of the Roland/Boss amps. Low frequencies need more power. A guitar or keyboard playing through a Boss Cube Street 2 (10W) would be plenty. For bass I would go with the Cube Street EX or BA330.

For vocals the Boss Cube Street 2 would probably be fine compared to how loud the bass can play with a Cube Street EX or BA330...If possible I would get a pair of the Roland Cube Street EXs to have a bit of headroom.

Another option would be to use some sort of cart and regular gear with a pure sine power bank. Here is my thread on the Jackery 300 I bought to experiment with. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/battery-powered-mayhem-jackery-300.1567820/

Take note that they are using pedals to shape their tone as well. I.E. This is not just the Cube Street EX.

Of course, I know money does not grow on trees, so budget will likely limit what you can buy. Here is an example with a single Cube Street EX.

They have several video you can listen to...I think this is the best one.

Other options if the budget is large and you want more SPL

Sounboks 4
JBL Partybox 310
Anchor Audio Beacon 2
Anchor Audio BigFoot.
Click to expand...

Really impressive and what a great job covering a very difficult JB bass part!
 
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