hey fellas, i'm using a pod hd500 and im trying to find a PA speaker (or alternative) that can compete with a cranked half stack, bass, and heavy hitting drummer. i've tried out the several pa speakers that sounded great but i doubt it'd be loud enough without peaking at a loud practice. i've tried the alto ts112 and 115, mackie hd1221, and mackie srm550 and i'm pushing them right to the point of clipping to get the appropriate volume. it'd be nice to have some spare volume so im not driving the hell out of the speakers at all times. anybody have any suggestions? cheers!
To keep up with the volume you're describing, you need serious reinforcement. I tried going FRFR with my Kemper. I was using two 15" + horn passive Fender PA speakers and a 600 watt power amp to keep up, and that amp was nearly pinned to keep up with our drummer and guitarist. As with anything, aiming it at your head helps a lot. I enjoyed the experiment, but ended up with a Velocity 300 power amp and a 4x12 cab, and that bastard's somewhere between 1-2 o'clock at practice. I know I'm missing out on all that sweet cab modelling or whatever, but that goes to the FOH when we play live and I don't really care that much about hearing it at rehearsal. You might be better off bailing on FRFR. Seems like a cool idea, but I don't think it works well in a live band situation unless maybe everybody is rocking FRFR. BTBAM use power amps and guitar cabs with their AxeFXs. So does Coheed and Cambria. They have access to whatever gear they want, and they go power amp and cab.
At the same time Periphery (IIRC) and Scale the Summit go FRFR for their live rigs, so YMMV. Two Mackie HD1221s should get the job done, if you can afford that.
^^That's totally true. I think most problems with running FRFR live would be solved by in-ear monitoring or a larger monitoring system where your signal gets delivered to your band mates better. I'm thinking more of the average, blue collar band gig in a medium sized bar for the most part when recommending looking at a guitar cab solution for modellers. Those HD1221s seem to be pretty directional. Like you could probably hear yourself fairly well, but it doesn't look like it's built to fill a room. Not that a 4x12 does a particularly good job of that in every case, either, but they do work really well in a jam room and on most stages that are deep enough.
My suggestions are JBL PRX735 and Mackie HD1531. If you need more power add a second and run stereo. Here is a list of brands to get started. http://www.adraudio.com/ Bag End Loudspeakers 847 382 4550 Community loudspeakers, Community Professional Loudspeakers Danley Loudspeakers | Danley Sounds Labs | Danley Sound Labs, Inc. Homepage | d&b audiotechnik eaw Electro-Voice Pro Audio Speakers, Digital Signal Processors, Amplifiers, & Microphones Home page FBT Group http://www.isptechnologies.com/ JBL Professional Meyer Sound Welcome To Nexo - Nexo Professional Audio Systems - The Next Phase in Loudspeaker Technology.Loudspeaker systems, Line array, Loudspeakers, sound reinforcement, pro audio speakers, speaker components and electronics for professional audio and sound contracting markets QSC Home Yamaha - Global Yorkville
You pretty much described my exact situation when I joined a band this summer. I brought my Axe Fx 2 and 2 Alto TS112A's to the first practice, cranked them up, and then the drummer and singer stared at me because they couldn't hear me. I was incredibly bummed out because the internet told me going FRFR was so great and that it would be loud enough. Let alone this was all I owned. I had ditched my Peavey 5150 and 4x12 cab to upgrade to this FRFR solution. A week later I bought a Carvin DCM1540L power amp and 4x12 Avatar cab and am much happier. If I want different cabs, I can still do that with my Alto's at home. And I have an Avatar Contemporary vertical 2x12 on the way this week. Not saying you should take any of this advice, it just depends on your situation. Looking at the Fractal Audio community where I got a lot of my advice on FRFR solutions, one year they think Atomic cabs are the best thing, the next they think Mackie HD153s are the way to go, this year they think Atomic CLRs are awesome. Its great and all that those technologies are going somewhere but to a person like me who's going to play unmic'd 95% of the time with a loud drummer, its just better for me to use a traditional cab and power amp. And one more thing, I have a friend who recently bought a Pod HD500 and is using it with a Carvin power amp (HD2000) and cab (Avatar Traditional 4x12) and it sounds AWESOME! Good luck!
