I’m saying it. Don’t be angry.

[mike o]

Next time for sure Eric. Not sure if you remember but we did reach out to you but no shows locally while we were in town. We did see paper city hustlers at the conch house. They are very good!

Originally Posted by noledog

Hey Mike,
I'm glad you enjoyed a great time in St Aug! I play there a lot as it is in my rotation as I play up and down the First Coast. So next time you and your bride come down, look me up, would love to meet y'all. See my contact info and schedule when you click on my signature below.

I know many musicians there and there are some really good ones. My two favorite venues to play there are the Conch House and Beaches At Vilano. While I agree the Bose systems do sound good, I prefer my Loudbox Performers. They give great power, throw and hi fidelity for my solo shows... but around here the Bose systems are the most popular... I'm heading back to Islamorada, then Key West next week and my musician friends there use Bose, house pa, and I've seen Fishman too. Anyway, cheers and come see me next time yer down!!

eric

[noledog]

Originally Posted by mike o

Next time for sure Eric. Not sure if you remember but we did reach out to you but no shows locally while we were in town. We did see paper city hustlers at the conch house. They are very good!

Oh yeah Mike! Next time for sure!

[ZackPomerleau]

I use ev stuff but agree Bose sounds better for most. If you just plug into it and don’t fiddle around, the Bose always sounds good. The EV requires more thought. I personally get a “better” sound for various things that I do because of it. But some people find that wildly annoying!

[mike o]

Help me understand what this means. A few folks have mentioned similar quotes. Is the thought the built in mixer?

Originally Posted by ZackPomerleau

I use ev stuff but agree Bose sounds better for most. If you just plug into it and don’t fiddle around, the Bose always sounds good. The EV requires more thought. I personally get a “better” sound for various things that I do because of it. But some people find that wildly annoying!

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by leew3

thanks for the insights, sounds like you had a fun trip. We here on the AGF spend excessively more time and attention on specifics of PA and other gear than our audiences will ever notice.

While I always want to sound as good as possible, when I'm focused on gear and tone to the exclusion of enjoying the experience I've lost the main reason I play out. Having said that, I love my Bose S1 (and Fishman SA 330x, and Alto Troupers and LB Artist)

I agree with my “playing partner”.
When it comes to sound, we both agree that playing venues where we have to “blast through the din” are the least desirable so we try to avoid them.
With all due respect, we don’t want or need excessive decibels.
We are an acoustic duo playing amplified, not AC/DC.
Anyway, if we can’t enjoy what we do the way we do it, what’s the point?

[ZackPomerleau]

Originally Posted by mike o

Help me understand what this means. A few folks have mentioned similar quotes. Is the thought the built in mixer?

The Bose most definitely has a preset sound to it. Even though there’s a low bass and treble setting on it, it always adds the “Bose sound.” The EV stuff sounds more like a regular PA system. If you don’t know what you’re doing you can really make something sound terrible. I see it a lot with people saying the guitar is feedbacking or their vocal is boomy. I notice a lot of the hobbyist guys or people who picked up a guitar in the past five years are the ones who really get into Bose. Also people who have a loooot of stuff to set up. I personally like the inputs on the ev systems and I also just like more adjustability for my sound.

[mike o]

Got ya. I like a separate digital mixer for sound control. Was using a Bose TI now a UI 24. Just a heads up for folks using digital mixers. Bluetooth for just about all mixers suck. Better off with an old wireless router or plugged in directly.

Originally Posted by ZackPomerleau

The Bose most definitely has a preset sound to it. Even though there’s a low bass and treble setting on it, it always adds the “Bose sound.” The EV stuff sounds more like a regular PA system. If you don’t know what you’re doing you can really make something sound terrible. I see it a lot with people saying the guitar is feedbacking or their vocal is boomy. I notice a lot of the hobbyist guys or people who picked up a guitar in the past five years are the ones who really get into Bose. Also people who have a loooot of stuff to set up. I personally like the inputs on the ev systems and I also just like more adjustability for my sound.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by shufflebeat

I agree and am also wary of becoming a “system builder” rather than a musician but, to be fair, a good muso should have at least one eye (and ear) on the tech producing the actual sound for the audience. Small operators like most of us are even more on this task as there is no Quality Control Dept. but ourselves.

I do come across players from time to time who really don’t care enough. It isn’t pleasant and the audience do notice, although they may not discuss it in the same terms as we might.

Oh for sure. Like I say, you must ascend above the garbage level and then tweak that system to the best of its potential, at which point the audience focuses on musicianship, engagement, fun and all that.

I saw a local duo a couple of weeks ago with a perfectly decent conventional system, a couple of JBLs or something on stands, totally okay mixer etc....and the acoustic guitar sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard, all icepicks. This was My Guitar But Worse. The pickup probably wasn't top-level but some attention to EQ and maybe another trick or two would have made it fine. I'm always asking my musician friends about levels, vocal/guitar balance and EQ at my events.

[SongwriterFan]

What I can say this is: when I see somebody show up with a "stick" system (usually a Bose, but others are becoming common now), I am almost always pleased with what I'm hearing. I tend to favor the Bose (I own the L1 Compact).

I think it's due to the good dispersion of sound (especially the Bose), and also that the musicians are hearing what the audience is hearing (instead of their monitors vs the mains).

[Medford Guitar]

I sold my big PA stuff last year and picked up an EV Evolve 50 for my Acoustic group. (3 singers and me on acoustic) we use a AH AS ZED10FX mixer and it sounds pretty good. A good mixer helps the ZED had excellent eq

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

What I can say this is: when I see somebody show up with a "stick" system (usually a Bose, but others are becoming common now), I am almost always pleased with what I'm hearing. I tend to favor the Bose (I own the L1 Compact).

I think it's due to the good dispersion of sound (especially the Bose), and also that the musicians are hearing what the audience is hearing (instead of their monitors vs the mains).

To me, it's because most other systems tend to get too loud.

It's annoying.

[lkingston]

I certainly have no regrets about switching from Bose to EV columns. The sound is almost identical, but the ruggedness and simplicity of the EV is wonderful.

[Charlie Bernstein]

The guy I'm in a duo with has a Bose stick. Best-sounding setup I've ever played through.

[Stratcat77]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

There's a local solo guy who is pro-level with a deserved big local following. He still performs with his Bose L1 Compact. Now I love my Compact and gigged with it, but for sure the Pro8 and up are a step up quality wise, never mind volume.

Nobody cares.

So true. It matters way more to the player. Most in the audience don't care and can't tell the difference!

Case in point, I got to see Ricky Skaggs last week in Luckenbach TX. They were inside in a smaller hall that probably seats 300? They were very good, of course, and quite entertaining. The overall sound was good. Vocals were nice and clear and punchy. But their guitarist, Jake Workman was buried in the mix. And for me, that was a shame because he's amazing. I could "see" the amazing things he was playing, but I couldn't really hear it. Bummer for me, but the audience didn't seem to notice or care. Every time he played an amazing solo that they couldn't hear, they applauded with gusto. That tells me people come to "see" a show and most aren't tuned in to the nuances of the mix like we musicians are.