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Amplifying keys & e-drums


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Hi, everyone. I"m ready to stop playing my keys through my e-drum amplifier and finally get some good sounding speakers. Seems like the route to go is some nice powered speakers. In order to plug 2 keyboards and my drums into these new speakers it seems that ideally I would need two speakers and a sub for the kick and certain synth sounds. This also seems to be a pricey option. I want to get good sounds finally out of both my drums AND keys so I"m willing to break the piggy bank if that"s what it takes. On the other hand, I really only need living room jam-with-friends volumes. Can anyone point me into the right direction? I appreciate your input!
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My bassist has a Kustom powered subwoofer he uses for a small home PA system.

Certainly not top of the line stuff but it sounds really good at moderate volume.

Just like this one - I have no affiliation with Guitar Center.

 

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Kustom-PA/PA110-SC-10-in-Powered-Subwoofer.gc

 

I am not up to date on what is decent in smaller PA speakers. I've had good luck with Yamaha gear, even moderatly priced stuff. Again, not top of the line by any means. I am not familiar with their current offerings.

Maybe they make a decent subwoofer too.

 

Sometimes good enough is good enough!!!

The only frustrating thing about musical equipment is current times do not allow us to go try something out in a store first to see if it is good enough.

 

Because no quite good enough is just not quite good enough. I'm sure others will chime in, hopefully with better suggestions. Cheers, Kuru

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Have you listened to Bose L1 compact? You can pick them up used for $600-$700. If you need more volume check out Turbo Sound 2000 or 3000. I have used the L1 with my trio in a small intimate restaurant setting successfully and the TS 2000 in a rehearsal that sounded great! Both are compact! If more volume is needed then a Small EV system would be my choice.

Jimmy

 

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho

NEW BAND CHECK THEM OUT

www.steveowensandsummertime.com

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The problem is that for most keyboard parts, you sit in the mix better if you avoid the extreme lows. That is one complaint I hear about using 15" or even 12" cabinets. Many people here will suggest 10" two way cabinets for a clean sound. But I will say that my V-Drums sound great through 15" two way EV speakers. The bass drum really thumps and grand piano patches have that nice, low rumble of a grand. If you go with a big speaker, a good eq and selective routing of your keyboards through that eq may help with sitting in the mix.

This post edited for speling.

My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page

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My drummer friend with a VDrums kit and I used to play for youth group services with just the two of us and a singer. He liked 12" speakers, and they did sound good. He had a massive Carvin setup with subwoofers and things that he brought in for when our church was redoing the sound system, and that was definitely fun.

 

If you're plugging in an electric drum set and two keyboards, make sure whatever speakers you buy have three inputs. Or you could get a small format mixer.

 

I'm a fan of Yamaha speakers, particularly for the Motif boards. I currently use an MSR-100, but that's been discontinued. Something like a pair of Yamaha DXR10s would be my first choice, or maybe for you DXR12s or QSC K12.2s, both of which sound quite good.

 

Not sure you really need a sub. My MSR-100 is plenty and it only has an 8" speaker.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Just a bit of experience --- My usual rig for keyboards is a pair of EV ZXA1's. But a few years ago in a situation where i was adding E-Drums as well, i found the kick to be severely lacking, through either the ZXA1's or an EV ZLX-12P (that i bought thinking it would have more low end). Picked up a small subwoofer (EV ZXA1-Sub) and the kick was suddenly totally there. I think there's something beyond simple low-frequency-range response that's needed for the sound of a kick drum to punch through --- the speaker in the ZXA1-Sub is only a 12", but it's apparently tuned for a transient sound such as a kick drum. Or it may also be because the low freqs are running through their own power amp (like we did in the old days of passive cabinets) --- but either way having the sub works some sort of magic on the kick.

 

- Jimbo

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To echo Biggles, what you need depends first on the size of the room and how many people will be in it (Bodies absorb sound energy). Secondly it will also depend on the volume levels you hope to achieve.

 

People will give you their practical advice based on their rooms and audiences. Do filter that good advice through your particular situation. All the best!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Alright guys, so I decided to go with two studio monitors instead. I figured I have a drum amp to serve as a synth monitor if I play live and the house or band would have the PA. Now, what I"d like to know is how I can connect two synths to these studio monitors. I ordered one Y RCA cable but I don"t think that"ll work for both synths when I play internal voices on the slave. Do I HAVE to get a mixer to make this work? Any suggestions on a cheap option if I have to? Very little interest in recording at the moment. Just want to unleash these boards to their full potential. Appreciate the continued help!
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