Line 6 Stage Source L2t

[Delaware Dave]

I took a serious look at the big brother L3T several months ago. I really liked the mixer inputs, i.e. 3 band EQ for each channel, with sweepable midrange and separate reverb for each channel. It eliminated the need for a mixer. I also like the profile as it stood nearly 34" high and the SPL was 132db, as compared to 128db for the L2T. But at the end of the day neither the weight (57 lbs) nor the cost ($950) could be justified.

[Delaware Dave]

.. or just bite the bullet and go with QSC K10? ...

Before spending money on a QSC10, consider either one of these:

 

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/455989.html?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=googleps&gclid=CJzx-Ymsl7wCFS7xOgod3R4AaA

 

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/441319.html

[simajanpa]

.. or just bite the bullet and go with QSC K10? ...

Before spending money on a QSC10, consider either one of these:

 

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/455989.html?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=googleps&gclid=CJzx-Ymsl7wCFS7xOgod3R4AaA

 

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/441319.html

 

Again +1 for the ZLX-12p....shop some more and get $40-$50 more off that $300 price.

 

Paul

[tommybuoy]

yeah - played with this L2T all day. Until Line6 admits they screwed up (parts procurement got a crappy fan) - I definitely would not recommend this for a keyboard player. The buzz/rattle that their engineers claim will not be audible @ stage volmes - WILL BE audible if you're playing a keyboard-only part. This pisses me off greatly, because if not for the rattle - this might be the perfect keyboard monitor. So I guess it's QSC for me, until the Line6 engineers admit they fqd up - and fix this obvious screw-up.

[agitato]

How about the yamaha dxr10 or dxr12?

[tommybuoy]

I already have a pair of EV ZLX-15P's. I like them for vocals - but I absolutely hate them for keyboard monitor. The sound is just so wrong, I wouldn't even know where to start.

 

ON the other hand - Line6 L2T could easily be perfect for keyboards, if the company would just deal with the rattle issue that comes from the fan.

 

I hate being a keyboard player with a good ear.

[tommybuoy]

i think the yamaha stuff is too heavy. I want to keep my monitor speaker under 40 lbs - and I think yamaha is not in that ballpark?

 

[Dave Bryce]

ON the other hand - Line6 L2T could easily be perfect for keyboards, if the company would just deal with the rattle issue that comes from the fan.

 

I hate being a keyboard player with a good ear.

I like being a keyboard player with a good ear.

 

I've been using my pair for quite a few months now, oriented both on the ground as floor monitors, and stacked vertically in a column right behind me. I also use them to evaluate some of the keyboards I review, and I haven't heard anything resembling the noise you describe.

 

Maybe there's just something wrong with the one you got...?

 

dB

 

P.S. Welcome to the forum!

 

 

 

[tommybuoy]

Thank you DB! - talked to Sweet water last night and we're gonna swap this L2T out for a new one. I'm very happy to hear you have not experienced the problem... gives me hope. I mentioned in an earlier post - the easiest way I know to bring out the problem - is Korg Kronos X patch I-A015 in the low registers. Also - a hammond XK1C (or XK3c) produces so many harmonics, it seems almost any chord gets the fan buzz/rattle going.

[Kevmo]

I already have a pair of EV ZLX-15P's. I like them for vocals - but I absolutely hate them for keyboard monitor. The sound is just so wrong, I wouldn't even know where to start.

 

Please do start , I haven't heard any bad reviews yet and I've read many.

 

ON the other hand - Line6 L2T could easily be perfect for keyboards, if the company would just deal with the rattle issue that comes from the fan.

 

I hate being a keyboard player with a good ear.

[Kevmo]

I'm a keyboardist with a Bell Labs certified "golden Ear". I enjoy my God given hearing ,

[Dave Bryce]

a hammond XK1C (or XK3c) produces so many harmonics, it seems almost any chord gets the fan buzz/rattle going.

Then there's definitely something wrong with the one you have.

 

I run an XK-1c through the L2t's all the time (including using them when I reviewed the XK for Harmony Central, so not just in noisy live environments) and there's been no buzz/rattle that I've noticed so far....even with the big pipe organ sounds.

 

dB

 

 

[J. Dan]

I've not played the L2T, but my duo has practiced through a single L3T including keys with sequences, guitars vocals, and Bass. Lots of deep synth stuff as well as drums (including 808's), and my bass - never a rattle, sounded great.

[niacin]

Ive had an L3T for just over 2 months now. I was able to borrow it for a weekend before buying. Took it to a backyard wedding. So were outside backed up near a fence. 4-piece band playing some jazz and soul and then a couple of sets of dance music. Im playing left hand bass (Fender Jazz bass sample in Roland Fantom-Xr).

 

The L3T replaced:

· ACME B1 bass cabinet

· QSC PLX-1804 amp

· Roland VP-7 vocal processor and mic pre-amp

· EV powered speaker

· and a bunch of leads and cords

 

We didnt bother with a foldback wedge for the vocalist either.

 

The first thing you notice is the clarity. The keyboard sounds (Fantom-Xr) are clean and clear and detailed. As Dan mentioned the bass is tight and punchy. My sloppy ass left hand really had to get its shit together. And it has some welly. The throw is amazing. It was set up behind me off to one side. I could hear myself and the vocals clearly but it wasnt too loud. The sound 3 metres away was louder, particularly the bass. And I dont know what the stats are but the dispersion was well over 90 degrees and being off axis didnt seem to matter much. The sweet spot was wide. The vocalist could hear herself clearly.

 

Ive now used it on a ton of gigs, either as a PA in itself for small rooms, or as sidefill in large rooms, where I set it up behind me and aim it across stage between the guitarist and singer. The singer no longer needs a separate foldback wedge and can hear herself so much more clearly that she seems to breeze through 3 and a half hour gigs with little effort. The clarity of sound on stage is stunning while the throw means that the volume is comfortable.

 

So the good news is this thing is clean and clear. That may also be the bad news:

 

It is not warm. I dont mean its brittle, though the top can require a bit of taming if your sounds are programmed to compensate for speakers that dont have much in the way of hi-fi top end. But it does not have the mid-range presence of the EVs we use, and I think while its absolutely brilliant for keyboards, some vocalists are not going to like it, though weve been able to tweak the EQ such that the vocalist I do most gigs with is happy enough: you have a 3-band EQ with swept mids to tailor the sound on each of the 2 channels. For much the same reason, I currently have reservations about using it on funk gigs where Im playing a lot of Hammond (VB-3 running on a V-Machine). Like Fortner I prefer the flatter Reference/PA setting to the Keyboards setting for most sounds, but its not so great for organ. I have yet to find the time to sit down and tweak the settings to find what Im looking for, so it may yet come up with the goods.

 

Ive had none of the buzz/rattle issues mentioned in this thread.

 

I should mention that the shape makes this thing easy to carry despite the overall weight, and its one of those pieces of equipment where you can see theyve really thought hard about every aspect of design. Line 6 are trying hard to break into the powered speaker market and there are some really good deals to be had on these. Its not only made my life easier in terms of lug and set-up, but the clarity has made my left hand tighten up the bass lines and overall challenged me to improve my articulation and timing. If youre in the market for a powered speaker you owe it to yourself to try one out.

 

 

[tommybuoy]

You guys that have no fan rattle in your L2t's - you should really feel blessed. My 2nd one showed up on my doorstep @ 5PM this evening. I was super bubbly - looking so forward to perfect sound with no rattle. But it turns out - the new one rattles just as much as the 1st one did. Even my girlfriend (who has absolutely no ear for music) - asked me where that buzz was coming from. I'll tell ya where - it's coming from whatever's bolted onto the back plate of the l2t - and that's the freakin fan. You can feel it buzzin the back plate! wtf, line6 engineers? Did you guys flunk out in M.E. classes or what?

 

I really don't understand how U guys got good sheeit from this company, yet I keep getting dog crap. I've had enough from Line6, I can tell U.

 

2morrow - I get 2 QSC K10s for free - to do a side by side test in my home. Line6 support wants to tell us -QSC resonant frequencies will result in the same rattle. We shall see. Yes we shall.

 

I am disgusted with line6 at this point. And I am very jealous of folks that claim to have gotten good line6 stuff b4 they apparently went to hell. Oh - and btw - even if I had gotten a good one, now there's a review out there about voice coils frying 4 times in a year. What the hell kind of company is this.?

 

I am really looking fwd to the QSC K10 vs Line6 L2t face off in my living room tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned, if you're interested.

[tommybuoy]

Decided to go with just a single K10 rather than the pair. The results are in:

 

QSC K10 is less expensive, is lighter, and has no rattle whatsoever. QSC reliability is also supposed to be phenomenal whereas there are several reviews out now that are quite critical of Line6 quality control.

 

So K10 is the clear winner for this household. Even my cat is smiling.

 

I may keep one of the L2Ts though. For one thing, with its flat top, I can use it as a stand to stack my new K10 on top of. And for grand piano patches, the L2T did sound very good - so with the K10 stacked atop the L2t, I find the two complement each other very nicely (for certain patches). I just can't have the L2T switched on for elec piano patches and some hammond patches.

 

I have to believe at some point, Line6 will offer a fix to the fan rattle. In the meantime, it's a very good looking stand for the K10.

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

QSC reliability is also supposed to be phenomenal

I'm not ragging on the K10 and QSC, I love mine, but I'm pretty sure I've seen reports here of some of them having a rattle in the back panel. If yours is fine, great, I'm just saying they're not perfect and you might find comments to that affect here or elsewhere.

[J. Dan]

QSC reliability is also supposed to be phenomenal

I'm not ragging on the K10 and QSC, I love mine, but I'm pretty sure I've seen reports here of some of them having a rattle in the back panel. If yours is fine, great, I'm just saying they're not perfect and you might find comments to that affect here or elsewhere.

 

I think the biggest issue is how well the 1/4" combo jacks grab a plug. Generally it seems like XLR connections are ok, but 1/4" can back out enough that the vibration causes farting,

[Brettymike]

Decided to go with just a single K10 rather than the pair. The results are in:

 

QSC K10 is less expensive, is lighter, and has no rattle whatsoever. QSC reliability is also supposed to be phenomenal whereas there are several reviews out now that are quite critical of Line6 quality control.

 

So K10 is the clear winner for this household. Even my cat is smiling.

 

I may keep one of the L2Ts though. For one thing, with its flat top, I can use it as a stand to stack my new K10 on top of. And for grand piano patches, the L2T did sound very good - so with the K10 stacked atop the L2t, I find the two complement each other very nicely (for certain patches). I just can't have the L2T switched on for elec piano patches and some hammond patches.

 

I have to believe at some point, Line6 will offer a fix to the fan rattle. In the meantime, it's a very good looking stand for the K10.

 

 

Tommy , I've read your posts , and don't doubt your problems reported and words at all.

Something has changed at the assembly line at some stage , and a mistake was made , hope it's easily fixed.

 

Brett

 

[Joe Muscara]

QSC reliability is also supposed to be phenomenal

I'm not ragging on the K10 and QSC, I love mine, but I'm pretty sure I've seen reports here of some of them having a rattle in the back panel. If yours is fine, great, I'm just saying they're not perfect and you might find comments to that affect here or elsewhere.

 

I think the biggest issue is how well the 1/4" combo jacks grab a plug. Generally it seems like XLR connections are ok, but 1/4" can back out enough that the vibration causes farting,

Maybe that was it.

[J. Dan]

At one point, I though mine was vibrating, but it ended up being my house. Sometimes those vibrations are hard to locate.

[tommybuoy]

J Dan - yes my ev zlx15p's have the xlr rattle you mention. I just wad up some paper into the xlr grabber and that helps.

 

The rattle on the Line6's has nothing to do with the XLRs though. It's really coming from something inside - about one third the way down on the back plate. On both the units I have.

 

I agree - if some folks are having NO issue, then this issue of mine must be something new on the manufacturing line. Really sux, cuz I do love how the line6's fit in my bmw trunk. Good ergonomics. I do hope my new K10 will fit in nicely with everything else in my wee automobile. The k10 seems a little wider - and that is a critical dimension in my trunk.

 

Stay in touch all.

 

I have not said it yet - but there's something very satisfying about the sound of the L2T. A little more satisfying than the K10. I think it's the class AB amp for the HF. Unfortunately, the fan rattle undermines all that. So - for now - I guess I'll just use both K10 (up very loud) and L2t (keep volume down a bit).

 

cheers,

 

tommy_buoy

 

 

[J. Dan]

I'm not denying that you're experiencing what you are, but I'm guessing others don't have the same applications that cause the phenomenon. Specifically, it's probably some resonant frequency. There's one way to determine whether it's a change in manufacturing, or a difference in application. Do you have any kind of sweepable frequency generator? Like, where you can set a sine wave to a specific amplitude, and sweep the frequency and say "the buzz occurs between X Hz and Y Hz and a level of Z"? Then people could replicate the test and see if it's all L2T's or recent ones. That would be valuable info. I know most people don't have that kind of equipment, but if you know anybody who has anything like that that you could borrow, that would be very useful information.

[tommybuoy]

Dave Bryce has already said he experiences no issues with Hammond XK-1C thru his L2T. And I've said I DO have an issue with my Hammond XK1C thru my L2T's. Why do I need a sweepable frequency generator to come to a conclusion that there's a problem with the newer generation L2Ts?

 

I'm tired of talking about this. It's time for line6 to do some talking.

[MonksDream]

Do you have any kind of sweepable frequency generator? Like, where you can set a sine wave to a specific amplitude, and sweep the frequency and say "the buzz occurs between X Hz and Y Hz and a level of Z"? Then people could replicate the test and see if it's all L2T's or recent ones. That would be valuable info. I know most people don't have that kind of equipment, but if you know anybody who has anything like that that you could borrow, that would be very useful information.

There's an app for that!

 

Free iOS Test tone app

 

 

[allan_evett]

Stumbled across this unit as a recent recommendation for a powered keyboard cabinet. I have a small PA rig with a Yamaha DXR12, but for simplicity's sake prefer to have a cabinet with built in mixer and XLR out. Have been using a Behringer KXD 12 for that, but it's not been working out well - only marginally better than a Roland KC I owned 15 years ago.. The onstage clarity is just not there, among other things.

 

Considering that this is a 3+ year old thread, are there any other current recommendations from players here for a powered cabinet / built-in mixer combination ? As with the L2t, the mixer must be reasonably accessible to the player. I have to frequently adjust my stage level throughout gigs.