Heads-up: SpaceStation keyboard amp is apparently back

[cphollis]

Thanks for sharing this, Aspen.

 

Mine is already on backorder, can't wait to give it a shot. Looks to be perfect for a small, bar band where the main mission is keeping the levels reasonable but still sounding good. It will also get duty as my keyboard-only amp for slightly larger gigs.

 

A full report will be forthcoming

[AndyW]

October 15 has been a date mentioned by Sweetwater. I have one on order so I hope it ships tomorrow. If anyone gets a ship notification let the board know please.

 

[SpPiano]

I'm really close to ordering one of these on sweetwater, but I would love to hear from some people reviewing the tone of this using an acoustic piano patch. I would've loved to have heard that in the Nord video, but maybe someone else can help. I'll either be driving the piano sound using a Nord stage or a laptop running Pianoteq 5. Just wondering how clean and clear of a piano sound I can expect.

 

The amp looks great! Very excited about it.

[Jazzmammal]

When you guys listen to this vid crank it up to the point it almost sounds like the guys are playing in your living room or use some good headphones because that's how loud it was in that room. I don't want to exaggerate this though, I'm not talking about a banging loud rock band in a 200 seat bar this is more like a fairly loud 50 seat lounge with a small dance floor and the bar in the back. I know lots of you have done gigs like that. Aspen has already said if you need more just set it on top of a powered speaker and turn up the width control.

 

You can also see what I meant when I said I walked to the rear of the stage in both corners to check the mix. Just look at the setup and you'll see I was somewhat behind the unit standing in the corner and the mix was perfect. None of that muddy sound you get from regular PA speakers and amps. Then I walked along both walls to the rear wall behind the camera and the mix was still the same.

 

Bob

[AnotherScott]

Aspen has already said if you need more just set it on top of a powered speaker and turn up the width control.

That's an interesting approach... if you want stereo, but need more power/volume than the Spacestation is capable of, the combination of favorite PA speaker (DXR10, K8, ZXA1, whatever) along with a SpaceStation could be a better way of going than a pair of PA speakers, at perhaps about the same price. After all, the second PA speaker is something you're usually getting more for dispersion and stereo effect than for the need of more power, and it seems like the SS might be a better way of adding those qualities, without the sweet spot and placement issues.

 

But it seems like it would be easier (more stable) to set the PA speaker on top of the SS rather than the other way around, as these PA speakers typically don't have large, flat tops on them these days. Aspen, is there any reason the SS should be above rather than below the PA speaker? (Sorry if that's already been discussed... this thread has reached the length where there's too much to review!)

[AndyW]

My understanding is that the effect is stronger if the CSS v3 is higher.

[Daddyg3042]

Ordered mine yesterday. SW says they're supposed to get them in by end of week, and luckily, mine will be in that shipment. Keeping fingers crossed I have it before Halloween; we're playing a club that has probably 50-75 seats. Guess I'll get to see first hand if it competes on it's own in that kind of setting.

 

I also (finally) got a Vent, and a II at that. I've held out way too long, and since I was spending money...what the hell. I'm pretty psyched to plug it all together and give it a whirl.

 

Perhaps my eyes deceive me, but Aspen, when you take the stage, turn down the band with the single fader, then make your announcements, you do it right in the middle of, er.... the keyboard solo!

 

Could be something to consider in the future,given your target market and all...

[Aspen]

Aspen, is there any reason the SS should be above rather than below the PA speaker? (Sorry if that's already been discussed... this thread has reached the length where there's too much to review!)

 

I can't say I've ever tried adding a FR speaker to add SPL, as I haven't really NEEDED that (yet). So just commenting "in theory", the time alignment would suggest a top or bottom is important. And since the Side is on the bottom of the V.3, I can guess having the Side higher and so more prominent as it would have to balance 2 front speakers...my guess is that "atop" would sound and cover a bit better.

But if anyone wanted to try it both ways and let us (and me) know please "go for it!".

Actually I may try it in one of the upcoming videos this week or next. BTW, we just released 6 new videos (but alas no keys). These are a single lady singer songwriter w/acoustic guitar, and an acoustic unplugged duo of 2 great songwriters w/ slide, mando and nice harmonies.

I was going to record Al Morrata and his Nord (he was the guy on the Nord in the Big and Wide band at the LA Amp Show) for those requested piano/B3 patches tonight, but Al got a paying gig : > ), so now we'll shoot that tomorrow (God willing), and his band w/ drummer over the weekend.

Shooting these live videos is great fun and I am learning lighting and video in process which is good practice for future (paying) sessions here at APR.

[HAMEGZ]

Aspen now has a cover for the SS on his web shop.

I just ordered one .

Will report when it arrives.

[B. J. Love]

Trigger pulled. I ordered one of these new Behringer subs to go with it: B1200 D Looks like a good match. Sweetwater is offering 3 year interest-deferred financing till Monday. $25 a month? An offer I couldn't refuse.

[B. J. Love]

Good to hear about the cover. I was looking into the Gator GX-20 as a possibility.

[HAMEGZ]

http://www.centerpointstereo.com/images/v3cover.jpg

[16251]

Aspen now has a cover for the SS on his web shop.

I just ordered one .

Will report when it arrives.

You're like beans. Giving me more gas. Hopeful I'm getting my SS soon.

[B. J. Love]

This looks perfect, Gator GX2112-12 , but it's been discontinued.

[DanL]

Trigger pulled. I ordered one of these new Behringer subs to go with it: B1200 D Looks like a good match. Sweetwater is offering 3 year interest-deferred financing till Monday. $25 a month? An offer I couldn't refuse.

I was looking at that too, but think I'll give it a few gigs to see if it really needs it. I'm in the PA at pretty much every show I do and that has plenty of low end. There's also a 10" Yorkville sub that looks good. Cabinet is a little deeper than the Behringer, but not as tall. Heavier and double the price.

 

As far as a cover goes, I'm thinking of buying a tool tote, something like this:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=336429-1156-9124SR&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3355634&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

I already have a box about the size of a 6 space rack that holds my pedals, a fan, my mic boom, etc. I might be able to rig up a partition to hold the SS, with some padding in it, and then use the rest of the space to hold my accessories, and have it all in 1 wheeled case. There are some bigger ones out there as well, so I'm going to wait and see what the SS is like size wise, look at all the other junk I have to carry in my box, and go from there.

[B. J. Love]

I looked at the Yorkville too. I play left hand acoustic bass in my solo act + vox and piano/strings - all thru a pair of EV ZXa1s. Good clean sound in the smallish rooms I play, but I thought the addition of a sub would clean up the bottom and fill things out a bit. (All "Great American Songbook") The matching EV sub is expensive and seemed like overkill for my purposes. Likewise, the Yorkville.

 

I think the combination of the Spacestation, the Behringer sub, and the EVs will give me a lot of flexibility both in the solo act and the bands I play with. (I run the EVs in stereo for my band rig and send a mono feed to FOH when needed) I can envision the solo act in small rooms with just the SS and sub - depending on how the vocals sound. Or the SS and one EV. Lots of possibilities with those four pieces and mixer.

[Aspen]

I have had several comments and requests (on and off line) for "an acoustic piano sampled in stereo, from a keyboard with more natural sounding samples than those in the Casio in your previous video"

 

It seems to be what most players in this forum want to hear - how good the amp is for recreating acoustic piano tones.

 

Good comments all, and I hear you loud and clear.

 

Well admittedly I am not that knowledgeable on electric KB as the folks here on this great forum. That said, I want to apologize to Casio (and you guys) for using an older model Privia in our first CPS videos...which was what we had and IMHO a great "bang for buck" KB...but not their best. FYI, we used that older Privia on a piano ballad tune contained in the recent Chamberlain Tripp "Outsiders by Choice" CD. That was a Rhodes setting reamped it thru one of my GT Soul-o 45 tube amps driving our Leslie 145 speaker. Everyone who heard that song LOVED the sound of the piano, but you can judge for yourself, hear David Morgan playing it on "This Side of the Dirt" (BTW, great new song too), here's a link: http://chamberlaintripp.com/albums/outsider-by-choice/ Select: "This Side of the Dirt".

 

(NOTE: some of us will relate to the message in this song : > )

 

Now fast forward to today as I hear (yet another) request for a better acoustic piano demo; so, on recommendation from our esteemed maestro Michael Lehman Boddicker, we have recently upgraded APR studios to the new Privia PX-5S, a giant step up...but we are just getting used to it.

So the plan tonight is we record Al with his Nord, which most agree has a good Leslie sim...and some say a good acoustic piano sound too.

Then we will have him show off some acoustical piano on the new Privia 5S.

Then if time allows, we just got the full 4 piano library of "Ivory II", a plugin sample set of 4 great concert grand pianos. We will try and play some of those patches thru the CPS tonight...gotta dig out my midi cables!

Hope to have these on line in the next few days, then I'll post the links here.

Thanks for the encouragement and good suggestions!

[AnotherScott]

It seems to be what most players in this forum want to hear - how good the amp is for recreating acoustic piano tones.

Yup. Because piano is the hardest thing to get sounding good (and also was the achilles heel of the older SpaceStation, for that same reason). And yes, specifically, acoustic piano, not rhodes or any other variation. I think that's why Nord in particular came up so much in your discussions... not because of people wanting to hear the Nord organ (which is good, but no better than anyone else's high quality organ), but because of their acoustic pianos, which are among the best sounding you can get in a reasonably lightweight gigging board.

[Daddyg3042]

 

As far as a cover goes, I'm thinking of buying a tool tote, something like this:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=336429-1156-9124SR&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3355634&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

 

That's a great idea, and much more protection then just a cover, for only $5 more.

[Mike Martin]

Aspen, I sent you an email with instructions on loading the new "ALL File" for your PX-5S. Have fun!!

[HAMEGZ]

 

As far as a cover goes, I'm thinking of buying a tool tote, something like this:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=336429-1156-9124SR&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3355634&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

 

 

That's a great idea, and much more protection then just a cover, for only $5 more.

 

ALl good suggestions, but I can put all my gear on one rock and roller cart for a load in if I just have a cover, the lowes thingy would take up too much room.

[DanL]

Yeah, I understand that, but the tote would combine 2 items into 1 for my rig and give the speaker protection. It's something I've thought about before with my K10, but never did anything about.

 

Along with my key rig, I haul a lot of the PA- 2 subs, 2 tops, a couple cases with cables, speaker stands, etc. It's not like I have a small amount of gear to take to most gigs, so 1 case over a speaker in a bag and another box of stuff is sort of a plus for me.

 

 

[Jazzmammal]

Well, I got it. Now that tax season is finally over I called Aspen this afternoon because he said I could meet him at his studio and try one out with my Hammond SK1. He said he had a session scheduled for 7 this evening to do a new demo with better quality piano sounds and said if I can make it early I might be part of the video so I showed up and played for about 45 minutes or so.

 

I don't want to gush too much but this amp is the bomb. It's the best sound I've ever had from one amp, period. Everybody there said my SK1 sounded great and it really did and now I'm in the video, don't know if I'll get 30 seconds or 5 minutes. You know how when you get lucky and have a really good sound you get inspired to play? That's what happened. I also played the SK1 piano, rhodes and clav through it and they all sounded really good.

 

As for volume, when I grabbed all the drawbars, hit the leslie button and did some smears to a high chord, that thing was screaming. The next thing is I have a bar gig next Friday, 4 piece with a girl singer. I think it's going to sound great by itself but I'll have my EV112P PA speaker in case I need more juice but that Spacestation by itself has some balls to it.

 

I needed to clear out for Al who's a solid pianist who was the real reason for this session. They set up the Casio and I got to play that too for a while because Al was running late. I really like that P5S. It played so much better than the SK1 did for piano. What a difference. I was struggling with my SK1's piano, just couldn't get into it because of the feel. Great for organ, not so much for acoustic piano. That Casio is really nice.

 

Then Al made it and while he was warming up I walked behind him and behind the amp next to the drums and it sounded just great. Everything was very full and clean, not muddy when you go behind any regular amp or PA speaker.

 

Nothing else I can say, I really like this amp and I think you guys will like this new vid when it gets posted.

 

Bob

[MD3X]

This is good to hear. I currently use the Groove Tubes MK2 with sub out to a K10, which is like the best of both worlds sound wise plus both cabinets are about the same size, it's a pleasure to transport. For piano, SV-1 and Motif sound very good taking advantage of running them in stereo. Organs from SK-1 or VK-8m sound even better. Happy with this current setup, looking forward to hearing further reviews of the new MK3.

[Al Coda]

 

I don't want to gush too much but this amp is the bomb. It's the best sound I've ever had from one amp, period.

 

...

 

Nothing else I can say, I really like this amp and I think you guys will like this new vid when it gets posted.

 

Bob

 

OMG, that sounds too good to be true and I now can´t wait watching the vid !

 

thx for the report

 

A.C.

[DanL]

Now if Sweetwater would just ship mine!

 

[HAMEGZ]

I think you guys who are waiting on theirs to arrive will be surprised how much sound this little guy outputs and how well it covers.

 

From my gigs with it so far, the solo SS covers a >100 seat club well, although I am augmenting it with the PA.On stage everybody in the band hears me, I am on one end and the sound travels the whole stage with equal coverage.

 

I added the bass guitar combo to sit the SS at a good height, plus to augment the LFs and sound.All my concerns about canceling the MS effect from the added speaker have been allayed.

I say IF you already have a powered full range or sub or even a bass combo to try it.

 

I think after Aspen posts the digital piano videos that will nail it for those who were holding out.

[AnotherScott]

I currently use the Groove Tubes MK2 with sub out to a K10, which is like the best of both worlds sound wise

Have you experimented with placement? i.e. whether it's better placing the SS on top of the QSC, or vice versa? Or have you been placing them both on the floor?

[cphollis]

Good news. I was just notified moments ago via email that my AMEX charge got auto-charged the $599 from Sweetwater. So the next batch has arrived and is on their way -- although I think they've got backorders stretching through November.

 

Too bad I'll be out of town when it arrives, so testing will be delayed

[Jazzmammal]

Have you experimented with placement? i.e. whether it's better placing the SS on top of the QSC, or vice versa? Or have you been placing them both on the floor?

 

We played with that in the studio. Aspen had it sitting on that same smallish $50 home theater sub he bought at a thrift shop. When he set it on the floor it really did output quite a bit more bass but it lost presence. I heard it clearly when I was playing and later when Al was playing. It's definitely better up sitting on something. But, this was in a fairly acoustically dead studio not a live club, I'm sure there's a big difference between venues like any other amp.

 

And, while Al was playing the Casio I was struck by how full the Casio sounded from 10-12 feet in front and Al's playing didn't hurt either, he's good.

 

Bob