Nord User Forum

Time to eat my hat . . .

I broke down and bought a pair of K8.2's this week. It's been on my mind since Chuck brought it up. I set aside some gig money, and one of the retailers here in the US had a 20% off coupon, which could be applied to the QSC K.2 speakers. They arrived on Thursday, and so far I've only had about an hour in my basement studio and a 3 hour party yesterday to try them out. Here are my impressions so far.

My most common configuration is using only one speaker. I send both L and R outputs from the Stage (actually 1 and 2) into the A and B channels on the amp. The reason for this is mostly about logistics. Most of the rehearsals/gigs I do are traditional big band, and "big sound" is less important than efficient setup and transport. I can carry my entire rig by hand in one trip, and can set up in about 10 minutes. The quality of the piano sound of one speaker is very important to me, so it's the first thing I tested out on the K.2.

The most significant thing I heard at first blush is a more natural treble relative to the original K8. I even put them side by side to compare. The K.2 is a bit smoother in the upper range, but I don't think the difference is earth shattering -- yet. I found that the bass and midrange between the two were relatively similar. They still exhibit a bit of a "humpy" character in the midrange that needs to be neutralized by the Nord's EQ.

In stereo, both the K.2's and the originals sound sublime. I took the new ones out for the party yesterday. We were on a rather shallow perch, so the speakers were about three feet behind me and speed about 6 feet from one another. I was in aural heaven. I was told to turn up a bit, but was cautious because I needed to hear the rest of the band (a jazz sextet). It was still a great sound, but only marginally better than the originals.

I did tweak the EQ a a bit. I used the default setting, but did a 2.0dB reduction at 1KHz (Q=1.5). This seemed to help some weird resonance around B2 on the acoustic pianos.

I have to admit, however, that the new speakers have me rethinking my piano sounds. I was never a fan of the Italian Grand, as I thought the overtones were just too much for my taste. I ended up playing that sound most of the party. I've been using the Grand Lady D and Studio Grand 2 as my go-to grands, but I need to tweak them again to accommodate the new speakers. I also should go back and re-audition the others. One that did not work for me is the Velvet Grand - Soft velocities seem too muddy and hard velocities too brittle. I may take that one out.

I also used the Amber Upright, Nefertiti, and Mk1 Deep for a few tunes, as well as some B3. They all sounded great. I've never used the Mk 1 Deep at a gig, and was surprised by how "vintage" is sounds. It's like a more subtle version of the Silver Top.

Anyway, so far I hear some improvement over the older K's, but I'd still be happy with the older ones if I didn't buy these. I was on the fence about keeping them, I'm going to hang onto to them since I got a decent deal.

My old K8's are in the Buy&Sell section if anyone is interested. The warranties are transferrable.

The RCF’s aren’t on the table at this point. I’m doing well, but they are very hard to justify at this point in life!

The K8.2’s strike a great balance between cost, quality and schlep. Gonna give the mono configuration a workout next week at big band. I’m expecting good things.

I saw your post on KC about the reverb nightmare. Good creative solution.

Hi Rusty Mike and Cphollis,
You both talk about having the two speakers at the back of your Piano, doesn't it feel weird to get an Acoustic Piano sound coming from your back as in a natural position, with a real PIano, the sound is coming at the front, towrads you, not from your back...I always have that feeling, so, I put mine towards me, each speaker on each side, right and left...

My jazz combo and fusion bands generally don’t use a FOH System, so I’m responsible for my own amplification. My sound needs to project forward to the audience. It’s been that way for years. The only thing that is a bit off-putting is that the amplification is loudest to me, since I’m the closest one to it. The past Saturday, it was the room layout. With more stage space, speaker placement would have been different. I would have either offset the speakers so one is closer to the audience and less in my ear, or they would have been on taller poles acting as mains and I would use my Mackie SRM-150 as a personal monitor.

On the rare occasion we are pumped through a main system, I will point them back at me. Although, when I know that we have a house system, I will usually bring only one speaker.

With big band, I always go with one speaker, and it sits behind me. The idea there is that the audience perceives the piano sound from a single point on the stage, as with every other instrument. I want the experience to be as natural as possible.

I’m playing EP and B3 sounds as well, and those have different sound source points compared to an AP. It’s going to be a compromise anyway.

Not to sound snarky, but I don’t ever expect a “concert piano” experience when playing out. I can get that at home.

Yeah for,the best AP experience at home....I don't have one so, anytime I play, I try to have that feeling...Ok thanks for your explanations on this one.

Even in my studio at home, my speakers are behind me. Aside from the Piano in the living room, I have a Roland RD800 in my basement studio, running through studio monitors. Both the RD and the monitors face into the room, with the monitors behind me. We sometimes rehearse and jam in the studio, so I want the speakers to project into the room.

Close enough for jazz, as they say.

Hi cphollis
Thanks for the post re the K8.2. I've been thinking about buying the RCF TT08A for a while. Currently use an RCF Evox 5, and Evox 8 for bigger gigs.
How do the TT's compare to the new QSC K8 please? I play and sing. Sometimes work with a drummer and another vocalist. I've never been happy with AP sounds through speakers I've owned. Apart from an L Acoustic 12" which was provided by a sound company on a gig last year. Could't believe the difference!