Gear Alert: new QSC K8.2

[Rusty Mike]

Is the line out of the electro 5 hot enough to run a single K8.2 without a mixer? I'm seriously considering upgrading from my current rig but would rather not use a mixer.

thanks!

This is how I normally run out of my Stage 2EX (and formerly Electro 3) for most of my rehearsals and gigs. I run both L and R outputs from the Nord into the two channels on one K8. I've never had an issue with volume. Keeping it in context, I play with traditional jazz big bands.

YMMV

[cphollis]

Is the line out of the electro 5 hot enough to run a single K8.2 without a mixer? I'm seriously considering upgrading from my current rig but would rather not use a mixer.

thanks!

This is how I normally run out of my Stage 2EX (and formerly Electro 3) for most of my rehearsals and gigs. I run both L and R outputs from the Nord into the two channels on one K8. I've never had an issue with volume. Keeping it in context, I play with traditional jazz big bands.

YMMV

Hey, dude, I saw on KC that you went big on the legacy QSC K series stuff. Are you stepping up to stereo?

[Rusty Mike]

Hey, dude, I saw on KC that you went big on the legacy QSC K series stuff. Are you stepping up to stereo?

It's from reading too much about your adventures!

I originally bought a K10 for my keys. A year later I bought a K8 because I wanted something lighter, but I find I liked the sound of the keys through 8 much better. When I needed bigger sound, I'd pair up the 8 and 10 in stereo, as I thought the voicings were close enough. But I've always wanted to add another K8 to the arsenal. The introduction of the new K.2 line put the old stuff on closeout, so I took advantage.

And yea, the idea is to use the K8's in stereo. I'm happy with the sound quality and SPL's I get from the "old" series, so no upgrades in the near future for me. A lot of my playing is big band, and simplicity + fast in & out are more important than stereo. With 17 people on the stage, there is often not space for a pair of speakers either. So, the use of stereo is situation dependent.

My sax player owns a K10 for his own use, so between us we have a pair of 8's and a pair of 10's. Up until now, we've been rolling our own for our individual sound. Our last gig last week was on a very cluttered stage, which forced me to put the 8's in odd spots, and I had a real hard time hearing myself. Pretty much ruined the evening.

After reading what you've been doing with your group, it's been floating through my mind to try something similar to what you do. Now this is a jazz fusion group, and we have no vocals, but I'm thinking about running the 10's as mains for keys, sax and possibly drums a bit, and point the 8's back at the band for monitors. I also have a Mackie SRM150 that I can use as a personal monitor if necessary. Conversely, we can use the 8's as mains and put the 10's on the floor for ourselves.

The band's next rehearsal is in a small banquet room above a bar, and we're going to experiment with different sound reinforcement configurations.

So for the ideas Chuck. You've helped me spend some money!

[Rusty Mike]

I also want to give some props to the Yorkville SKS-02B speaker stands. These are lightweight and affordable small pole style speaker stands. They have a height range of 27-44", and to me are critical to making the speakers sound great. It wouldn't seem like a stand would make a difference, but the shorter nature of the stand puts the speakers at an optimal height to provide a more natural sound source.

I cannot praise these enough, and I'm surprised more companies don't make a product like this.

[DJKeys]

For my rig, I use the On Stage RS7500 amp stand. It is small, light, holds a lot of weight. If I need more angle, I have some ancient rubber stops from my old Invisible keyboard stands (which hold up my studio to this day).

-dj

20170704_142119.jpg (291 KiB) Viewed 4133 times

[cphollis]

For my rig, I use the On Stage RS7500 amp stand. It is small, light, holds a lot of weight. If I need more angle, I have some ancient rubber stops from my old Invisible keyboard stands (which hold up my studio to this day).

-dj

20170704_142119.jpg

Slick rig package!

[cphollis]

Hey, dude, I saw on KC that you went big on the legacy QSC K series stuff. Are you stepping up to stereo?

It's from reading too much about your adventures!

I originally bought a K10 for my keys. A year later I bought a K8 because I wanted something lighter, but I find I liked the sound of the keys through 8 much better. When I needed bigger sound, I'd pair up the 8 and 10 in stereo, as I thought the voicings were close enough. But I've always wanted to add another K8 to the arsenal. The introduction of the new K.2 line put the old stuff on closeout, so I took advantage.

And yea, the idea is to use the K8's in stereo. I'm happy with the sound quality and SPL's I get from the "old" series, so no upgrades in the near future for me. A lot of my playing is big band, and simplicity + fast in & out are more important than stereo. With 17 people on the stage, there is often not space for a pair of speakers either. So, the use of stereo is situation dependent.

My sax player owns a K10 for his own use, so between us we have a pair of 8's and a pair of 10's. Up until now, we've been rolling our own for our individual sound. Our last gig last week was on a very cluttered stage, which forced me to put the 8's in odd spots, and I had a real hard time hearing myself. Pretty much ruined the evening.

After reading what you've been doing with your group, it's been floating through my mind to try something similar to what you do. Now this is a jazz fusion group, and we have no vocals, but I'm thinking about running the 10's as mains for keys, sax and possibly drums a bit, and point the 8's back at the band for monitors. I also have a Mackie SRM150 that I can use as a personal monitor if necessary. Conversely, we can use the 8's as mains and put the 10's on the floor for ourselves.

The band's next rehearsal is in a small banquet room above a bar, and we're going to experiment with different sound reinforcement configurations.

So for the ideas Chuck. You've helped me spend some money!

I think I've probably motivated enough people to spend $$$ on gear, I should be getting a kickback from the manufacturers. Reading my stuff won't be good for anyone's bank account.

As far as trying different things with your pair of K8s and K10s, may I make a suggestion? Try using the K10s as monitors, the K8s as FOH. Here's why:

- the legacy K8 cabinet doesn't have a notch in it, thus can't be used as floor wedges without you procuring some sort of cradle (more hassle, more gear)

- I prefer the K8s for FOH as they are crisper and have wider dispersion, nice if you're playing in smaller venues

- the K10s are highly directional and loud, thus perfect as a monitor -- and everyone will hear themselves

- never really warmed up to my K10s for APs, maybe that's just me.

Thanks for the pointer on the poles, although I'm pretty happy with my Ultimates.

[Rusty Mike]

K8's as mains and the 10's as monitors is one of the scenarios we will test. As for the 8's as monitors, I would put them on the short poles and point them back as the band, so they wouldn't sit on the floor. This is the whole purpose of the next rehearsal, to see/hear what works best.

And I agree that AP's on the the K8's sound better than the K10's. In stereo, the sound is sublime!

[afroskully]

Is the line out of the electro 5 hot enough to run a single K8.2 without a mixer? I'm seriously considering upgrading from my current rig but would rather not use a mixer.

thanks!

This is how I normally run out of my Stage 2EX (and formerly Electro 3) for most of my rehearsals and gigs. I run both L and R outputs from the Nord into the two channels on one K8. I've never had an issue with volume. Keeping it in context, I play with traditional jazz big bands.

YMMV

Thanks mike. If I happen to feel like it's not giving me the volume I need, in lieu of a mixer, is there some sort of signal boost pedal you'd recommend that I could mount to my pedal board?

[Rusty Mike]

Are you running a single mono cable to the speaker, or are you using the pseudo-stereo like I described?

The reason I ask is that there are potentially different solutions. If you are going with both outputs, a mixer is most logical choice. They come in all sizes and prices; the smaller ones likes the Rolls mixers are not much bigger than an effects pedal. I have a Mackie 402-VLZ4 and Mackie ProDX8. They are both great products.

If you are doing a single mono output, I don't have much to offer except looking at a preamp of some sort. I have been experimenting with the Moog Minifooger MF Drive (for other reasons), and I can tell you it has a very hot output. It's marketed as a distortion pedal, but I've been using it more for tone shaping. You can get a ton of clean signal out of it.

I think Radial Engineering has a boost pedal, but it's not something I've ever researched.