Nord User Forum

Danrv - Digital keys in jazz settings is very familiar to me. Your gig sounds like it's big enough for a pair of stereo speakers for everything. First, I try for stereo if I can because (to my ears) the keyboard sound is far better. No phase cancellation. Sometimes through a small board (Allen Heath Zed10FX) or sometimes direct L/R to each speaker w 1/4 inch jacks. ~30% of the time, I cave and put mono into 1 speaker on a tripod, 'cause I'm lazy. If no mixer, my speaker has second input for an announcement mic. Second (please, no judgement here), I've accumulated three pairs of speakers for different situations. A) Pair of Bose L1 Compacts, which are great aesthetically because they are virtually invisible on the bandstand, mysterious dispersion ("where's the sound coming from"), small foot print, but you have to EQ the snot out of them to get your keyboard's bass down and mids tuned for the room. I often run them as mains off the ZED 10FX mixer (with EQ!). For small indoor clubs and rooms, I love this stereo system, though I get lots of hate from musicians because they dislike Bose. FYI, recently played a high energy 5-piece salsa gig in the living room of a house for a latino funeral celebration. 3 hours of dancing! Ran 3 vocal mics and Stereo keys through ZED10fx into one Bose L1....Perfect sound! B) Also, I use pairs of speakers (QSC K10s or EV ZXA1s) on stands or chairs or even as wedges just for piano. Also have a "T" for two speakers on one stand and often use this rig for big band or loud combo gigs: set behind me with speakers rotated for me, band and audience. Good luck, Danrv.

Thanks for the post. Helpful stuff.
I have three sets of speakers although they’re for PA duties rather than keyboard.
2 x RCF HD12a (plus 905as subs)
2 x EV SX300 + Yamaha P7000s amp
2 x Yamaha DXR10 (for keys)

Thing is I run a collective band that does Rock/pop, tribute, Jazz funk, lounge jazz/solo so need keys amplification
to cover everything.
If I only did solo piano gigs/small acoustic then one or two Bose L1 Compacts would do nicely.

Just as a follow up, I’ve been using just one DXR10 for the last couple of jazz gigs. There’s something to be said for a simple setup and quicker load out too.
For my band gigs there’s a fair bit of PA to lug and setup and it’s nice to just use one keyboard and an amp for a change. The Silver Grand XL sounds good with both Nord outputs going into the DXR and ‘Monitor’ mode engaged on the speaker.