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Battery op'd Portables


kidblast

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I've got two wedding's coming up later this summer. Both out side, and away from buildings where there is no power available. Since I don't really want to get in too $deep$ trying to keep it 250/300

 

Started looking at some reasonably priced Portable Battery run PA options. So far, Beheringer appears to be the front runner.

 

Here's one option for $199 MPA40BT-Pro

 

This one is 200w a digital mixer/control panel with DSP (they toss in a wireless mic too.. yipeee..) @ $299 MPA200BT

 

all needed here is a lead from an acoustic a mic/spkr stand and yer ready to go. I do know the rap on Behringer btw.. but that said, I've had good luck with the gear I have from them.

 

Leaning a bit toward the 200w unit, 40w seems anemic to me, in a small setting, probably ok, but I'd rather have 200w and not need it, than not have it and need it. (for the extra 100, seems doable)

 

The reviews are all pretty positive. Anyone have any experience with these or something comparable? I know the Fishman makes a Charge loud box Mini, @$499 (a bit more than I am trying to go)

 

Roland makes something looks AWESOME (BA-330) but,, it's $599 Mackie has a new FreePlay that looks cool, but that is not available anywhere yet and that is $399 does pass the budget I'm look to go.

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Hey Ray, Being budget conscious - I think the 100W Behringer at $229 sounds like a pretty good deal. Should give you the oomph you're hoping for... (if not they've got a 200W version for $299) - and IMO Behringer puts out good quality at the budget friendly end. I didn't know Fishman offered a battery version thought - if the $499 price tag doesn't totally put you off (and 65watts is enough power)that's the way I'd lean.

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Hey Ray, Being budget conscious - I think the 100W Behringer at $229 sounds like a pretty good deal. Should give you the oomph you're hoping for... (if not they've got a 200W version for $299) - and IMO Behringer puts out good quality at the budget friendly end. I didn't know Fishman offered a battery version thought - if the $499 price tag doesn't totally put you off (and 65watts is enough power)that's the way I'd lean.

 

 

Hey Bill. I did see the 100Watter, what I don't like about the 100W and why I ruled that out is there is no Eq options at all, just a preset "speach/music" mode.

The 200w Variant has a digital mixer, and as an added bonus some DSP effects toboot, who doesn't love a little reverb!.

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I use a Roland Street Cube as my portable sound system. Forget that it says it’s only 5W, it’s got tons of power due to its high technology. Has a mic input and a guitar input. Reverb, too. As well as bass, treble, and gain on the guitar input. I keep the guitar input on the Instrument sound setting so it picks up how my actual instrument sounds, There are also different sound settings, including one that simulates an acoustic guitar for electric players. But, I use only the Instrument sound setting. Retails for $299. Uses 6 AA batteries that last 15-19 hours. Can also be plugged in. They also make a more expensive one. I put mine on a small table when gigging, to project it better from the floor. I also use it with my full sound system (a 600W Yamaha) as its moniitor, simply pressing the line in button, plugged to the larger system. Wonders never cease how good this thing is.

 

Just my experience.

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I’d avoid the Fishman, I’ve had three Loudbox Performers and all three cr*pped out on me after less than six months. After no.3 blew a driver, I returned it and asked the store to replace it with something different...they swapped it for a DV Mark AC101H. Loved that thing to bits, sounded much better than the Fishman and was better built. Sadly I got to a gig last Friday, plugged it in and...nothing. Dead as a doornail.

 

I’m starting to think I have some kind of acoustic amp curse...

 

On battery powered kit, the 200w Behringer looks good-very reasonable price and they’re generally decent lower-mid-price kit. The Roland Street Cube is superb too though, I’ve tried a couple and loved them.

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I'm afraid I would HAVE to kick up a few bucks and go with the Bose S1 Pro.

 

While I have been around a little Behringer stuff in the past and found it to be good stuff for the money, kind of like early Peavey gear back in the 70's, I would be fearful pulling off an acoustic gig with that rig.

 

I have been researching the S1 Pro for months, although I must admit I've never seen/heard one in real life (just youtube). However, those things are absolutely raved about MOST of the time for their sound and projection considering the size and wattage. Simple knobs for mixing, you don't have to use an ap, and yet it is Bluetooth for break music and they say it sounds great for that as well.

 

I realize it's only rated at 40 watts, but everything I have read about it says it punches way above it's weight. And the acoustic AND vocal QUALITY is bound to be better in my mind.

 

It just seems to be a rig I would like to own, and WILL own eventually (got a kid starting college, a chiropractor working on me, an ailing MIL 800 miles away and a few other priorities slapping me around right now) for a multitude of acoustic coffeehouse type deals. If your crowd is near 100 people and outdoors obviously it's not going to fill the air, but I seriously doubt that Behringer would either and the next day you're going to own one of them. I think the Bose is the one I'd rather be stuck with.

 

Best of luck, pal.

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I admire the cut of yer jib, Kid. We gave up on weddings long ago when they became these On The Beach things and In The Middle Of A Field things. Really? And you want a band out here?

 

I'm with Murph completely. I've had good luck and awful luck with Behringer. Bose has always been great, and the couple times I've used these stick thingies I was righteously impressed.

 

Good luck bud. You are brave.

 

rct

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I’d avoid the Fishman, I’ve had three Loudbox Performers and all three cr*pped out on me after less than six months. After no.3 blew a driver, I returned it and asked the store to replace it with something different...they swapped it for a DV Mark AC101H. Loved that thing to bits, sounded much better than the Fishman and was better built. Sadly I got to a gig last Friday, plugged it in and...nothing. Dead as a doornail.

 

I’m starting to think I have some kind of acoustic amp curse...

 

On battery powered kit, the 200w Behringer looks good-very reasonable price and they’re generally decent lower-mid-price kit. The Roland Street Cube is superb too though, I’ve tried a couple and loved them.

 

Sorry to tangent the thread ...

 

But jinder , always a fear of mine that I’ll arrive and equipment won’t work

What do you do in that situation?

 

Refuse payment and head home ?

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Sorry to tangent the thread ...

 

But jinder , always a fear of mine that I’ll arrive and equipment won’t work

What do you do in that situation?

 

Refuse payment and head home ?

 

It was a small venue, so I explained to the crowd that we could either do an unplugged thing and make it super intimate, or they could have a refund, or free tickets for another gig. Everyone wanted to go with the unplugged thing so we went with that-everyone gathered around and you could hear a pin drop...it went from a disaster to a bit of magic. I was lucky though, if the venue had been a touch bigger or the crowd in a talkative mood it would have been a total nightmare. My throat was toasted by the end though!

 

If it had been a pub gig I would have had to explain, offer to knock some money off my next booking by way of apology and gone home I reckon.

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Mark, I will check the street cube. I did look at it, thx for the tip, the wattage rating turned me elsewhere. Roland never disappoints. the BA-330 looks great.

 

Murph, thx for the pointer, I hadn't thought of this, didn't realize the S1 was D/C capable. It is 2x what I was planning to spend, 599 is reachable. you can't loose going with Bose gear. I would use that for more than just this too I think. It's half the weight of my Fishman. which btw, the loudbox Artist that I have, so far,,,.... has been rock solid. I may just shoot the works and go that route. it looks perfect.

 

The BA-330 and the S1 are the same price, so if I'm going that route cost wise, I'll have to dig in to these to see which one.

 

Jinder, that was the first option to consider, just completely unplugged, it's only 3 songs, 4 max this is the music for the ceremony, a DJ is doing the reception (and that beaach will have power and A/C... ARG!) Old School "might" work with one, 75 ppl, not the other, it will be a large wedding. I have seen the AC101H amps btw, look impressive, but the seem to just be A/C runable.

 

RCT, these kind of venues are becoming more popular. Did two last year that were out side, some distance away from the venue where the ceremony was. Luckily in both cases, there was power close enough were I was able to get an extension cord to provide some juice. One of these weddings was in mid September when the temps in the shade were close to 90, everyone was in direct sunlight gathered around a gazebo, which I was not under, that was brutal!

 

I've got a few Behringer items, a sound mixer, headphone amp and two studio flat field monitors. I haven't had any problems with them. But I do know it's a risk/vs reward for the budget conscious.

 

lots to consider, and I have time, first one is end of september

 

Thx for the input so far all.

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Would the camping fraternity be worth investigating ?

 

Am wondering if they have such a thing as a rechargeable power pack that would give enough juice to power the amps you already own ?

 

 

actually, yes, there are such options, a bit on the heavy side, but there are inverters. I think many of them use a car battery...

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Am wondering if they have such a thing as a rechargeable power pack that would give enough juice to power the amps you already own ?

 

I was going to suggest that, but thought it might be a bit too expensive. Goal Zero makes some really nice stuff, you can even add solar panels and daisy-chain multiple power packs for more run time. https://www.goalzero.com/shop/portable-power/

 

I have a Yeti 400 and it's very nice, but not cheap. 400 watt hours means it would provide 100 watts for 4 hours, 200 watts for 2 hours, etc. You would need to find out how much your gear actually draws in use, it will probably be less than the ratings which are typically maximum numbers. And yes, it's heavy - about 30 lbs. Depending on your needs the Yeti 150 might be enough.

 

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Alright, I was trying to stay on budget with the Behringer props - and would still say go for it if the max was $300, but if the Bose S1 is an option - I think you owe it to all of us to get it and report back. Just my 2 cents.

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My Fishman Loudbox Artist kicks... never had an issue. My son has an older Loudbox mini... used to hell and back. Still works great. I've had a great experience with Fishman products, but I'd also be lying if I said that I didn't want that S1.

 

I had a great experience with the Loudbox Artist I used as a loaner when my Performers were being repaired. If anything the Artist is a better sounding and more efficient amp. The issues with the Performers are down to the low frequency drivers not being able to handle downtuned guitars or any percussive playing. Not that I do a lot of that (maybe one song per set) but it was clearly too much for them to handle. The Artist has different drivers and could soak up whatever I threw at it playing wise.

 

My DV Mark AC101H can double as a bass amp if the tweeter is turned off, it has a neodymium driver which is twice the size of the little multiple drivers in the Performer, so has an incredibly articulate low end. It went back for warranty repair yesterday so hopefully it can be sorted and back to me soon.

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The OP has the perfect excuse to justify the investment...

 

[biggrin]

 

I think for 40/50 SOBER people, that thing would be the bomb. Naturally it won't work in a rowdy (read noisy) bar, but for a LOT of things (esp no power...) it would be quite handy.

 

Heck, my Carvin AG100 works fine for small clubs too, but it's getting (way) up in years and they didn't have much support when they were in the amp business. I'm probably going to dump my Boogie when I get the heart and pick up an L1 Compact AND an S1 Pro. Then upgrade the large mixer and keep my old SP-2's and should be able to handle anything my retirement years come up with. I've got a few years to go.

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Would the camping fraternity be worth investigating ?

 

Am wondering if they have such a thing as a rechargeable power pack that would give enough juice to power the amps you already own ?

 

 

I was going to suggest that, but thought it might be a bit too expensive. Goal Zero makes some really nice stuff, you can even add solar panels and daisy-chain multiple power packs for more run time. https://www.goalzero.com/shop/portable-power/

 

I have a Yeti 400 and it's very nice, but not cheap. 400 watt hours means it would provide 100 watts for 4 hours, 200 watts for 2 hours, etc. You would need to find out how much your gear actually draws in use, it will probably be less than the ratings which are typically maximum numbers. And yes, it's heavy - about 30 lbs. Depending on your needs the Yeti 150 might be enough.

 

 

Boyd- have you ever tried plugging an amp into that? It has got to sound better than when back in the day, a bandmate "borrowed" a gas generator from work that we took down to the canal and plugged the Electrics into.

 

It might be expensive, but in case of electro magnetic pulse attack, it would buy you some power and time to do other things besides play plugged in, although you might want to find out what the band was playing as the Titanic was sinking, in case it was a post-armageddon gig. :mellow:

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Boyd- have you ever tried plugging an amp into that? It has got to sound better than when back in the day, a bandmate "borrowed" a gas generator from work that we took down to the canal and plugged the Electrics into.

 

Sure, have used it with an amp, multi channel recorder, laptop and other electronic gear. It is completely silent (except for a small internal fan that kicks in with heavy use) and it provides pure sine wave power that is probably cleaner than what you get from a regular outlet. It is handy to have around during a power outage too, but of course I am limited to 400 watt-hours. I also have a generator for outages - I live in a rural location with a well, so no electricity means no water. All bets are off if we have an EMP attack though. ;)

 

you might want to find out what the band was playing as the Titanic was sinking

 

"It was midnight on the sea, the band played Nearer my God to Thee"... I always thought that line came from a Woody Guthrie song but I can't find it now. :)

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the loud box artist is a great amp. Best couple-hunred bucks I spent in a while. It is crazy how much volume you can push with it. I did a service at our church with it around Christmas time,, this is a huge cavernous building. I stood in the back with my wireless to see how it sounded, (master about 12 o'clock.. It got back there, albeit about 150ms after I played each note. but it was clear and audible. (and enough natural reverb to take a bath in)

 

One of our preists plays as well, he was stunned when he saw how big it was, vs. the sound I was getting.

 

 

Anyway, Murph has got my ear. and I'm leaning towards the S1, the thinking is, like with the loud box, do this, and just do it once. The extra money, over the span of time, wont matter a hill of beans, esp. if it sounds as good as the demos I've heard. I can swing it right now, so.. what the hell.. I may just pull the trigger next week so I can get accustomed to the nuances of using it.

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