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Amp or Powered Speaker?

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  • #1

    Amp or Powered Speaker?

    I'm a modeler. (I know, don't hate me all you die-hard amp gurus!) The amp I have is a 10-year-old Crate FXT65 coupled with an even older Crate VC212e cabinet. I get most of my tone from my Line 6 POD HD400 (along with a couple other pedals), and I like the sound I have, but I've been toying with the idea of going with a decent quality 12" powered PA speaker instead of an actual amp in hopes of a) easier portability and b) truer sound reproduction from headphones to PA to rig. My band is mostly bluesy classic rock and we play local bars, clubs, etc... nothing very big room-size-wise, and I generally mic my amp into the PA.

    Anybody ever try doing this? And what are the pros and cons?

    Thanks guys!
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    Originally posted by The Commodores?
    "Chicken Brown Chicken Brown Cow"
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  • #2
    Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

    I have an 11 rack modeler at home that I run through powered studio monitors sometimes. It doesn't sound terrible but it doesn't sound as good as the headphones. Never been sure why, but it seems like the mids and lower mids always sound kind of flubby. It sustains weird and feels different from a real amp, but it's useable. These are studio monitors though, not a 12" single speaker.

    I almost wonder if you would be better off finding a good 12" solid state combo and just running it clean... The classic clean solid state amp is an old 2x12 Roland jazz chorus but they are really heavy and bulky.
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    • #3
      Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

      Hi Briguy68!
      I just tried my Tech 21 Fly Rig direct into a Behringer powered wedge monitor 12" with vocal 1" tweet. It sounds awesome enough, that I am happy to have it as a backup amp. Sounds almost identical to headphones out of a mixer. I think your basic idea is perfectly sound. The studio monitor is a totally different animal than p.a. type gear. I believe you will get a good sound basing it on my viewing of your pedal board.
      Try it! And let us know how it works for you.

      Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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      • #4
        Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

        Well, if you mic an amp to the house, your tone is hitting the audience, by default, through PA speakers.

        If nothing else, getting a good tone onstage through one should help that translate to what the audience is hearing?


        Larry

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        • #5
          Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

          Bluesy rock? With digital modelers? Why?
          green globe burned black by sunn

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          • #6
            Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

            I run my Fly Rig through JBL studio monitor and I really like it. I find it better than when I tried it out through guitar amps. I suspect that most modelers are like it.
            There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women, and I am neither one

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            • #7
              Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

              Originally posted by Empty Pockets View Post
              Bluesy rock? With digital modelers? Why?
              Why not?


              [emoji450]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [emoji441]
              Originally posted by The Commodores?
              "Chicken Brown Chicken Brown Cow"

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              • #8
                Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

                My two cents, take or leave it.

                If you are running speaker or amp emulation as part of your patch, I wouldn't mic a cabinet and would run direct. At that point, using a powered monitor or PA cabinet for on stage monitoring makes sense. It might also be a good idea to tweak your patches to sound best this way, as opposed to using headphones, since that's how the you, the band and the audience are going to be hearing it.

                If you are not running amp emulation as part of your patches, then I would suggest using a guitar amp (and not a powered PA cabinet) for live use. Again, tweaking your patches to sound best in the way that you use them live would be my suggestion.

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                • #9
                  Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

                  Originally posted by chadd View Post
                  My two cents, take or leave it.

                  If you are running speaker or amp emulation as part of your patch, I wouldn't mic a cabinet and would run direct. At that point, using a powered monitor or PA cabinet for on stage monitoring makes sense. It might also be a good idea to tweak your patches to sound best this way, as opposed to using headphones, since that's how the you, the band and the audience are going to be hearing it.

                  If you are not running amp emulation as part of your patches, then I would suggest using a guitar amp (and not a powered PA cabinet) for live use. Again, tweaking your patches to sound best in the way that you use them live would be my suggestion.
                  Exactly this.

                  If you have the available funds, the QSC K12 is what a lot of the AxeFX guys swear by, but they're pretty expensive. I'm not a PA expert by any means, so maybe someone else knows a few affordable alternatives?
                  Originally posted by crusty philtrum
                  And that's probably because most people with electric guitars seem more interested in their own performance rather than the effect on the listener ... in fact i don't think many people who own electric guitars even give a poop about the effect on a listener. Which is why many people play electric guitars but very very few of them are actually musicians.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Amp or Powered Speaker?

                    I tried everything- powered monitors, headphones,,, etc..

                    The best results I had were a Boss GT-10 into a Tech 21 Power Engine. The Power Engine is the best thing out there for reproducing a guitar amp modeler.

                    After that, the next best thing is taking the cab simulation off and plugging into the effects return of a tube amp. The best I've heard so far is running a Line 6 Sonic Port into Positive Grid Bias on an Ipad or Iphone into the effects return of my EVH 5150 III. The Orange Tiny Terror emulator sounds exactly like my Tiny Terror through this setup, and the EVH emulations are very close as well to the point an audience wouldnt know the difference

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