I need some speakers

[ChrisMack99]

So some kids want me to start jamming with them with my Ableton stuff and them on guitars and drums. Right now I have my laptop connected to my bass amp for the purpose of amplification, but as you might imagine, only bass parts sound particularly good, a lot of other stuff sounds way too muddy.

What are some good products to look at? Do I need a sub or would just 2 speakers be sufficient? Could I also use them as monitors for mixing songs?

[MikeGillenwater]

yes sir, just spend a couple hundred ($500 tops) and get some 6 or 8 inch studio monitors, they will be plenty loud enough for a jam session. I have some Event Tr 6, they are pretty nice. I would get a small mixer too.

[ChrisMack99]

Would they also be sufficient for a small house party? I would assume so if they're loud enough to play with a drummer.

You mean 500 total, right? Can anyone recommend a brand or specific model to check out?

[beats me]

I don't think studio monitors are going to be enough to play with a live drummer.

You might want to look more in the direction of powered speakers used by DJs if your sound has more of a full range.

Something like these

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... 0V2BK-LIST

[ChrisMack99]

I wuold like it if I had 1200 dollars to spend on a set a speakers, but I don't know about that...

[beats me]

I wuold like it if I had 1200 dollars to spend on a set a speakers, but I don't know about that...

Totally understand, but I also wouldn't go drop $500 on a pair of studio monitors that aren't going to cut it in the volume department when playing with a drummer.

Maybe look into a powered keyboard speaker. I don't have any recommendations but check out the reviews on online retail sites. Most people that review gear on those sites play in bands and make their recommendations based on that.

[ChrisMack99]

Hm. A keyboard amp seems like a good idea.

Maybe I could use my bass amp like a sub and supplement it with a keyboard amp for the higher range stuff?

[ChrisMack99]

Does it sound like a good idea to get a keyboard amp and this cable:

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=333053

Then I'd plug the computer into both the keyboard amp and bass amp. On the bass amp I'd turn up the low and low-mid frequencies and on the keyboard amp I'd turn up the high mid and high frequencies.

[v0ins315]

Overpowering a live drummer is a tough one. Can't help ya there as far as monitors are concerned. You could however hook your computer output up to an amp with some big speakers. You can get big/loud/cheap speakers...but I wouldn't recommend using those to produce with =/

[rosti]

Its a matter of PA vs studio monitors i think. For overpowering a live drummer and throwing parties: PA, for studio work: monitors.
Some 8 inch monitors could be loud enough though.. I have Behringer B2031P:s in my livingroom dj setup and they can produce quite a loud sound if i want them to.

[purplesnet]

We use two cheap active speakers (PA, not studio monitors) with my friends, and they
work with one or two guitars and a loud drummer. I would not even try to use studio
monitors, they might sound loud at home but when you crank them up to band levels they
WILL blow their woofers sooner than later.

I would suggest something like this: http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_pa108a ... ngebox.htm
They're much cheaper than studio monitors and they are made to survive the needed sound levels - and you can use just one if you mix down to mono. Stereo sound is useless when jamming, at least for me.
And it does not make sense to invest too much until you've tried it out.

[beats me]

Also when buying speakers for live performance IMO a little future proofing and forward thinking should be taken into consideration even if that means saving a little longer or dropping more money now than you were wanting to. These aren't like desktop computers where you can just replace individual components on the cheap for improved performance down the road.

I've had those speakers I linked to, possibly a slightly older model, for about 8 years and they're still going strong and have saved my ass more times than I care to recount whether it's a gig with no sound system or venue with shit speakers/monitors. And over the last couple months they've even generated some revenue through friends renting them from me for their gigs.

[MPGK]

The Thomann active boxes are great for the price, I've got one in my old band's rehearsal place. Loud and clear enough to overpower even our drummer, who can be a real caveman with his cymbals and kick drum.

[nealebair]

No doubt lots of people will insult me for this, but I just bought a pair of Behringer Truth B1030A (max $200) powered monitors which suit me fine : they would be plenty loud enough to drown out a drummer - if not, get him to stick tea towels on his skins (because you know you can do better than him with samples and Impulse anyway.....)

[theophilus]

maybe just get another full-range speaker for your bass amp? Sounds like a weird idea, dunno what your bass amp is - my bass setup is a hafler G300 into an avatar SB112, which is a 1x12 + tweeter, and while it doesn't sound as good as a studio monitor, it's reasonably full range so that music sounds decent on it. certainly good enough for jamming - doesn't have to be perfect hi fidelity for that. Pretty much equivalent to an average keyboard amp anyways (my first 'bass amp' was a dirt cheap Peavey KB100 keyboard amp - and this 'bass' setup sounds better for keyboards than that thing did).

don't see any reason you couldn't dangle a PA speaker off of it as an extension speaker either (or the only speaker if you've got a bass head + cab instead of a combo). that seems like the cheapest solution - your bass amp is full range, it's the cab that isn't usually. a PA cab + your combo would give some monster bass but if your head has EQ you can tweak from there to taste.

you CAN use studio monitors too.... i used to have a pair of event 20/20 bas (same as the later PS8s, except the PS8 have half the power), good enough for studio use, loud enough to drown a drummer (130 watt low/70 watt high biamped per speaker), not that long ago you could get a pair for $200-300. But the problem with studio monitors is they just aren't ruggedized - someone trips and there's a hole in your woofer. Lot harder to mess up a normal PA or bass cab. Those grills do affect the sound, but they are there for a reason.