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  #1  
Old 03-19-2014, 06:24 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Default Roland Cube Street Ex

I just ordered one of these; 50 watts, battery or AC, 2x8", 4 inputs, and 16 lbs!!! Sweetwater had it briefly listed for significantly less than MF (now corrected) and I placed the order before that was fixed. I am hoping it sounds OK because I've not always liked what Roland has done with their amps. In particular I hear harmonic distortion in many of the battery powered Cubes when you play the two low strings of an open G chord. Since 8xAA batteries can only sustain roughly 20 watts for an hour or so (~2 amp max current, <1.2v, and typical 2400 mA-h rating for a NiMH AA), they must have some significant capacitance in their power supply design, count on the peak to average power ratio of pop music, and the assumption that no one will use this amp with sustained power amp distortion to derive the power (BTW, the same way QSC rates the K series at 1KW). So it won't compete with a 50 watt Marshal for heavy metal guitar...

I'll let you know how it works out. I had been using a Roland KC-110 for outdoor no power park gigs, but I found it not powerful enough to handle even a restrained bass guitar on batteries (OK plugged in which brings the power up to 30 watts), it had that distortion I mention above, and in general sounds inferior side-by-side to my QSC K-10 even at low volumes. I am hoping stepping up from 20 to 50 "Roland Battery Watts" takes care of this and that this "all new" design does not have that harmonic distortion I've heard across many of their older battery designs.

Jon
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  #2  
Old 03-19-2014, 11:47 AM
Justinian Justinian is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
I just ordered one of these; 50 watts, battery or AC, 2x8", 4 inputs, and 16 lbs!!! Sweetwater had it briefly listed for significantly less than MF (now corrected) and I placed the order before that was fixed. I am hoping it sounds OK because I've not always liked what Roland has done with their amps. In particular I hear harmonic distortion in many of the battery powered Cubes when you play the two low strings of an open G chord. Since 8xAA batteries can only sustain roughly 20 watts for an hour or so (~2 amp max current, <1.2v, and typical 2400 mA-h rating for a NiMH AA), they must have some significant capacitance in their power supply design, count on the peak to average power ratio of pop music, and the assumption that no one will use this amp with sustained power amp distortion to derive the power (BTW, the same way QSC rates the K series at 1KW). So it won't compete with a 50 watt Marshal for heavy metal guitar...

I'll let you know how it works out. I had been using a Roland KC-110 for outdoor no power park gigs, but I found it not powerful enough to handle even a restrained bass guitar on batteries (OK plugged in which brings the power up to 30 watts), it had that distortion I mention above, and in general sounds inferior side-by-side to my QSC K-10 even at low volumes. I am hoping stepping up from 20 to 50 "Roland Battery Watts" takes care of this and that this "all new" design does not have that harmonic distortion I've heard across many of their older battery designs.

Jon
I would be very curios to hear how it sounds.
It has wide range of inputs (acoustic, electric guitar, vocal, keyboard, laptop/iPod), decent effects and power for small gigs, mounting hole for speaker stand....nice package.
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  #3  
Old 03-25-2014, 06:21 PM
Jimmy Prince Jimmy Prince is offline
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Default roland

Yep Just ordered one myself. Any idea when delivery is going to happen?
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  #4  
Old 05-31-2014, 09:54 PM
v2or v2or is offline
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Default Cube Street EX

Hi, I've had my Roland Cube Street Ex for a few days giged with it and it works great. I like it's light and can be used with batteries. I have used a DPA 4099 G mic and supplied it with phantom power. That's my favorite, then I've used it with a Schtler DYNG, a Beyerdynamic Mic and the set up on my Cordoba GK Studio, and DeVoe w RMC pickups. I mainly purchased this for small indoor outdoor gigs where my Bose L1S was too much. My only thing with the amp is that you hear a little bit of his when you first hit a note (not very audible to a listener) but to those who have good ears you will hear it if your near the amp. It's kind of like a compressor/gate opening up. It's not a deal breaker for me as I really wanted to be able to play small outdoor gigs that may not have a power jack near or small wineries that would just need a little bit more than what my guitar alone would do acoustically. It's a great amp to me smaller than the Roland BA 330 that I did own but was to big to travel with. I also like the 3 bass, mid, treb eq on two channels. I hope the gig bag is out for this soon. It's going to get a lot of use this summer.
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Old 06-02-2014, 06:26 AM
dcopper dcopper is offline
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Great review and could you guys with the new Cube keep us posted on how well it does while on batteries especially? A lot of outdoor gigs really would be cool to get free from AC.
Thanks,
davidc
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  #6  
Old 06-02-2014, 08:23 AM
lpa53 lpa53 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcopper View Post
Great review and could you guys with the new Cube keep us posted on how well it does while on batteries especially? A lot of outdoor gigs really would be cool to get free from AC.
Thanks,
davidc
I know that the output of the AC30 on batteries was significantly lowered. I'd be interested to see what this one offers in that regard. If the coverage with batteries is still pretty good, this could be a hit.
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  #7  
Old 06-02-2014, 04:55 PM
dannyg1 dannyg1 is offline
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I've been through quite a number of two channel, mic+guitar, battery powered amplifiers over the last few years and I'm still not quite happy with any one of them.

- Crate TX15 - It's loud enough but its tonal character is not great. It favors the high mids and the tone controls are pretty terrible. No effects on either channel. Its shape is not fun to carry around either. On the good side, the battery lasts forever and it's not too expensive. If I were to give it an overall description, I'd say that it's a capable but primitive amp. I'd like to try the TX50 Limo but, at the size/weight it is, it's probably only somewhat useful to a travelling musician without a car.

- Vox Mini 3 (orig) - The best sound I've been able to consistently get out of a battery pwrd amp was from this tiny thing. The highZ mic input forces you to buy a lo-to-high Z adapter ($15 to 25). The effects on this are great for vocals and I was pleased as punch with this, despite its lack of high volume power. Adapting a 12v motorcycle battery to use via the AC plug helped but only a bit. It did die on me many times (I had warranty service three times for different issues) and after the second try, Vox sent me the Mini3 G2.
The driver cannot handle the vocal power of yahoo's that inevitably come up and yell in your mic.

- Vox Mini 3 G2 - Same size as the orig. Mini 3 but with a totally different effects design that's much more suited to the electric guitar and worse for the acoustic/vocal player. Still a good sounding amp and with better bass output than the original but the driver is the same (and has the same inherent problem). I like it but it's underpowered and too fragile for long term use.

- Roland KC110 - Bigger, louder and smoother than the little Vox's and smoother sounding than the Crate TX15, this amp has been really good for me. The sound is really good at mid to lower volumes and the effects are fairly good and very useful (Both of the Vox Mini 3's have far better effects than this though). Things I dont like about it are many. It tends to duck the guitar when the vocal gets loud (Telling sign that it needs a more robust battery supply) and has a proprietary shaped AC input, requiring warranty killing mods to get the 12v lead acid battery to work. Trying for higher volume gets you ugly distortions on the low mid end of things and makes the amp too balky to get good use out of. The Crate amp is much better at higher volumes than this is.

- Vox Mini 5 Rhythm - This is my latest amp and I bought it to see if it can do the best of both the larger amps and the smaller, a sort of louder, more robust but still extra portable solution. I've only had it for two days so my impressions are not quite set yet but after my first 3 hour gig with it, it does seem to be a pretty solid alternative to the other 3. It gets about the same usable volume as the KC110 and has the effects set-up of the Mini 3 G2.
It doesn't get loud enough for the noisiest playing settings (same kind of low mid distortion as the Roland) but it is a good bit louder than the smaller Vox's. It's still small enough to easily carry slung over your shoulder.

I have been contemplating the Roland AC-33 but after reading comparisons btwn the KC110 and the AC-33, it saems to me that they're evenly matched and probably sound very, very similar (Though I haven't ever used an Ac-33 so cant be sure).

If this new Cube Street EX is more stable at higher volumes, as you're suggesting, then it's probably next on the list.

Does anyone have experience with the Crate Limo or the Fender Passport Mini that they can share?

Given what I've just written, do you think this newest Roland is something you'd recommend I try?

Thanks.
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  #8  
Old 08-22-2014, 12:54 PM
jpbat jpbat is offline
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For some reason this thread escaped me the first time, but this is a topic I'm interested in. I own and use several battery powered amps, and there is always place for improving.
The new Roland Cube Street EX is really much better than the old Cube Street, as it should.

The sound is nicer in the mids and highs, actually quite good without any harsh.
The overall level is good, almost on par with my Crate Bass Bus (meaning good)

You can clearly hear some gate effect working as soon as you play a note. Since the amp is intended to be used in the street, not a deal breaker. But you've been warned (this is *not* explained anywhere on Roland website or literature, of course)

The real problem is lack of bass. Not really a problem with a -more common- singer/strummer, but not enough for my playing style.
So I presently pair it with a Mini Cube Bass (which is BTW an amazing sounding little beast, only not loud enough for my needs), and I have the bass I need, and sweet mids, courtesy of the EX.

Since the lighter set-up is the better, I plan to mod the Cube Street EX, swapping at least one HP with something giving more bass. If anybody already tried that or have info on such mod, please let me know.
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  #9  
Old 08-24-2014, 12:52 PM
zhunter zhunter is offline
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Any more users have experience with this amp?

Working out an outdoor no 110 AC power option and can either go inverter and battery and power my existing amp or go battery amp with the Cube EX. Looking at a two guitar, vocal and one percussionist setup. Probably with each guitar player having a Cube. Outdoor pavilions, back yards would be the standard venues although there may be a living room setup or two where stringing power is too complicated.

The inverter option will probably be cheaper and probably produce better sound since I'd be powering a good amp set up but much, much more difficult to load in and out and transport (and not that suitable as a living room option). If the Cube, at 16 pounds, is even close to getting the job done, I'd take that option.

I really like the AER Mobile but I'd never make the payback on one. So Cube EX?

hunter
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  #10  
Old 08-24-2014, 05:22 PM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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I bought and sold the Cube Street Ex. I went and got a battery and really cheap 400 watt inverter at Harbor Freight. It runs my QSC K10 perfectly. I tested this louder than I can stand blasting Steely Dan (I left the room). Running a single K10 the battery had plenty left after a 2.5 hour continuous run. Here is what I bought:

http://www.chromebattery.com/12v-26a...connector.html
http://www.chromebattery.com/catalog...d/category/26/

The Street has great instrument inputs, decent mic preamps, and obviosly high pass filtered line inputs. The volume is plenty for a large, near 100 people event at conversation friendly volumes on batteries. It is marginal for bass guitar. It is no competition for the K10...

Jon
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  #11  
Old 08-25-2014, 05:58 AM
zhunter zhunter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
I bought and sold the Cube Street Ex. I went and got a battery and really cheap 400 watt inverter at Harbor Freight. It runs my QSC K10 perfectly. I tested this louder than I can stand blasting Steely Dan (I left the room). Running a single K10 the battery had plenty left after a 2.5 hour continuous run. Here is what I bought:

http://www.chromebattery.com/12v-26a...connector.html
http://www.chromebattery.com/catalog...d/category/26/

The Street has great instrument inputs, decent mic preamps, and obviosly high pass filtered line inputs. The volume is plenty for a large, near 100 people event at conversation friendly volumes on batteries. It is marginal for bass guitar. It is no competition for the K10...

Jon
I hear you on the inverter option. It offers a real advantage in terms of both cost and sound. That battery you linked is a pretty compact package and 300-400w inverters are pretty small. I already have the QSCs as well as an acoustic amp so I may have to look at the inverter approach more seriously. What is your take on inverter noise? When playing I suspect it is not heard but thought I'd ask.

And thanks for the information on the Roland. Sounds like it would probably get the job done, is a clear favorite for convenience but somewhat limited sonically. The thought of having access to a real acoustic amp/PA is pretty compelling. As is the savings by going the inverter route.

hunter
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  #12  
Old 08-26-2014, 05:06 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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The inverter I bought has a fairly noisy fan. I think it won't be an issue at a gig and I'll use an extension cord to place it away from us. BTW, I checked with QSC tech support and they said I should have no problem even with the $20 invertor I bought. Jon
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  #13  
Old 08-26-2014, 09:15 AM
pf400 pf400 is offline
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All within the past month...

Tried out this new Street Cube, didn't like the chorus.

Tried a Roland AC33, sounded awful (very surprised by this).

Yamaha THR, I bought it thinking I could tweak it enough to get great acoustic tone, no luck but close.


The Vox Mini version2, I bought one used assuming it would sound as good as my version one which stopped working well after 3 years. The v2 does not sound great on acoustic, but ok on electric guitar.

The KC110 sounds best to me. My nylon string guitar's low frequencies sound nice and soft through the KC110. My steel string acoustic and electric both sound great through it as well, although I prefer my chorus pedal over the amp's chorus.
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  #14  
Old 08-26-2014, 11:04 AM
johnny oxford johnny oxford is offline
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Has anybody tried nylon string acoustic through the Roland Street EX?

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  #15  
Old 09-05-2014, 02:39 PM
dcopper dcopper is offline
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Jon,
Sorry if I am a bit dense but can you explain what you bought and how it all works together to power your QSC? I love the AER Compact 60/3 and my QSC K8 but have been looking for a portable power solution.
davidc
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