Laney A-Duo and A-Fresco

[Cuki79]

Did anyone see that at Namm?





A-Duo
2 XLR combo jack channels, Treble, Middle, Bass + Fx (reverb, chorus) + antiFeedback + Fx loop
2x 8" twin cone speaker
10.5 Kg (23.2 lbs)

A-Fresco
1x8" twin cone version
7.2kg (15.8lbs)
Battery operated

Cuki

[63telemaster]

Sounded really nice......when he pressed the mute button

[martingitdave]

Looks like a nice lower priced unit. Networkable small speakers with nice effects. I thought they sounded decent in the video, for what it's worth.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[necrome]

I got the Laney AH4x4 portable battery-powered PA for busking when it came out last year.



Andertons' has a video on it if anyone wants to check it out. It's served me well mostly, except that it doesn't sound ideal for acoustics and is a pain in the arse for someone outside of the UK to buy. The lack of documentation and support from Laney doesn't help too...

Seems like the A-Duo is mostly the same thing, except that it isn't battery-powered (shame!) but tuned for acoustic guitars. The smaller battery-powered A-Fresco is a competing product for something like the Roland AC-60. None of either hits the mark for me when it comes to projection + portability + battery-operated. No go for me it seems, even though they look really nice!

[Cuki79]

The guy played an Ibanez with a piezo... Tha amp could be better sounding. And at this price I can buy italian made aer speakers and replace the Chinese ones.

I think it's the only amp I know, you can seat on. Maybe the california blonde by swr?

I don't know if it is a good idea but it is an idea. Plug in your beatbuddy and you are seated on your rhythm section like a cajon. Can't get the tempo wrong!!

Lol
cuki

[dannyg1]

Another good scoop on the board. It would be great to know what kind of battery is in the A-fresco and how long it runs vs takes to charge. Does it hit reasonable levels before distorting?

If it's like most of the battery powered options on the market, it's limited in its usefulness.

[Pecx]

Yes, it hits good levels before distorting. Plenty of volume without clipping (the Laney has a clipping indicator in the mixer) and sounds good (guitars and vocals).
It runs on batteries for 14/15hours (in non eco mode). I haven't tried in eco mode, but Laney tells that it can run for 24hours in eco mode.
It takes almost 10 hours to charge the batteries from 0% to 100%.
The power-up options are great (DC adaptor, 12 DC power bank, 4 Li-Ion, 8 AA) and the battery autonomy is amazing (at least with the 4 Li-ion).
The 4 pre-defined EQ's are really interesting and specially good when pole mounting the amp.
It's compact enough to easily transport it, and you can even sit on it if you forget your stool
Really good materials, rugged construction. Its small factor and weight (15lbs with batteries), is definitely a big plus.
A great amp for church services, for busking, for coffee shops or restaurants.

[SongJoy]

For use as a busking amp, I just got one and put it through its paces, first with a couple of high-end dynamic mics like a Heil Sound PR 35 (surprisingly not great with the Laney, and surprisingly dull even though it has oodles of treble) and guitars with various pickups, e.g. an LR Baggs M80 that sounded rather nasal and harsh, a K&K transducer that sounded dull without a dedicated K&K preamp and a Go Guitar (travel guitar) with a passive Fishman piezo. The Go Guitar (passive Fishman "natural" piezo) was the clear winner, It harmonized well with the sort of nasal basic sound of the amp, adding some much-needed lows and sparkling treble to compensate.

Verdict: With everything set in neutral position, the overall sound was disappointingly nasal to start with , and quite a bit less pleasingly high-res than that of my Roland AC-33, but with a promising robustness and a feeling that it will probably be more capable of pushing a lot of air - especially in the bass region - than the AC-33, which in battery mode can tend to "sag" or break up a bit when the batteries are a bit low and you hit it with a hard vocal or a thumping guitar. I have yet to test the Laney on Li-Ion rechargeables so can't say how its performance might drop when no longer plugged into the mains. Based on what I've heard so far, though, and knowing that the Li-Ion batteries will deliver a lot of steady power, the Laney should be very crowd-pleasing when properly tweaked.

I ended up dropping the mids to about 10 o'clock and upping the treble and bass of both signals to about 2-3 o'clock and also used the "bathtub" preset button on the back of the unit (boosting lows and highs). That was quite pleasing, and the sound was loud enough even with the master level only up about 1/4 as long as you set the channel levels up to the point where they actually do flash red a bit. In other words, this gives you room to spare on getting louder on the streets. The funny thing is, I didn't hear any distortion despite the red flashing on the input channels. I couldn't crank the master volume up much indoors, but will do so outdoors asap.

So the sound can be shaped to be sufficiently full and also transparent by using a combination of channel EQ and push-button system presets on the back. To get a really nice vocal sound out of it I had to ditch even the most sparkling of my dynamic mics and resort to my favorite busking mic, which is a lightweight headset condenser mic allowing for mic-stand-free performances and less gear to carry around: the AKG C 520 plugged (via an in-line XLR adapter) for added sound quality into a Boss VE-2 vocal harmony pedal equipped with phantom power and an enhancer/compressor switch. The VE-2 runs off of batteries, too, so is a great addition to a busking setup, even if you don't want to use it for vocal harmonies. It has a better mic preamp than the Laney, and with the enhancer button pressed, you get a very nice and smooth vocal with lots of definition and pleasing sparkle, making the vocals really stand out. (Cheaters can also use the same switch to turn on pitch correction.) The combo of the AKG C 520 and the Go Guitar makes for a very quick-and-dirty set-up for the Laney, which is about 2 kg heavier than the AC-33 (in other words nearly 50% heavier), but ought to pack more of a punch overall, albeit with a warmer, less high-endy sound (which is not necessarily a bad thing on the streets).

Another thing I really like a lot is that it's high enough so you can sit on it - something you can't do with the smaller AC-33 with its knobs on the top. That's a real godsend for longer busking sessions, and for tricky fingerpicking songs where a seated position really helps. Incidentally, I got zero feedback (indoors!) when sitting on top of the amp! Probably an ideal position because the headset mic was well behind the speaker, and the body of the (slender) Go Guitar was even farther off. I can't guarantee a full-bodied guitar won't feed back when seated, but since it will be behind the speaker, you'll probably be safe. And the headset mic let's you crank everything up without howling.

By the way, the built-in reverb is fine for busking, and for some reason I even preferred it to the built-in reverb on the Boss VE-2 - perhaps because its tails were a bit less obtrusive. The chorus is not really my taste, and I'll probably only use it on a couple of songs.

Conclusion: If the amp performs as I think it will outdoors (i.e. when turned up loud), it's a winner - but only if you're willing to experiment a while to find the right EQ settings and the right combination of mic + preamp and guitar pick-up. If all you have is an SM58 and a guitar with a magnetic soundhole pickup, I doubt you'll love the sound.

I'll update this after busking with it.

[Pecx]

Originally Posted by SongJoy

I have yet to test the Laney on Li-Ion rechargeables so can't say how its performance might drop when no longer plugged into the mains. Based on what I've heard so far, though, and knowing that the Li-Ion batteries will deliver a lot of steady power, the Laney should be very crowd-pleasing when properly tweaked.

I ended up dropping the mids to about 10 o'clock and upping the treble and bass of both signals to about 2-3 o'clock and also used the "bathtub" preset button on the back of the unit (boosting lows and highs). That was quite pleasing, and the sound was loud enough even with the master level only up about 1/4 as long as you set the channel levels up to the point where they actually do flash red a bit. In other words, this gives you room to spare on getting louder on the streets. The funny thing is, I didn't hear any distortion despite the red flashing on the input channels. I couldn't crank the master volume up much indoors, but will do so outdoors asap.

Another thing I really like a lot is that it's high enough so you can sit on it.

By the way, the built-in reverb is fine for busking, and for some reason I even preferred it to the built-in reverb on the Boss VE-2 - perhaps because its tails were a bit less obtrusive. The chorus is not really my taste, and I'll probably only use it on a couple of songs.

Definitely, SongJoy. The Li-Ion batteries will deliver a lot of steady power, a for a lot of hours! Believe me.
I gigged with this amp for a couple of weeks and really fell in love with it.

I also drop the mids to around 10 o'clock. The treble and bass, are around 1 - 2 o'clock.
The chorus is nothing special (gladly I rarely use chorus). The Reverb is very good indeed.
And yes, this Laney can get loud (without distortion).

[SongJoy]

Originally Posted by Pecx

Definitely, SongJoy. The Li-Ion batteries will deliver a lot of steady power, a for a lot of hours! Believe me.
I have been gigging with this amp for a couple of months and 'm really loving it.

I also drop the mids to around 10 o'clock. The treble and bass, are around 1 - 2 o'clock.
The chorus is nothing special, gladly I rarely use chorus. The Reverb is very good indeed!
And yes, this Laney can get pretty loud (without distortion!).

Glad to hear the Li-Ions will cut it! Still loving the amp...but sending it back for a fully functioning one, because battery operation isn't working. Tried it with fully charged, brand-new, properly rated Li-Ions (4x), and also with fully charged Ni-Mhs (8x). Only got it to work in battery mode once, and when I switched it off and turned it on the next day...it didn't go on. Only with mains power. So there must be a defect/bad contact in the battery compartment. Can't wait to test the replacement unit with battery power in about a week and a half.

For (better) chorus plus compressor, occasional delay and even looper functionality for guitar-body beats, I'll probably be using my brand-new Boss AD-10 (great unit!) as a battery-powered guitar preamp. Although my Roland AC-33 is a brilliant amp, I'm pretty sure the (much cheaper) Laney is going to be my favorite due to the punch it packs.

[Pecx]

I hope you get the new unit soon!

I'm thinking about ordering that new Boss AD-10

[SongJoy]

Originally Posted by Pecx

I'm thinking about ordering that new Boss AD-10

It's off-topic, but the Boss AD-10 is definitely worth a look. If you're interested in more about it, you can send me a PM, or I could start a new thread.

[SongJoy]

I received the A-Fresco some time ago and had the chance to put it through its paces, both at home (with various vocal mics and guitars/pick-ups) and on the street (an hour and a half of busking as a trial run). First off, I agree with Pecx that it's a great amp...but it's just not the right one for me. Why not?
Here's the scoop:
- The Laney packs a very loud punch, with warm and powerful and stable bass, even when pushed with hard strumming or close-to-the mic, loud male vocals.This is quite an accomplishment! The Roland AC-33, for example, can't compare. And the new Elite Acoustics A1-4 (brilliant for acoustic guitar!) really fails when it comes to handling vocal impulses. The Laney is the only battery-powered amp on the market that delivers so much powerful low end without breaking up. A Roland Cube Street Ex can't compete on that, either.
- Unfortunately, the highs (and any kind of hi-fi transparency revealing the true nature of a great guitar & pick-up or a great mic) are pretty lacking unless you crank up the treble knob quite a bit and/or push the EQ shape button on the back. You can use either the "bathtub" curve to bump up the highs and lows, or another setting to only bump up the highs. That solves things nicely for the guitar, and the vocals also then sound good enough...but feedback unfortunately becomes an issue, apparently because too much of the "wrong" frequency is getting boosted. This was the same with all 5 high-quality mics of different characteristics that I tested. And it was the worst when using an AKG condenser headset mic (like I generally do on the street). My trial busking was a nightmare because the amp fed back often, no matter whether I was standing off to the side or sometimes even behind (!) it. And G-d forbid I should lean in close to try and tame the treble a bit...leading to terrible howling that sent the crowd away immediately. Of course, that also had to do with me playing the unit loud. Which leads me to my next point.
- To be properly heard in a noisy, open space you must crank it up quite a bit, mainly because it doesn't do a great job of spreading the sound all around. It bundles the sound pretty much straight out (i.e. low to the ground, and with little lateral or vertical coverage). Unlike the Roland Cube Street EX, for example, it doesn't "radiate" sound to the periphery much. So to be heard at all to the sides, you have to go rather loud, and that increases the feedback. It might have been better with a less sensitive (dynamic) mic, but even they feed back pretty fast (see above) when you add the necessary treble to make things crisp and articulate enough.
- The battery compartment was a bit finicky, on both units I trialed. The first one didn't recognize my Li-Ion rechargeables despite them being new and having the right specs. It only recognized Ni-Mh hydrids. I though the unit was defective so swapped it for a new one, only to find the new one was the same. So I returned my Li-Ion batteries to Amazon and purchased one of the few "approved" brands listed in the instruction manual. That worked...most of the time. Sometimes I had to switch the amp on and off 2 or 3 times until it recognized the fully charged batteries. Not terrible, but annoying. And I wonder about long-term reliability on the streets, as in what happens if you're out there and your cells are not recognized any more? Using Ni-Mh hydrids, instead, is an option, but not a great one - you get far less battery life out of them. If I had kept this amp, I would have been sure to always tote a fully charged set of Ni-Mh cells in case the other ones didn't work.

I really wanted to love this amp. That gorgeous bass really had me grinning! And you can even sit on it while playing (if you can figure out how to get rid of the feedback, that is). The form factor is also great, and the reverb is quite nice (the chorus less so). Perhaps it would shine a lot better up on a pole so it can project sound more widely, but that's not how I busk. So I sent it back, a bit sad to say goodbye to it.

As luck would have it, when I was trying to sell my Roland Cube Street Ex on eBay classifieds a guy who wanted to buy it informed me he'd be replacing the original woofers with 4-ohm Jensens (check out PianoManChuck on YouTube for his video on that, including my comments below the video). The Jensens are claimed to give the amp appreciably more bass, and the lack of bass was my main reason for wanting to sell the amp. So I replaced the woofers, myself, and voila! Happiness! The Cube Street Ex is still nowhere as full in the bass as the Laney, but it's good enough for me now. The treble that was lacking on the Laney is far too present on the Roland, but that can be tamed by choosing the right mic and backing off the treble knob a bit. And the Roland has a much more balanced, transparent sound that reveals more of the actual sonic nature of the signals it is fed with. Most importantly, the Roland spreads the sound a lot better, plus has a tilted shape to help with that (and with monitoring).

So my brief flirt with the Laney brought me back full-circle to my 4-year-old, hardly ever used Cube Street Ex, now reborn with a great new voice. Sure, it's a bit bulkier, but much lighter than the Laney - and in fact even quite a bit lighter with the Jensen woofers than with the originals. So carrying it over your shoulder is fine (using the overpriced but practical carry bag for it). Carrying the Laney to/from a busking location was less fun.

All in all, I would still recommend the Laney if you're on a budget (it's wonderfully cheap compared with the Rolands) and if you busk in places a bit more protected or less noisy, making it unnecessary to crank it up too much, also thanks to a bit of echo from nearby structures. I might also recommend it if you use a pole. But if you intend to plop it on the ground like I do, I'd say it's better to save your pennies and get a used Cube Street Ex and swap the woofers for Jensens.

I hope this long "review" helps somebody out there. :-)

[SongJoy]

Originally Posted by Pecx

I'm thinking about ordering that new Boss AD-10

Pecx, I have since purchased, tried and returned the AD-10. Fantastic features, but I was not fond of the basic sound of the unit. A bit hard/harsh and even a bit muddled for my ears, and no match for the transparent, well-balanced sound of my Zoom A3. Interestingly, I tried the old Boss pedals in the past, too (I think they were called AD-3 and AD-5?) and disliked them for the same reason. I can post more detailed feedback on the AD-10 if anybody's interested, but of course don't want to hijack this thread.

[SongJoy]

Originally Posted by necrome

The smaller battery-powered A-Fresco is a competing product for something like the Roland AC-60. None of either hits the mark for me when it comes to projection + portability + battery-operated. No go for me it seems, even though they look really nice!

I agree on the A-Fresco's less-than-optimal projection pattern. Hard to reach people coming up to you from either side that way. See my review of the A-Fresco below, which ends being a enthusiastic endorsement of the Roland Cube Street Ex with Jensen 4-ohm woofers (cheap and easy to replace).