Bose S1 II (following the previous thread)

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Thanks Jake and Dave. This morning I hooked up my Play Acoustic (vocal) and Zoom A3 (guitar). It brought things to a different level. Really nice sound. This is what I will go with. Very pleased with the sound. No tweaking needed. Everything set flat.

Like you Jake, when I use the battery I will go direct. Will be great for outdoors. Looking forward to summer.

Marty - Glad you are digging the results.

So are you using the Play Acoustic just for vocal and Zoom for guitar?

Is this the way it's hooked up?
Signal Path = Guitar>Zoom>TCH PA>Bose

Are you using mono out (single cable) or DI out separate V-G to the Bose.

I really like the Play Acoustic for my vocals ..
But frankly, I am not really using the guitar effects much.
I'm like a bit of Reverb and EQ and I am happy.

I do like the Switch 6 ... I use it for the extra looper functionality, harmonies, delay and guitar boost.

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by JakeStone

Marty - Glad you are digging the results.

So are you using the Play Acoustic just for vocal and Zoom for guitar?

Is this the way it's hooked up?
Signal Path = Guitar>Zoom>TCH PA>Bose

Are you using mono out (single cable) or DI out separate V-G to the Bose.

I really like the Play Acoustic for my vocals ..
But frankly, I am not really using the guitar effects much.
I'm like a bit of Reverb and EQ and I am happy.

I do like the Switch 6 ... I use it for the extra looper functionality, harmonies, delay and guitar boost.

VOCAL
Play Acoustic is set to mono and running the left (effected) out to one channel on the Bose. Use only three vocal presets. Room reverb, room with delay and hall reverb.

GUITAR
I have two outputs on the Zoom. I run one to the Play Acoustic to help control the harmonies (on the very few songs I use them on). On the Play Acoustic the guitar output volume is turned to 0. On the Zoom, I run the other 1\4" to the second channel on the Bose. EQ set flat so I can control the EQ at my feet. I have just a few presets. Hall reverb, room reverb and room reverb with short delay.

I never got the Play Acoustic guitar setting to my liking. The effects are great, but the bodyrez and EQ I could never get what I wanted. The Zoom was simple. This has nothing to do with the Bose. It's that way with any system I plug into.

This is the set up I like no matter what I play through; therefore I just stick with it. Bypassing all the stuff in the signal chain and going direct sounds good as well. I just need to practice with the settings
EQ and reverb some. Seems I am always rolling off the bass and adding treble in any system I play through. The Play Acoustic must be providing this for me. I guess I am lazy. I don't seem to be pushing my voice as hard when singing through the Play Acoustic.

Overall this is the best sound i have ever gotten with this set up. The Bose S1 Pro is great and will fit my needs perfect. This was the speaker/PA i have been looking for during the last 2 years. It would be great to get a battery pack for the pedalboard so I needed no power chords for anything. I saw someone on this forum do this, but I can't seem to find it. Anyone with any ideas? I don't busk and probably never will. I just like the idea of setting up where ever I want.

[JakeStone]

Nice.. thanks for the review on your setup.

[Earthworm]

I'd also be interested in portable power for my delay and looper for busking and quickie gigs.

[Marek]

Hi,

Let me share my experiences with Bose S1 Pro.
I've tested it with two guitars:
Nylon: Camps 2000 equipped with Fishman Prefix Premium Blend (piezo+mic)
Steel: Custom Wieslaw Dlugosz equipped with K&K and Wavelength Solo (mixed together in the external DIY blender).
To start, this thing is very compact and handy
I found Tonematch preset for guitar quite unusable for my taste.
Mic preset was ok., but I preferred no preset at all.

For my ears, S1 Pro sounded best with fingerpicked nylon strings - very natural and nice. If I play mostly such kind of music, I would bought it right away
Fingerpicking on steel was also very nice.
Strumming both on nylon and steel string was ok. but I prefer my current setup for this kind of usage: ElectroVoice ZX-1 + Soundcraft Gigrac 1000st.
Of course such setup is several times heavier, no battery power, etc.
Finally I've returned to my home with money in my pocket - I will save for new guitar - Maton SRS808 seem so nice

[Earthworm]

I spent a lovely hour with the S1 Pro. I love ya, Bose. You nailed this product. Is it everything? No. Is it cool? Yes. I'm thinking of buying two and using them for my TV in between gigs.

The busking possibilities are very interesting.

Thanks, Bose! I drank the Kool Aid in 2005 and bought my first L1. That sound system made all the difference. Finally, I could hear myself.

[TheShadowKnows]

I wanted to add my quick impression of the S1 to the pot. Initially I ran break music through it & it sounded fantastic. I got about 20' away & it still sounded fantastic. Gotta love Bose for great sounding break music amplification!

Then I used a Taylor 110E with the S2 pickup system. Looked like it had some kind of P. Bronze strings on it, not Elixir's which I've grown to like.
The S1 was at G.C. on a pole running A/C. I used a 15' cord so I could get out in front of it & hear what the audience would hear. I put the S1 volume at 12noon, treble & bass also at 12noon, no reverb, tonematch was set to flat. The bass & treble on the Taylor were also set to 12noon as was the volume.

When I started to play, the sound was shrill & annoying, excessively bright. I thought it could be the Taylor. I dialed down the Taylor treble to 9 o'clock & that helped but from 15' away, there was just no bass sound & I had it tuned to concert, no drop D or lower tuning. So I cranked the bass on the Taylor & still no bass from the S1. OK. EQ time.

I switched the tonematch to guitar & that helped a little. It rolled off the treble high end mostly, but I did notice that with the S1's volume at 12noon, when I got the Taylor near it, the Taylor would bass feedback like crazy! Dang! So I kept it on the guitar tonematch EQ, backed off the S1's bass & treble to 10 o'clock & cranked the S1's volume to 2 o'clock. I went back 15' & it started to actually sound barely decent.

I didn't have enough time to grab a different guitar, like a Martin with a pickup to try, so I can't say what the S1's potential can be. I have a DBX GoRack (actually 2) & I think with this particular Taylor, the EQ curves in the GoRack would've solved the problem. I'm not expecting booming bass, but I am expecting something... a little bit of something to come out of the unit when I crank the bass on the guitar.

I did take it off the pole & try other positions but wasn't able to get a good grasp of the tone when I was right next to it. I need to get to G.C. right when they open & use my Martin with the Aura pickup system on it to really see if the S1 can shine & then once dialed in, crank it as far as it will go to 'stress test' it & see what it can really put out.

I'm not going to prejudge it on one guitar's use. I should try several pickup / guitar configurations & then decide. I hope this brief report helps everyone out. As soon as I get more tweak time with it, I'll report back.

One last note... It was great to learn a real life test of the S1's battery came in at 8:15! That's a real deal maker. But in contrast, the Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge 'states' it can do 12 hours on 1 charge with normal volume & something like 4 -6 at power volumes, plus it's 1 Benjamin less than the S1 with NO battery. The LBM Charge has the battery built in, FYI.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by TheShadowKnows

...Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge 'states' it can do 12 hours on 1 charge with normal volume & something like 4 -6 at power volumes...

This sounds like = 12 hours for practicing but 4-6 hours at the gig marketing double-speak to me.

[Murphy Slaw]

Gigs take more energy.......

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Earthworm

I'd also be interested in portable power for my delay and looper for busking and quickie gigs.

I rather like the boss ve8 pedal. has most everything
but boost. and can run on aa batteries.

[JohnDWilliams]

Originally Posted by Earthworm

I'd also be interested in portable power for my delay and looper for busking and quickie gigs.

If you get one of these and one of these you can run your pedals off a USB power pack like this one.

The power pack I linked to is very large and will run a big pedal board for a long time. You can work with a smaller one as appropriate.

Did my second gig with the new S1 yesterday and am sill very happy. Used my Cordoba GK Studio direct into the S1 with no EQ and no ToneMatch. Plenty of 'verb. Great warm tone. All fingerstyle with no backing tracks.

Large house for a wedding reception. Good crowd distributed around the house. The living room I was playing in was about 30x30 and it was very easy to play at appropriate volume.

The reception host knew about the S1 and mentioned that it had remarkable coverage throughout the house while still at a reasonable volume in the living room. I was able to walk in, plug the guitar in, and start playing. Very easy gig.

I am also very pleased with the tone of my Gibson ES139 semi hollow plugged direct with no EQ and no ToneMatch. Great warm jazz tone with no pedals. Reverb sounds great on this too.

[Nama Ensou]

Originally Posted by Earthworm

I'd also be interested in portable power for my delay and looper for busking and quickie gigs.

Already been mentioned, and you'd only get reverb, but it will run on 6xAA batteries and...

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Nama Ensou

Already been mentioned, and you'd only get reverb, but it will run on 6xAA batteries and...

If this unit could add a second mic input and an extra button for the looping stop function, it would be perfect and I'd give it a go!

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

If this unit could add a second mic input and an extra button for the looping stop function, it would be perfect and I'd give it a go!

well you can get the extra foot switch to perform
the looper function. why do you want
two mic inputs?

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Nama Ensou

Already been mentioned, and you'd only get reverb, but it will run on 6xAA batteries and...

You get chorus .tremolo, several delay and reverb settings and
other effects whose names escape me now. But it's effects are really good being Boss.