Quote:
Originally Posted by Chickee
With all the recent threads gushing over the Electro-Voice EV30m, why no deep diving into the EV50m? Is there an issue with the big brother? Is it the weight differential and portability? What is it about 15lbs. difference between the two?
I doubt its the price point, this forum seems pretty well heeled.
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I have a pair of each: two 30Ms and two 50Ms. The power on both of them is the same, but because of the larger design of the sub and column, the 50M will reach an SPL at one meter of 127db rather than 123db.
The 50M also has that wonderful RJ 45 QuickSmart Link connector which lets you combine the mixers into a single mixer with twice the channels.
My goal was to have a PA that was modular. One where I could grab just what I needed for a specific gig. I wanted to be able to go from a tiny coffee shop to an outdoor stage where people use folding chairs and eat from food trucks.
I also wanted to have a system that would take up minimal space in my 2009 Mini Cooper Clubman, which has a little more space than a regular Mini, but not by much.
They sound very similar up to the top volume of the 30M. Both of them sound remarkably constant from their lowest to their highest volumes. The 50M has a little bit deeper bass, but I am not sure that that is at all important with just an acoustic. If you are doing bass and percussion, it will matter more.
A strong argument could be made for just getting the 50M. It doesn’t take up a lot more space on stage. Packed, the sub is a little larger and heavier, and the packed column is about twice as bulky, but still a manageable size.
I bought the 30M first because the deal on customer returns at ProAudioStar was so good. Then I started thinking, and realized that two 30Ms would combine to put out 126db, just one db lower than a single 50M. I got a second one at the customer return price. Two 30Ms at the customer return price are just a little less than one 50M, so it seemed like a good deal.
The only problem was that while the 30M is really great for most gigs, it is a bit shy of handling any sort of “folding chairs and food trucks” sized outdoor space. I really wanted to be able to do that.
A 50M is a 127db. The sub is larger and column has larger speakers and two more of them. This amounts to more throw which is also important at those bigger outdoor spaces. Two 50Ms give you a very respectable 130db SPL, which will handle a pretty good sized outdoor space, at least with acoustic music.
Plus, those larger outdoor spaces are exactly where you will probably want to have a bigger band and need more mixer channels. These are the gigs where moving the speakers into front of house position and using monitors makes sense. I use two Bose S1 Pro speakers for this.
Then I found price on the 50M that was about $150 cheaper than everyone else and bought two.
Also, keep in mind with two 50Ms and two 30Ms, you can go even bigger by using the two 50Ms as front of house speakers, and the two 30Ms with their built in time alignment at some distance away from the stage in order to throw the sound even further without blasting the people close to the stage. Teleplucker mentioned that he did this recently in one of the other 30M threads: while controlling all four columns from the same app! That makes for a PA that can handle a very large space!
If you need to go any bigger than that, you really need to hire a sound company.
I find it astounding that you can do this range of sizes of venues with so little equipment, and that it is so easily scalable over such a wide range of gig sizes.