New Stick PA-EV Evolve 30M

[lkingston]

I’m finding the app to be very solid. Make sure you connect with Bluetooth before you call up the app.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I’m finding the app to be very solid. Make sure you connect with Bluetooth before you call up the app.

Thanks! Connecting is not the issue.

[Chriscom]

Re my initial volume problems:

Originally Posted by Stringmaster

Maybe you are starting with the overall main volume well below zero, and then turning it up via the app? If you do that without saving your settings the unit will revert back to the original setting the next time you fire it up (volume below zero).

This was it! (crossing my fingers). I hadn't fully set up the odd gain procedure, and I certainly hadn't saved anything. I now can reliably get sound.

This has led to a new issue, however, which I'll have to further test, but I'll ask anyway: I've saved my initial gains and reverb, but I've noticed that the indicator ("E") for empty I suppose) keeps reappearing after awhile--shouldn't that be set it and forget it, once you've loaded it? Thanks to anyone with insight.

Finally occurred to me to look for a Facebook Evolve group and I'm there now, so I'll try to keep this torture to a minimum here. And I think I see lkingston there!

Thanks to all regardless.

[lkingston]

That is interesting. I’ve used my EV30M in the basement testing it, and in exactly one gig. I really like it a lot. So much so that I want to get into the 50M for larger outdoor stuff.

At 60 and somewhat newly retired, I am looking at the last bit of a gigging run in my life. I want to make it as easy, good sounding, and fun as possible.

My days of driving a cargo van full of equipment are gone. I just want to have the correct selection of equipment, and be able to take exactly what will best serve any particular gig.

I don’t want a lengthly prep. I don’t want to set up and have to go home to take a shower. I don’t want to have a lengthy tear down at the end of the evening. I don’t want to have to worry about making multiple trips from the car to the basement in the dark, or leaving gear in the car overnight. I don’t want to worry about being robbed because I’m leaving equipment during multiple equipment lugging trips.

When I get the full setup together, I am going to stop shopping. By the time an upgrade from this will be worthwhile, I’ll have aged out of it.

I get why having extra mixers, stands, and gear wouldn’t be a big deal for a younger person. A mixer doesn’t sound like a big deal, but then there is also the stand for the mixer, the case for the mixer, and the wiring from the mixer to the speakers. Then, where do you put that mixer? With the EV, the mixer control is in my phone mounted on my mic stand.

At this point in my life, it is worth a bit of extra money to make the whole process easier, so long as it sounds just as good…which it does.

With the 30M, it is just so easy. Nothing heavy. Nothing complex. Barely any wires. No bulky speaker stands. I really like it.

The same thing with the 50M which would be more appropriate for some of the outdoor brewery spaces and stages. I’d say that I would rather have the 50M somewhere around 10 percent of the time. Most of the time, the 30M is perfect!

I certainly like the way the 30M fits into my Mini Cooper Clubman along with a guitar, mic stands, and a small bag of miscellaneous gear.

I like that I can get all the gear into the back and leave the passenger seat free for my wife. I like that (on those rare occasions where she might come) we don’t have to get there way early, and that she doesn’t have to wait for me for very long at the end of a night.

[Chriscom]

I figured out what I thought was a malfunctioning "E" indicator. Once you make any alteration to any setting, you're no longer operating purely in your saved settings--so it'll stop indicating your preset save, and revert to E (for empty, I say). Makes sense.

Originally Posted by lkingston

At 60 and somewhat newly retired, I am looking at the last bit of a gigging run in my life. I want to make it as easy, good sounding, and fun as possible....

I endorse that and the rest of it! I have come to like my Bose T4S Tonematch, but when I look at its dedicated mic stand, the mixer itself, all the cables and the packing and unpacking and packing.... the fact that I can replace all that with a smartphone is astonishing.

[Chriscom]

Took my new 30m out for a spin this morning, Destination: Farmer's Market. Total success.

Awesome sound, both vocals and guitar, according to my musician buddy. I placed it basically parallel to me as shown in photo. From that angle I was outside the advertised 120 deg. dispersion, so not ideal for the absolute best audio quality to me--but even so it was very pleasing and enjoyable.

The second photo is a decent feel for the size of the venue, looking out from the stage, though probably a bit deeper this morning. Now this isn't exactly a rave, but it's still a lot of outdoor ground to cover and the manager likes to make sure the vendors can hear all the way to the back. Certainly no issue there.

The setup and teardown are as ridiculously easy as advertised. My stage is missing the former mic stand holding my T4S mixer + cables. The smartphone with the mixer app is on a stand you can see next to my mic stand; when I get a suitable sidemount, it'll be attached to the mic stand and that's all I'll need.

I got a vocal EQ I'm very happy with by going directly into the 30m. I tried doing that with my guitar, but you can only do so much with a naked Fishman MX-T (Sonitone with a tuner), so I'll keep using my Tonedexter pedal for now.

I also jettisoned the guitar cable, and used wireless for guitar-to-Tonedexter. Worked flawlessly. The Tonedexter cable to the PA remains. Edit: I'm also running a battery-powered Nomad pedalboard for my Tonedexter. This was just a two-hour gig, and I used only the Tonedexter, so easy peasy. On other occasions with additional pedals and a three-hour gig, the battery isn't enough so I have to plug in.

I might retain my Bose L1M2 for when I might need truly 180 degrees, but I expect it won't be getting much use now!

Multiple thanks to lkingston and others on the Evolve 30m/50 Facebook group for replying swiftly to help me resolve issues I was having with the 30m's mixer routing.

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

…

Awesome sound, both vocals and guitar, according to my musician buddy. I placed it basically parallel to me as shown in photo. From that angle I was outside the advertised 120 deg. dispersion, so not ideal for the absolute best audio quality to me--but even so it was very pleasing and enjoyable.

…

I might retain my Bose L1M2 for when I might need truly 180 degrees, but I expect it won't be getting much use now!

…

The 120 deg. vs 180 deg. thing is something that in theory I thought would be important, but in practice seems to be a non-issue.

I didn’t realize you were the same guy as in the Facebook group. Glad I could help.

The good thing is that the app is confusing enough that some people get frustrated and return their 30Ms. This is why we can get such good deals on returns at ProAudioStar.

Really though, it is pretty straightforward once you get your head around the interface.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by lkingston

The good thing is that the app is confusing enough that some people get frustrated and return their 30Ms. This is why we can get such good deals on returns at ProAudioStar.

Really though, it is pretty straightforward once you get your head around the interface.

Like any software, the best system is the one you already know. Now that I know where to go signal-hunting, it makes sense, and I had no trouble setting it up, muting and unmuting and making other adjustments in front of a live audience.

But you're right about the ProAudioStar angle. The documentation is sparse and assumes way too much. And they needlessly cloud some key issues. Like Master volume and Main volume--if they called the former Speaker volume, I would have gotten back an hour of my life right there. ("Speaker" does appear on the app in tiny typeface, but they way it's positioned, I thought it was referring to your specific 30m ID).

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

…

The smartphone with the mixer app is on a stand you can see next to my mic stand; when I get a suitable sidemount, it'll be attached to the mic stand and that's all I'll need.

…

Here is what I use. My iPhone 13 ProMax sticks right to the circular magnet:




This clamp and ball head adapter:

https://www.smallrig.com/clamp-mount...waAs0IEALw_wcB

…along with this MagSafe mount:

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...YpGAV4Q9pwGCA4

[Stringmaster]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

Took my new 30m out for a spin this morning, Destination: Farmer's Market. Total success.

Awesome sound, both vocals and guitar, according to my musician buddy. I placed it basically parallel to me as shown in photo. From that angle I was outside the advertised 120 deg. dispersion, so not ideal for the absolute best audio quality to me--but even so it was very pleasing and enjoyable.

The second photo is a decent feel for the size of the venue, looking out from the stage, though probably a bit deeper this morning. Now this isn't exactly a rave, but it's still a lot of outdoor ground to cover and the manager likes to make sure the vendors can hear all the way to the back. Certainly no issue there.

The setup and teardown are as ridiculously easy as advertised. My stage is missing the former mic stand holding my T4S mixer + cables. The smartphone with the mixer app is on a stand you can see next to my mic stand; when I get a suitable sidemount, it'll be attached to the mic stand and that's all I'll need.

I got a vocal EQ I'm very happy with by going directly into the 30m. I tried doing that with my guitar, but you can only do so much with a naked Fishman MX-T (Sonitone with a tuner), so I'll keep using my Tonedexter pedal for now.

I also jettisoned the guitar cable, and used wireless for guitar-to-Tonedexter. Worked flawlessly. The Tonedexter cable to the PA remains. Edit: I'm also running a battery-powered Nomad pedalboard for my Tonedexter. This was just a two-hour gig, and I used only the Tonedexter, so easy peasy. On other occasions with additional pedals and a three-hour gig, the battery isn't enough so I have to plug in.

I might retain my Bose L1M2 for when I might need truly 180 degrees, but I expect it won't be getting much use now!

Multiple thanks to lkingston and others on the Evolve 30m/50 Facebook group for replying swiftly to help me resolve issues I was having with the 30m's mixer routing.

Nice! Thanks for reporting back. I had a nice winery gig with my 50m. I didn’t even need the app—just used my preset for the venue, and let ‘er rip! I picked up a 25’ power cable, and other than that only a mic and guitar cable!

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Stringmaster

Nice! Thanks for reporting back. I had a nice winery gig with my 50m. I didn’t even need the app—just used my preset for the venue, and let ‘er rip! I picked up a 25’ power cable, and other than that only a mic and guitar cable!

It seems to me that venue to venue would be mostly the same except for differences in the master volume.

I picture using the presets more for gig types: Single (guitar and vocals), Duo (two vocals and two guitars), Trio setup, Duo with a different person, etc..

[Stringmaster]

Originally Posted by lkingston

It seems to me that venue to venue would be mostly the same except for differences in the master volume.

I picture using the presets more for gig types: Single (guitar and vocals), Duo (two vocals and two guitars), Trio setup, Duo with a different person, etc..

That’s pretty much what I’ve done so far, (just adjust the master) except for experimenting. I do have a preset for an upcoming open mic that I’m hosting, just expanding my settings to allow for two vocal mics and two guitars if needed. The app will come in handy to fine tune the different performers on the fly.

[Methos1979]

The ability to create presets for vocals/mics, guitars and venues are yet another thing that make this system potentially exciting for someone more seriously considering it day after day. We've got some outdoor shows (farmers markets) later in the summer that are quite large so having more power and dispersion would be a definite bonus.

How many presets are available for the EV30M? I know on the D6-58 I only have 10. I only use a few anyway and I only set them for guitars and vocals and not specific venue setups.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

How many presets are available for the EV30M? I know on the D6-58 I only have 10. I only use a few anyway and I only set them for guitars and vocals and not specific venue setups.

How lavish! The 30m has five.

[Stringmaster]

I’ve found that in practice I’ve used only a couple of different presets on my 50m that are nearly the same. One is dialed in for an “average” setting for most gigs, and one for a bit softer and quieter presentation. I have only had to adjust the volume slightly on the gig, depending on how many folks are in the crowd, etc. I have pre-programmed a 3rd setting for an upcoming open mic that I’m hosting, which mimics my main preset, but expands it to two mics and two guitars. Honestly, I could probably get by with just one preset overall, but my needs are simple—just a guitar and mic, with minimal effects.