The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Acoustic Amplification

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #46  
Old 11-13-2018, 07:13 AM
takamineGD93 takamineGD93 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 406
Default

But it would be a good thing to look out för the older version right? Have I understood you correct?
Reply With Quote
  #47  
Old 11-13-2018, 10:35 AM
Hurricane Ramon Hurricane Ramon is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Palm Springs Area So. Cal.
Posts: 573
Thumbs up Mackie FreePlay Oldie Is A Goodie

Quote:
Originally Posted by takamineGD93 View Post
But it would be a good thing to look out för the older version right? Have I understood you correct?

I would , yes . There are refurbished units Mackie has available to .

EZ :

HR
__________________
It started for me with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in 54 on a Blues Harp and progressed ,
then life .....some death ....Evolving as I went like a small rock in a stream rounding
out as I went with the flow as I go through the white waters and waterfalls of life .
Life has always been interesting to me

Reply With Quote
  #48  
Old 11-16-2018, 12:07 AM
The Kid! The Kid! is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 1,649
Lightbulb

Quote:
Originally Posted by martingitdave View Post
As an update to this threat that I stared in August, I will add that the FreePlay Live is not a suitable replacement for the previous generation, or a Bose S1 Pro. I find it to be a glorified bluetooth speaker. I would not waste your hard earned gear dollars on this unit. It is a cash grab. I owned the previous version and the Mackie Reach. Both of those units sounded great and had one flaw: a lack of gain for the preamps. Unfortunately, the new units did not resolve the lack of gain and sound worse. A thumbs down in my humble opinion.
I'm trying to figure out where one might play with something so small. Maybe a coffee house... I have a friend that has the S1 Pro and loves it. I played through it, and it would fold on 90% of my gigs. I still want one for a monitor and for wedding ceremony acoustic solo stuff, but I'm not going to pay $600 for one.

A friend is a GC employee said he could get one for $360ish but he technically isn't allowed to sell it to me. So he's "technically" going to let me borrow it for an unspecified length of time, and I'm going to let him hold onto $360ish in cash for the duration...
Reply With Quote
  #49  
Old 11-23-2018, 01:06 PM
wood nacho wood nacho is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Montréal
Posts: 549
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by martingitdave View Post
As an update to this threat that I stared in August, I will add that the FreePlay Live is not a suitable replacement for the previous generation, or a Bose S1 Pro. I find it to be a glorified bluetooth speaker. I would not waste your hard earned gear dollars on this unit. It is a cash grab. I owned the previous version and the Mackie Reach. Both of those units sounded great and had one flaw: a lack of gain for the preamps. Unfortunately, the new units did not resolve the lack of gain and sound worse. A thumbs down in my humble opinion.
Thank you for this post. I was set on buying the new model because it was a bit lighter but after seeing this post I started searching for the discontinued model and was delighted to see that my local music shop had one for sale as part of their black-friday event. Picked it up this morning at a great price. Had I not seen this post I would still be looking to find a deal on the newer models! Thank you!
__________________

Fingerstyle Guitar ~ Hammered Dulcimer ~ Clawhammer Banjo ~ Diatonic Harmonica ~ Anglo Concertina

Reply With Quote
  #50  
Old 12-25-2018, 03:02 PM
Golgoth21 Golgoth21 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 7
Default

Heard it (the new Live) in the streets. Wow..very loud for such a small device. The sound was quite balanced but highs were a little too high. I listened to a violonist and the other one was a lone singer with playbacks.

I have not heard a S1 yet but the mackie is a good surprise.

Last edited by Golgoth21; 12-26-2018 at 09:10 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #51  
Old 06-25-2019, 01:27 AM
Per Burström Per Burström is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Sweden
Posts: 289
Default

I now finally bought the Mackie Freeplay Live, the 2018 version, as one of the dealers in Sweden had a campaign with a price below half of what the Bose S1 Pro cost. I had tried it once before at another dealer, but just with a dynamic microphone (SM58). I was impressed with the sound with my particular voice (pretty bassy but strong) then, and I am as impressed now (now at home with a dynamic JTS PDM-3).

As so many has complained about, the sound level for an acoustic guitar, even one with a built-in pre-amp, is on the lower side, but on the other side I can push the volume all the way up without distortion. Time will tell if it's enough without a separate pre-amp.

I have a TCH Perform-VG with I have planned to use, but at least when it comes to my vocals I start to question if I need it. The Perform-VG I use with a RØDE M2 condenser which I really like, but to be fair it does not give me much better quality while introducing some problems with feedback. So as long as I don't use harmonies (and echo) for my vocals I might just as well stick to using a dynamic mic plugged directly into the Freeplay Live.

When it comes to the guitar the benefit of the Perform-VG is that it will let me play louder, but time will tell if I actually need it. Another advantage of the the Perform-VG is of course that I get the controls for effects and volume with-in reach (mounted on the mic stand) but as the phone (or iPad) app for the Freeplay Live works so well this benefit partly go away.

Format wise the Freeplay Live is fantastic, so compact and light. I would have preferred the type of handle found on the S1 Pro which also would have let me to lock the amp with a wire when leaving it un-attended, but you can't get everything.

I will write more once I have used the Freeplay Live more, for example busking as well as just sitting down in some park outdoors jamming. I will also compare it side by side with my Behringer Eurolive B205D (which I also like).

I also have a Fishman SA330X (with the sub which I haven't even tried), my plan is to use this if I get the chance to play at restaurants etc. Then I might use the Eurolive or Freeplay Live as a monitor.

So to conclude for now, I am impressed with the Mackie Freeplay Live, at least at the price I paid (2800 SEK, a Bose S1 Pro cost 6000 SEK here).

Cheers,
Per

Last edited by Per Burström; 06-25-2019 at 01:37 AM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Acoustic Amplification

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=