Everse 8 guitar and vocal test

[ZackPomerleau]

Seems like there’s not too many. This isn’t the best scenario but I’m using the Everse at decently low volume about 20 feet away on its tilt. The mic is an SE V7 and the guitar is a Godin Fifth Avenue straight in. I apologize for the not amazing vocal, but figured it might help. I have the doubling wide effect on which is nice for someone who has a slightly weaker voice. This volume is good for a small coffee shop. It could easily be used for a restaurant gig or smaller outdoor thing. If I used the archtop through an amp I guarantee it would be good for vocals practically anywhere.

https://youtu.be/yqQakcgvvw8

[Peter Z]

Very nice!

[AeroUSA]

Excellent performance but we are hearing a lot of the natural sound in the recording. It would be good if you could record a loop and play it back by itself so we only hear the speaker.

[lpa53]

What settings did you use on each channel, including presets, speaker position setting, and the overall PEQ or GEQ settings?

[ZackPomerleau]

Originally Posted by lpa53

What settings did you use on each channel, including presets, speaker position setting, and the overall PEQ or GEQ settings?

I ran almost everything flat. I have a high pass on. The vocal mic I killed a couple dbs of bass same with the guitar I believe. It’s on the kickstand position 15 feet away. It has way more volume that’s for sure.

[wweiss]

From the Nord Keyboard Forum:

Everse 8 Preliminary Impressions.

This is the first installment of my review that compares the Everse 8 to the QSC K8.2. My main motivation in trying out the EV is due to weight. It weighs 16.8 lbs/7.6 kg compared to the K’s 27 lbs/12.2 kg. I understand EV is marketing this as a DJ/Busker speaker for battery use, but I think it has potential as a high quality keyboard amp that just happens to be battery powered.

I primarily play piano for a few big bands, as well as some small combo jazz groups. Acoustic piano is my main sound, but I do use Rhodes sounds as well as B3 from time to time. On my Nord Stage, I primarily use the White Grand and Amber Upright samples. My main EP is the EP2, Mk I Suitcase Close Ideal with a few tweaks. For the B3, I tend to favor a Jimmy Smith type of sound profile.

I don’t play rock at all, so there will no volume wars content in this review. The closest I came was playing in a jazz fusion band, but it’s been a few years and we will most likely not revive it anytime soon. The point is that my goal is never to “cut through the mix”, but rather to blend in, compliment the band, and stand out for my solo moments. Overall, I prefer a warmer, darker acoustic piano presence.

Nord keyboards are notoriously fussy about their amplification (no secret to anyone here), and the K series has been generally accepted as a standard bearer in this price range. That being said, it’s taken a little bit of EQ tweaking on the speaker to reduce the “honkyness” that seems to befall most other amplifiers/speakers, although it’s not completely gone. The upside is that the K’s are plenty powerful and have great projection. They sound better from 10 meters away than they do from 1 meter.

This review is purely a subjective impression about how the EV compares to the QSC for my particular application. I’m not going to talk about specs and things you can find elsewhere, but rather focus on what I’m experiencing and hearing. I will also not try to record a sound quality comparison, as that is an exercise in futility.

My typical configuration is to run audio cables from Outputs 1 and 2 (the default L and R) on the Stage into the A and B inputs on the speaker. This connection method will continue for the time being.

Initial Setup - Home
The first thing that impresses you about the EV is the weight - it’s amazingly light, making you wonder if it can really handle a load. It’s also a bit shorter than the QSC:
Image


Both speakers have a floor monitor mode, where they kick back horizontally. The upside on the EV is that you can still access the connections and controls; this is not really possible on the QSC due to the angle of the panel when set up as a floor wedge.
Image


The EV also has a vertical “kickstand” mode, which may be good for buskers; the QSC can’t do that on its own.

For the initial home test, I connected my Stage to a small mixer, put each speaker on a stand, sent the mixer’s L output to the QSC and the R output to the EV. Both were placed right next to each other about 2 meters away and facing me directly. The QSC channel gain is set to the level I keep it at for rehearsals (at about the 1:00 position), and left the EV to its default volume setting (0 dB according to the display). Both EQs were set to flat to start. My normal setting for the QSC has the treble and midrange (1kHz) turned down a bit to reduce the shrill.

I set the EV to “Live” mode. The DSP offers four sound modes, which the frequency response chart in the manual details. I could not make out a significant sound difference on my piano samples between the “live” and “music” settings.

To compare them, I simply played through one, turned it off and other other speaker on, and then played some more. Not incredibly scientific. The volume levels seem to be very similar from that distance, which is a good start. The true volume test will be at Monday’s full band rehearsal.

The sound quality difference was much more noticeable. The QSC has a much brighter treble in the flat setting, while the EV yielded what I consider to be more natural and warmer acoustic piano reproduction, very similar to what my studio monitors produce. While this was more pleasing to my ears, I have a suspicion that the crispy nature of the QSC is what allows the treble to project over distance in a live setting. Also, at flat EQ, the honkyness of the QSC comes out more emphatically. Again, this is, to me, part of why Nord keyboards are so hard to amplify. The K.2’s have been much less offensive than other products, but the EV outshines it here.

Nord EP’s are less fussy about their amplification, and they play very well though the EV. Clarity and richness all come through quite well across all the EP samples. For the B3, the body and gutsiness come through nicely. It’s a bit bright at the flat setting, but that is very easily taken care of on the Nord.

I tried some other sounds in clouding B3, sampled bass, some strings and sample synth sounds. Bass is surprisingly abundant and not what I was expecting for the size and weight. Everything else sounds just as good as through the QSC to my ears.

Again, Monday’s rehearsal will reveal more.

The DSP and the App
Pretty comprehensive DSP in the Everse 8. I’m not going to detail everything here, but want to just mention the EQ. In addition to the top level low/mid/high settings, there is a global EQ in the mixer section that can work in either as a graphic or parametric EQ. THE GEQ supports 7 bands at 63, 160, 400, 1k, 2.5k, 6k and 12k. Simple up/down sliders here and EV doesn’t mention the Q settings, but I assume they’re nothing out of the ordinary. The PEQ is also 7 bands, defaulted to the frequencies in the GEQ, but you can adjust the center frequency, Q and curve type (low/high shelf/low/high pass or just a regular curve). So you can go as simple or as deep as you’d like on sound shaping.

The speaker also has a decent selection of 30 effects, mostly reverbs, echo, delay and chorus with some combinations. The level is selectable for input channels 1 and 2. Doubt I’ll use these, so I’m not going to comment on them here.

The EV has an available app called “QuickSmart” which allows you to manage most settings over Bluetooth. It allows you to dig deep into the speaker’s OS and modify all the settings from your device. Nice to not have to dig through menus from the behind the speaker when you need an adjustment.

I should point out that there are three types of Bluetooth connections supported by the EV. The first is the control connection to use the app, the second is the streaming connection to send music to the speaker from a phone or tablet, and the third to connect wirelessly to another EV speaker. The speaker-to-speaker connection is not restricted to just another Everse; you can connect to several EV Bluetooth speakers. From what I understand from others, the speaker-to-speaker Bluetooth feature only works when you're streaming music via Bluetooth; it doesn't work if you're hardwired into one speaker and the other is wireless. If I ever own two, maybe I'll test this out.
I used the EV on Monday night's rehearsal. As mentioned earlier, we rehearse in a church auditorium about the size of a grade school gymnasium. Tall ceilings, tons of natural reverb, etc. It was just the big band in the space.

I'm happy to report the EV sounded great in that environment. Prior to rehearsal, our drummer played some tunes on the piano so I could walk around and listen to the dispersion and sound quality. He used different piano samples so I could hear the differences, and they all sounded really great. I did a slight tweak to the graphic EQ - a tick down at 400Hz and a tick up at 2.5kHz. The presence, projection and sound quality all were very satisfying. It worked very well with the typical EQ settings I use on my piano patches.

Something else I want to mention about sound quality. I'm not sure others experience this, but there are some Nord piano samples where the upper treble range sounds very "tinkly" through the QSC's. The Grand Imperial and Italian Grand are two that come to mind, and are part of the reason I don't use them. It's a prime spot for jazz piano solos and the notes just disappear. The EV does not have this characteristic all. All of the pianos come through clear and strong throughout the range.

There was plenty of volume with headroom to spare. I did not have to change any volume settings compared to the QSC, and even turned it town a few times. So far, I'm very happy with this speaker.

This Monday we're playing a dance gig in a moderate size performance space. About 100 people are expected, so this will be a decent test. If all goes well, I will most likely put my K8.2's up for sale and buy another Everse to keep a stereo pair. I also own an original K10, but may still hang onto that one as sometimes I need to fill in on LH bass and that serves as a makeshift bass amp very well.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by wweiss

From the Nord Keyboard Forum:

Everse 8 Preliminary Impressions.

This is the first installment of my review that compares the Everse 8 to the QSC K8.2. My main motivation in trying out the EV is due to weight. It weighs 16.8 lbs/7.6 kg compared to the K’s 27 lbs/12.2 kg. I understand EV is marketing this as a DJ/Busker speaker for battery use, but I think it has potential as a high quality keyboard amp that just happens to be battery powered.

I primarily play piano for a few big bands, as well as some small combo jazz groups. Acoustic piano is my main sound, but I do use Rhodes sounds as well as B3 from time to time. On my Nord Stage, I primarily use the White Grand and Amber Upright samples. My main EP is the EP2, Mk I Suitcase Close Ideal with a few tweaks. For the B3, I tend to favor a Jimmy Smith type of sound profile.

I don’t play rock at all, so there will no volume wars content in this review. The closest I came was playing in a jazz fusion band, but it’s been a few years and we will most likely not revive it anytime soon. The point is that my goal is never to “cut through the mix”, but rather to blend in, compliment the band, and stand out for my solo moments. Overall, I prefer a warmer, darker acoustic piano presence.

Nord keyboards are notoriously fussy about their amplification (no secret to anyone here), and the K series has been generally accepted as a standard bearer in this price range. That being said, it’s taken a little bit of EQ tweaking on the speaker to reduce the “honkyness” that seems to befall most other amplifiers/speakers, although it’s not completely gone. The upside is that the K’s are plenty powerful and have great projection. They sound better from 10 meters away than they do from 1 meter.

This review is purely a subjective impression about how the EV compares to the QSC for my particular application. I’m not going to talk about specs and things you can find elsewhere, but rather focus on what I’m experiencing and hearing. I will also not try to record a sound quality comparison, as that is an exercise in futility.

My typical configuration is to run audio cables from Outputs 1 and 2 (the default L and R) on the Stage into the A and B inputs on the speaker. This connection method will continue for the time being.

Initial Setup - Home
The first thing that impresses you about the EV is the weight - it’s amazingly light, making you wonder if it can really handle a load. It’s also a bit shorter than the QSC:
Image


Both speakers have a floor monitor mode, where they kick back horizontally. The upside on the EV is that you can still access the connections and controls; this is not really possible on the QSC due to the angle of the panel when set up as a floor wedge.
Image


The EV also has a vertical “kickstand” mode, which may be good for buskers; the QSC can’t do that on its own.

For the initial home test, I connected my Stage to a small mixer, put each speaker on a stand, sent the mixer’s L output to the QSC and the R output to the EV. Both were placed right next to each other about 2 meters away and facing me directly. The QSC channel gain is set to the level I keep it at for rehearsals (at about the 1:00 position), and left the EV to its default volume setting (0 dB according to the display). Both EQs were set to flat to start. My normal setting for the QSC has the treble and midrange (1kHz) turned down a bit to reduce the shrill.

I set the EV to “Live” mode. The DSP offers four sound modes, which the frequency response chart in the manual details. I could not make out a significant sound difference on my piano samples between the “live” and “music” settings.

To compare them, I simply played through one, turned it off and other other speaker on, and then played some more. Not incredibly scientific. The volume levels seem to be very similar from that distance, which is a good start. The true volume test will be at Monday’s full band rehearsal.

The sound quality difference was much more noticeable. The QSC has a much brighter treble in the flat setting, while the EV yielded what I consider to be more natural and warmer acoustic piano reproduction, very similar to what my studio monitors produce. While this was more pleasing to my ears, I have a suspicion that the crispy nature of the QSC is what allows the treble to project over distance in a live setting. Also, at flat EQ, the honkyness of the QSC comes out more emphatically. Again, this is, to me, part of why Nord keyboards are so hard to amplify. The K.2’s have been much less offensive than other products, but the EV outshines it here.

Nord EP’s are less fussy about their amplification, and they play very well though the EV. Clarity and richness all come through quite well across all the EP samples. For the B3, the body and gutsiness come through nicely. It’s a bit bright at the flat setting, but that is very easily taken care of on the Nord.

I tried some other sounds in clouding B3, sampled bass, some strings and sample synth sounds. Bass is surprisingly abundant and not what I was expecting for the size and weight. Everything else sounds just as good as through the QSC to my ears.

Again, Monday’s rehearsal will reveal more.

The DSP and the App
Pretty comprehensive DSP in the Everse 8. I’m not going to detail everything here, but want to just mention the EQ. In addition to the top level low/mid/high settings, there is a global EQ in the mixer section that can work in either as a graphic or parametric EQ. THE GEQ supports 7 bands at 63, 160, 400, 1k, 2.5k, 6k and 12k. Simple up/down sliders here and EV doesn’t mention the Q settings, but I assume they’re nothing out of the ordinary. The PEQ is also 7 bands, defaulted to the frequencies in the GEQ, but you can adjust the center frequency, Q and curve type (low/high shelf/low/high pass or just a regular curve). So you can go as simple or as deep as you’d like on sound shaping.

The speaker also has a decent selection of 30 effects, mostly reverbs, echo, delay and chorus with some combinations. The level is selectable for input channels 1 and 2. Doubt I’ll use these, so I’m not going to comment on them here.

The EV has an available app called “QuickSmart” which allows you to manage most settings over Bluetooth. It allows you to dig deep into the speaker’s OS and modify all the settings from your device. Nice to not have to dig through menus from the behind the speaker when you need an adjustment.

I should point out that there are three types of Bluetooth connections supported by the EV. The first is the control connection to use the app, the second is the streaming connection to send music to the speaker from a phone or tablet, and the third to connect wirelessly to another EV speaker. The speaker-to-speaker connection is not restricted to just another Everse; you can connect to several EV Bluetooth speakers. From what I understand from others, the speaker-to-speaker Bluetooth feature only works when you're streaming music via Bluetooth; it doesn't work if you're hardwired into one speaker and the other is wireless. If I ever own two, maybe I'll test this out.
I used the EV on Monday night's rehearsal. As mentioned earlier, we rehearse in a church auditorium about the size of a grade school gymnasium. Tall ceilings, tons of natural reverb, etc. It was just the big band in the space.

I'm happy to report the EV sounded great in that environment. Prior to rehearsal, our drummer played some tunes on the piano so I could walk around and listen to the dispersion and sound quality. He used different piano samples so I could hear the differences, and they all sounded really great. I did a slight tweak to the graphic EQ - a tick down at 400Hz and a tick up at 2.5kHz. The presence, projection and sound quality all were very satisfying. It worked very well with the typical EQ settings I use on my piano patches.

Something else I want to mention about sound quality. I'm not sure others experience this, but there are some Nord piano samples where the upper treble range sounds very "tinkly" through the QSC's. The Grand Imperial and Italian Grand are two that come to mind, and are part of the reason I don't use them. It's a prime spot for jazz piano solos and the notes just disappear. The EV does not have this characteristic all. All of the pianos come through clear and strong throughout the range.

There was plenty of volume with headroom to spare. I did not have to change any volume settings compared to the QSC, and even turned it town a few times. So far, I'm very happy with this speaker.

This Monday we're playing a dance gig in a moderate size performance space. About 100 people are expected, so this will be a decent test. If all goes well, I will most likely put my K8.2's up for sale and buy another Everse to keep a stereo pair. I also own an original K10, but may still hang onto that one as sometimes I need to fill in on LH bass and that serves as a makeshift bass amp very well.

Comparing the Everse to a K8.2 is apples and oranges. The K8.2 SMOKES the Everse for volume and headroom. The Everse has all of the other stuff - battery power, app mixer, Bluetooth and portability.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by wweiss

From the Nord Keyboard Forum:

Everse 8 Preliminary Impressions....

Very interesting review. Other than not needing the Everse 8 -- I already have more PAs than necessary and my Bose S1 can handle any small space I'd require -- the one thing that holds me back is its point-source character. I think the specs say 100-degree dispersion. Basically a right-angle.

Still tempted though, partly because I very occasionally perform with a keyboardist and I'm impressed the Everse does well there.

[ZackPomerleau]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

Comparing the Everse to a K8.2 is apples and oranges. The K8.2 SMOKES the Everse for volume and headroom. The Everse has all of the other stuff - battery power, app mixer, Bluetooth and portability.

I will say this, although I agree, I can’t think of many examples of places I play that you need QSC power. Unless it’s a party or show where music is the focus, the Everse does totally fine at throwing the sound so if you want to hear the music you can. I think the array systems do it a bit more even but still, you’re talking 17 pounds.

Originally Posted by Chriscom

Very interesting review. Other than not needing the Everse 8 -- I already have more PAs than necessary and my Bose S1 can handle any small space I'd require -- the one thing that holds me back is its point-source character. I think the specs say 100-degree dispersion. Basically a right-angle.

Still tempted though, partly because I very occasionally perform with a keyboardist and I'm impressed the Everse does well there.

Having heard and used both, I don’t really think the Bose has that much more dispersion honestly. It’s still technically a point source speaker. The Everse definitely has more headroom and volume, but the Bose is super plug and play to the point you don’t even have to touch the EQ. In the band I play, the upright bassist uses an Everse as a mounted speaker for more of the bass fundamental vs sub and it’s almost never at top volume even outside.

[Chriscom]

Originally Posted by ZackPomerleau

Having heard and used both, I don’t really think the Bose has that much more dispersion honestly....

You're right. I just checked and the S1 Pro lists 120 degree dispersion. 10 degrees farther on either side isn't going to make any practical difference.

[Paoli]

I had a Bose and since two months I´ve been using intensively the Everse.I can feel the difference,not huge but is there.At the same time if I would have the dispersion of the Bose with the louder volume of the Everse that would cause me problems when busking ,it would be just too much when I have other musicians nearby.And the neighbours get nervous very quickly these days.

[JackB1]

Hard to evaluate anything here since the speaker volume is so low, I can't tell if I'm hearing the ambient unamped sound of your voice and the guitar or a mixture of both?

[ZackPomerleau]

Originally Posted by Paoli

I had a Bose and since two months I´ve been using intensively the Everse.I can feel the difference,not huge but is there.At the same time if I would have the dispersion of the Bose with the louder volume of the Everse that would cause me problems when busking ,it would be just too much when I have other musicians nearby.And the neighbours get nervous very quickly these days.

There won’t be a practical difference between the dispersion of the two. It’s like ten degrees difference

[Paoli]

Originally Posted by ZackPomerleau

There won’t be a practical difference between the dispersion of the two. It’s like ten degrees difference

As I wrote it´s not huge but it is there,I tested it.

[ZackPomerleau]

Brought back this thread as I did a gig using the Everse for vocals. Didn’t use it for guitar because I have too many guitar amps I like. I had it at 4db here and the mic was set at like 14db which is hot as I like to sing not too close (and the SE V7 isn’t super hot). I was told this was too loud and I dropped the speaker output to 2db and the mic to 12db I believe. I was running the wide doubler I think, and I had a high pass filter, the speaker was EQdeith a slight bass cut and mids and treble pretty flat, similar for the mic channel. I rand a foot stomp thing into the PA but I found I would have preferred it into the amplifier as percussion sounds better connected to the floor.

Overall it throws very well, and I could have gotten a lot more volume. This restaurant is probably like 100 feet across and is open air with a big square bar in the middle. It holds around 125 and it was packed at one point when I was told to turn down. The Everse can firmly handle this, and it could with guitar through it I’m certain (I’ve played live outdoor gigs with it but an upright and vocal was through it and it did pretty well). If you don’t mind the limiter going off a little bit, it can also handle big outdoor farmers markets but that would be upper limits for sure.

This photo was from the start of the bar a third of the way back. So there’s a lot more to the venue. It disperses to the side well and can be heard from further before dropping out.



https://youtu.be/GYQyviRfnC8