Thoughts on new Fishman SA330x

[GmanJeff]

Maybe only 7 minutes for you, but that's a boatload of gear, and a heavy speaker.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by GmanJeff

Maybe only 7 minutes for you, but that's a boatload of gear, and a heavy speaker.

Shiiiidddd, it’s worth it because this is what I do for a living and it sounds phenomenal. I have a rock n roller cart, and I only have two load ins that I have to ask for help with. Never have a problem.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

This isn't directed at you, when is the last time you heard anyone tell someone else anything other than, "Sounds great, man!" I say it too. Even when somebody sounds reckless. I try to be polite regardless.

Do you get other cats in town coming up to you asking about everything in your signal chain and start buying the same stuff that you're using? That would really tell you something.

Honestly, it's not solely about the gear. Knowing how to gain stage, EQ, mix, proper speaker placement, and more is all paramount.



Not to be argumentative, but decent sound is not my goal, nor is perfection. Ever evolving and increasingly better are my goals.

Personally, I get great results or better with a small format mixer with mid sweeps, a sub, active crossover, one or two tops, and a monitor. However, for my simple rig, the mixer and a powered speaker do better than decent.

Like I said before, the SA 220/330's are a nice piece of gear, but to me, their too limited to chance having less EQ than I want or need. So much ( almost everything ) happens in the mid frequencies on an acoustic gig, that a fixed mid is a deal breaker. If they included mid sweeps, I'd consider one.



You've been lucky so far!

No doubt that they can sound great in a myriad of situations. I'm just saying that if you run into problems without mid sweeps, you could change your tune fast. I've had it happen and seen it happen on more than one occasion.

I put my Line 6 L3T up against my friend's SA 330 and he bought an L3T about a month later. For the comparison, I used the integrated mixer.

I could use the mixer while gigging my it has mid sweeps. However, I make adjustments as the amount of people in the room changes, and I hate to be tethered to the PA, or get up to make an adjustment.

Just personal preference. For those reasons and more, I prefer traditional modular PA equipment. I wish I could find something that had one piece that worked for me. I haven't yet.

All that said, if you sound good enough to get hired back, and you're happy with your sound, then that's all that matters.

The difference for me was years ago playing through a killer house system with a great engineer that took the time to dial me in. He became a friend and I ended up shadowing him for a while to learn how to twist knobs, which led to me mixing for him from time to time.

Although I occasionally go out with a 10" powered 2-way, I really don't ever want a full range signal going through just one box. Again, that's me and I'm kind of a lunatic when it comes to sound reinforcement.

I have a Line 6 L2t that sounds great and has just about everything I need. The niggling things about it are no phantom power and the reverb could be better.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I have a Line 6 L2t that sounds great and has just about everything I need. The niggling things about it are no phantom power and the reverb could be better.

Agreed on both counts. I always use an EFX8 mixer with mine though.Mainly because I want to put the speaker where it will sound and cover best and not have to be tied to it.

[Turp]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

This isn't directed at you, when is the last time you heard anyone tell someone else anything other than, "Sounds great, man!" I say it too. Even when somebody sounds reckless. I try to be polite regardless.

Do you get other cats in town coming up to you asking about everything in your signal chain and start buying the same stuff that you're using? That would really tell you something.

My thought is frequently nothing is said, but we have peers who shoot it to us straight and some who only comment when it's good.

My observation is some musicians want better sound but don't really want to commit or make changes to achieve it. I think there's a OCD quality, minus maybe the Dysfunction, to musicians that chase sound and tone. Many musicians bail when you mention $300 preamp; that's just scratching the surface and without vocal equipment. I see a lot musicians just plug right into a DI or the amp and are quite happy.

Here on the forum we ask questions; debate argue merits and limits because we're seeking, not complacent.

For posterity, in reference to the Op and some of the responses:

I think this type product, like other arrays, fills a gap between a guitar/keyboard amp and full PAs.

I play instrumental guitar solo, in a duo, and in a band. We used my partner's SA220 for years and have had great success with achieving great sound in a various venues. We've occasionally added a sub and or a extension depending what we desired, but those were rare and very large venues.

My experience as a instrumentalist is the SoloAmp provides great sound and covers the tonal spectrum of acoustic guitar very well. It's dispersion fills rooms very nicely.

Where it will show it's limits will be larger noisy rooms. IMHO It's not designed for that and a full PA is going to be optimum, which let's face it sounds great and is the better overall choice it you have the desire to haul equipment when the venue doesn't have a quality PA.

FWIW how I got to the SA330:
I started performing with a Schertler David, and after needing more power, used a DBR 10 as my solo rig. I also used the DBR as the extension when we need one in the bands. The DBR worked very well and has great tone. That said, it is no comparison considering transporting. Even though I made a small cart to fit the bag I bought for it, still no comparison. In addition the DBR was limited without a mixer, so there's one more thing to carry to optimize it.

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Turp

My thought is frequently nothing is said, but we have peers who shoot it to us straight and some who only comment when it's good.

I can dig that. There are cats in town with great ears that I really trust to give me their honest opinion. I'd rather criticism than praise. I'd rather know how it can be better.

Originally Posted by Turp

My observation is some musicians want better sound but don't really want to commit or make changes to achieve it. I think there's a OCD quality, minus maybe the Dysfunction, to musicians that chase sound and tone. Many musicians bail when you mention $300 preamp; that's just scratching the surface and without vocal equipment. I see a lot musicians just plug right into a DI or the amp and are quite happy.

Just because they're happy doesn't mean it sounds good.

$300 on a preamp isn't crazy at all. The OCD comment is pretty spot on for some, but the chase of tone is part of the fun. I definitely have been guilty of obsessing over nuances.

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by The Kid!

I can dig that. There are cats in town with great ears that I really trust to give me their honest opinion. I'd rather criticism than praise. I'd rather know how it can be better.

Just because they're happy doesn't mean it sounds good.

$300 on a preamp isn't crazy at all. The OCD comment is pretty spot on for some, but the chase of tone is part of the fun. I definitely have been guilty of obsessing over nuances.

I have to say, I'd love to hear some of the high end setups described here. Not because I think they'll necessarily sound amazing, but because I'm interested hearing what other people think sounds amazing. I've talked to some folks that rave about their amazing 'tone' that simply doesn't sound good to me.

Anyway, I find that kind of stuff interesting.

[Zandit75]

Hey all, just wondering if anyone uses an acoustic amp DI'd out to the SA330x?
I have a Boss Acoustic Singer Pro with individual outs on both channels.
Could I use the amp as a monitor, allowing me to control the harmony and loop features, then plug each of the amps channels into the SA330x individual channels, or am I over thinking this?

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Groovekings

Yep Rustyaxe. We are in agreement. We get an awesome sound with our rig and it would be hard to be happy with less. Even just one top sounds great with no subs and it only weighs 34 pounds. I'm keepin Em lol

I was about to say that you'd be better off with one top and a mixer.

[meb]

For my last gig, I used my Boss Acoustic Singer Live as mixer/amp and
ran the 'mix' out to my Bose L1 Compact. It sounded great, and I could
use the EQ on the ASLive. It basically replaced my VE8 + T1+ cables,
and I didn't have to use the hidden EQ in the VE8. I cannot see why
it would be different with the SA330x.

[Guitaurman]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

Hey all, just wondering if anyone uses an acoustic amp DI'd out to the SA330x?
I have a Boss Acoustic Singer Pro with individual outs on both channels.
Could I use the amp as a monitor, allowing me to control the harmony and loop features, then plug each of the amps channels into the SA330x individual channels, or am I over thinking this?

If your amp has an XLR line out it could send a line level signal into the back of the Fishman into the Mon in. This makes the Fishman a powered speaker. The volume would then be controlled by the Mon In on the front panel. Everything else would be controlled by the amp making it your "mixer." While going into the individual channels in the front of the Fishman might work, you'd be sending a line level signal into a mic level input. I'd keep the gain controls very low if I tried that.