Compare Bose L1 Compact vs Fishman SA330x

[Pnewsom]

I'd like to add how much I enjoy being able to hear myself very accurately with this system. I've been cleaning up my intonation, both vocally and on bass. A sax player I work with loves it for that as well.

Happily I can rent an extra L1C at the store where I bough mine for about $30/night. Haven't needed it yet, but it nice to know.

Also, it should be noted that you can run all the inputs on channel 2 at the same time, though you need to be able to control volume at the source for balance.

[SongwriterFan]

A local group here runs their entire mix (two guitars, a fiddle, three vocals . . . sometimes one of the guitars might be a banjo or a harmonica or a washboard) through a single L1 Compact and it sounds just fine.

Well, not the ENTIRE mix . . . the acoustic standup bass goes through its own amp.

[open-road-matt]

The Bose L1 Compact is $849.00 at Sweetwater!

Just FYI

Matt

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by open-road-matt

The Bose L1 Compact is $849.00 at Sweetwater!

Just FYI

Matt

Yep.. The 15% off deal is now available at all the major dealers.

Question to TCH Play Acoustic users... Does it "Play" nice with the Bose?

Any advice or comments on the Tone Match T1? Or is it overkill if using the TCH PA for guitar and vocals... OR if we are not talking about Harmonies and looper. Would the T1 be cleaner/better sound. (Solo Acoustic Guitar and Singing).

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by JakeStone

Yep.. The 15% off deal is now available at all the major dealers.

Question to TCH Play Acoustic users... Does it "Play" nice with the Bose?

Any advice or comments on the Tone Match T1? Or is it overkill if using the TCH PA for guitar and vocals... OR if we are not talking about Harmonies and looper. Would the T1 be cleaner/better sound. (Solo Acoustic Guitar and Singing).

I am wondering if the Tone match makes a notable difference to the overall performance of an L1 Compact for acoustic guitar and vocals as well.

[Pnewsom]

You get reverbs and tone presets for various mic's and guitars, I think.

I considered the T1, and I know they sound good, but I don't need a lot of menus to adjust things, I prefer analog knobs that I can tweak on the fly in the middle of a song. So, I went for a Zed10fx. But I could easily see going with the T1.

Actually the thing that put me off the T1 was that it couldn't integrate power wise with the Compact, unlike other Bose models. It required a separate wallwart power supply, which I despise.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

You get reverbs and tone presets for various mic's and guitars, I think.

I considered the T1, and I know they sound good, but I don't need a lot of menus to adjust things, I prefer analog knobs that I can tweak on the fly in the middle of a song. So, I went for a Zed10fx. But I could easily see going with the T1.

Ironically enough, I have a ZED10FX. Sounds great, but its quite large, heavy and cumbersome for what is basically a 4 channel (XLR's) Mixer. (No its not a large mixer, but there are a lot smaller devices that accomplish similar tasks) But as you pointed out, choose your poison. The ease of turning the knob you want has merit too. And the ZED Preamps do sound great.

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

Actually the thing that put me off the T1 was that it couldn't integrate power wise with the Compact, unlike other Bose models. It required a separate wallwart power supply, which I despise.

Really? .. that stinks and at $499 .. would turn me off too.

[Johnny.guitar]

I am a little curious about the T1. Although I also have the Bose compact so it would need a wall wart. I ended up with a Behringer xr16 for $100 less with 16 inputs separate monitor sends etc.
The T1 only has 4 inputs I believe and even my duo uses 5(2 vocal, 2 guitar & a mic on a djembe) so I never even looked at it.
Would like to try it just for comparison..

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by Johnny.guitar

I am a little curious about the T1. Although I also have the Bose compact so it would need a wall wart. I ended up with a Behringer xr16 for $100 less with 16 inputs separate monitor sends etc.
The T1 only has 4 inputs I believe and even my duo uses 5(2 vocal, 2 guitar & a mic on a djembe) so I never even looked at it.
Would like to try it just for comparison..

On a positive note .. Regardless of the power consideration. I have heard nothing but praise for the T1.

In addition, It is my understanding the L1 Compact was made for solo act... So one would think the smaller amount of inputs would suffice for average user.

Me? I am not a huge "tweaker" and love products that are easy to use. That's why I really dig the TCH Play Acoustic.

ToneMatch T1 users hopefully will chime in!

[Tico]

Originally Posted by JakeStone

Sal .. ya the mixer would be nice for a duo.

I'd love to a/b the Bose and Fish without buying them both!

Buy each from a different place, both with a 30 day money back guarantee.
Keep the one you prefer.

I have the Bose L1 model 2 with B2 and T1 mixer.
Mixer has 4 inputs but the one of those inputs is stereo.
IOW 5 inputs but two of them (channels 4/5) are controlled together.
3 monaural channels have XLR jacks with 1/4" in the middle.
The last channel, the stereo one, has only a TRS 1/4" input.

I'm a big fan of L1 systems.
Worth every penny for solo, duo, trio or small group.
They are not intended for a large band with a full drum set and electric bass.

[Andy Howell]

The T1 is a superb piece of kit but it is just a digital mixer. I’ve used the T1 a number of times and it is amazing how often 4 inputs is not really enough.

I’d audition other options before deciding.

[open-road-matt]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

Actually the thing that put me off the T1 was that it couldn't integrate power wise with the Compact, unlike other Bose models. It required a separate wallwart power supply, which I despise.

This to me is a huge design flaw with the L1 Compact. A lot of people complained about this when the Compact first came out. I thought for sure Bose would correct this with a new version of the Compact but they never did. With the absence of a master volume and EQ on the guitar channel, it seems like Bose is almost "forcing" the use of the T1, which I guess I could understand but then to not have the power/signal T1 port on the Compact is a big oversight. If Bose had put the T1 port on the Compact they would probably sell more T1s to Compact users. It makes no sense to leave this off!

Originally Posted by JakeStone

Really? .. that stinks and at $499 .. would turn me off too.

I would say again, it's more a flaw in the design of the Compact than the T1. All mixers need a power source of some kind.

With regard to the attributes of the T1, I've been using one since the beginning. I took delivery of one of the first shipments of T1s way back when they were first released. I took a couple of years off using a QSC TouchMix8 but recently sold that to go back to the T1. Are there digital mixers with more features? I'm certain of it but I'm not sure there are any that pack as many features into such a small size. My T1 fits into my little gig bag and can be mounted on a mic stand so all of my controls are right there. Not too many other mixers (with this many features) can do that.

It make take a bit of a shift in thinking about the T1. It did for me. When I first got it I saw it as a stand alone mixer. I continued to try and use various external preamps for my guitar. Finally a wise Bose forum member asked me what I was trying to do with all these preamps that I couldn't do with the T1. Good question!

There might be some features a player needs that aren't there: phase shift, high-pass filter, foot stuff (boost, looper, etc) and vocal things like a harmonizer but for most of us, everything we could ever need is packed into this little box.

I stopped looking at the T1 as just a mixer and started to see it as my (I hate this word but I'll use it for lack of a better one) rig.

I'm only a few months back into the world of Bose but back in the day I had a ton of different scenes saved. I had scenes for different guitars, different venue types, different mics, a scene dedicated to the Compact and so on. The T1 has a tuner, lots of effects, 3 band EQ, 1 band of parametric EQ, tons of presets for all kinds of specific brands of instruments, pickups, mics, etc as well as many general presets too. And all of this can be applied differently to each individual channel. All this in something smaller than many of the vocal/guitar boxes people are using.

It also has a master out and an aux out. I used the T1 many times with different house systems. Sometimes for a mix of my guitar and vocals, sometimes as just my guitar "preamp."

Over the years I have continued to try out various preamp/EQ/DIs. Some notable ones are the Avalon U5, Pendulum SPS-1, Summit Audio TD100 and many others. Those are all gone and I'm still taking my 1/4" cable and plugging my guitar straight into channel two of my T1.

I guess my point is that if you don't need any of the "missing" features of the T1 and you look at this as more of your personal "rig" regardless of the system you are using, it becomes much more valuable than just another mixer.

I was doing some shows with a friend this summer. He was flying in and I was driving and bringing my L1 Model 2. He brought his T1 and we hooked them both up to my L1 Model 2 and we both had all of our settings right at our fingers.

It would be difficult to hook 2 T1s up to a Compact but if you need more channels than one T1 (and the mic, 1/8" and RCA jacks still available on the Compact) you might be trying to cram too much into one system but YMMV.

Hope that helps,
Matt

[Chriscom]

With regard to the attributes of the T1, I've been using one since the beginning. I took delivery of one of the first shipments of T1s way back when they were first released. I took a couple of years off using a QSC TouchMix8 but recently sold that to go back to the T1. Are there digital mixers with more features? I'm certain of it but I'm not sure there are any that pack as many features into such a small size. My T1 fits into my little gig bag and can be mounted on a mic stand so all of my controls are right there. Not too many other mixers (with this many features) can do that.

As someone new to performing live, I've been puzzled by how few (any?) mixers other than the T1 have easy mounting options, like a mike stand attachment. Maybe they're too heavy for that, risking toppling the mic stand over.

Like others I've read nothing but praise for the T1 (other than some irritation with menus) but man that is a tough sell if you're combining it with the Compact, about half the price and with bonus wall wart.

[SpruceTop]

My thinking is that this annual Bose Fall Sale, at 15% Off this time around, is to move out in-stock gear to ready the introduction, sometime next year (2018 Winter NAMM?), of redesigned or completely new Bose system designs. These newer systems will likely address many of the issues raised in this thread such as Bluetooth connectivity.