Bose S1 Pro, Boss VE-8, battery power = traveling light

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Chriscom

We have not been pleased with the [VE-8] harmonizer either.

I have to admit that although I like the harmonizer overall, a tiny bit goes a long way--the more I listen to it, the more processed and fakey it sounds. Just a scent will do. I may investigate other ones. But man the Acoustic Resonance feature salvages the sound of the dreaded Fishman Sonitone in my GPRS1. And the Chorus feature adds variety--I use it for some simple instrumentals. When I play with my keyboards/vocalist duo partner there is usually enough variety + our harmonies going on so I can just bring my Boss AD-2 which is just Acoustic Resonance + notch in a much smaller package.

As for EQ'ing, yeah I'm really glad you mentioned all of that because lots of folks don't know the VE-8 can do all that. Until fairly recently that included me.

Agreed on all counts. In an ideal world at some point I will learn how to harmonize with her. (I'm working on it!) Even with the TCH we used to use, there would be the rare occasion where the software guessed the key wrong and the resulting harmony was... disturbing! I'm not a big fan of the chorus effect but one of the things I like about the VE-8 is that you can assign different effects to the chorus stomp button. I use the mod delay which gives me a little bit of the ambience effect I use my Mooer Ocean Machine pedal for. It obviously does not to as good a job but it's better than nothing when I'm traveling light.

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

how long of a show can you do at your typical volume with just the batteries?

I have not as yet played a show long enough to run the batteries down even halfway. Our shows are typically about 2.5 hours so I'm guessing that both rigs would go at least 4 hours which is about what the manual says for the S1, if I remember correctly.

[lkingston]

My complaints about harmonizers are not specific to the one in the VE8. I also have a Voicelive 3 and I think it sounds about the same as the VE-8: nowhere near as good as an actual person singing harmonies.

[Captain Jim]

For the record, I have been very pleased with the harmony options on the TC Helicon Gxt and the Play Acoustic... and before the harmonizers, I have played with others who occasionally had some "interesting" harmony.

[Captain Jim]

OK, you S1 users convinced me - I ordered mine today. Bose is now including the battery with this unit. Apparently, though, the "free backpack" is for those who bought the S1 prior to the battery being included.

I'm looking forward to trying it out.

[Davis Webb]

Great story, I really appreciate it.

I play large open farmer's markets with a volume dampening throng of 100's going by per minute, so I found, during an in store test, that the S1 does not have much volume, compared to something like my Traynor NX with 300 watts.

At the same time, I am dreading tomorrow's half hour set up, all kinds of cables and things and other things, and my back threatening to go as I screw around with them all. I am really disgusted with set up, I hurt my low back last Fall and was laid up hard,, I mean scary as in not being able to move for an hour when I got home, took me a half hour to crawl to a phone....

So what you are doing is absolutely the way to go. But the volume would die in my crowd size, with nearby generators at times.

I used a Roland BA330 which was on sale, used, its dc now...it had onboard reverb, was 30 pounds, and was plug and play. But it died in bigger spaces a bit. So I returned the rental and now am looking at this pile of crap in front of me and realized, as I read your great experience, that I will keep that Roland, buy it, and when I need more volume, plug the output to my Traynor PA.

You made me realize how friggin stupid setup is and how heavy and annoying carrying stuff is, once and for all.

And for that, I sincerely thank you. I will score the BA330 and keep it light.

Cheers.

[kramster]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

OK, you S1 users convinced me - I ordered mine today. Bose is now including the battery with this unit. Apparently, though, the "free backpack" is for those who bought the S1 prior to the battery being included.

I'm looking forward to trying it out.

They also say it can go from a Subway ..no Starbucks? to the Siberian Arctic ...wonder why just that Arctic?

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

Great story, I really appreciate it.

I play large open farmer's markets with a volume dampening throng of 100's going by per minute, so I found, during an in store test, that the S1 does not have much volume, compared to something like my Traynor NX with 300 watts.

At the same time, I am dreading tomorrow's half hour set up, all kinds of cables and things and other things, and my back threatening to go as I screw around with them all. I am really disgusted with set up, I hurt my low back last Fall and was laid up hard,, I mean scary as in not being able to move for an hour when I got home, took me a half hour to crawl to a phone....

So what you are doing is absolutely the way to go. But the volume would die in my crowd size, with nearby generators at times.

I used a Roland BA330 which was on sale, used, its dc now...it had onboard reverb, was 30 pounds, and was plug and play. But it died in bigger spaces a bit. So I returned the rental and now am looking at this pile of crap in front of me and realized, as I read your great experience, that I will keep that Roland, buy it, and when I need more volume, plug the output to my Traynor PA.

You made me realize how friggin stupid setup is and how heavy and annoying carrying stuff is, once and for all.

And for that, I sincerely thank you. I will score the BA330 and keep it light.

Cheers.

At nearly 57-years of age my back is not getting any younger. I think back to my electric rig of heavy amps and a ton of pedals and laugh. I'd hate lugging that much stuff around now, not to mention the setup and load out times.

If you preamp your signal you can get quite a bit more volume out of the S1 but in a large open-air market it still would likely not be enough. If I was playing that type of gig then I'd definitely have to add a QSC k8.2 but then I'd also have to come up with power for it assuming there was none. Both those things would certainly add to my setup but still relatively minor compared to a full PA.

[Spook]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

.. VE-8's EQ is 'buried' (a bad term) in the settings. you basically have to press two buttons to put it in EQ mode and that turns the buttons on the guitar side for guitar EQ and the vocal section of vocal EQ. Highs, mids, lows, low cut, mid freq, mid Q, input sensitivity and noise suppression....

Thanks for that (not obvious if you're not familiar with the VE-8) and the overall report. Thinking about getting an S1 and looks pretty promising so far.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Spook

Thanks for that (not obvious if you're not familiar with the VE-8) and the overall report. Thinking about getting an S1 and looks pretty promising so far.

There certainly are limitations and depending on your needs there are other options. But for what we need I have been very pleased with what we have been able to accomplish with this unit. That's the key - figuring out exactly what you need and IF the Bose checks all (or at least enough) of those boxes. Same with the Boss VE-8.

[crgoddard]

Hello Methos, you mind sharing which K&K you are using in your Martin? I have been wondering if a mini would work well with the VE-8 but could not tell for sure.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by crgoddard

Hello Methos, you mind sharing which K&K you are using in your Martin? I have been wondering if a mini would work well with the VE-8 but could not tell for sure.

Not sure what you mean... I'm just using the standard K&K Pure Mini, the three transducer model for acoustic guitar. I'm not aware of anything else for acoustic guitar but I'll admit I haven't been to their website recently. Are there new offerings?

If you are referring to which K&K preamp then while I do have the little belt-clip model, I do not use that to go into the VE-8. The VE-8 itself acts as the preamp.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

I hurt my low back last Fall and was laid up hard,, I mean scary as in not being able to move for an hour when I got home, took me a half hour to crawl to a phone....

I feel your pain. I hurt mine in the early '90's and it'll "go out" every once in a while.

As I've gotten older, the re-coup time is getting longer to the point I'm into day 8 of this last ordeal, and am just now getting some relief.

Best of luck to you all with back issues.

[crgoddard]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Not sure what you mean... I'm just using the standard K&K Pure Mini, the three transducer model for acoustic guitar. I'm not aware of anything else for acoustic guitar but I'll admit I haven't been to their website recently. Are there new offerings?

If you are referring to which K&K preamp then while I do have the little belt-clip model, I do not use that to go into the VE-8. The VE-8 itself acts as the preamp.

When I checked their website there was a few models. Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was hoping to find out.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by crgoddard

When I checked their website there was a few models. Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was hoping to find out.

Yes, I just went there and see what you mean. I'm just using the plain old Pure Mini - three transducers, no battery, no dials, boards or switches. Bulletproof, for the most part. It does require some EQ'ing mostly because of my style of play (fingerstyle, no nails). But now that I'm used to that and I know exactly what I need to do to dial it in I can get good tone with any EQ/preamp in just a few minutes.