Members Chummy Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 My bad amp finally died today. I need a new one or mainly Keyboard and ALSO that will serve as an amp for a mic and when I want to jam some stuff on the E guitar (I'm not so good) still. I also have a Bass guitar but I was told not to use it for a keyboard/ electric guitar amp because the Bass ruins this kind of amp or something. Should I get a normal box amp or some sort of speaker? I've been to 2 music shops today clueless. I need it mainly for my room playing but also something that I can take with me to play in front of friends/people/etc. Don't need more than 40 WATT I think. I don't need to rock the town. But input for keyboard (guitar) and a mic is a must. What's the differences between say a ROLAND KC Keyboard amp, a normal (cheaper) guitar amp and a speaker? Thank you so muchly!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted September 3, 2014 Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 Get a QSC KC10 or KC12 don't screw around. That is what most pro's are doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kbeaumont Posted September 4, 2014 Members Share Posted September 4, 2014 Agreed, any powered speaker will work better than an amp. There are many at different price points. Some sound better than others, but all of them sound better than an amp. If you can't afford the QSC, the Mackie Thump 12, Yamaha DXR 10, or Carvin PM12A will work well too. I'm using the Carvin for vocal monitors too, the price to performance ratio on these are excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted September 4, 2014 Members Share Posted September 4, 2014 What's the differences between say a ROLAND KC Keyboard amp' date=' a normal (cheaper) guitar amp and a speaker?[/quote'] Not very much. They're both crappy. ;-) That's only a slight exaggeration. But as others have said, you will get much better sound from a PA cabinet. Especially if you use acoustic piano sounds. I would not assume "most pros" use QSC, though it's certainly a popular choice. I tried QSC, JBL, Yamaha, RCF, and EV... all have their fans, and any would be better than a KC amp, though personally I thought the EV sounded best, at least in compact models. If you've got the budget and the car space, though, the JBL PRX625 is pretty killer. The EV ZXa1 is very light and pretty inexpensive. It won't go as loud as some others, and doesn't include as many connectivity options, but the piano (toughest sound to get right) sounds more natural than the other wedges I tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chummy Posted September 4, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 4, 2014 Hya and thanks for the replies. I am actually on a lower budget as I'm not very gigging musician.... also my room is quite tiny and the speaker is mainly for room use so I can play and hear what I play instead of using headphones. Also I need the device to be able to be picked up and taken with me as I may need to have some small gigs but very rarely. Can I get something portable in like 200-300 bucks? (in my country it will cost more so yeah....) .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted September 4, 2014 Members Share Posted September 4, 2014 mainly Keyboard and ALSO that will serve as an amp for a mic and when I want to jam some stuff on the E guitar! I forgot to mention... usually, amps that are good for electric guitar are bad for keyboards, because for keyboards you want a clean uncolored sound, and for guitar, the opposite. Though there are exceptions... if you're not playing acoustic piano or much in the way of other "natural" acoustic sounds, but are sticking with sounds like electric piano, organ, and synth, sometimes a guitar amp can be desirable, it depends on the sound you're looking for. Similarly, an electric guitar is sometimes okay through a clean PA amp, if you're putting your guitar through something like a Line 6 Pod or other device that simulates the sound of a guitar amp. Can I get something portable in like 200-300 bucks? (in my country it will cost more so yeah....) .... In a PA style powered speaker, the Behringer B208D is decent, or one of the bigger ones in the series if you need more bottom. They only support one input, though... you can put a keyboard through it or a microphone, but not both at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mildbill Posted September 4, 2014 Members Share Posted September 4, 2014 Hya and thanks for the replies. I am actually on a lower budget as I'm not very gigging musician.... also my room is quite tiny and the speaker is mainly for room use so I can play and hear what I play instead of using headphones. Also I need the device to be able to be picked up and taken with me as I may need to have some small gigs but very rarely. Can I get something portable in like 200-300 bucks? (in my country it will cost more so yeah....) .... If you want to go real small, you could get something like this - Roland CM 30: I've got a couple of them, and they come in real handy for what you want. Only 30 watts, so you aren't going to be getting real loud with it, but for practice, or in a normal size room, it'll do just fine. The Roland KC's are a full range amp - meaning they can reproduce highs and lows (not low frequency bass stuff though). A guitar amp will be focused more on mids to highs. A powered speaker has an amp built in, so you don't have to have a separate amp, and they usually are well matched to the speaker sizes. http://www.rolandus.com/products/details/663 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mildbill Posted September 4, 2014 Members Share Posted September 4, 2014 Wow - this forum really sucks. The second link above is a .jpg from Roland. Used to be simple to link to pics, but now, it won't show, and also can't delete it.Please get decent software for this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_e Posted September 6, 2014 Members Share Posted September 6, 2014 My piano teacher has one of those CM 30's for the kb we use for lessons and it sounds really nice in a small room setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AnotherScott Posted September 7, 2014 Members Share Posted September 7, 2014 Yeah, some of the Rolands aren't bad, and even if not as good as the better PA cabs, they are perfectly usable are good at filling certain niches. The ironic thing is that, of the Roland amps I've tried, the worst have been the KC models, which are the ones they specifically make for keyboards! The ones they make for more general use or PA have been better. Also I think the AC series which is made for acoustic guitar. These other categories seem to have more natural sound than the ones they make for keyboardists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members maarkr Posted September 8, 2014 Members Share Posted September 8, 2014 I have a KC550 and it doesn't sound too bad. I personally dont think the Behringer powered speakers sound bad for the money. Definitely NOT a QSC/EV/etc but about one third the price. I think whatever you get on a budget, you'll like it for the most part as long as its a well-known name. Behringer has some keyboard amp models that are a low cost option also. People will trash me over that statement, but we all can't afford really good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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