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Best vocal amp or PA solution with reverb for less than $200 USD ??? Need help!


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I am looking to get a nice anniversary present for my girlfriend, but I am on a limited budget of less than $200.

 

Here is what I need:

 

Something that will amplify her voice, power the mic, and also have effects (at minimum reverb, others are nice too) , also needs to have Line out ...

 

The Behringer ACX450 Ultracoustic 45-Watt Amplifier is perfect in every way, except it does not have line out.

 

Does anybody know of a similar solution that has line out?

 

There are so many guitar amps, but very few amps with XLR input. Is there any reason there are not more "dedicated vocal amp units"?

 

Also, barring me being able to find any replacement for the Behringer, how terrible would it be to run a mic into a guitar amp? I found this article, but I noticed in the comments :

 

 

i hate to break it to you, but if you are using a decent mic you are WRONG! a decent mic will be Low impedance, the spider input will be impedance. it is not generally a good idea to mix impedances. you would be better off getting a accoustic amplifier with a dedicated mic channel

 

 

I don't know a lot about impedance. Will this make the mic sound less than optimal? What if I ran the mic through a pre-amp first, and then into the guitar amp, would that be acceptable?

 

 

Also, the whole solution does not have to be 1 piece... Originally I was considering getting her this, but then I saw the Behringer and thought it would be better to give her the speaker too! .... So if you know of perhaps a less expensive (but still decent sounding) reverb unit (that can also power a mic ?), I could couple it with a PA speaker, or with mic pre-amp if necessary ...

 

I know this is a lot to ask for less than $200 USD... But if the Behringer ACX450 is out there, it seems like there has to be something else similar that just has the 1 extra feature - line out.

 

Any input is appreciated

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What does she intend to do with this thing? Why do you need a line out? $200 isn't going to give you a whole lot of choices.

 

 

Practice at home, and small gigs. Line out for versatility... For example she can have control of her own reverb settings and then run the line out into a venue's mixer

 

Found pretty much exactly what I need with this:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-K450FX-45-Watt-3-Channel-System/dp/B000S6MYX2/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2OVGI9TJMW7ZP&colid=2QUV44IATOJS2

 

It's got great reviews everywhere too

 

Still open to suggestions though if somebody knows something better. Thanks for all the input

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Practice at home, and small gigs. Line out for versatility... For example she can have control of her own reverb settings and then run the line out into a venue's mixer


Found pretty much exactly what I need with this:




It's got great reviews everywhere too


Still open to suggestions though if somebody knows something better. Thanks for all the input

 

 

Any venue that you play at that has their own PA will control the effects from the mixer and send her vocals back to the monitors. You wouldn't use any little $200 amp like you're looking at in any kind of performance situation.

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Any venue that you play at that has their own PA will control the effects from the mixer and send her vocals back to the monitors. You wouldn't use any little $200 amp like you're looking at in any kind of performance situation.

 

I'm talking about places that don't even have a PA. Anywhere that does, we would still want her to control her own effects so she does not have to worry about whether the mix engineer will tweak the effects to her tastes. Bonus of using the amp as a monitor. But thank you for trying to make me feel inferior. Not everybody has thousands of dollars of disposable income and plays out every weekend. We just want to enjoy what we are doing. :)

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I'm talking about places that don't even have a PA. Anywhere that does, we would still want her to control her own effects so she does not have to worry about whether the mix engineer will tweak the effects to her tastes. Bonus of using the amp as a monitor. But thank you for trying to make me feel inferior. Not everybody has thousands of dollars of disposable income and plays out every weekend. We just want to enjoy what we are doing.
:)

 

I'm not trying to make you feel inferior, I'm trying to let you know how it works. You mentioned sending the line out to the venue's mixer, not me.

 

For those places that don't have a PA, what would you do? That little amp isn't going to be significantly louder than an unmiced voice and isn't suitable for any kind of performing. There's really nothing you can buy for $200 that will be. This isn't an insult or a put down, it's reality.

 

If you said what exactly it is that you're doing, you could probably get more useful help. Part of what this forum does is tries to prevent people from spending money on products that won't deliver the desired results.

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Use whatever you get for practice at home, or at gigs with no PA. Then if you play a place with a PA use the knowledge you've attained from your practice unit to convey to the soundtechs what you're looking for.

 

I can't think of a soundtech that would allow a signal from a unit of that kind, to be run to their board. Not saying you won't find one, but I can't think of any.

 

Anyway, that little unit could be fine for a year or two. When it breaks please recycle it, don't just chuck it in the garbage. One of my pet peeves about Behringer gear is that I suspect too much of it winds up in landfills instead of being recycled.

 

Just call me Envirogeek.

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I can't think of a soundtech that would allow a signal from a unit of that kind, to be run to their board. Not saying you won't find one, but I can't think of any.

 

 

Good to know. What about XLR output from a unit like this? I may get her the amp for now and the effects pedal later on

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Good to know. What about XLR output from a unit like
? I may get her the amp for now and the effects pedal later on

 

 

Effects include: Mic pre and voice characters, compresion, EQ, noise gate, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, strobe, doubler, envelope, pixelator, detune, pitch shifter, whammy, digital delay, ping pong delay, and 8 reverb types

 

I hate to keep being the wet blanket, but you really don't want those effects on vocals. The singer in my last band got one and her kids had fun playing with it making robot voices and stuff, but as a tool for singing, she found it pretty useless. I would have to agree with her. Lots of cool noises. None of them useful.

 

The sound man will add reverb and maybe delay when appropriate. If she's a singer, how about a good mic, or maybe even look for a good deal on a wireless mic?

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I'm talking about places that don't even have a PA. Anywhere that does, we would still want her to control her own effects so she does not have to worry about whether the mix engineer will tweak the effects to her tastes.

 

 

Generally it is not a good idea for the performer on stage to

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XSP-10A.jpg

 

http://www.pssl.com/American-Audio-XSP-10A-10-In-Powered-Speaker-

 

$199 at PSSL. No effects though. I can't vouch for American Audio personally but thought I'd throw this possibility out there. Maybe a powered speaker is the way to go...I know they work great for accoustic guitars.

 

CM-30.jpg

 

http://www.pssl.com/Roland-CM30-Cube-Monitor-30-Watt

 

This Roland is the same price and I've heard nice things about it. Maybe it's also something to consider.

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I'm talking about places that don't even have a PA.
Anywhere that does, we would still want her to control her own effects so she does not have to worry about whether the mix engineer will tweak the effects to her tastes. Bonus of using the amp as a monitor. But thank you for trying to make me feel inferior. Not everybody has thousands of dollars of disposable income and plays out every weekend. We just want to enjoy what we are doing.
:)

 

Comments in bold: Which is it? If the place doesn't have a PA, what are you plugging that line-out into?

 

Dose of reality time.

 

1. No venue without a PA is small enough that any of this crap, and yes, I mean CRAP, is going to work any better than a strong singing voice can do. 30 watts? 45 watts? Into a 10" speaker? No, sorry, that's not going to cut it anywhere except as a personal monitor.

 

2. No venue with a PA and a sound person who knows anything is going to accept a mic signal that's got that garbage stompbox effects signal in it. Those things are pure {censored}e.

 

3. No venue with a PA wants an affected signal. What if it's got too much reverb? Your girl can not hear what the audience hears, and can't adjust the unit accordingly. Hence why the FOH guy sits in the FOH.

 

4. GCDEF wasn't trying to make you feel inferior, and if you're that sensitive to comments, you'd better not get involved with entertainment in public venues. Your budget is all but unusable.

 

5. As suggested, get her a really nice professional microphone and a K&M stand. A Shure Beta-58, E-V ND-767, or similar can be had for well under $200, and a venue will really appreciate a singer bringing her own quality mic. Play at venues with PA's. What you're contemplating isn't a PA in any way, shape or form.

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Not at all, it's just that she's very particular about the kind of reverb she wants for her voice and she seems to be more comfortable and "lets her light shine" more when the settings are right.

 

 

You're confusing me. You say she's very particular, yet you're asking about close to useless bottom feeder products where you have no idea what the reverb sounds like. I'm sure you mean well, but as I've said a few times, it would really help if would say what kind of performances or use she's planning on doing.

 

And as Craig said, she really should just be concentrating on the singing and let the sound man worry about making her sound good. Most of the time she'll be hearing herself through monitors, and it's typical not to put effects on the monitors anyway. Odds are really, really good, that the effects in the house mixer are going to be better than the effects in a little $200 mini-thingy that you're looking at.

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If you want to give her something usefull and are set in not buying her a good microphone, I would invest in this:

 

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TCE-VSM200XT-LIST

 

NO reverb but you can add a cheap (and good) nanoverb later, very good quality, great for rehearals, great on stage as a monitor on small venues, has balance inputs and outputs, and excellent build. I have had mine for over 4 years (the previous model) and they are stars for me.

 

Whatever you do, do not buty that pedalboard, if you want to buy her effects I would check out the TC Helicon voice live products or the newer digitech harmonizers, all over your budget.

 

As everyone said, if you have hopes of running her own gear through someone elses PA system, forget it! I guarantee you that what they have is better than what you will have, and they will know how to use it!

 

Get het a microphone! I am partial to Senheiser and EV.

 

Rod

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There are a TON of acoustic amps out there,,,, just not in your (cough) optimistic (cough) budget range.


This is a bit more expensive, and has all you need, and is REALLY COOL.


I'm tempted to buy one myself.




 

 

That does sound amazing- anyone try one?

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