Members goFish Posted August 18, 2006 Members Share Posted August 18, 2006 I do sound for special events in a church owned large auditorium, and contracted the system install. One piece of equipment that they talked me into (keeping in mind I have infinite amounts of trust for the engineer I work with) is the Peavey Kosmos. I seem to have a love/hate relationship with this thing. We use it instead of the sonic maximizer. Still, I'm not all that impressed with it, despite being told that everyone who uses it loves it. I wonder if any of you have experience with it, and what your opinion of it is. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Weathered Posted August 18, 2006 Members Share Posted August 18, 2006 I'm not a fan of any sort of "sonic maximizer." It's not a fix all, and it doesn't negate the need for a decent EQ and engineer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members superiorparts Posted August 18, 2006 Members Share Posted August 18, 2006 our soundman is one hell of a soundman. also, he is a repair tech for the biggest music store in mississippi and is well respected in the peavey family. his best friend custom builds amps for musicians at peavey. he knows what he's doing. when those things first came out, he installed one in a house rig at a venue my band played at on a regular basis. i will say the the sound was much improved and he was exstatic about it. i think it won the best new outboard gear device at a namm show that year. anyway, i bought one for our rig and was equally impressed. you do need to understand the function of it quite well. since then, he has become our full time sound man plus he and i do sound jobs on the side. i would not have a system without one. way better than bbe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thunderpaw Posted August 18, 2006 Members Share Posted August 18, 2006 I am a major fan of the Kosmos. Like anything, too much of a good thing is, well, too much. That said, the Kosmos adds balls and clarity to most any system...and it does it without a lot of fuss. I don't like the 'cute' names that they gave the first two series' function knobs-but other than that, it's A-O-K. It is not like the BBE Sonic Maximizers at all. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted August 18, 2006 Members Share Posted August 18, 2006 All such devices are the audio equivalent of MSG... they may well improve the sound, but use too much and you'll give everybody a nasty headache. I recently did a bit of repair work on the console at a local church, and before I left the pastor was telling me about some weird problem with the microphones - guys with deep voices caused some bizarre problem with the sound system. It turned out to be a subharmonic synth in the amp closet - sing with a deep enough voice and it would start synthesizing a bass tone to go with it. Not the sort of thing you really want during a service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thunderpaw Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by Scodiddly All such devices are the audio equivalent of MSG... they may well improve the sound, but use too much and you'll give everybody a nasty headache. I second. Less is more. Used appropriately, the Kosmos kicks ass. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kevinnem Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by thunderpaw I second. Less is more. Used appropriately, the Kosmos kicks ass.Kim nice to see your still around Kim, .. what are you up to these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goFish Posted August 19, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Thanks again for your input. I agree on the comment about the names of the functions. I think "idiotic" is the word I would use to describe them. I agree as well that knowledgable use of an EQ is important, but considering the nature of church related sound, usually mediocre sound techs such as myself end up getting the job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by goFish I agree on the comment about the names of the functions. I think "idiotic" is the word I would use to describe them. I thought so to ... so I changed them. Take a look at the new Kosmos V2. We added most of the features of the Kosmos Pro. http://peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116507/number/00511780/cat/94/begin/1/Kosmos%AE+V2+Generator-Processor.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goFish Posted August 19, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by dboomer I thought so to ... so I changed them. Take a look at the new Kosmos V2. We added most of the features of the Kosmos Pro. http://peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116507/number/00511780/cat/94/begin/1/Kosmos%AE+V2+Generator-Processor.cfm You're right-this is a big improvement. Thanks for the note. I didn't expect to get a response from somebody from Peavey, but since I did, I'm gonna ask another question... Is it typical for people who use the Kosmos to have to switch it on and off between music and speech? That is one of my big annoyances with it. Also, it seems to create feedback frequencies where none existed before. I also use the feedback ferret, but can't seem to ferret out the subharmonic frequencies that love to give me a steady rumble. That being said, I must say that I love my Peavey equipment, and I think you guys are doing a great job with features/quality/price issues. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 In general, if you have a really good PA, and know what you are doing, "accessories" such as the Kosmos and Sonic Maximizer distract from the basic quality. The reason these devices are so successful is that there are a lot of crappy sounding, or inadequate PA's out there and even worse on the operation end of things. Everyone is looking for the magic box solution to their problems. Wonder why diet programs that use magic pills and "suppliments" rather than focusing on the basics are so popular??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by agedhorse In general, if you have a really good PA, and know what you are doing, "accessories" such as the Kosmos and Sonic Maximizer distract from the basic quality. I think that answer is too simplistic ... it should have the qualifier ... if you misuse them. Inappropriate mic selection or placement, over-used EQ (especially 1/3rd oct GEQs), reverbs, etc all distract from the basic quality ... when misused. What's the difference ... misuse is misuse. Kosmos and Sonic Maximizers are tools and used properly they can perform a job. BTW ... a Kosmos is a terrific tool to insert on a kick drum, bass guitar or acoustic guitar. I think you could compare it to reverb in a system. When you place a Kosmos in line with your output and run everything through it it performs differently than when you run only some channels through it. Imagine how your mix would sound if you ran the entire mix through reverb instead of just selected channels. I could go buy a scalpel but I couldn't quite do the same job with it as a trained brain surgeon ... any volunteers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by goFish Is it typical for people who use the Kosmos to have to switch it on and off between music and speech? That is one of my big annoyances with it. If it's adding a bunch of unwanted bottom to your vocals i guess the answer would be yes. Why not try patching it into an instrument only buss or aux feeding your subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 Originally posted by thunderpaw I second. Less is more. Used appropriately, the Kosmos kicks ass.Kim +1 I generally despise "system enhancers"... but the Kosmos is one that I consider to be a true asset in the rack. Admittedly, you still gotta have enough basic bore and stroke, and rpm capability to get the performance, but the Kosmos is a supercharger addition that can produce some fairly impressive results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flanc Posted August 19, 2006 Members Share Posted August 19, 2006 I have a Kosmos and I'm a fan! I'm also happy to see those "thud, quake, etc" knobs replaced with something more meaningfull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goFish Posted August 20, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 20, 2006 Originally posted by dboomer If it's adding a bunch of unwanted bottom to your vocals i guess the answer would be yes. Why not try patching it into an instrument only buss or aux feeding your subs. Great idea... thanks... it seems so obvious I should have thought about it. Incidentally, the system of which I am speaking is totally Peavey from the Amps to the board to the cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted August 20, 2006 Members Share Posted August 20, 2006 Originally posted by dboomer I think that answer is too simplistic ... it should have the qualifier ... if you misuse them. Inappropriate mic selection or placement, over-used EQ (especially 1/3rd oct GEQs), reverbs, etc all distract from the basic quality ... when misused. What's the difference ... misuse is misuse. Kosmos and Sonic Maximizers are tools and used properly they can perform a job. BTW ... a Kosmos is a terrific tool to insert on a kick drum, bass guitar or acoustic guitar. I think you could compare it to reverb in a system. When you place a Kosmos in line with your output and run everything through it it performs differently than when you run only some channels through it. Imagine how your mix would sound if you ran the entire mix through reverb instead of just selected channels. I could go buy a scalpel but I couldn't quite do the same job with it as a trained brain surgeon ... any volunteers? Good points. I was referring to placing across the mix like the average Joe does. So why are users placing them across the entire mix, then getting wierd bottom end stuff on vocals? Perhaps better owners manual instruction on inserting where needed might get better results? I was pointing out that the average user might have better luck understanding the basic tasks of a sound system rather than looking for the magic box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.