Yamaha Stagepas 500 mixer component

I think by now, people would have agreed that I am shamelessly promoting my Yamaha Stagepas 500 portable PA system to the skies. And it comes as no wonder because I find that this system is one of the the best out there. Today, I will show a close-up of what the mixer component is.

This little baby, which fits into the back of one of the speakers, is actually a powered mixer, dishing out 250 watts per channel. Not bad for a small little mixer too! On the top left-hand corner, you can see two jack sockets, which are meant for 1/4″ phono jacks. These are meant for powering the speakers. On the right of the speaker output jacks, there is a tape out and a monitor out. The monitor out is a very useful feature for connecting to external sound sources, like say, some external powered speakers or to an amplifier/speaker combination.

The button on the lower left (SPEECH/MUSIC) is pretty interesting. When toggled, it activates some pre-configured equalizers within the circuitry that optimises the system for speech or music respectively. If you are using the system for say a road-show, and will be talking a lot on a microphone, you would do well to set it to speech. If you were using it for music, like for say, an acoustic gig, you would set it to music. For me, I always set it to to music, even when I am speking on the mic as well. That is because I can set the equalization on the individual channels.

There is also a phantom power switch. That is right. You now can hook up your condenser microphones or active DI boxes and the phantom power will take care of it for you. There is also basic reverb but it is global, not limited to channels. There is no AUX function but then again, this is a small mixer board. You need to be running a bigger, more featured mixing board for such things. For portable PA, this is more than sufficient.

The Yamaha Stagepas. I like it and I own it. You should get one too!

JBL EON 210p

JBL took a leaf out of Yamaha Stagepas’s book by having a portable PA system with a detachable mixer at the rear of one of the speakers. To be honest, I have never seen these in use by anyone before but from what I can see, it looks like a pretty hot contender. OK. Comparisons with the Yamaha is that it uses a 300 watt (150 watts per channel) Crown Class-D amplifier versus a 500 watt (250 watts per channel) Stagepas 500. The Yamaha has a 10-channel mixer and this one has an 8-channel one.The speaker designs are the same as the Stagepas, with a 10″ woofer and a 1″ horn. Like the Stagepas, this has digital effects built-in (5 effects to choose from) and has Phantom Power for powering things like active DI boxes and condenser microphones

The only thing I do not like about this is that Channel 7/8 on this is a stereo mini-jack. It does not make it versatile at all because you need to look for special cables like RCA to stereo mini-jacks. JBL says that the mixer is made by Soundcraft (another member of the Harman Group) but the design and features of the mixer could be better and more flexible. Besides, it is less powerful than the Yamaha Stagepas 500 and more expensive too.You can read more specifications here about this system here.

So if you ask me, If I had to make a choice between this EON 210p and the Yamaha Stagepas 500, I would take the Stagepas 500 over this anyday.

Yamaha MSR400

I have had a Yamaha Stagepas 500 system for quite some time now and if you asked if I am happy with it, I would gladly say I am. It has to be one of the cleanest-sounding sound systems that I have used in a long time and its very versatile too.

A short time ago, I was looking around for some powered speakers. When you mention you want to buy powered-speakers in Singapore, what everyone automatically suggests are the Mackie SRM-450s. But to me, once you go the Yamaha route, you never go back. This MSR400 for instance has a 12″ woofer and a 1.75″ horn driver. The amplifier that powers this is bi-amplified, which means no passive crossover inside. That makes it very much more efficient in terms of power. It is able to deliver 400 watts of power. It can be used as a fold-back monitor or even a front-of-house (FOH) system with the aid of a subwoofer. I think a couple of these MSR400s should be able to power a moderate hall pretty well.

This is the rear of the Yamaha MSR400. There is a heat-sink (a rather large one at that) to keep the amplifier cool. There are balanced XLR connections provided, as well as a LOW and HI equalizer. One thing that is not present here is a high-pass filter (HPF) but I think that it is not that important. You can plug a microphone in one of the XLR sockets and use this as an instant public address system

Sound-wise, I was able to hear a demo of it that day. The 12″ woofer provided a lot of punch, but then again, I was listening to it in a shop’s demo room. I have yet to hear it being performed out doors but I have heard that t performs very well. It is not the least expensive of powered speakers available on the market but the Yamaha quality and the clarity of the sound make up for it. Will I get this in the future? Hey…who knows? But I do know one thing. It oozes quality and its a Yamaha. That seems to be good enough for me

Yamaha MG124cx mixer

I have been using this mixer that has been hooked up the main FOH (front of house) system these past two weeks and i must say that I am pretty impressed with this mixer. Not only is it pretty compact, but the built-in effects on it are pretty darn good. Very clean-sounding and it just oozes Yamaha quality. It is hooked up to a DJ system and the live band that uses it makes it capable of handling anything you throw at it. Pretty inexpensive too…costs about $500 here in Singapore. Specs-wise:

• 12 Input channels (6 Mics + 4 Stereo line inputs)
• 3 band EQ (Ch 1-7/8), 2 band EQ (Ch 9/10-11/12)
• 4 busses (Stereo + 2 groups), 1 Aux send + 1 Effect send, 1 Stereo Aux return
• SPX Digital multi effect
• Neutrik™ XLR Connectors
• Light weight (3.2 kg)

So as you can see, it comes packed for a small mixer like this. I actually have my mind on a bigger mixer from Yamaha so this will be a pipe-dream of a wish-I-have.

QHA PLC-380 Power Amplifier

In my daily trawls of the Internet, I come across some really interesting stuff. This is another one of them. When I first saw it, I thought immediately that it was a QSC amplifier of old. It even uses the same alphabets in the model number i.e. PLC. This piqued my interest and I find out that it is manufactured (probably in China) for a New Zealand company named SNW Electronics. This company also seems to manufacture and sell motorbike parts. Maybe they are trying to do something what the Yamaha Corporation is doing, I just do not know. In any case, the specs of this amplifier are, as taken from their website:

Stereo Mode:

Both channel driven 8ohm : 1200W X 2
Both channel driven 4ohm : 1800W X 2
Both channel driven 2ohm : 2700W X 2

BRIDGE Mode:

Bridge Mode 8 ohm : 3400W
Bridge Mode 4 ohm : 5200W
Friequency Response HZ: 20-20K
THD+N: 0.02%
S/N: 90dB
SLEW RATE: 40V/s
INPUT IMPEDANCE: 20kohm
INPUT SENSITIVITY: 0dB
MAX INPUT GRAIN: +_20
HEIGHT : 3U
DIMENSIONS:480W x 465D x140H mm
Gross Weight (kg) :42

It costs about NZD$1200 and it looks like it is a pretty hefty amplifier, with a weight of 42 kilograms. I am not too sure how it performs as the specifications are merely words on paper. The specs look good from what I see but reliability-wise…I ain’t too sure.

Wharfedale Pro PMX 700 system

It seems that all-in-one systems are the rage these days. many manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon to provide such systems and Wharfedale Pro are no exception. This PMX 700 system is their offering. It looks pretty powerful too. Basically, the PMX 700 System package comprises of a PMX 700 powered mixer, a pair of PTX-12 2-way loudspeakers, a DM1.0 dynamic microphone and the necessary cables to connect the system. This is unique because none of the other offerings from Yamaha and Behringer throw in a microphone. Besides, there is a whole plethora of effects in the effects bank to satisfy almost all vocalists, if need be. The speakers even have pole-mount adapters so you can mount them on stands. This system is able to pump out about 250 watts continuous and 500 watts program.  More details are available on the website here

Samson Expedition XP510i

Just when I thought that the Yamaha Stagepas family of portable audio set all boundaries, I came across this. Looks like almost everyone worth their salt is doing this now. Samson is one of the other players in the professional audio industry churning out portable sound units. The beauty of this? It even comes with an iPod dock! According to their website:

Samson introduces their most versatile and inclusive PA system to date: The Expedition XP510i.

Adopting the same principles of portability and simplicity that made Samson’s Expedition XP308i so popular, the Expedition XP510i (XP510i) is an all-in-one portable PA system that offers outstanding power and convenience. The pro-level performance of the XP510i begins with a pair of dual 2-way speakers with 10-inch woofers, complemented by a 1-inch titanium tweeter in a 60° x 90° horn. These speakers will provide dynamic low-end qualities and broad dispersion in any performance space.

The XP510i features an internal 500 watt Class D powered mixer equipped with seven total mic/line and stereo inputs, phantom power, an integrated iPod dock, and ten studio-quality 24-bit digital effects to shape a customized sound for each and every performance. In addition, the speakers, mixer, and integrated 1 3/8-inch speaker stand mounts can be transported as a single compact bundle that weighs just over 50 pounds.

Thanks to its clever design and comprehensive feature set, the XP510i Portable PA offers an ideal solution for a variety of PA applications.

Well, there you go. Boasting the same power as the Stagepas 500. Looks pretty good and check this out: The two speakers sort of “slide” together from the front for east storage. The mixer cum amplifier is stored the same way the Yamaha Stagepas is stored…at the back of the speaker!

Looks interesting but I think I will take my Stagepas over these.

New Years Eve gig

This was the setup of the New Years Eve gig that I did yesterday. As you can see, the Hercules controller is set up to play music and it performed faultlessly. The sound company supplied four Wharfedale Titan 12s and this was the amplifier rack containing two Aual Audio amplifiers. Mixer is the standard Yamaha 16-channel mixer. It was a good night and we had many satisfied guests. I suppose that is what matters most.

New flightcase for my Yamaha Stagepas 500

I bought a new custom-made flightcase for my Yamaha Stagepas 500 speakers. I must say that the local flightcase company, Case Makers, did a very good job. I am very happy with the professionalism and the sturdy, well-made case that has come to adorn my rental room. On the left is my old flightcase, made by another manufacturer, that has seen better days and is now in a bad state of disrepair. The casters are in a bad state of dis-repair. Need to get some new casters for it at least. But if you want a good flightcase maker in Singapore, I wholly recommend Case Makers!

Phonic Road Gear 260 Plus

There are innovators and then their are those who, uh, adapt from the innovators. This time it is Phonic, a Taiwanese company that makes some pretty decent mixers. I should know…I had a mixer made by them and I used it for ten years without any problems. But I digress. The design above is a copy of the Fender Passport series. The Phonic Road Gear comes with a 260W (130W per channel) stereo power amplifier, an 8-channel powered mixer (four Mic/Line, two stereo) with phantom power and a speaker system with 1″ compression driver and 8″woofer. lots more info available on the link above but this is a summary. I have never heard them before but I dare say with a small speaker complement like this, looks like it should be able to handle small roadshows with no issues. Me? I will stick to my Yamaha!