Amplification revisited

captain54 · Post by **captain54** » Tue Mar 01, 2016 6:42 pm

Any ideas for amplification? Practice/rehearsal, not live. Using a cheap floor self powered monitor, and it's crap. Need something smaller and compact, budget priced. Ideas?

aron · Post by **aron** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:28 am

EV ZLX12p. Not sure of anything better for the price, although I have seen someone mention the Alto speakers. I have played through the EV many times, it is great.
The QSC KS8 etc... are awesome but $$$$

aron · Post by **aron** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:30 am

With band or without? If without, just plug into any self powered speakers - even the ones made for PC (sub+2 speakers)

captain54 · Post by **captain54** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:22 am

No band. Just a vdrum kit and an acoustic guitar or two thru amp. I'd use the pc speaker setup if I could figure out a way to mount them to the stand.

I've been looking at 8" alto's (pair), the yorkville's and the Pyle's

aron · Post by **aron** » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:39 am

I bet the Alto's would work fine. Even the Behringer speakers are ok. Two would sound pretty good.

Dragan · Post by **Dragan** » Sun Mar 06, 2016 1:14 pm

I am using a Roland Cube CM30, works perfectly for the Kross. It's also fine for other synths, drum machines and even guitars. Very compact & portable unit with recessed controls and handle but quite heavy, built like a military device. 3 instrument inputs, 2 of them stereo. 2 aux stereo inputs. Sounds best when mounted on a stand at head level.

I used (above average 2 way bass reflex) PC speakers before but compared to these the Cube sounds much better, more transparent & neutral. Bass is a little thin and sometimes (at heavy bass) there is some resonance, but nowhere near as bad as with the PC speakers. Resonance can be tweaked out with the built in 2 way EQ.

captain54 · Post by **captain54** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 7:33 am

Ok here's the deal. I found a Roland pm-10 at a good price for my V-drum kit. Sounds excellent with the V-drums. Blows away the cheap Kustom wedge powered monitor. Just for fun I plugged the KROSS into the PM-10 and it blew me away. Clear, sharp and plenty loud. I would assume the CUBE CM 30 would be similiar

The only thing missing with the PM-10 is the stereo. Yes you are plugging the summed stereo output into a line input, but I think the KROSS begs for true stereo playback.

So. Had a pair of Alesis M1 active Mark II near fields and ran the KROSS thru them. Now I'm hearing the KROSS as it should be. I used to think the KROSS Grand piano sucked. Not anymore. Stereo playback and hi fidelity monitors make you hear the KROSS in a different way.

My only problem now is that the bass response overwhelms the small room I'm in. The bass heavy synths and drums totally dominate thru these near fields. The dual 6" woofers with bass reflex blow an incredible amount of air out the ports.

So I guess if I wanted to get stereo playback on the cheap without this overwhelming bass response, I get another 10" Kustom powered wedge monitor. The richness of some of the strings, acoustic pianos and pads won't be there, but for lead synths and Rhodes and Wurly it sounds fine. Alto, Beringer, Pyle, Kustom, Carvin, Yorkville, etc..all the same. Typical PA. Loud but no fidelity, but out the door for less than $200 for stereo playback. OR..

When all is said and done, I have a hunch maybe a smaller set of nearfields without the overwhelming bass, more designed for a smaller room, like 5" Rokits might be the way to go.

Dragan · Post by **Dragan** » Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:07 am

captain54 wrote: My only problem now is that the bass response overwhelms the small room I'm in. The bass heavy synths and drums totally dominate thru these near fields. The dual 6" woofers with bass reflex blow an incredible amount of air out the ports.

Before getting the Roland Cube I tried some nearfields (Alesis) and have had exctly the same issue as you describe. Bass was way to dominant in those bass heavy patches. I found the Roland Cube gives the best overall performance for live play. If you want to work with bass heavy stuff the only way are good quality headphones!

korgkross61 · Post by **korgkross61** » Thu Jul 14, 2016 9:11 am

Hi, even I am wondering if my current setup of Korg Kross 61 paired with Koss UR40 headphones is good enough or should I also invest in speakers for practice/future studio application. Has anyone tried out Behringer MS16 or M-Audio AV42 or Numark NWave 360 ? I am from India and am looking for entry-level/cheap setup that will also serve future purpose of studio monitoring incase I get involved with DAW or just mastering a full song on PC recorded on Kross SD card.
Or else, is there a desktop PC speakers setup that works very well with Kross taking the input from headphones socket on keyboard to speakers ? I meant PC speakers like Creative/Philips/Logitech etc.etc.
I am in India and all this gear is terribly expensive. For example its 80-90 USD for Behringer MS16 speakers pair in the US with free shipping on AmazonUS, I think and the same stuff is like 10000 rupees plus in India, bad deal for me even if exchange rate of $1=70 Indian rupees is applied.
Can someone carry their Kross into the electronics megastore in the US and test it out with any of the above-mentioned brands/speaker models ? I would but we don't have stores like that(radioshack/circuitcity/best buy) in India where you can bring your Kross keyboard to test with PC/monitor speakers, we are a long way off regarding customer appreciation/engagement like that here in India and basically most times if you look at/touch anything in a showroom here, the salesperson is after you to buy it, very harrowing experience and I'm always under pressure. I could buy it on Amazon India but if somebody could help me out by testing the Kross with desktop PC speakers/multimedia speakers for at least output purposes in house environment I would appreciate that very much.

A site in India to get an idea of how expensive gear is here:-
https://www.bajaao.com/collections/moni ... ock?page=1

http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00KVEI ... B00X741TB0

studio99 · Post by **studio99** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:18 pm

I've had excellent experience with a Roland KC110.
It' stereo, compact, powerful and can be powered by 8 AA batteries as well as AC.
I liked mine so well I bought a second one for a spare!

Pat Leach

korgkross61 · Post by **korgkross61** » Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:55 pm

Hi, Roland KC110 is at least 35000 rupees in India, I was looking for something below $100 like maybe Behringer MS16/Mackie CR3 which are 80-90 dollars on Amazon and I would like to get something in that price range. All Roland gear is way too expensive in India and Korg original accessories like Pedals too. I bought my Kross 61 for 50000 rupees in India in June and that is about 700 dollars or lower in the US. I just wish I could find a cheap solution for practise at home, maybe a good pair of PC/desktop/multimedia speakers that work perfectly with the Kross 61 taking the output from headphone port to the 2/2.1 speakers.

Looking for something like this, budget-wise that is, assuming $1=70 indian rupees (local currency) it would be 50-odd US dollars or cheaper. Niche music gear is terribly expensive here in India.......

http://www.amazon.in/Kustom-Sound-Guita ... d4efe10a9f

Korg Forums

Amplification revisited

Amplification revisited

Amplification for Korg Kross 61

Amplifier for Kross

Roland KC110