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Anyone with battery powered PA experience...
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mosc
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:16 pm    Post subject: Anyone with battery powered PA experience... Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Anyone other there in electro-land have any experience with running a battery powered PA system. On another thread the topic came up about performing as at street musician.

Is this possible with a synth setup?

Anyone have any ideas?
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I have played both using petrol powered generators and a "portable" battery rig. The engine powered thingie did make some serious noise, but we moved it around a corner and then it was pretty much ignorable.
The battery rig consisted of a cart with 3 truck batteries and a DC to AC converter. The cart was pretty immense and heavy. The rig had a calculator/power drain thingie. The PA was a 2 X 300 Watt amp, a 24channel mixer and two big speakers. It took some careful thinking before we managed to set it up so the sound was decent. 2X300 was probably way to little juice.. but it depends on where you will be playing. I also used the same rig inside a cave and that worked fine.
The battery rig was hired.

Modern petrol or diesel generators are far less noisy these days and I guess such a setup is more efficient and inexpensive.

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mosc
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Sounds pretty heavy duty - 2 X 300 watts. For street playing, maybe a really large boom box might work. thinking

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elektro80
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Nah.. it was a bit on the weak side.. but we might have played a bit loud...
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seraph
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.
have you seen the Fender Passport Question
I have tried it but not battery operated. It's neither the best nor the worst but it delivers what it's supposed to do.
P.S.
the singer is not included Shocked

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paul e.



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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

i like this one

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.


party time on the golf course ?

nice painted background tho heheh

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seraph
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

paul aka sudden wrote:
party time on the golf course ?
the best of both worlds Very Happy Question Shocked
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paul e.



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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Very Happy
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ian-s



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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Consider car audio, it is inexpensive and because it is designed for 12V, doesn’t have the additional power loss caused by the 12V->110V->Amp route. You will still need an inverter for the G2 or whatever. You could assemble the whole thing, including sub sat speakers, on a hand truck (which also doubles as a keyboard stand). With a couple of car batteries you should get 1-2 hours playing per charge. And also be able to make a quick getaway Laughing .

Your local car audio shop could put the whole thing together if your not into DIY.
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mosc
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Good suggestions...
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egw
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I think boat batteries are better than car batteries. They are designed for "deep discharge."
There is alot of info about battery operated rigs somewhere on the burning man site.
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mosc
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

For a street setup, I would need a lot of power, but stereo would be very desireable.

Hee hee, I couldn't put of a sign saying I'm a music student, but I could ask people to support my retirement. Wink
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

You can handle the "power" bit in several ways. One way is to actually build your own PA speakers in order to make the design very power efficient and with a high power handling. You will need a decent PA amp anyway. You must plan how where to use them though.. and ..will you need monitoring or not? Obviously using a wall behind the speakers will improve directionality and bass.
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

NAD had some inexpensive stereo power amps like 15 years ago. Those could be bridged, giving you approx. 2 X 800 watts at 8 ohms.. and with very decent low impedance power handling too. I guess those amps or similar can be had for little money secondhand these days. Car stereo monster amps can be OK too.

If you decide not to go for stereo, then you should focus on a point source setup. I think there are some pro sound reinforcement websites out there with FAQs on this.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Opps... I meant I don't think I need a lot of power. Left out the word NOT. doh

Street musicians aren't playing for big audiences. The speakers need to be small too, so I can lug them around without need of a road crew.
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

...uh.. this is not the megamonster battery powered global tour??? Shocked
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

elektro80 wrote:
.not the megamonster battery powered global tour??? Shocked

Maybe I could use some head phones and let people listen for a minute. Wink
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bleep



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Has anyone tried one of those portable solar panels? They seem to be relatively cheap and claim they can power a laptop. I was considering doing a laptop busking session using one of those solar panels...

Do you know if something like that could power a small amp or a boombox?

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jkn



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Matthew Florianz has an album with a few other folks where they recorded the entire thing outdoors using car batteries.

http://www.matthewflorianz.com/albums_openstage.html

I thought there used to be more on how they did it on the website - however, I might be thinking of some forum posts from him.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

mosc wrote:
For a street setup, I would need a lot of power, but stereo would be very desireable.


I agree, BUT in a live setting I've started letting my stereo rig (Soundcraft Spirit mixer, TC M300 reverb, JBL EON speakers) run more or less in mono, except for the odd multi-tap delay. I pan all instruments dead centre, maybe spreding the toms 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock. At a gig, most punters are far away from the sweet spot, thus making stereo not only less effective but actually sometimes counter-productive.
Mind you, I really LOOOOVE those lush stereo pads, reverbs, choruses (chori?) and so on. Cool

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elektro80
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

The best effifiency is of course obtained with setting up the PA as a line source/ point source rig. Bose has their own take on this.. check out the PA section at http://www.bose.com

...but I love stereo too..

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Oskar



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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Boat batteries look like a good bet, but I also feel that modern petrol- or diesel generators have a more acceptable noise level. There's been some professionally ethnic Andes Indians vending their wares and their music - horrible, anaemic pan pipe music backed by MIDI files on a Roland D110 or similar. ANYWAY, they use a pretty big PA powered by a little generator. Acceptable noise level, and enough juice is provided to power a quite loud sound system. To sum it up: Me, I'd go with either a generator- or a boat battery solution.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

A diesel/petrol generator will probably be the most cost efficient solution.

I have heard those pan-dians. They were pretty impossible to ignore.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Wow, those Andes Indians are in Norway too? They are all over the US. Their must be a franchise in Andes street music setups. Maybe the Kentucky Fried Chicken people decided to branch out into other areas. Shocked Laughing
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2004 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Yup... sure.. and there is one specific crew which has been working Norway since 1982.
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