Atomic CLR First Time at Rehearsal

elvis

elvis

Experienced
I have two Atomic CLR (one new, one not) left over from a long time ago when I used them with my Axe II. Fired them up at home with my FM9 to make sure everything worked. They sounded terrible bossy and dull, none of the clarity and balance I get from my studio monitors. I was very worried that even with an ad-hoc filter added at rehearsal that they would be... meh.

Fired them up at rehearsal, turned them up and MAGIC! They sounded great. Seems they need to have a bit of volume to get them to sound how they should sound.

NOTE: I created the FM9 presets with my studio monitors, which are FRFR by their nature. So not trying to compare headphone tone to FRFR.

ANOTHER NOTE: I did nothing special at rehearsal. Just turned them up. No added filters or other trickery. Had loads of clarity and punch. Almost too much. Seems that the tweeters do not match up to the low drivers at low volume.
 
Adam A7X. The CLRs are wedges, and have a setting for wedge with internal EQ. So they compensate first-order for backline vs tilt vs free field.

From the manual:
Preset Switch – Adjusts the frequency response of the amplifier to accommodate 3 different cabinet orientations while maintaining a flat response. The presets are: “FF” = Free Field – for when the cabinets are elevated off the floor like on a chair, pole mount or stand, “Tilt” – for when the cabinet is set up in the wedge position on the floor and “BL” – for when the cabinet is set up like a traditional guitar setup on the floor.

The point of the post is that the wedges on the floor sound VERY MUCH like my studio monitors once you put a bit of volume in them - even better, actually, because the guitar gets HUGE. At low volume the wedges sound pretty horrible.
 
The CLRs do sound good loud. I don’t have any issue getting a decent sound at moderate volume, though my presets are set up on them. I’m glad it’s working for you!
 
elvis said:
Adam A7X. The CLRs are wedges, and have a setting for wedge with internal EQ. So they compensate first-order for backline vs tilt vs free field.
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True, there’s switchable compensation... to a point.

elvis said:
The point of the post is that the wedges on the floor sound VERY MUCH like my studio monitors once you put a bit of volume in them - even better, actually, because the guitar gets HUGE. At low volume the wedges sound pretty horrible.
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To be fair, you didn’t just change the volume. You also changed the venue. At home, your wedges can’t help but be close to one or two wall/floor boundaries, in a small room. Rehearsal is usually a different story, with different resonances.

I totally agree that volume makes for a bigger, more lively sound. But at a given volume, I find that my CLR can keep up with studio monitors just fine, except in the sub-bass spectrum, where they’re not designed to live.
 
elvis said:
I have two Atomic CLR (one new, one not) left over from a long time ago when I used them with my Axe II. Fired them up at home with my FM9 to make sure everything worked. They sounded terrible bossy and dull, none of the clarity and balance I get from my studio monitors. I was very worried that even with an ad-hoc filter added at rehearsal that they would be... meh.

Fired them up at rehearsal, turned them up and MAGIC! They sounded great. Seems they need to have a bit of volume to get them to sound how they should sound.

NOTE: I created the FM9 presets with my studio monitors, which are FRFR by their nature. So not trying to compare headphone tone to FRFR.

ANOTHER NOTE: I did nothing special at rehearsal. Just turned them up. No added filters or other trickery. Had loads of clarity and punch. Almost too much. Seems that the tweeters do not match up to the low drivers at low volume.
Click to expand...
Good to read this. Just received in a trade a CLR that I owned years ago. Will be using it at a gig this weekend.
 
Bit of a long story here, but to make it brief; I will be getting to borrow an Atomic CLR for a long time. Which power supply does it use and do the CLR's take a XLR cable or 1/4" in the back? (FM9 to CLR cable?)
 
The Prophet 5150 said:
Hi, they accept either. I use a TRS - or an XLR - no difference.

It needs a standard IEC lead (kettle lead) like a normal guitar amp does :)
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Nice! I have a XLR to 1/4” TRS that I use to connect my mipro IEM to our board (XLR back of mipro to TRS (aux) at the board. That’s the same thing right? Just the XLR would be going into my fractal fm9?
 
I use a regular guitar cable with my CLR's when not running XLR's...I don't think they take a TRS cable.(I was wrong, keep reading)
I just looked this up and Jay Mitchell posted in another thread, "The 1/4" inputs on the CLR are balanced (TRS) jacks. Just as with the XLRs, you can send them an unbalanced signal."
Someone please help me understand the benefit of a TRS 1/4" since a CLR is mono.
 
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warlockII said:
I use a regular guitar cable with my CLR's when not running XLR's...I don't think they take a TRS cable.(I was wrong, keep reading)
I just looked this up and Jay Mitchell posted in another thread, "The 1/4" inputs on the CLR are balanced (TRS) jacks. Just as with the XLRs, you can send them an unbalanced signal."
Someone please help me understand the benefit of a TRS 1/4" since a CLR is mono.
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A balanced cord either XLR or TRS will reject 60 Hz hum and other electrical interference that could cause hum much better than unbalanced.
 
Ken Os said:
A balanced cord either XLR or TRS will reject 60 Hz hum and other electrical interference that could cause hum much better than unbalanced.
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To add a bit more information: TRS may be used for stereo. It may ALSO be used for BALANCED signaling. This is where the T and R have the same signal, but out-of-phase. They are subtracted at the end, which doubles the out-of-phase signal (signal - [-signal] = signal + signal), but reduces the noise picked up by the cable, as that is in-phase on the T and R (noise - noise = 0).
 
elvis said:
To add a bit more information: TRS may be used for stereo. It may ALSO be used for BALANCED signaling. This is where the T and R have the same signal, but out-of-phase. They are subtracted at the end, which doubles the out-of-phase signal (signal - [-signal] = signal + signal), but reduces the noise picked up by the cable, as that is in-phase on the T and R (noise - noise = 0).
Click to expand...
This is all beyond my knowledge. So XLR into FM9 and 1/4” TRS into atomic monitor will work fine?
 
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