Electro-Voice PXM-12MP report

nostatic said:
boomy in the lows and harsh on the highs.
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That’s a symptom of setting the EQ at too low of a volume.

See Fletcher-Munson for more information:

When tweaking tone at low volume levels, a player often turns up treble and bass. This is what the "Loudness" switch on older home stereo systems did.

When the volume is turned up, those high and low frequencies get harsh and boomy. That guitar sound then competes with cymbals, and will lose. Also, the guitar competes with the bass guitar, and will lose.
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Greg Ferguson said:
That’s a symptom of setting the EQ at too low of a volume.

See Fletcher-Munson or more information:
Click to expand...

Sadly, I'm talking boomy and harsh at low volumes so not so much an FM curve issue. More I just don't like how the cab is presenting what's coming from the FM3. I like it fine with both other "make things louder" solutions I have at both low and higher volumes.
 
greiswig said:
My one remaining gripe with these speakers is part of the compromise EV had to make to create such a light cabinet. There is definitely a reason that many cabinets are made with 18-ply birch plywood, which is bloody heavy. I'm sure the panels on these PXM's is a fraction of that thickness, and probably MDF.

Anyway, there is some noticeable panel resonance that occurs, even at moderate volumes. I think the bottom is the primary culprit, since you can knock on it and hear a ring right around the area that I hear a boxiness in the response of the cabinet that is not present on my studio monitors...400Hz or so. There are also two side panels that rang pretty well when you struck them, too.

I quick trip to Home Despot to get some 3/8" dowel rod, and I fixed that issue.
View attachment 92759

Basically, I used a trick I've used on subwoofer cabinets I used to make, creating some scaffolding inside the speaker to counterbrace opposing panels and break up resonances...or at least push them higher in frequency and force a lot less amplitude.

I also added a little more batting in one corner. I'm very pleased with the results. I used to have to notch a bit at that 400Hz area, and now it sounds great without it. It seems to have a bit more oomph in the lows and low mids, too, but that could be imagination. In any case, it was a pretty easy modification with excellent results.
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Are you still happy with the EV's? I'm currently researching cabinets/monitors to use with my new FM9 for home/rehearsals/gigs. I'm coming from the tube amp world, so I'm trying to get something that would be similar. I realize you're never going to get 100% guitar cab thump and feel. A few years ago, I tried going the L6 Helix route. I tried a Headrush monitor and a Laney LFR 112 active cab. I was never happy with either. Maybe I just didn't give myself enough time to really dial them in. Something about the weird high frequency sound when the tweeter is separate from the main speaker. I see the EV is using a different coaxial speaker, which supposedly helps with this issue.
 
Ledvedder said:
Are you still happy with the EV's? I'm currently researching cabinets/monitors to use with my new FM9 for home/rehearsals/gigs. I'm coming from the tube amp world, so I'm trying to get something that would be similar. I realize you're never going to get 100% guitar cab thump and feel. A few years ago, I tried going the L6 Helix route. I tried a Headrush monitor and a Laney LFR 112 active cab. I was never happy with either. Maybe I just didn't give myself enough time to really dial them in. Something about the weird high frequency sound when the tweeter is separate from the main speaker. I see the EV is using a different coaxial speaker, which supposedly helps with this issue.
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I'm quite happy with them. Do they sound the same as my studio monitors or my guitar cabinets? No. Do they work well and are they loud enough? Definitely.
 
greiswig said:
No, I haven't. I have Yamaha DXR10s, I've had Atomic CLR's (Neo and non neo), and an RCF 12" coaxial. I prefer the EV, but you are still best off trying it yourself.
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My only problem is that I can't try them. I have no dealers nearby. I'd have to buy before trying.
 
Ledvedder said:
My only problem is that I can't try them. I have no dealers nearby. I'd have to buy before trying.
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The MF is pretty popular
Probably the best guy to ask would be Austin buddy he uses. Them or Marco himeself
The G66 distributors in Britain Sukh uses them
Cooper Carter has them so they have appeal with some of the top guys at Fractal which is a pretty solid endorsement
 
greiswig said:
My one remaining gripe with these speakers is part of the compromise EV had to make to create such a light cabinet. There is definitely a reason that many cabinets are made with 18-ply birch plywood, which is bloody heavy. I'm sure the panels on these PXM's is a fraction of that thickness, and probably MDF.

Anyway, there is some noticeable panel resonance that occurs, even at moderate volumes. I think the bottom is the primary culprit, since you can knock on it and hear a ring right around the area that I hear a boxiness in the response of the cabinet that is not present on my studio monitors...400Hz or so. There are also two side panels that rang pretty well when you struck them, too.

I quick trip to Home Despot to get some 3/8" dowel rod, and I fixed that issue.
View attachment 92759

Basically, I used a trick I've used on subwoofer cabinets I used to make, creating some scaffolding inside the speaker to counterbrace opposing panels and break up resonances...or at least push them higher in frequency and force a lot less amplitude.

I also added a little more batting in one corner. I'm very pleased with the results. I used to have to notch a bit at that 400Hz area, and now it sounds great without it. It seems to have a bit more oomph in the lows and low mids, too, but that could be imagination. In any case, it was a pretty easy modification with excellent results.
Click to expand...
How did you secure the dowel rod?
 
unix-guy said:
Probably hot glue...
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@unix-guy for the win. I wanted something that was easily reversible. It has held up fine, though. Basic concept is to cross-brace asymmetrically so you are not accidentally coupling modes or nodes. Easiest way to think about it is to avoid where you would try for harmonics on a string. ;) So not dead center, not 1/3, etc.
 
Tested my pair of PXM-12MP today for the first time at rehearsal. The OP should probably receive a comission for selling so many units.

I used it to amplify my FM3 that I play with a bass guitar.

TL;DR
I was expecting a lot and have to say I am impressed. Plenty of clean volume, great wide field, reasonably tight bottom end. Also small and light.

Somewhat long-ish
They're easily loud enough to keep up with a drummer, a guitar with a dual amplifier setup and two horns (ska, rock, polka, punk rock). Drummer did not want to like it but then complained that he had to admit it sounded very hi-fi.

Usually I play my FM3 without cab emulation via the line input of an Eich T-900 into two GK Neo 4x10s.
Compared to that setup, the PXMs sound like both standing relatively close to the box yet far away.
I like it a lot. More details than when standing far away, but the body of well sounding box that has some space so it can build up tone.

Of course there are limits. The GK Neos can easily be used to completely take the bass off the PA altogether. The PXMs won't carry a room.

The horn players mentioned they were missing some bass guitar. Kind of to be expected, the way we were set up.
I think this actually bodes well for a stage.

Differences between patches become more apparent on the PXMs than on the GKs. This I was expecting.

The guitarist mentioned while he did like the sound, the additional detail he could hear in my playing kept throwing him off a little.

I was surprised about the low-end these things can produce. Theres a 10 cm high second floor in our rehearsal space for parts of the room and usually I am on that second floor but my bass amp is not, it's a few meters away. These wedges I kept closer to me on the floor and it was nice to feel the floor shaking to the sound of my low e string. The GKs can make the whole room rattle. Don't think the PXMs will. But they're standing their ground quite nicely.


I tried with just one box at first, but quickly switched to two. Keep in mind my presets are not levelled hot like at all, the FM3 output dial was not at 100% and the PXM was at 0 dB and could go up, so overall there was quite some headroom left.
One box might work, if you're not super picky about not being able to blas tthe drummer away and level your presets correctly.

I am not sure yet whether this will be my permanent rehearsal setup or if I'll go back to using my FM3 + Eich + GK setup.
These monitors might make more of an impact overall if we use them for e.g. lead vocals and take some strain off of our regular monitoring rig and our singer.

I definitely will be using the PXMs (and only the PXMs) for stage. Maybe even just one of them, as that means I can carry my complete rig - bass, speakers, fm3, everything - by myself. Will be my choice for smaller and medium stages. Then again, these boxes are so small, might as well take two.

Oh, using these boxes for bass monitoring was a little bit of an afterthought. Originally I was looking to amplify a regular guitar for use in a different band. So now I have both a nice stereo guitar rig and a small, super-light, flexibel and great sounding bass live-rig.
 
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What is the issue that I'm listening for? I just got my EV and few days ago, so I'm wondering if it has this Distortion issue.
 

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