Alto TS112A vs. EV ELX112P

C

Chris Hurley

Power User
I'm going to kick off my comparison- the Alto came in today. Compared head to head at low volumes with the EV, the Alto seems to have a more neutral low end. I'm on carpeted concrete- I shouldn't have coupling on concrete should I?

Hoping to be able to crank this up in an hour or so. :)
 
I don't know if these generalized, uneducated, subjective comments will be worth much to people but here they are. I don't know how to tell which cabinet is actually flatter. If anyone can suggest something useful that can be done with the Behringer reference mic in this regard, I have one.

At moderate and high volume levels or commercial music, the Alto seems to have more forward midrange compared to the EV. The EV lows may be exaggerated a little bit while the Alto highs may be subdued a bit.

In switching back and forth with recorded tracks, neither cabinet sounds particularly harsh or fatiguing but the EV sounds "richer"- even against the alto with the "contour" switch engaged. This is with the EV set to flat/full range. The alto sounded fine to me but the EV just sounded more detailed.

I hadn't previously gotten on well with the EV for axe-II use. I spent a while working with IR's on the Alto and found it easier to tolerate than my past efforts with the EV. I suspect that the higher crossover means that more of the sound is being produced by the woofer and maybe that helps but it could just be mental silliness. While I didn't "love" any of the IR's I tried, I was able to play without feeling the urge to just quit and throw the monitors in the trash like previous times.

The surprise for me was when I switched back to the EV and this time it was workable. My buddy and I both thought the EV sounded somewhat better than the Alto- a little smoother perhaps. In listening to music, the Alto seemed to have more obvious midrange and perhaps this makes it sound a bit more "forward" with the axe-fx.

Both units have dual inputs so that they can perform a basic mixing duty. While the alto just has a level control for each input, the EV also has an overall level control. The alto has a built-in fan while the EV does not.

One thing that always bugs me playing guitar direct is the sense of a "metallic" overtone compared to guitar cabs. I don't really know how to explain that and I doubt I could illustrate it in a recording. I don't know if anyone out there could relate to the "metallic" or "hard" description but if anyone has a suggestion for reducing that, please feel free.

If anyone has questions or suggestions in general, let me know. I'm not sure if I'm going to pick up the second Alto and/or return the EV yet.
 
you can run white/pink noise thru them, and pick up the sound with a neutral mic/preamp and then run that feed thru a spectrum analyzer to see which is flatter

you can also run a well known mix/song thru both (if you're familiar with it thru reference monitors) and see which sounds better to you.

Also, remember that 'easier to tweak on' might not mean flatter, in case that ends up being a deciding factor in which you decide to keep.
 
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Alright- finally getting some IR's that I am halfway enjoying. The alto seems to be doing acceptably well too. I spent all my time with it today and none with the EV but I will compare them more soon.

Efforts to make an IR of my normal cabs haven't worked too well so far. They obviously work but the result doesn't sound like playing that cab.

edit: Aw, man. Someone bought the other used Alto that Guitar Center had before I could. :)
 
One of the reasons I wanted to try full range was so I could play backing tracks or jam with music through my rig- that works pretty well. I've been listening to tunes over the USB connection all day. I've got a dual rig at the moment with my 1x12 underneath my FR cabinet. Finally getting some IR's working too..
 
I got a TS110A yesterday and the very preliminary impression is that it is very similar to the 112 in terms of overall sound. I want to say that the low end is diminished a little bit as you would expect but that could partially be because that is what I expect. Looking forward to running the AxeII through it today.
 
Still liking both the TS112A and TS110a. I prefer the former by more than a little but the latter is workable and at least doesn't hurt me to hear it.

I'm sure that the $1500+ monitors will slay these things but I'd recommend 'em if someone is looking for something in the lower price range. Wish I still had the EV to compare to it.
 
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