Atomic FR vs QSC K10?

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Necrophagist777

Member
I'm debating whether to get an atomic fr or QSC K10 for my needs. I have played a few Atomic Fr's at Tone Merchants and absolutely was floored by the tone. But I also want a fairly transparent sound so that what I'm hearing is the same sound the audience is hearing through FOH and that I won't need to constantly tweak tones when direct recording. I also want something that has enough volume on its own, I play a lot of genres but I do like my heavy music, so something that can cut over a powerful drummer doing blasts at 200bpm and still fill up a small room with sound would be great.

I really love the "real" sound and feel of the atomic fr's though, it just feels right when playing it. I'm not sure if the lack of a guitar centric design and tubes will cause the QSC to fall short in comparison. But I still want the tonal quality to be fairly neutral so that I'm not constantly changing my eq etc for different applications/direct recording. I'm wondering what are some of the pros and cons with people who have had experience with both?

Thanks for the help!
 
We've started using in-ears with our band and this way you don't need any speaker system at all. I do have a guitar cab which I'm still using but don't know what I'll do in live situations yet. In-ears are way cheaper than speaker systems. If you want to hear exactly the same thing that the audience is hearing, this is what you need:

http://www.thomann.de/fi/cordial_adapte ... klinke.htm <--- this to get stereo signal out of your Axe-Fx
http://www.thomann.de/fi/the_tbone_ep_4.htm <--- these to all of the guys who want to take part of the in-ear system

And you might need a cheap mixer that you can you can plug all the in-ears to.

Usually LOUD drummers have unmatched cymbals. This means that some of them are quiet and some of them are loud which is why they hit their drums so hard that they can hear everything they are playing. My drummer plays way better now that we're using in-ears. (Better meaning that he has dynamics in his playing and doesn't use all of his strength hitting too hard) We're micing his kick and one mic picks up all the cymbals. Also he switched to all Sabian AAX cymbals so every cymbal is equally loud. The point here is that I can hear what he's playing in "CD-quality"... I also hear what our main guitarist and bassist are playing and I hear the notes too which is very important to me since I'm singing. Also hear myself a lot better. :)

Try it if you can.
 
I had the Atomic FR and have a QSC K12.

I thought the tone of the Atomic was very good and it did have a little extra bit of mojo, likely from the tubes, but at home I could crank it till I got power tube saturation (not a good thing) and thought this is all this thing can do? It also seemed to me that all the high end from about 8k-10k and up were just completely shelved out of the Atomic's response. Music played through it seemed darker, even with messing with the tweeter control, and once I put my vocals through it I knew something had to be up with this because they sounded terrible to my ears (more terrible than usual anyways) and just muddy and boomy. Up off the ground it sounded thin and sterile to me.

So I took it to one rehearsal and I couldn't even hear it. Sitting on the floor it just got completely eaten alive from the other instruments. I don't care how much better it sounds or feels, if I can't even hear it then why bother. That was the end of my Atomic experience.

The K12 is great all around for vocals, music, and there is a slightly less organic feel than the Atomic had but I can hear it at rehearsal and it sounds very good. It is much better than the HPR122i for Axe use. It is tight, punchy, and it has a very clear high end until you get 8 or so feet from the box. As you move further away it does start to get a little less clear and more midrangey. But when you add in the other options like all the ins and outs, the wedge position option, and the versatility I think it is great - not to mention it was about $150 less than the Atomic if you shop around. I would still like to try some higher end solutions at some point but for now I am happy with it and don't know of any other box that would be a better option for me.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. The K10 is sounding great.

@Clark I definitely will get in ears at some point in the future but for my practicing/jamming needs right now it's not worth it. Plus I like a little bit of air to be pushed around for fun :D
 
Hey Necro, if you're in SoCal and want to check out some K10's let me know. I've got an Ultra with 2 K10s you could come over and crank it up if you want to get an idea of how it sounds.


orb.........
 
Thanks for the offer Orb, I'm in socal. I live in Indio, not sure how far away that is from you, I might take you up on that offer. Another question for K10 owners, how does it sound at low volumes, I'm not talking super low but something comparable to say a 100 w tube head with the master on 3.
 
You're welcome, I'm over in Long Beach, which by the looks of google maps is about 90+ miles from you. If you're still interested at some point, hit me up with a PM.
 
Necrophagist777 said:
Thanks for the offer Orb, I'm in socal. I live in Indio, not sure how far away that is from you, I might take you up on that offer. Another question for K10 owners, how does it sound at low volumes, I'm not talking super low but something comparable to say a 100 w tube head with the master on 3.
Click to expand...

If that's "low volume", I doubt the Atomic will cut it for you. A 100 watt master volume amp on 3 is louder than my band would ever be. I have 2 atomics running in stereo for home use - there is a good bit of directionality (is that a word? :) ) involved. They definitely sound best tilted back and pointed at my head. Based on Ringleader's comments above, last night I ran a few tunes from Back in Black through the Atomics. I thought it sounded quite good - the upper frequencies and vocals were reproduced nicely. Keep in mind I'm not an audiophile and I don't have a calibrated flat reference system to compare as a standard.
My impression of the Fratomics is they are great if you want to use them to give yourself some stage volume, and they are wonderful for tweaking presets, which is the main thing I use them for. If you are in a LOUD band they are probably not going to cut it on their own if you are using them as your sole source of amplification for gigs, or expect your drummer to hear it at practice without using a monitor. IMO, yadda, yadda.


Kevin
 
Thanks KG, that helps me even more. I normally play at home around 2.5 or 3 on the master of my XXX with the channel volume around 8 or 9. And when I jam with my drummer friend (his kit is the loudest I have ever heard) I normally have the master around 6 or 6.5. So I think obviously that just one Atomic ain't gonna cut it. I'm still wondering how the K10 does at lowish volumes. Is it just too powerful for non gig/jam use or does it sound good at low volumes as well?
 
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