Axe FX II with EV ZLX-12P

J

JeffMN

Member
hi all - new user here. I'm a pretty busy 'bar band' guitarist, and have been through the ringer with amps / pedals / gizmos... and all the while, I've had a friend that has used an Axe for the past few years. he eventually converted to a FRFR setup. I tried his rig and was quite impressed... and so I ordered an Axe. I just got it, and am somewhat in a hurry to try it live to see if it works for me while still in the 'return' window. I've been researching FRFR monitors to use with it for awhile, and went to GC with the intention of buying a JBL PRX612M, having seen that in a demo on youtube. at the store however, I tried an EV ZLX-12P sitting right next to it and was even more impressed with that... never mind the fact that it was $300 cheaper. I made a quick video of this, I was so impressed with what I was able to do at midnight at my apartment with the stock 'Wrecker' (Bank A, preset 30) patch and just my guitar... and not even come close to bothering my neighbors! I am playing a gig with this setup tonight (with just this one patch!) and am hoping it sounds as good as it does at home! yep, I like to live dangerously... :) anyone else dig this patch? I'm amazed how touch sensitive it is.

 
I bought a EV ZLX 15 P - they did not have a 12 available . I have been very impressed so far + I saved a good chunk of change over the more popular frfr options .
 
Timely thread. I know that some of the initial batch of these had some issues (cable rubbing on speaker cone or something)? But they seem like they have figured that out and I'm in (almost) desperate need of TWO -- one as my dedicated FRFR at live band gigs and 2 as mains for acoustic duo gigs that I'm starting to book.
Can these cut it???

EDIT: Nice playing! :p
 
More More!!

;-) Can i ask how you set the DSP? I understand there are different modes on the thing. The last (and only) was super boomy on the lows which really put me off. I'd like something that sounds good like the CLR without the need for massive tweaking.

What did you record the vid on?

Sounds great. How where the highs in the room, the lows etc..

inquiring minds want to know... ;-)
 
thanks for checking it out, guys. I recorded this with my iPhone 5 sitting on my coffee table... hence the complete lack of visual content. :) the horn in the monitor is said to have different dispersion characteristics when sitting upright (90 degrees) and laying down (60 degrees) if I remember right. so yes, it's somewhat directional when you are close to it. however, I was playing with a 20 foot cable at GC and walked away from it a bit and it sounded fantastic. seriously, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I think I had the DSP set to 'Music' here. I also changed the 'Sub' value to 80Hz to roll off a little of the low end. to my ears, it always seems like modelers are boomy, to a certain extent. I suppose I could / should do the rolloff in the Axe instead, but I just haven't tweaked it at all yet... I've only had the Axe out of the box for a couple of days, and this is just the stock patch in v10.09. everybody's ears are different - but this thing sounds so good to me and is PLENTY loud. holy CRAP loud. :shock I really hope it translates well with the band on stage tonight. if it does, then I'm in with both feet! I'd love to get another one for stereo. :eek: and yeah - for the cost, I'd have a full stereo setup for less than some other FRFR options out there.

I also read about the recall and the vibrating sound that some complained about. the store model I was using had no vibrating sound that I could hear - it was just pure, plain power. what you saw in the video was the first 5 minutes of me having mine powered on. I'm going to have a bit of time today before I head to my gig tonight, so I'll crank it a little and record that too. I don't anticipate any problems though, as this one was manufactured in May - and the recall I think was issued earlier in May, before the date on mine.
 
I set the DSP to " stage " and actually rolled off the treble a bit and kept the bass flat 0.0 db
I have the 15P even , and find the highs to be quite clear . I find the axefx to be to trebly at times , different ears , so I generaly tend to boost the bass in my patches .
BTW crappy You Tube videos through the EV still sound like crappy You Tube vidoes but if I play a CD or a decent audio source through it using axefx sound card / computer ,The EV ZLX sounded very hi fi and yeah Holy Crap LOUD .
 
I had the EV ELX112P version as personal FRFR and it was pretty nice. Compared to the RCF nx12sma and Atomic CLR it could not hang, but it was definitely usable and I think 2 as mains for acoustic would be sick.
I like what I have heard on the ZLX112P and apparently they are cheaper, lighter but the DSP might be better so these interest me a lot. I will have to go to GC to check them out first hand.
 
goodkungfu said:
Hows the weight and portability?

Nice coffee table by the way.. ;-)
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I have the 15 P so it might be bigger than the OPs 12 but it has nice handles - I guess it weighs about 40 -45 lbs . It would not fit in the trunk of my car because the opening is small . but went in the front seat nicely for the ride home .
 
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goodkungfu said:
Hows the weight and portability?

Nice coffee table by the way.. ;-)
Click to expand...

the data sheet specifies 38 pounds - I won't argue with that, to me it's very light and very easy to maneuver around. this is the polypropylene case model, there's a wood box model (ELX112P) as well that's pretty light. it was $200 more than the ZLX I bought, and I didn't hear much of a difference. the ZLX has much more flexibility with the DSP as well. they are both rated 1,000 watts.

something else I noticed about the EVs vs the JBL that I originally was interested in... the EVs tilt back (in 'monitor' position) more than the JBLs. the JBL seemed like you would have to stand 10 feet back from it to have it pointing at your face in the same manner that the EV did when you were standing within a couple of feet. I don't prefer my guitar right in my ear, but my vocal I like to hear loud and clear. :) just something I noticed between the two models.

I'll try and get another clip up this afternoon with a little louder volume. I have a gig tonight, maybe I can convince a friend to take some video from the room. it's a house gig at a small bar, so we only run vocal mics... should be interesting to see how well it balances with everything else going on in the room. I'm looking forward to it already! come on 5:00... ;)
 
goodkungfu said:
thanks you guys.. I'm on the CLR wait list but am in Canada so the price just keeps going up ...;-)
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at present, I'm on the list as well. honestly, if these pan out for my purposes I will just stick with them. I played through a friend's CLR and yes - it sounded great. but this thing definitely holds its own. I think the CLR did a better job of dispersing the horn frequencies, but that's not a deal breaker for me. I don't expect 'just like the guitar amp' tones from these, as I'm only using them for stage monitoring. and whatever sounds good to my ear and inspires me, makes me a better player. mission accomplished! :)
 
I'll add to this, since I just had a pair of the ZLX-12p's delivered yesterday and spent a few hours at home with them at various levels. I should note that I'm not currently in a band and mainly play at home through a pair of Yamaha HS80 monitors, so I just needed an affordable set up for the occasional jam session.

First the not so good.... Seems like one of the units has a nasty buzz/vibration heard only when cranked pretty loud and brought about by chugging on the E string. This seems to be the same issue that Zentman noted in another thread, and I don't believe it is just the wire recall issue. It is coming from somewhere inside the back panel. I tried to dampen the panel with my hand while hitting the E string, but I wasn't able to eliminate the buzz, so it must be something resonating internally. I like these speakers, so I will be getting in touch with EV to see if I can easily do a local repair or if I should just exchange where I bought it. The other unit is fine, so I'm not concerned. I could probably open it up and fix it myself easily, but I'd rather not tinker with a brand new speaker and potentially void warranty.

Now that the negative is out of the way, I must say that I am very impressed with the sound quality and bang for the buck on these. I find that factory and personal patches translated very well with only minor adjustments to the low-end, which is probably more my room than anything else. I have these on the floor, so I set the location to "monitor." For guitar, I put them in "live" mode which sounded great and still had plenty of bottom end. If I were using them in a live monitoring situation, I'd probably roll off a few more dB on the lows, just to avoid any mud and help them cut even better on stage. I also put them in "music" mode and tested them out with a variety of music and they sounded killer....great clarity without ripping my ears with shrill highs. My wife and kid were out for the evening, so I turned these up louder and longer than I should have and was surprised and impressed at how little ear fatigue they inflicted on me. I really have no complaints about sound quality, other than they might not push quite as loud as some other options, but they sound great at volume and I honestly can't imagine doing any better at this price point. I probably didn't crank every last decibel out of these either, but I did have the input levels optimized and the master output at 0dB at one point. They go to +10dB, but I'm not sure how much of that is usable with correct gain staging.

In addition to the sound, I have to say I love the built-in DSP. The EQ modes are a nice-to-have, since we already have great EQ options in the AxeFx, but the metering was really handy for setting ideal input levels. Much better than guessing or looking at a clip light to see if you're clipping the inputs.

Though I'm curious to hear the more expensive coaxial options, I'm more than fine with these for my current needs (once I get that annoying buzz sorted out).
 
I checked these out not long ago against the JBL PRX612M. The JBL sounded better to me but cost twice as much. The JBL didn't distort, was more natural sounding, and you could hear it more evenly when walking round the room. The EV sounded good enough to use for sure, but was not quite as loud as the JBL and they distorted a bit if you cranked them too much. The EV sounded terrible at first because someone had set the DSP on the back for rap or something. All boomy bass. I had the sale guy set everything flat and then they sounded good. The EV did not fill the room evenly. A pair of them on poles about 15 feet apart at face level sounded great standing in between them, and up to about 10 ft to either side. After that it was like you put your hands over your ears. Not so for the JBL. They sounded good most anywhere in the room.

If I was trying to fill the room with them as a back line I wouldn't buy them. I'd buy the JBL instead. Then again you could buy 4 of them for about the price of two of the JBLs. If I was only trying to hear myself on stage I'd definitely consider them. Great value. They sounded real good as long as you didn't run them too loud.
 
Just wanted to add-on to my earlier comments...

EV is recommending I just get an exchange for the buzzing unit where I bought it. Before I exchange anything, I'm going to put these through a bit more testing to make sure I definitely want the ZLX.

In subsequent testing, the buzz has diminished greatly, so it might be related to where it was positioned and/or maybe some vibrating controls on the control panel. In addition to this potential minor issue, the other monitor has a different issue....occasionally when it is first powered on, it doesn't make any sound. Another power cycle seems to always fix the issue and it seems fine once it's up and running, but this has me a bit concerned. Based on the meters, it seems to be sensing the input signal, so it's probably just some firmware glitch, however the other unit doesn't seem to have the issue.

Other than these issues, which can likely be solved with an exchange, I'm debating whether these have enough power. I concur with earlier remarks that these would be well suited for personal stage monitoring, but probably not ideal for a backline other than smaller, lower volume situations. While they get plenty loud if pushed to the limit, I'd be concerned about not having any additional headroom, particularly if I end up in a volume war with a guitarist with a tube amp. While I much prefer reasonable stage volumes and always wear hearing protection, I'm realistic and know that situations do arise where it is nice to have extra volume on tap. While the EV's smooth highs may be throwing off my sense of volume a bit, they're not loud enough to drive me out of the small room I have them in my house. Other amps and powered speakers have definitely had the ability to drive me out of my house screaming before even reaching the peak output. I'm kind of surprised that 1000watts can do that, but I suppose the driver is pretty inefficient. I'd be curious how these match up with the ELX112p volume-wise.

I'm going to continue testing this week to make up my mind before either doing an exchange or just a return. I still need to dial in some presets for loud volumes, as I need to make sure I'm cutting enough lows at the source to allow for the mids to really cut well. I guess I'll see how they fare with better patches.

I'd love to hear any other ZLX owner observations too.
 
I ended up exchanging them for another pair of the zlx12p which have not exhibited any of the issues I mentioned earlier. I still have them and think they are great bang for the buck. If you get them, just make sure to fully test to make sure there aren't any issues.
 
mitch said:
I'm kind of surprised that 1000watts can do that
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These are not 1000watts - its approx. 200W for low (class D) and 38W for high freq. (Class A/B - done by a TDA3886 IC ) - I was very suprised they didn't mention this in their data sheets...... They're very good sounding budget priced active speakers, but I'm disagree with this new method of selling "calculated power specs", not just by EV (also by most other major companies) - this is just worthy for the sort of clients who just buy stuff because of the power ratings.....

...
 
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Just bought a pair of ZLX12P. No issues with rattle, so I'm happy about that.

Sound is unbelievable for the price. But I have a couple of questions for other ZLX users...

- What do you set the bass to? I have it wound down to -10dB in my little practice room. More than that and it sounds boomy and boxy.
- Is anyone else finding ringing in the ears after using them for a while? If so, how did you fix it?
 
lauries2 said:
Just bought a pair of ZLX12P. No issues with rattle, so I'm happy about that.

Sound is unbelievable for the price. But I have a couple of questions for other ZLX users...

- What do you set the bass to? I have it wound down to -10dB in my little practice room. More than that and it sounds boomy and boxy.
- Is anyone else finding ringing in the ears after using them for a while? If so, how did you fix it?
Click to expand...

That's really dependent on the room you're in. Where are your zlx placed and what settings are you using? Mine are typically on the floor, so I use the monitor setting and I also use the live mode, as music and club modes have too much low end. I dial out some low end too, but prefer to do it within the Axe-Fx eq, rather than the zlx. I don't get any ringing in the ears at reasonable volumes...I actually find them less harsh than some other monitors.
 
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