FRFR tests at AXE-FEST WEST 2012

cobbler said:
He was just there over the weekend. You could have come to Axe Fest and fulfilled your dream all in one day.
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i live in europe, and just bought the axe fx II last month.had to argue a lot with my wife to make her anderstand i had to have it lol (seems womens are the same everywhere in the world lol) , so go to axe fest the month after would have been too much lol.
BTW i would have liked a lot to meet scott , cliff and a lot of you in "real" world !
 
I can see from the vids that Atomic was not part of the Axe FRFR line up....but did anyone see them at the amp show?
 
They weren't there. I was hoping to see them as well.

I realize that negative feed back can be a bad thing if your not trying to be constructive, so I wanted to follow up on my last posts. Its not my intention to just whine and bitch.

I've gotten some direction back with my own rig. I started by going back to my tube gear and swapping out some tube flavors. Getting exposed to the Marshall boutique amps blew me away. I've been chasing tone with a different animal and I wasn't shooting for the brown sound as of late. My Engl combo is certainly not a Marshall. My Engl power amp is more versatile but still not the same. I haven't been around many vintage Marshalls, and the ones I'd been up close didn't do much for me. That could have been for any number of reasons. Being in a bubble, I had drifted into a corner. Somewhere between firmware updates and being focused on clarity and punch, I'd lost flavor and character. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I got back and heard my rig in comparison. (both studio monitors and guitar cabs)

I was able to get some control by simply using the Friedman HBE preamp with the power amp and 2X12 slant. It took a lot of variables out of the equation and got me to a nice tone with little effort. I'm getting good response and character in my fingers, though I am far from an amazing player. I'm not thinking that the brown sound is it for me, but it is my frame of reference at the moment. I've already lost the initial feel for what I heard at the show because I've been amerced in my gear for a couple of days. The A/B thing is where its at compared to chasing tone through recordings and memory.

Now to tackle the power amp and cab sims. I've wowed myself with the Axe before, so I'm confident that I'll come up with something. It is an awesome unit....Lots to do.
 
Solarfire said:
How did these stack up to the RCF NX12 SMA?
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that is tough to say. This really falls into the personal preference category. Obviously Cliff chose the JBL's, Scott Peterson likes his RCF's. They are both exceptional. I think the RCF 10s were a diamond in the rough at the show. I am very happy with my Matrix CFR12's which fit my studio use very well. Tommy T has had a couple good years happily using his FBT Verve 12ma's. If I had to say anything about how I perceived the JBL SRX712m vs RCF NX12 was that I noted a slightly more crisp, tight or focused sound from the JBLs, and a smoother sound from the RCF NX12s. I believe these differences can be simply a matter of dialing in the single AXE II we used for all of the FRFR solutions to the individual speaker. In this case, using the stock presets, as we did, the AXE II was Pre-dialed to the JBLs which Cliff uses.

This was the purpose of having the in room FRFR Exhibition. On a side note, we (Axe Fest organizers) did not release the video being referenced. The comparison experience can only be a live experience. Never can this experience be had via recording as then the shoot out is that of, how well does the mic on the recording device recreate the shoot out?

Being in that room yielded a very good way to hear the speakers (aside from the very poor acoustics of the ball room environment which was equally poor for all speakers) I am not going to state my choice, because it is almost irrelevant. I know for a fact that I have some hearing loss on certain frequencies, as most all of us do. The cool thing at the room was that I did have a preference which is uniquely mine based upon how I heard things through my unique ears. I also know many of us chose different speakers, but that there was a clear most common choice in the RCFs and I will even say that many guys liked the tone from the 10's above that of the 12's which for some reason surprised my assumption. I think that the differing opinions may come down to our varying minor hearing losses in differing frequency ranges (I am surprised that nobody has mentioned this in this thread so far).

There will be another official Axefest in another US region in the not too distant future which will be announced once nailed down by the organizers. The best way to make a decision is to make every effort to use your ears. to the best of my knowledge Axe FEST is the only place where this type of side by side comparison has been possible - MY DEEPEST THANKS GO TO TOMMY TEQUILA FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE FOR US - YOU ROCK TOM! And his chops are we're way cool too!

Bottom line regarding your question. The RCF or JBL solutions are both exceptional. I could not imagine either of those not meeting your, or most users highest expectations.
 
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Well, I wouldn't say I *swear* by the Verves.:) They are just what I have and use while looking around for other solutions. Like any of the systems there, though, it is certainly possible to get good sound out of them.

My *personal* opinion was that I was a bit disappointed with the RCF 12" after all the excitement, and actually preferred the 10". The 12" seemed to have a little more high bass/low mids than I was expecting. The upper mid and top end was very smooth. Size and weight were excellent.

For my personal use, which 95% of the time is as a backline in small clubs, the RCF was also very directional, moving off axis to any real degree noticeably reduced the highs. Please keep in mind, though, that this speaker is designed as a floor monitor, and for that purpose the directionality would be a design goal and good thing.

I also liked the JBL's a lot, they've entered my short list of possible solutions (the RCF's are still there as well.) To my ear they had a bit more clarity and balance and might function better for my particular purposes. They aren't coaxial, though, which is a form factor I do like. Plus they need an amp.

*sigh* So many options. I must second what Kerrlehr (Kerry) said. The *ONLY* way to go is to listen to speakers yourself, in your situation and for your intended purpose. I bought the FBT's when they were all the rage here, now they are sort of regarded like lepers. Just goes to show...:)

TT

Btw, Kerry: You are very welcome! It was a blast.
 
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Guys, thanks for all the info and opinions. I have friends that own both the JBL SRX712 and the RCF NX12, so I may try to do an A/B compare soon.

One question I do have (as I keep reading about folks being impressed by the RCF 10's). How did the 10's hold up in regards to low end/thump? And even say when compared to a Verve 12ma. (I'm familiar with the Verve 12ma low end, so if anyone could give a comparison, it would serve as a good reference point for me). Thanks!
 
BBN said:
One question I do have (as I keep reading about folks being impressed by the RCF 10's). How did the 10's hold up in regards to low end/thump? And even say when compared to a Verve 12ma. (I'm familiar with the Verve 12ma low end, so if anyone could give a comparison, it would serve as a good reference point for me). Thanks!
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Good question. Several people have commented in passing that they liked the 10's, but most of them had more words to say about the other speakers. I'm particularly interested in whether the 10's, with their lower power, have the poop to hold up in a full-on band situation. Smaller is better, if you can get the performance you need.
 
I think the 10" RCF would hold up quite well as a monitor. If used as a backline, I'd probably want two of them. Low end was not an issue at all, but I'm not a drop-tune/chugga-chugga kind of guy either. Engaging the free-field switch while they were on the floor gave them a large bass boost, more so than the same switch on the 12", IMHO.

I think you don't see a lot of additional comments on them because they basically sounded the same as the 12", which is what surprised people.

TT
 
DieSchmalle said:
The Gear Page - View Single Post - Atomic Amps - "Coincident Linear Reference" Designed by Jay Mitchell!!!
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Holy cow 45 lbs each for passives and 50 lbs each for active. Two of these will be as heavy, or heavier with actives, then a Marshall 1960 4x12 which weighs in @ 90.4 lbs. - Well, I suppose they should reward your brawn with a solid sound.i also would assume that some guys would easily trade off heavy weight FRFR cabs for a "more" solid sound (if that proves to be the case) This FRFR comparison theory should almost have weight and size categories. These new Atomics are not going to win Matt's "Skinny Guy" test. But... At the end of the day, it's all about tone. Their price point is very good for us AXE users. Can't wait to hear them.
 
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