Just bought some EV PXM - 12MP’s

Scooterjohn said:
I'd like to hear your thoughts on them when you try them out.
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I haven't had a chance to let it kick yet at band practice yet.

What I can say for sure, yes it's surprisingly light and easy to move!
The interface is easy to use.

At low volumes it sounds clean and clear. No noise, no hiss or hum.
Monitor2 is indeed a chunk more bass than Monitor1.
Monitor1 is what I expect to use at higher volumes.
 
FPFL said:
Monitor2 is indeed a chunk more bass than Monitor1.
Monitor1 is what I expect to use at higher volumes.
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If you look at the frequency graph of the various modes, Monitor 1 is scooped and Monitor 2 is flat.

For use as a vocal monitor Monitor 1 is probably the better choice. For FRFR, Monitor 2 is because we want “flat-response”.

This is where it gets tricky and you’ll need to experiment to find your happy place …
  • If you are playing/auditioning the speaker at reduced volume then I can see why Monitor 1 would be more appealing, because it’s actually countering the Fletcher-Munson affect a bit and boosting the lows and highs in relation to the mids so it sounds better, kind of like a loudness control… until you get to stage volume then the sound will become boomy and piercing because of Monitor 1 cutting the mids/boosting lows and highs.
  • The Monitor 2 setting comes into its own at stage volume because it’s flatter leaving everything balanced, and because it’s ~90dB Fletcher-Munson’s effect is reduced.
My workflow is: I keep mine on Monitor 2 and adjust my rig using good headphones at home that I know does a good job reproducing the sound of the monitors. I trust the system to work, so when I set up I make minor adjustments with the global EQ of my monitor feed to adjust for the monitor’s position on the stage, lows below 100Hz by 6dB to counter speaker mode mostly or stage rattle because of lousy stage construction, then I only make minor changes for a song or two, then I’m happy. YMMV.

I can see where toggling the Monitor 1 setting at home at low volume for the “loudness” compensation, then going to Monitor 2 on stage at stage volume, might work but for me there’s too many opportunities for error.

Experiment, tell us your thoughts, and we all learn.
 
Thank you Greg. I appreciate your experience sharing. I've not tried either at high decibels yet so I was only suspecting on 1 vs 2.
I'll bet your advice is well taken and I'll try that when I'm next to real live drums.

I suspect that my patches as is are too bassy for this good FRFR and I need to redial them.
I am 100% open to that, as changing speakers is the single biggest "tone" change you can make IME.
 
FPFL said:
I'll try that when I'm next to real live drums.
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The nice thing is even a single PXM can hang with a loud drummer in my experience. They're designed for those situations.

FPFL said:
I suspect that my patches as is are too bassy for this good FRFR and I need to redial them.
I am 100% open to that, as changing speakers is the single biggest "tone" change you can make IME.
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I have my Amp block's tone controls in my Global Performance page, along with Gain and Master Volume and the Reverb Level controls because, at least in my mind, those are the things that'll affect the clarify of a preset on stage the most. I also have the global Input or Gain in there too to let me adjust for pickup differences. I don't have to touch the Amp controls very often, but I often get too much Reverb on stage; It sounds right in the headphones but live I don't like it.

It's all a learning experience. If we didn't want that we'd have bought some other brand's modeler. :)
 
Not sure if it's me or the PXM but to me at high volumes all presets sound the same. We have a tiny practice space and an insanely loud drummer that has just an on/off button, no volume control. And everything above crunch sounds leads to uncontrollable guitar feedback. I might go over-ear to protect myself and get better results, can't fix it for the entire band. There seem to be limits to classic monitoring.
 
Scooterjohn said:
You prefer to put them behind you like a guitar amp, rather than in front like a traditional monitor? I was thinking of getting them for in front...for less volume heading to the audience (and I wouldn't have to hear my guitar through a regular monitor, which I hate).
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There's no reason putting them in front of you won't work - I think a lot of us are just conditioned from years of having an amp behind us that it just 'feels right' lol Also if you're using to carry the room, it kills two birds.
 
Scooterjohn said:
You prefer to put them behind you like a guitar amp, rather than in front like a traditional monitor? I was thinking of getting them for in front...for less volume heading to the audience (and I wouldn't have to hear my guitar through a regular monitor, which I hate).
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Monitors are monitors, and their positioning is flexible depending on the direction you want the sound coming from. I usually have mine behind me, because they're acting as my backline, and because the front of the stage often has some horn players in front or to the side of me and their monitor is in front of them… small stages you know.

I wouldn't be adverse to having them in front of me or to the side either though. I just want them close enough that they'll shake the guitar strings and so I can hear them.
 
ChristThePhone said:
Not sure if it's me or the PXM but to me at high volumes all presets sound the same. We have a tiny practice space and an insanely loud drummer that has just an on/off button, no volume control. And everything above crunch sounds leads to uncontrollable guitar feedback. I might go over-ear to protect myself and get better results, can't fix it for the entire band. There seem to be limits to classic monitoring.
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What style of music are you playing?

If the gain or volume is too high, in a small space your guitar will be hit with a lot of acoustic feedback driving the gain even higher and turning the sound into mush. In a large(r) room the volume has somewhere to go which doesn't result in as much acoustic feedback so the gain isn't as high and the presets will sound more like you intend. I play blues and rock and some jazz, and found I had to reduce my gain. What sounded good at home and with headphones was way too hot at stage volume.

IEMs will help tame the acoustic feedback, but the overall guitar+amp sound will become a bit thinner and you'll lose that interaction and responsiveness we like.

I point to The "Modelers Don't Clean Up with the Volume Knob" Myth a lot, but it's true, and it affects the sound in some not-so subtle ways.

Drummers without dynamic sensitivity really hurt. He needs to back down in a small space because loudness only forces everyone else to turn it up and everybody suffers at that point. :-(
 
Greg Ferguson said:
What style of music are you playing?
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Mainly rock/hard rock from the 70s and 80s. That works pretty well with a simple Plexi + TS preset as long as there's not to much gain involved. The darker Plexi sound (compared to the JCM800) helps a lot taming the feedback. I was informed on short notice that the band wanted to play some Metallica tunes so I pulled a preset from AxeChange which was apparently dialed in for recording rather than live, it started squealing as soon as I loaded it. Completely unusable. My guitars have never been an issue, neither the JEM777 nor the ESP Eclipse with SD pups I brought have ever been particularly prone to feedback. How does one dial in a bright high-gain mid-scooped sound for high volume live situations ?

Edit: sorry, off topic. Shouldn't derail the thread. Please ignore or reply via PM. Thank you.
 
ChristThePhone said:
Not sure if it's me or the PXM but to me at high volumes all presets sound the same. We have a tiny practice space and an insanely loud drummer that has just an on/off button, no volume control. And everything above crunch sounds leads to uncontrollable guitar feedback. I might go over-ear to protect myself and get better results, can't fix it for the entire band. There seem to be limits to classic monitoring.
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This is not a you / guitar problem, it's a tough love for the drummer problem.
How much can you appreciate differences in gear next to a cave man drummer? You can't. No one can.

The drummer needs to make some changes if his style is that one dimensional. Of course he could play differently, but failing that...
Mandatory gear tweaks like pads on the drums, so called "silent sticks" which are not silent or close, really just a few db quieter but it helps, there is more.

Otherwise you'll probably sound like ass as a band and slowly go deaf.
It also won't help with getting recurring gigs. You aren't in My Bloody Valentine.
People aren't looking for the loudest possible show.
 
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ChristThePhone said:
Not sure if it's me or the PXM but to me at high volumes all presets sound the same. We have a tiny practice space and an insanely loud drummer that has just an on/off button, no volume control. And everything above crunch sounds leads to uncontrollable guitar feedback. I might go over-ear to protect myself and get better results, can't fix it for the entire band. There seem to be limits to classic monitoring.
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A drummer without control and dynamics is useless. It leads to volume wars and everyone loses, especially the audience.

My right ear is paying the price for decades of insane stage volume.

That's a tough personal thing to navigate. But definitely protect your ears.
 
I did my 6th gig with the EV PXM 12-MP yesterday. This was on a larger stage not using IEM, unlike some of my previous gigs with it. I was able to open it up and run it louder given the circumstances and at the end of it all I was even more impressed with it. Really glad I picked one up.
 
Got to crank my EV up last night and try monitor1 vs 2.
M1 doesn't need a bass cut, but has a honky peak somewhere in the mid, my ears tells me. I was looking for if my wah was on at times.
I'm deliberately not looking at graphs first. I'll do that now to see if my ears guessed correctly.

This thing can get scary loud folks. If you don't love stereo FX (and I do love me some stereo pitch and delay) you may not need two.
 
WKSmith said:
A drummer without control and dynamics is useless. It leads to volume wars and everyone loses, especially the audience.

My right ear is paying the price for decades of insane stage volume.

That's a tough personal thing to navigate. But definitely protect your ears.
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My high end hearing in my right ear, is gone too.
I won't play with low blaring floor wedges or rehearse in a small room with a loud drummer.
I use quad driver IEM's, which have been amazing.
 
FPFL said:
Got to crank my EV up last night and try monitor1 vs 2.
M1 doesn't need a bass cut, but has a honky peak somewhere in the mid, my ears tells me. I was looking for if my wah was on at times.
I'm deliberately not looking at graphs first. I'll do that now to see if my ears guessed correctly.

This thing can get scary loud folks. If you don't love stereo FX (and I do love me some stereo pitch and delay) you may not need two.
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Appreciate the insights. I'm trying to sell off a keyboard to pay for one.
 
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I'm a Fractal newbie and a relative newbie to modelers in general so my apologies if I'm asking stupid questions. Has anyone been a dedicated power amp + cab guy and been happy with the switch to the EV or is it more common to just be upgrading FRFR solutions? I realize that's probably a very broad question but I guess I'm wondering if most EV users in here were using some other FRFR solution before they got this new monitor or they have changed over for the first time to FRFR? Granted I've not ever tried one but have tried QSC K10.2 and a few other FRFR speakers and not been thrilled with the onstage sound.
 
FPFL said:
Question - if I wanted to run two different instruments out of one EV PXM, specifically a keyboard and a guitar, has anyone tried that?
I wouldn't often be playing both at once, maybe with a looper if I ever get my timing tight. I'm not Geddy! : )

I'm wondering if Monitor 2 would work as a neutral or at least useful sound for keys as well?
Think 80s synthwave sounds with distorted Marshal flavored rock guitar.

(I know its got three discrete inputs with levels, so I/O won't be a problem.)

TY!
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I use 2 for the FM9 in stereo and I plug my monitor mix for vox etc into the second input of one of them. Works a charm
 
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