Just got an EV PXM-12MP - sounds harsh and mid-spikey

lscottk said:
P. 19 on the above link also describes how to do a factory reset. I think that I would start with a reset and then see if it is still harsh. If it sounds closer to what you're looking for then you could adjust from there.
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It's eq is flat
 
If you can't dial your presets in on the EV and it's just "I cranked it up and it sound bad"; this conversation is kinda pointless. Pontificating about how good it does or doesn't sound without actually tweaking the preset(s) to account for the change in monitoring is not going to help you.
 
It's hard to discuss these things objectively. People's perceptions of clean or transparent is totally different and biased toward the type of playing they do. I remember folks pointing out SRV's lenny as an ideal clean tone and not realizing that it's still not totally clean. So when folks say that their PXM-12MP doesn't have any spikeyness and something must be wrong with mine, I'm guessing the real issue is the way they play, their particular preferences, etc. I'm sure how I use my setup would be horrifying to many. This is the sound I get with my altos and also direct. The EVs do not have this transparency....

 
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FWIW; you are certainly a ripping player. And also; I didn't really dig my EV either. It was a lot chunkier than I liked and quite a bit "smeared" sounding? I did redial my presets but I just lost interest in it pretty quickly. It was a pretty quick resell for me. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary for me :|
 
jzucker said:
It's hard to discuss these things objectively. People's perceptions of clean or transparent is totally different and biased toward the type of playing they do. I remember folks pointing out SRV's lenny as an ideal clean tone and not realizing that it's still not totally clean. So when folks say that their PXM-12MP doesn't have any spikeyness and something must be wrong with mine, I'm guessing the real issue is the way they play, their particular preferences, etc. I'm sure how I use my setup would be horrifying to many. This is the sound I get with my altos and also direct. The EVs do not have this transparency....

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Subjective yes...nice playing, nice sound...but to me it sounds heavily scooped in the mids...so a jazz tone.
FRFR and Jazz may not get along well.
I love the sound from my PXM and also the sound from my Fender FR10's.
Some find the FR10/12 to be boxy sounding, I had a Laney 112 and that was boxy sounding the FR10 is clear and bright to me.
The PXM is accurate and has a "high Fi" quality to it, they both can reproduce the sound of my APS 2020 Studio monitors quite well.

To each there own way of percieving sound.
 
Ken Os said:
Subjective yes...nice playing, nice sound...but to me it sounds heavily scooped in the mids...so a jazz tone.
FRFR and Jazz may not get along well.
I love the sound from my PXM and also the sound from my Fender FR10's.
Some find the FR10/12 to be boxy sounding, I had a Laney 112 and that was boxy sounding the FR10 is clear and bright to me.
The PXM is accurate and has a "high Fi" quality to it, they both can reproduce the sound of my APS 2020 Studio monitors quite well.

To each there own way of percieving sound.
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To me it's reminscent of plugging into a fender amp. The ev is too spikey to get that imo...i just dont think it sounds flat. It reminds me of the way an EV12L sounds
 
jzucker said:
To me it's reminscent of plugging into a fender amp. The ev is too spikey to get that imo...i just dont think it sounds flat. It reminds me of the way an EV12L sounds
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jzucker said:
I have not been able to do that.
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What do you mean by that? You tried, but nothing you could do could improve the spikey tone? Not amp tone controls, or an actual EQ?

That doesn't make a lot of sense. There are eqs in there that can remove tons of highs, or mid-highs, whatever you want, to the point of making it totally muffled. (I know that's not what you want, just trying to figure out why the Axe tone controls seem so ineffective for you.)
 
Dave Merrill said:
What do you mean by that? You tried, but nothing you could do could improve the spikey tone? Not amp tone controls, or an actual EQ?

That doesn't make a lot of sense. There are eqs in there that can remove tons of highs, or mid-highs, whatever you want, to the point of making it totally muffled. (I know that's not what you want, just trying to figure out why the Axe tone controls seem so ineffective for you.)
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Well your post makes 100% sense, but so does Jack's to me. Why screw with things, when you already have a product that works perfectly for you? If someone loves Scumback M75's with all their amps, and they don't like EVM12L's at all, why continue to try to make the EV sound like the Scumback? Know what I'm sayin?
 
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Ericbr1 said:
Well your post makes 100% sense, but so does Jack's to me. Why screw with things, when you already have a product that works perfectly for you? If someone loves Scumback M75's with all their amps, and they don't like EVM12L's at all, why continue to try to make the EV sound like the Scumback? Know what I'm sayin?
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Well the fly in that ointment, so to speak; is that these speakers are supposed to be "flat" and not add to the sound being pumped into. Only amplify it as loud and as accurately and uncolored as possible.




I know how dumb that sounds to say out loud considering the topic at hand; so I get your point 100% :D
 
Dave Merrill said:
What do you mean by that? You tried, but nothing you could do could improve the spikey tone? Not amp tone controls, or an actual EQ?

That doesn't make a lot of sense. There are eqs in there that can remove tons of highs, or mid-highs, whatever you want, to the point of making it totally muffled. (I know that's not what you want, just trying to figure out why the Axe tone controls seem so ineffective for you.)
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Makes perfect sense. Sure I can add parametric eq block and probably tweak it but that defeats the main point of going FRFR for me which is to have the FRFR and recording outputs sound the same without having to have separate blocks for each. With the alto that is the case. Not so with the EV. The 10 band output EQ cannot dial out the spike. That's the bottom line for me.

I just picked up an Alto TS412 cab and it does not have the spike so in all likelyhood I'll be returning the EV and staying with alto.
 
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jzucker said:
Makes perfect sense. Sure I can add parametric eq block and probably tweak it but that defeats the main point of going FRFR for me which is to have the FRFR and recording outputs sound the same without having to have separate blocks for each. With the alto that is the case. Not so with the EV. The 10 band output EQ cannot dial out the spike. That's the bottom line for me.

I just picked up an Alto TS412 cab and it does not have the spike so in all likelyhood I'll be returning the EV and staying with alto.
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Cool. Like they say, if it sounds good, it is good.

You're not mastering records, you're going for tones you enjoy.
 
jzucker said:
right but if I were mastering a record, the alto sounds closer to the studio monitor than the EVs!
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Using something that works for you is what counts. The Alto TS412 is also a lot less expensive, so you'll spend significantly less for 2 Altos TS412 than a single EV PXM-12MP.

I used an old Alto TS112 as my main speaker for my AxeFX II for a couple of years in about 2012/13. The only reason that I moved on from it was that one of the input XLR jacks developed ground hum. The other XLR input worked fine, but I was in a gigging band at the time, and using a speaker that had failing components was taking too much risk for me. I moved on to other stuff when I replaced the Alto (it's still sitting in my garage and hasn't been powered up for a decade or so). But at the time my Alto worked for me.
 
Randall d said:
How is the audience hearing your guitar? Is it from your stage monitor or is it from a PA system?
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my monitors. This is one thing the guys in the forums never understand about playing jazz. Playing jazz is mostly playing in restaurants and coffee shops and book stores and small venues without house systems.

Yes, the bigger clubs have house systems but you'd be surprised at how many jazz venues have nothing.
 
jzucker said:
my monitors. This is one thing the guys in the forums never understand about playing jazz. Playing jazz is mostly playing in restaurants and coffee shops and book stores and small venues without house systems.

Yes, the bigger clubs have house systems but you'd be surprised at how many jazz venues have nothing.
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Jazz isn't special in this regard... Many clubs are similar.

My rock band has played venues where only the vocals are allowed in the PA.
 
jzucker said:
my monitors. This is one thing the guys in the forums never understand about playing jazz. Playing jazz is mostly playing in restaurants and coffee shops and book stores and small venues without house systems.

Yes, the bigger clubs have house systems but you'd be surprised at how many jazz venues have nothing.
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I’m a jazz guy too, with a couple of Gibson L5s.
You might want to check out the Fender FR-10/FR-12 FRFR powered cabs.
For the venues both you and I target, they’re perfect.
I’m done monkeying around with other solutions.(famous last statement :) )
I bought a couple of FR-12s, but honestly one is more than enough.
 
jzucker said:
my monitors. This is one thing the guys in the forums never understand about playing jazz. Playing jazz is mostly playing in restaurants and coffee shops and book stores and small venues without house systems.

Yes, the bigger clubs have house systems but you'd be surprised at how many jazz venues have nothing.
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So, if you hear what the audience hears and you were happy with your sound, I think you should stick with what works for you and what you like. Not sure why you were looking to make a change.
 
jzucker said:
I play mostly clean jazz. Kind of reminds me of the way a 12L sounds when you're on axis with it. Used it in wedge monitor for me it's almost unusable due to the spikeyness. If I turn it on it's side it's more usable but it's surprising how directional and spikey it is compared to the cheapie alto ts310...I'm sure out in the audience it mellows out but on stage at 5' away, i'm not sure it's going to work for me...

I have read a ton of glowing reviews about it but I think the demographic of playing clean jazz is probably significantly different from how others are using it.
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Maybe you could post one of your presets. There are many of us here that an own an EV, so potentially you could get some valuable input that would help identify areas of improvement.

Having watched a few of your videos, you are certainly a much better player than I, but maybe we could help with your tone.
 
nolesj said:
Maybe you could post one of your presets. There are many of us here that an own an EV, so potentially you could get some valuable input that would help identify areas of improvement.

Having watched a few of your videos, you are certainly a much better player than I, but maybe we could help with your tone.
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i love my tone! I don't need help with my tone. I just wanted some additional dispersion than what I get with the 10s. I think the alto TS412 will give me that.
 
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