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From: DienerMusic on 20 Nov 2008 14:08
Awhile back I was asking about powered speakers, specifically Mackie
srm450s vs. srm 350s, for use as a small pa for mostly acoustic guitar/
vocal solo gigs and some full band vocals. The Mackies were mostly a
budget concern as I found a couple affordable used sets. Not a fan of
the 450s, I was hoping the 350s would sound smoother, more natural. I
was also considering EV sx100a, but couldn't find a pair to demo.
I've been reading a lot of good things about the Yorkville NX55p, but
the local Yorkville dealer was (so I thought) out of the biz, and w/
out any used ones floating around, a bit out of my budget!

Cut to the chase, I found a "new" local dealer, actually the past
dealer with a new company (Touch Audio and Media, Grand Ledge, MI -
great guys!) who was willing to let me trade in most of my old pa
inventory (subs, tops, amps, etc.) for a shiny new pr. of NX55ps. We
had to wait awhile as they've been on back order.

Just tore open the box and plugged an ipod into the "mixer" section.
Playing some acoustic based singer/songwriter program I was initially
a little disappointed, the midrange seemed smeary, highs a little
crunchy, bass a little exaggerated?! I'm sure the mp3 is not
helping. I had read about the bass boost and it is a little
distracting, though I can see where it would work in a low volume
background/dinner music setting. After playing w/the "bass/high"
controls, the recorded music sounds a little more natural with both
rolled back a touch. The controls also respond a little un-
intuitively: when you turn down a control, the opposite frequency
range seems to "change". ie: turning down the bass seems to raise the
volume of the highs (as if it's getting more power), and seems to
change the voicing at the same time. The manual doesn't detail
exactly what processing is occuring, but definitely some sort of
dynamic eqing/limiting is happening? Along with this, it sounds like
the program is being compressed more than lightly. I read a comment
on these that a user "could hear things that he never heard before",
but I'm hearing what sounds like lower level sounds in the mix being
pulled out w/compression. Not exactly an accurate reproduction! I
have a suspicion it would sound better running stereo w/both speakers,
w/out reducing down to mono. The manual implies that the mixer
section is processed separately and maybe these are artifacts/features
(the manual does present the mixer section as useful for
"presentations") Less dynamic "dance" tracks sounded great and less
effected, which reinforces that there maybe is some "leveling" going
on?

I was happily surprised that the mic input has phantom power.
Plugging an AT 4055 in brought a smile to my face. The speaker really
sounded great, using the little mixer section. There a built -in HPF
on the mic input that worked great for my voice. Loud, clean, clear,
warm! No Mackie 450 "crispy crunch".

I'm going to try and plug an acoustic guitar straight in just to see
what it sounds like. A neat feature is that you can link two
(actually 3) mixer sections and have 2-xlr/mic inputs and 2-1/4 line
inputs per speaker pr. in "mixer" mode. I am going to be very tempted
to take these out for small gigs without a mixer and any outboard!

I'm looking forward to setting up a mixer and trying my acoustic setup
( para di, looper, percussion loops, vocal mic) through these. I'm
also very tempted to use them this weekend on a band gig at a local
club that has a house system w/ srm450s, and see how they handle a
loud bar situation compared to the Mackies.

Now I can start saving for those Yorkville ls700p,...(does it ever
end?!) ha
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