Bob Zaod
Rock Star
- Messages
- 2,872
I like to practice as I play. I use the PA system that I would use at 95% of all the gigs I do, in my studio/jam room. That said (with 5 days off) I decided I want to keep that stuff staged in my garage to make load outs/ins faster and easier. That PA is a Soundcraft Ui24r and a pair of Turbosound IP2000's that function as our mains and monitors up on stage behind us and it's worked out pretty good for that. So I went and got my backup mixer which is a Presonus Studiolive AR16 and pair of my EV ELX 112P powered speakers and set it up so that we could all hear everything well.
After doing so I started going through and dialing in my guitar sound to backing tracks like I always do and made a discovery that just blew my mind, and I am now on a mission (once again) to make Amplitube 5 my gig rig. I tried it with 4 a few years ago and accidentally knocked my laptop of the stand it was on and shattered the screen before I ever did 1 single gig with it. What I also discovered was the Presonus and EV's were a perfect storm combination with AT5. I had tried it with the Soundcraft>IP2000's combination and wasn't impressed at all so I gave up on that notion.
AT5 just sounds and feels so amazing through that Presonus and those 112P's especially with YA IR's that I just can't stay away from trying it again. So I sat down and finished building and programming for MIDI a single doitall patch and honestly haven't been this blown away by the tone and feel since I was using my Helix LT in 4 cable through the Mark V 90 I had. This rig though is even better for what I like to experience.
The extra beauty of this set up isn't just the tone and feel though, it's the fact that this mixer also functions as the interface, and using my wireless setup I am not tied to trying to keep the mixer on stage with me. On top of all that my rig is basically a laptop that fits in my backpack and a FBV Shortboard express MKII. I spent a good 7-8 hours yesterday putting it through it's paces, shutting stuff down and bringing it back up, trying to make it fail or glitch and it worked perfectly the entire time. Don't get me wrong I still don't trust it 100% but between my MX5 and MG-30 I have enough backups to get through any gig.
I kept it pretty simple though using AT5 in standalone mode and my laptop is pretty stout and powerful. The routing options if you know in AT5 can get completely insane if you want it to but I managed to have 1 amp (JCA100H) with 6 pedals up front and delay, reverb and post EQ after the amp. As I said it covers easily all 3 projects. That amp for me is the best 2 channel amp in AT5 when factoring in both great cleans and dirt.
All I have left to work out is how I am going to stage the laptop where 1. It doesnt look dumb and 2. It's in a safe place nearby on stage. Also now that I will be using 112P's for mains and a stage monitor, I will need to bring at least 1 sub. So the advantage of leaving the guitar amp at home is nullified by that fact.
After doing so I started going through and dialing in my guitar sound to backing tracks like I always do and made a discovery that just blew my mind, and I am now on a mission (once again) to make Amplitube 5 my gig rig. I tried it with 4 a few years ago and accidentally knocked my laptop of the stand it was on and shattered the screen before I ever did 1 single gig with it. What I also discovered was the Presonus and EV's were a perfect storm combination with AT5. I had tried it with the Soundcraft>IP2000's combination and wasn't impressed at all so I gave up on that notion.
AT5 just sounds and feels so amazing through that Presonus and those 112P's especially with YA IR's that I just can't stay away from trying it again. So I sat down and finished building and programming for MIDI a single doitall patch and honestly haven't been this blown away by the tone and feel since I was using my Helix LT in 4 cable through the Mark V 90 I had. This rig though is even better for what I like to experience.
The extra beauty of this set up isn't just the tone and feel though, it's the fact that this mixer also functions as the interface, and using my wireless setup I am not tied to trying to keep the mixer on stage with me. On top of all that my rig is basically a laptop that fits in my backpack and a FBV Shortboard express MKII. I spent a good 7-8 hours yesterday putting it through it's paces, shutting stuff down and bringing it back up, trying to make it fail or glitch and it worked perfectly the entire time. Don't get me wrong I still don't trust it 100% but between my MX5 and MG-30 I have enough backups to get through any gig.
I kept it pretty simple though using AT5 in standalone mode and my laptop is pretty stout and powerful. The routing options if you know in AT5 can get completely insane if you want it to but I managed to have 1 amp (JCA100H) with 6 pedals up front and delay, reverb and post EQ after the amp. As I said it covers easily all 3 projects. That amp for me is the best 2 channel amp in AT5 when factoring in both great cleans and dirt.
All I have left to work out is how I am going to stage the laptop where 1. It doesnt look dumb and 2. It's in a safe place nearby on stage. Also now that I will be using 112P's for mains and a stage monitor, I will need to bring at least 1 sub. So the advantage of leaving the guitar amp at home is nullified by that fact.
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