I was wondering how many of you are using this sound system for street performances. Do you recommend it? Which model?

Thanks in advance

Hello Carlos,

I don't recommend a Pignose amplifier/speaker for performing. While I don't own one, I am very familiar with them.

Here are the issues: While they are small and convenient, the Pignose are practice guitar amplifiers. They have not been optimized for voice. Their sound isn't very good.

The smallest Pignose has only one input, so you can't use music and a mic. The larger models have two inputs but no separate volume control. Therefore, you have to find a different way to balance your mic and music. The smallest unit doesn't have any tone control either.

I would recommend you check out a Peavey Solo PA if you don't use music. It is optimized for sound, is more powerful, has two inputs and uses ordinary batteries. The Solo sells for around $150. Here's the link!

If you don't mind spending a little more money, a better battery-operated system is Pyle Pro PWA 1500. It is a 100 watt PA system, with built-in wireless microphone system. It uses a rechargeable battery and has great sound in a small package. (They also make a 50 watt system and a 200 watt system. The 50 watt system is alright but doesn't sound nearly as good, and the 200 watt system is probably larger than you're looking for, since you are talking street performing. The 200 watt system is really nice, though!)

You can read about the Pyle Pro PWA 1500 Here!
Don't let the suggested price fool you. You can pick one up for less than $360. Considering it includes a rechargeable battery and a wireless microphone, that's a great deal. A quick search picked up this deal: Here!

The Pyle Pro comes with a hand held mic, but a lavalier version is available as well.

Hope this helps.

Michael

Michael,

I do appreciate your comments. I happen to hear in another forum of street magicians using this particular model and they were refering to it as great, as far as the portability, rechargeablity, and specially the weight.

The weight is my main concern. I do have a Passport 250 system, but it is to heavy and bulky to work in the streets, specially for small crowds.

Thanks,

Carlos

Hello Carlos,

The Pignose is certainly small and lightweight. You still might want to compare it to the Peavey Solo or the smallest of the Pyle Pro PA (the 50-watter).

The Solo isn't terribly big and heavy, although it is larger and heavier than a Pignose. But compared to your Passport, the Solo is tiny. Also, the Pyle PWA 1500 I described above isn't overly large but it is a heavy unit. (That's why I suggested checking out the smaller one.)

Ultimately, I think you need to see if you can find stores that have all the different units and try them out. That way, you'll know for sure which one satisfies your situation best.

Best of luck in finding the best solution.

Michael

P.S. I understand completely your research. In the last two years, I have bought and sold 5 PA systems trying to find the one that was the best solution for me in all situations!

When choosing a PA, you need to be sure you're buying one PA that will suit ALL of your performing needs. If you are strictly a street performer, you can get away with a very small all-in-one PA. But if you do any indoor work, or perform for larger crowds, you'll need something with better sonic quality, as well as the ability to fill the room with sound.

While the Solo might be great for outside, with a few people standing around, I don't think it's your answer for a large banquet. While the Passport (150 or 250) is a little larger, it's still really small for the sound it puts out. It's got great sound when working inside and outside. I was recently working an outdoor event, and they were using a Passport 250 for their announcement PA. It filled an entire town square with sound!

With a DC to AC converter, you're in business on the street. And, if you can't fit your show and the Passport on a 4-wheel hand cart, your street show is too big.

In other words: pack small, play big. The Peavy system doesn't play very big, but the Passport plays huge in a reletively small package.

Troy Roark

Yep ... Pignose amps are for electric guitar practice and are not meant for vocal intelligibility.

Magicmikey is right ... your money is better spent in other ways than buying overpriced *#&% like the the two transistor Pignose.

The smallest Pignose amp just doesn't impress me. A friend showed me his Pignose and I never imagined that they were that small. Considering that the output is 5 watts, I'd work at projecting your voice, before buying an amp.

An "amp in a can" makes more sense than a Pignose. I use a Crate Limo amp for my gigs, but at 35 lbs. it's too heavy for street use.

I've had the Fender Can Amp for the past three years. I use it to announce all-star boys baseball games and for the occasional outdoor magic show. It is very convenient, has two inputs (mic and music) with separate volume and tone controls for each. On the down side, the music quality is pretty poor and feedback can be a problem at times. I got mine on sale for $150.00 so I have no complaints.

Jim T.

Feedback is more a function of the microphone. Try using a hypercardoid microphone. I use a Sennheiser Evolution 845s and have had great results with it. I can even stand in front of the speaker, at a nice volume level, and not get feedback. The right mike may save you from wanting to upgrade your amp.

Gain before feedback is also a function of the frequency response of the amplification system.

You could have the smoothest mic you could find like the Sennheiser 440, but if you combine it with something as non-linear as a pignose... you end up with something that feeds back at strange frequencies because it is simply not optimized for vocal reinforcement.

Get a proper vocal reinforcement amplifier.

Pignose is introducing something that looks like Fenders passport 10—their little amp in a can type deal—it will sound just as bad, lol, but it is aimed at vocal reproduction instead of guitar amplification. The ad for it was in last months issue of MAGIC magazine----------cheers!----Jimeuax

True. The sound system will only be as good as its weakest part.

Carlos, in my experience, street magicians are the WORST evaluators of the sound quality of portable sound systems. The primary reason, I imagine, is because they're onstage, and not in the audience listening.

There's also the fact that once you've paid money for something, you're more inclined pyschologically on some level to convince yourself it suits your needs to justify the money spent (of course, within a return period that isn't a hassle to deal with, this factor is mitigated).

All speculation aside, this personal view of mine is easy to test out in the real world. Go to a large center where there are lots of street performers (I formulated this opinion based on firsthand observation over a couple years living near Faneuil Hall in Boston). You'll find that most of the performers have really crummy sounding systems that do little to help make their voice clear.

And that's the key. Making the voice louder doesn't mean squat if there's no clarity to the voice. And, as noted above, a small guitar practice amp is optimized for a frequency range and tonal quality that is drastically different from the human voice.

What you save in weight and, perhaps, money, you lose in the quality of the sound you give your audience.

Spend more money or deal with a heavier piece of gear, and you can be confident that you're giving the audience the best show possible.

Alan Munro wrote:


Alan, feedback most certainly is NOT primarily a function of the mic. It is a function of equal combinations of the mic, the gain (and equalization, which is technically a selective form of gain) structure of the entire processing and amplification system, the speaker, and, perhaps most importantly, the acoustic environment the performance takes place in*. Yes, certain mics tend to be easier to control w/r/t feedback, but the feedback is equally dependent, if not more, on those other factors.

--Andy, the Café's unofficial resident sound engineer
http://www.DucksEchoSound.com

*-A system can sound perfect and not feed back at all in one room. Move to a room that's even the littlest bit different in size, shape, construction material, etc., and the exact same system setup could start wailing like a banshee.