Portable PA that can be a USB soundcard?

[Jack]

Hi guys,

 

TLDR, If you don't care about the preamble: are there any small, active, PA speakers (say 6" to 10", 100W or so) that can act as USB soundcards?

 

In my day job I'm youth worker and an adult teacher. A big part of what I do is traveling around and giving talks and workshops in venues like village halls, community centres, that kind of thing. Often, these places have a full setup like a university lecture hall and all I need is a a usb pen to plug into all of their A/V, often they have nothing and I'm doing it all myself. Thankfully, I'm into computing almost as much as basses, so I'm ok with that, my current setup is

 

Lenovo 100e

Epson EH-TW570

Polaris V8

 

However, I'm running  into venues that the tiny bluetooth speaker doesn't fill with sound. I don't need anything major, just enough power to play decent audio from videos and such to around 50 people. However, I'm thinking hat it might also be best if I can get myself a sound system that I can plug a proper xlr mic into as well as sooner or later I'm going to find a big venue with no sound facilities. Loads of the little active boxes have phono inputs for PCs, but what I really like about the bluetooth speakers is that they can act as proper usb soundcard, meaning I don't need to carry around extra leads (it's a phone charger lead) and there's no gain staging or anything to worry about. Is there a small, active, pa trap out there that has at least 1 xlr input and a USB soundcard.

 

Current front runner is the Thomann Six Mix. It has a USB port but that's just for memory sticks, if I wanted to use a PC I'd need to use the photo inputs. But it's about the the right size, weight, power and price for what I need.

[paul_c2]

Not sure about a USB connection but plenty have bluetooth connectivity. And of course, a lot have RCA/Phono in too. Or you could connect the headphone output with the appropriate adapter to a 1/4" line input.

I've seen USB interfaces on mixer boards which could do what you want, but not really a PA Active speaker.

[lemmywinks]

I have a little Behringer Xenyx 302USB mixer which is USB powered, functions as a USB sound device and can also play audio over the USB connection meaning it's just one cable for power, data and audio. Something like that with a small powered speaker would be a nice compact setup with the bare minimum of cable runs.

[Jack]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

I have a little Behringer Xenyx 302USB mixer which is USB powered, functions as a USB sound device and can also play audio over the USB connection meaning it's just one cable for power, data and audio. Something like that with a small powered speaker would be a nice compact setup with the bare minimum of cable runs.

This had occurred to me, it's even free as I've already got a Soundcraft Notepad 5 and two tiny Alto TX10s, but the problem is that I'm out and about so really I need a backup of everything. Which means either a whole 'nuther PA (mixer, one of every cable and speaker) or a not-as-good backup like keeping the bluetooth speakers. This isn't ideal as I'd like to keep everything in one trip in my wheely tool kit! I'm such a nerd about downsizing that I'm even consdering swapping the 11" netbook for the 7" GPD Pocket 2. I would have already if the pocket didn't need an adaptor for hdmi. And, you know, wasn't over £500... I suppose I've got to stave off the taxman by buying something, right? 😀

3 hours ago, paul_c2 said:

Not sure about a USB connection but plenty have bluetooth connectivity. And of course, a lot have RCA/Phono in too. Or you could connect the headphone output with the appropriate adapter to a 1/4" line input.

I've seen USB interfaces on mixer boards which could do what you want, but not really a PA Active speaker.

I'd written off bluetooth for delay issues, but actually I don't think there's much speech in the stuff I show, so maybe perfect sync isn't needed that much. Good shout!

[lemmywinks]

2 hours ago, Jack said:

I'm such a nerd about downsizing that I'm even consdering swapping the 11" netbook for the 7" GPD Pocket 2. I would have already if the pocket didn't need an adaptor for hdmi. And, you know, wasn't over £500... I suppose I've got to stave off the taxman by buying something, right?

 

The GPD Pockets are ace, I had an opportunity to buy a cheap Pocket 1 (the Cherry Trail one) for £200 and passed it up which I still regret as one sold on eBay recently for £370. Currently have the original Win and the XD 64gb, fantastic little things. They do a cheaper version of the Pocket 2 now with a Celeron and 4gb ram for £399. 

https://droidbox.co.uk/gpd-pocket-2-celeron-edition-amber-black-4gb-128gb-touchscreen.html

 

I currently use a Toshiba Click Mini 8.9 hybrid which is tiny (much smaller than the Asus T100 etc) and can be picked up pretty cheaply - I got mine for £70, I use it with an HDMI to Type D HDMI cable so no adapters plus it's so lightweight that it can be used as a proper tablet for reading etc which is horrible on most 10" Windows devices. Has a 8hr+ battery and a 1200p screen too. Even the old Bay Trail chips with 2gb ram are enough for me but YMMV.

Edited March 9, 2019 by lemmywinks

[lemmywinks]

There's also the original version of the Onemix Yoga (Cherry Trail 8gb ram) for around £350 + import fees, sometimes rebranded as Voyo for the same price:

https://www.techinthebasket.com/catalog/product/view/id/6657?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj8funr_14AIVSpztCh1rjwVdEAQYAiABEgI9BfD_BwE

 

I love tiny computers btw, still have my old PSION S5 and 5MX as well as my original Dell Mini 9 and numerous ancient ultraportables.

 

EDIT: Just noticed a Pocket 1 for £250 BIN, way less than what they usually go for:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GPD-Pocket-7-Inch-Aluminum-Shell-Mini-Laptop-UMPC-Windows-10-System-CPU-Silver/303090421611?epid=12017624044&hash=item469198cf6b:g:WogAAOSwEP9cg8kk

Edited March 9, 2019 by lemmywinks

[Jack]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

There's also the original version of the Onemix Yoga (Cherry Trail 8gb ram) for around £350 + import fees, sometimes rebranded as Voyo for the same price:

https://www.techinthebasket.com/catalog/product/view/id/6657?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj8funr_14AIVSpztCh1rjwVdEAQYAiABEgI9BfD_BwE

 

I love tiny computers btw, still have my old PSION S5 and 5MX as well as my original Dell Mini 9 and numerous ancient ultraportables.

 

EDIT: Just noticed a Pocket 1 for £250 BIN, way less than what they usually go for:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GPD-Pocket-7-Inch-Aluminum-Shell-Mini-Laptop-UMPC-Windows-10-System-CPU-Silver/303090421611?epid=12017624044&hash=item469198cf6b:g:WogAAOSwEP9cg8kk

Given their rarity, and the fact that that's a very local gadget reseller on ebay, there's a good chance that £250 BIN one on ebay is actually my old one. I love tiny computers too but I'm not going back to the pocket 1. It all started with an Asus Eee PC 901 about ten years ago. The netbook I've got at the moment is great to be honest, it's rugged and dependable and small enough. I'm just a geek. Thanks for the recommendation on the Yoga though, I read lots about those when they were all reviewing and talking about the Pocket 2 but I'd never considered buying one. Might change that....

Edited March 9, 2019 by Jack

[lemmywinks]

The new line of GPDs with Core M3 and replaceable M.2 drives are fantastic but a lot of money. They also have the MicroPC which has just finished crowdfinding - quad core N4100, 6gb ram and a 128gb M.2 SSD. More for IT/network pros with it's I/O but cheap at under £250 and outputs video over USB Type C.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-micropc-6-inch-handheld-industry-laptop#/

Edited March 9, 2019 by lemmywinks