How many QSC k12.2 owners are happy

[la bam]

Hi all,

A rare opportunity has come up for me to buy a pa cab for an event. Obviously the cogs ticking in my brain said get something that can handle bass duties too.

So, how many people using modelling (helix, stomp etc) and a single 12 cab - in particular the qsc k12.2 - are still happy with using just the one k12.2?

I always use a 4x10 (even though it's only running at 40-50%) so just wondering if it will be enough.

Edited January 26, 2020 by la bam

[BreadBin]

Paging @Frank Blank

👍

[Owen]

I use a KW112 at work. It is the wooden boxed version (I believe) of the K12. It is a VERY capable box. I slapped a KW118 sub underneath it, for research purposes obviously. In the room I was in the sub did not make a significant difference. The KW is quite the thing. 

[Frank Blank]

Well I’m happy with it. My entire rig is the Stomp into a K12.2. In venues with a PA I use it for monitoring, in smaller venues without I use it as backline and I’m totally satisfied with it. I must point out that I play in a duo, no drums involved. I am just setting up a new band which includes drums so I’ll put it through it’s paces then. If you are getting a PA cab anyway then the K12.2 is excellent. I hear excellent reports about the RCF gear too but I have no experience of them. Whereabouts are you @la bam? You are most welcome to try mine out. 

[chris_b]

4 hours ago, la bam said:

I always use a 4x10 (even though it's only running at 40-50%) so just wondering if it will be enough.

If you're only running a 410 at 40-50% what are you going to do with 2000 watts?

[jrixn1]

I'm playing a RCF 732A (pretty much the RCF equivalent of a QSC K12), either as a monitor when full PA support, or as backline when not.  It's a wedding/function band, generally six- to 10-piece; core repertoire is Motown/soul although there's some other stuff so I do play a 5-string bass.  I'm not using modelling; my pedals are a parametric mids EQ and a MojoMojo.  Previous rigs were Gallien Krueger 4x10 (well, it was two 2x10s),  Barefaced Big Baby 2, and a couple of Barefaced One10s.  The RCF is better.

[Al Krow]

6 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

I'm playing a RCF 732A (pretty much the RCF equivalent of a QSC K12), either as a monitor when full PA support, or as backline when not.  It's a wedding/function band, generally six- to 10-piece; core repertoire is Motown/soul although there's some other stuff so I do play a 5-string bass.  I'm not using modelling; my pedals are a parametric mids EQ and a MojoMojo.  Previous rigs were Gallien Krueger 4x10 (well, it was two 2x10s),  Barefaced Big Baby 2, and a couple of Barefaced One10s.  The RCF is better.

John - that's quite a statement that the RCF 732 is out-performing a BB2! Does it really match it on low end authority and dispersion and what amp were you pairing the BB2 with? 

Edited January 27, 2020 by Al Krow

[BreadBin]

I've played though @Frank Blank's rig - I was properly impressed. I couldn't believe how well it filled the hall at the SE Bass Bash.

[Phil Starr]

3 hours ago, Al Krow said:

John - that's quite a statement that the RCF 732 is out-performing a BB2! Does it really match it on low end authority and dispersion and what amp were you pairing the BB2 with? 

You'd expect it to be that good really. The RCF has a better compression driver on the horn, go through to Blue Aran who stock both Eminence and RCF drivers and there are a lot of high end drivers which match or out spec the Eminence ones and are cheaper over here. The crossover is active rather than passive and the amps DSP managed. the only thing that the bb2 is likely to score over the RCF is in the cabinetry. Since both are voiced to be neutral you'd expect the RCF to be better/as good. The One-10 of course is voiced to be played with bass so if anything you might well prefer that sound, but that would be a matter of how you see your bass amp/personal choice.

We use K12's as PA, there are no problems putting bass through them. I sometimes use RCF ART310's at rehearsal for bass, one of these is enough, just about. I'd be confident the 732 would do the job

Edited January 27, 2020 by Phil Starr

[chris_b]

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

. . . . . . the RCF 732 is out-performing a BB2!

As Phil says, it should do. With DSP the sound ought to be better because the amp has been tuned specifically to that cab and driver.

[jrixn1]

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

John - that's quite a statement that the RCF 732 is out-performing a BB2! Does it really match it on low end authority and dispersion and what amp were you pairing the BB2 with? 

The RCF low end is full and deep.  Reading the marketing spec, the Big Baby 2 goes lower (Barefaced website says "Usable frequency" down to 30Hz; RCF website says "Frequency response" goes to 50Hz) - but I high-pass at 60Hz for a five-string bass anyway.

Dispersion is really good on the RCF. I didn't own both rigs simultaneously but going by memory the Big Baby 2 was good.  I used the Big Baby 2 with a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.2, which is a 500W amp at 8ohms.  The RCF 732A is 500W into the 12" and 200W to the compression driver, and the crossover is I believe quite low, at 700Hz.  I don't really know the technical side of things too well but I think this means the compression driver takes on more of the mids, so the woofer is more free to concentrate on the lows.  Anyway, whatever it's doing it sounds good, and remains sounding good when you crank up the volume.

Edited January 27, 2020 by jrixn1

[la bam]

Thanks all, and thanks for the offer Frank Black, but it was more just to see if people are still happy after the inevitable honeymoon period of a new piece of kit.

All sounds good. Doing some research i see a lot of people get caught out by the settings on the QSC and dont realise it needs adjustment to best fit for a bass amp replication (i think you have to tell it theres no sub attached etc - and then theres other optimizing settings too - rather than just plug and play).

The specs of 132db (or there abouts) are incredible and in theory should work fine. I will be using a helix so hopefully that would emulate the 8x10 sound. I was just a bit concerned about the volume or perceived volume of just using a single 12" speaker. I used to have a barefaced super compact and to be honest on bigger stages found it lacking - although to be fair i wasnt driving it half as well as the QSC would be driving itself.

It would only ever be used for replacing my bass amp backline - we always have PA support and a monitor too. We just sometimes play some venues that eat up volume, so i just need to be sure that it could cope.

My only other concern is having a back up - being active (im sure) means theres no way of accessing the actual speaker with an external amp if the active amp was to go down, and that would mean carrying another speaker.

[stevie]

In defence of Barefaced, they've put their money where it matters - in the bass driver. It's difficult to get proper specs on the RCF, but from what you can glean, the Barefaced bass driver is in a different league to the RCF one, and should in theory go quite a bit louder.

RCF have put their money into the HF driver.  Having a 3" coil on the HF driver and a 2.5" coil on the bass driver might make sense for vocals, but not for bass, where a good 1.75" coil is more than enough for HF. However, it's likely that the presence of the good quality compression driver in the RCF is what makes it sound better.

By the way, some (by which I mean all) of the power handling figures being quoted here are way off the mark thanks to unfortunate tendency for manufacturers to double their EIA ratings. As for maximum SPL, that's a joke-and-a-half and bears no resemblance to reality. Frequency response? There's another laugh. All of this makes it almost impossible to compare sensibly between makes.

Edited January 27, 2020 by stevie

[la bam]

I agree.

Thats why i was just after a bit of real world experience. I used to dj for a living and know some of the RCF and QSC kit is incredible for packing a punch when reproducing pre-recorded audio - and a full system tops and subs (2 or 4) can sound amazing with a full band. But as of yet ive no experience with a single 12 active in a loud band situation. The reason im a bit paranoid or cautious is the 4x10 i have is SO much louder and authorative than the barefaced SC i had - and many rate that as the best 12 passive around.

Aside from the reaching max spl for a fraction of a second etc and pretending to be able to reproduce 30hz etc alongside the facade of 100000 watts, its only real world experience that counts.

I may nip down PMT and have a play.

[stevie]

Good idea. There are lots of players gigging with a single 12 (including me) who find that it's plenty loud enough for anything. That doesn't necessarily mean it'll work for you.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, la bam said:

The reason im a bit paranoid or cautious is the 4x10 i have is SO much louder and authorative than the barefaced SC i had - and many rate that as the best 12 passive around.

Not sure that's right. The BF SC is a very good cab. On portability grounds it's very very hard to match.

But is it the best sounding or most capable 12" cab around? I, for one, as a very contented BF SC owner who regularly gigs and rehearses with it would never make such a claim - not least in that I have a significantly more capable 12" in my arsenal! Not sure I've heard too many other BF SC owners make that claim either.

What it does do is deliver a very good sound in a very portable package.

Edited January 27, 2020 by Al Krow

[Muzz]

I'd agree that the SC (I have a ST, but I've heard/played through SCs a couple of times, and I'd probably swap my ST for a pair of SCs) is a great package, but 'best-sounding' is such a personal qualification as to be almost meaningless. Unless, of course, Precisions are the best-sounding bass, in which case I'm right and a lot of other people are wrong... 😀

Additionally, I don't think the a SC is a fair comparison for a good 410. A pair, tho, or a ST? Definitely.

[HazBeen]

I have 2, sometimes I need them both.

Edited January 27, 2020 by HazBeen

[la bam]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Not sure that's right. The BF SC is a very good cab. On portability grounds it's very very hard to match.

But is it the best sounding or most capable 12" cab around? I, for one, as a very contented BF SC owner who regularly gigs and rehearses with it would never make such a claim - not least in that I have a significantly more capable 12" in my arsenal! Not sure I've heard too many other BF SC owners make that claim either.

What it does do is deliver a very good sound in a very portable package.

The point I was making is it's a highly regarded and expensive passive cab, that sometimes wasnt upto my needs. It wasnt under achieving due to lack of cost or quality.