[bvhoyweg]

I'm using a Devine Artis 15A MKII as my play along device.

It is standing at my feet so most of the noise is passing under me.
Tilting it backwards is a remarkable improvement as this directs the sound to me.

I would be able to put it on the side, but to minimise scratches (concrete basement floor) I would need to glue speaker feet on the side.

Other solutions:

• speaker stand which would put the speaker at head level
• sub woofer (Devine Artis B18A) and pole: this also puts the speaker at head level but would the sub increase the volume also?

I'm a beginner, still learning to play along. And I guess the sub woofer would help me to hear the base line and chord changes better.
Is this true? Or am I just trying to indulge my GAS fever?

 

[swperry1]

Beware gas attacks and distractions. Just play.

 

[Pete Thomas]

And I guess the sub woofer would help me to hear the base line and chord changes better.

Subwoofer will give you frequencies that are mostly useless to you IMO unless you are into EDM, in a club or one of those cars with purple lights along the side. Onvce you get down that low it becomes harder to discern pitch, you just hear general all-purpose sub bass.

Most useful bass will be around 80Hz that normal speakers (even old school TV speakers) should be OK with.

The issue is getting it closer to your ears so a stand will do the trick. Also consider headphones.

 

[JCBigler]

First of all that speaker isn't a great speaker to begin with.

But it's a 15" woofer with a 400 watt power output. I can't believe that it doesn't get loud enough in your basement to hear it well enough while practicing. That should be plenty loud unless you're playing in a loud club with a rock band behind you.

How are you feeding the speaker with your source material? It's possible that you have an impedance mis match and the speaker just isn't outputting it's full volume.

Personally, I prefer to use my custom molded in-ear monitors for play along practice. But that's me.

 

[MartinMusicMan]

Get the speaker off the floor. That just emphasizes the lows which, as Pete explained above, you want to reduce not increase. Don't use a subwoofer. Just put the speaker up on a crate or box or old coffee table or chair or whatever you can find to lift it off the floor. You don't need a speaker stand, like a pole, just any old thing to get it off the floor.

Also, as JCBigler is saying, what/how are you sending the playalong audio to the speaker? What device are you using? What connections/cable? If you're not getting enough volume out of that powered 15" speaker, something is not connected correctly or the volume is too low on the speaker and/or on your playing device. You may need some kind of interface between your device and the speaker, depending upon what your device is.

 

[lostcircuits]

Get a decent set of headphones instead of wasting money on a speaker stand. If you go wireless without microphone for your sax, the Sennheiser HDR12 (RF) may be a good choice because there is no lag. Otherwise there are a lot of good headphone options out there that will also allow you to reduce the volume at which you are playing to your ears and will probably save some of your hearing, especially if you are already at the point where a 400W system isn't loud enough anymore.

 

[bvhoyweg]

Thanks for all the advice.

Basically, I should get the speaker off the floor, to ear level. More bass would be counter productive.

About volume: I'm using a 3.5 ear phone jack to RCA, from a tablet. The volume can get very loud and harsh, not nice. I prefer more filling the room with the sound, which I get on a lower volume level. The problem for me is more related to the MP3s I use, some of them have a lower volume as others.

I tried earphones (Jabra Halo Smart), I don't like the sound pressure it gives in my ears and the way it mutes my sax.

I'm aware the speaker I use is a tradeoff between quality and volume. I'm using MP3 as source, to improve quality I should start here. And I like the volume at the end of my practice session, I get a blast of playing full force together with the music.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Basically, I should get the speaker off the floor, to ear level.

Not necessarily ear level, but if you can't hear it then maybe a bit closer - however it's not going to make a huge difference. I would eith check that whatever is driving the speker is putting out enough level (See post 4)

More bass would be counter productive.

Not if there isn't enough bass. All you need is a good balance.

But as I mentioned above, sub bass would I'm sure be counter productive - but a "normal" bass (around 80Hz) is what you need but in a good balance.

 

[Dr G]

Get a decent set of headphones instead of wasting money on a speaker stand. If you go wireless without microphone for your sax, the Sennheiser HDR12 (RF) may be a good choice because there is no lag. Otherwise there are a lot of good headphone options out there that will also allow you to reduce the volume at which you are playing to your ears and will probably save some of your hearing, especially if you are already at the point where a 400W system isn't loud enough anymore.

I enlarge the font in case you were playing so loud that you couldn't read it.

Be careful with your ears. They matter for a musician, and are among the few organs of the human body that do not heal well from induced damaged. Deaf can be forever - so, too, tinnitus (ringing in the ears). My right ear is ringing now, probably from years of playing tenor in a big band, sitting next to the drummer.

 

[GaSax]

I'm not familiar with that speaker but if it's 400 watts and it's not loud enough then you have a hearing problem or an impedance matching issue.

Check the output ohms on your player, the wiring and the input ohms of the speaker. If they're the same then get your hearing checked. If they are different then that may be your problem. The cables between the devices can sometimes cause issues. It may play OK but not great and over time could cause more problems with the devices.

I once tried some "HD" high end RCA cables between a projector and DVD player. It showed a picture but it was far from clear. Put some plane old RCA cables on it and it played great again.

 

[lostcircuits]

I enlarge the font in case you were playing so loud that you couldn't read it.

Be careful with your ears. They matter for a musician, and are among the few organs of the human body that do not heal well from induced damaged. Deaf can be forever - so, too, tinnitus (ringing in the ears). My right ear is ringing now, probably from years of playing tenor in a big band, sitting next to the drummer.

Have you tried the electroshock therapy to the tongue yet? It seems to be all the rage right now for tinnitus.