Well, it happened again last night on the job. I was reminded of just how important the in-my-face monitors are to me. I was working a very small restaurant, with loads of mirrors and no absorbing materials anywhere ... a nightmare for some, but the Bose handles this room very well. My current rig allows my vocals and keys to pump through the internal speakers, but NOT the tracks on my iPad or my guitar. They come right from the Bose .... they sound fantastic, but the perceived volume is different to my ears. I must have turned the guitar up to hit my "comfort zone" because the owner asked me to tone the volume down a bit as I was doing a guitar number. He almost NEVER says anything like that to me .. he LOVES the music, and is very gracious and polite when he does give me advice.

I was reminded that I only get these comments when the signal is not "in-my-face" first in these smaller venues. This means that I will go back to using the VLT2, so I can send the guitar, vocals and tracks all into the stereo INs on the PA900. It would have been SO easy if Korg had just kept the aux-in active, but they disconnected it with their first OS upgrade. Grrrrrrr.... what a bummer.

More to setup, but the new advantage is getting the harmonies back when I play the guitar. (YAY!) I am so hooked on the vocal group sound that I really miss it when it's just me singin' alone. Tunes like "We just disagree", "Teach your children", "Afternoon Delight" ... just don't cut it as a solo voice.

So, today - I rewire the rig. (again)
Looks like more freezing rain and snow tomorrow ... might just get an extended weekend from school AGAIN. Geeze ... I'm going to forget my kids' names!

P.S.
I should mention that many of my smaller venues require almost no sound reinforcement for the bulk of the night. It's a background situation (musical wallpaper, I call it - pretty, and appreciated, but stays out of the way) and all I REALLY need is a touch more bass to fill up the bottom end - the KB speakers are almost enough when coupled with my acoustic voice tone. In a bigger room, or a more noisy venue (like my summer spots) it's not an issue - the Bose fills the room and I can hear just fine. It's these TEENY places that are tricky to fill with the kind of sound that I am expected to provide.

I have played many small rooms with just the internal speakers and a small bass amp on the floor ... for fullness. Sounds great in the right setting.

Good luck Dave ....different gig assignment setup are an ever going changing thing....gotta be flexible!!
As for me at this juncture I love my Yamaha powered DXR 12's....but realized I need an In-Between powered speaker system also for when just the S-950 speakers aren't enough for the mini 10 pp gig or need Less then the power of the DXr's for lets say 20-40pp smaller gigs....I probably need another Bose compact for those, even though I had both L1/Compact systems for CERTAIN situations it would be good to have in my tool box again ....I did TWO Millionaires HOUSE Xmas parties this year (pictured below) and the Bose compact would have shined there in that scenario being I was playing in their living rooms with 20 rich people feasting.
Anyone selling a compact cheap contact me?

Donny, didn't you enter the free Bose drawing?

I get to do an occasional living room party now and then, and most of the time I just use the S950 onboard speakers. And because I'm using the Crown CM-311A headset mic, no problem with feedback even if I have to turn it up a bit loud. However, I always have an L1 compact with me in the van - just in case. This happened last year when the people who hired me decided to move the party outdoors to a massive patio that surrounded their swimming pool. Of course, the music guy is always the last person to find out there was a change of venue. The L1 compact did a fantastic job, and they hired me for this year's party on the spot.

Gary

Gary I don't like the sound of the compact but in special situations it is the right small lightweight tool although mono... I did play piano for cocktail hr also..great gig...
if I can find a compact at a sweetheart deal price I might go for it.

If you need something in-between for a small venue, I can really recommend a pair of FBT Jolly 5 BA (or the brand-new successor FBT J5A). They are incredibly powerful for the 16 pounds per pair they weigh. They sounds very clear. They have 80W RMS per speaker. Alternatively, a Bose Sounddock 10 (the big one) is also very powerful with similar weight of 18 pounds, I compared it directly to the FBT. The Sounddock wins regarding deep bass and crisp highs, but the FBT are better with respect to stereo field and SPL. Both are far, far superior to any built-in keyboard speakers.

Donny, I know you don't like the Bose sound system, but there is probably a lot more performers out there that do. Whatever floats your boat. I do know that after more than a half-century of using just about every conventional sound system available, I would NEVER go back to using a conventional sound system again. From the first time I heard Uncle Dave play that Bose L1 in that Philly restaurant, I knew that was exactly the sound quality I had been searching for through all those years. I ordered that first Bose L1 standard the following day and never looked back.

Gary

That says it all,....... and I cant live in a MONO world Nh gigs thats ok...big venues like I mostly play..NO WAY!
I also looked at that Bose sound dock 10 suggested for small jobs, ..looks like a toy to me ...could that possibly have the power of a Bose Compact or hold a arranger Kb/vocals on a small gig????

Bose Sound Dock 10

I guess you just looked at it, but didn't listen to it... I don't say it sounds as powerful as the L1 Compact, because I haven't compared those two directly. But it's everything else but a toy.

Guess you won't know till you try it. Keep in mind there is nothing on the planet that holds a candle to the Bose Wave Radio, and they're about the same price. Looks like the aux input, however, is mono, a single RCA plug, or maybe stereo via the USB connection - don't know and the specs don't say. You would have to ask someone at Bose about that.

Gary

No need to ask Bose, I own the Sounddock 10 and have used it for gigs already. As I wrote, I compared it directly with my FBT 5 BA. It rocked a Christmas event of 60 people last year, the bass made the floor vibrate. The input is stereo of course, it's a for a thin stereo line-in cable.