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[Aleksander Stensen]

Last night on a club PA system,,  I heard the best live sound I have ever experienced. The instruments was "natural" and I could really feel the music without the "normal" painful loud harsh muddy sound.

I have been told that their bigger systems are just as good.

Why is this system not more popular?

Reguards

[Andy Peters]

Aleksander Stensen wrote on Fri, 19 October 2007 16:12

Last night on a club PA system,,  I heard the best live sound I have ever experienced. The instruments was "natural" and I could really feel the music without the "normal" painful loud harsh muddy sound. I have been told that their bigger systems are just as good. Why is this system not more popular? Reguards

Maybe the band had good tones, and the system was properly set up, and the person mixing was talented?

-a

[Ivan Beaver]

Ya think?

Why are people always looking for the "magic" piece of gear and overlooking the obvious solution-Talent?

I have provided sound for bands of all levels and does it seem strange that the best sounding bands have talent on each end of the mic cable?

Or in a festival situation, using the SAME PA, some bands sound good and others do not?  It must be the loudspeakers, right?  I guess they deep changing their minds  on how they want to sound.

As usual, it is a combination of many things done right, NOT just a single element.  But good gear helps, no doubt.

But for the guys that think it is the loudspeakers, then it must be, but if you think the amps are what really make the "sound", then it must be the amps, but if you think the mic pres in the console make all the difference, then it MUST be the console.

I love the articles where you read how the sound guy loves the sound of a particular mic pre and it makes all the difference in how he deals with the vocals.  And then you hear the band live, and can barely hear the vocals, much less understand them.  WOW, I wonder what it would sound like with cheap mic pres .

Never mind the fact that is probably PEOPLE that know what they are doing that make the difference-be it in the sound business or building a house.  

[Aleksander Stensen]

Ivan Beaver wrote on Sat, 20 October 2007 00:55

Ya think? Ya think? Cool Why are people always looking for the "magic" piece of gear and overlooking the obvious solution-Talent? I have provided sound for bands of all levels and does it seem strange that the best sounding bands have talent on each end of the mic cable? Or in a festival situation, using the SAME PA, some bands sound good and others do not? It must be the loudspeakers, right? I guess they deep changing their minds Laughing on how they want to sound. As usual, it is a combination of many things done right, NOT just a single element. But good gear helps, no doubt. But for the guys that think it is the loudspeakers, then it must be, but if you think the amps are what really make the "sound", then it must be the amps, but if you think the mic pres in the console make all the difference, then it MUST be the console. I love the articles where you read how the sound guy loves the sound of a particular mic pre and it makes all the difference in how he deals with the vocals. And then you hear the band live, and can barely hear the vocals, much less understand them. WOW, I wonder what it would sound like with cheap mic pres Confused . Never mind the fact that is probably PEOPLE that know what they are doing that make the difference-be it in the sound business or building a house.

Of course you need to put a tight, good band in to the microphones, and a person who is able to make the instruments fit together in the mix to get the best results. It sounds like you really don´t understand that most people know this fact.
I was not talking about how this gear was used but HOW GOOD the gear handled the information it was given.

I have hard a few bands on a few systems, and mixed bands on  the most popular systems, but this was different from anything I´ve heard before. It came very close to high end studio speakers with a lot more power.

[Michael Hedden Jr.]

I was not talking about how this gear was used but HOW GOOD the gear handled the information it was given.

[/quote]

Trust me, Ivan knows exactly what you're talking about.

Mike Hedden
Danley Sound Labs, Inc.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Aleksander Stensen wrote on Fri, 19 October 2007 18:12

Last night on a club PA system,,  I heard the best live sound I have ever experienced. The instruments was "natural" and I could really feel the music without the "normal" painful loud harsh muddy sound. I have been told that their bigger systems are just as good. Why is this system not more popular? Reguards

There are many factors influencing the success or failure of PA systems.

You might want to ask somebody from Funktion One that question, they should have an idea (I don't).

You might try a search.

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/mv/tree/3325/0/

JR.

[Bob Leonard]

Ivan Beaver wrote on Fri, 19 October 2007 19:55

Ya think? Why are people always looking for the "magic" piece of gear and overlooking the obvious solution-Talent? I have provided sound for bands of all levels and does it seem strange that the best sounding bands have talent on each end of the mic cable? Or in a festival situation, using the SAME PA, some bands sound good and others do not?  It must be the loudspeakers, right?  I guess they deep changing their minds  on how they want to sound. As usual, it is a combination of many things done right, NOT just a single element.  But good gear helps, no doubt. But for the guys that think it is the loudspeakers, then it must be, but if you think the amps are what really make the "sound", then it must be the amps, but if you think the mic pres in the console make all the difference, then it MUST be the console. I love the articles where you read how the sound guy loves the sound of a particular mic pre and it makes all the difference in how he deals with the vocals.  And then you hear the band live, and can barely hear the vocals, much less understand them.  WOW, I wonder what it would sound like with cheap mic pres . Never mind the fact that is probably PEOPLE that know what they are doing that make the difference-be it in the sound business or building a house.

Good one Ivan.    That fits right in with the "All JBL speakers sound harsh" statements.

[Ivan Beaver]

ANYBODY can make even the best gear sound like crap-I've heard it many times.  But a GOOD engineer with good sources (ie band) can make even moderate gear sound very acceptable-heard that many times also.

Good gear can always help-IF it is the right tool for the job, but way to many people use it (or the lack thereof) as a crutch and an excuse for the poor quality sound.  Good gear used incorrectly isn't any better.  Ie wrong type loudspeaker system.

Regarding JBL, I actually had a customer replace the highend McCauley 2" drivers I sold him with JBL's.  I bought them back at a very good price .

The reason for the change-in his words- the McCauleys were to smooth sounding and he wanted the "icepick in the forehead" type sound the JBL's gave him.  This was in an alternative type club and he wanted the "edge".

Hey, to each his own.

[Grant Conklin]

Hello Aleksander-
The answers you've been given so far don't really answer the question, do they?  To the best of my knowledge, NO speaker comes with a good sound engineer attached, so there must be qualities  inherent in a product to make them them worth the purchase price.

I have a few ideas why Funktion One is not more popular:

1. Price.  Evidently, if you have to ask how much they are, you can't afford them.  At least that's the impression the US distributer gave me when I asked about them.  In e-mail, they congratulated me on discovering their great product, but would not respond to questions about price, even though they said they are available through them.  

2.  Color Scheme.  Ya gotta like (maybe love) Purple or Silver.

I've since discovered that they are not an "off the shelf" product.  They specify which amps you must use, and want a hand in the design process.  The Res 2 and Res 4 boxes are around $6000, plus or minus depending on if it's an install or touring Version.  Out of my league!  

Search for Labster Caleb Dick for more info.  Very Helpful.

Thanks,
Grant

[Paul Bell]

I've heard these speakers on numerous occasions. They never sounded good. Some years ago, they did a demonstration at Lehman Collage here in NYC. They were lousy, no highs beyond the first section of seats. The top area was muddy bass only. The guy that accompanied me through the auditorium rushed back down because he couldn't explain why it was so bad and then avoided my further questions. This was set up by Function One with the company principals present. One large dance club here installed the stuff only to soon replace the entire rig with a different system.

Just my actual experiences.

-PB