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Anyone using their Toob as a PA speaker? If so, what do you drive it with?
I really like my Blues Jr, and since my group is 97% instrumental, I’m thinking I can say thank you between songs through the Toob instead of my QSC K2 speaker. Save some weight at load in/out.
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04-17-2025 04:03 PM
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Guessing the Toob is powered.
One possibility might be a lavalier mic to a belt worn bluetooth transmitter to a bluetooth receiver that plugs into an XLR on the Toob (Alto makes one).
Or.. cheap/small mixer. Or a nice Yamaha one you can trust a bit more.
Or.. go to the darkside with something like a Mooer Prime M2 pedal with amp model and speaker IR (also looper, tuner, reverb, et al) that allows direct connect of lavalier mic and guitar with 1/4" outs to Toob. I'm using it in my flyweight rig because it also allows insert of bluetooth for backing tracks (something my pedalboard will not do) and it will run on internal battery for several hours. Not the best modeler or fx, but I've been able to get acceptable guitar tones into high fidelity Schertler speakers.
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I use two of them. I drive a 6.5 Metro Bg+ with a Bam 200 amp, and slave a 6.5 metro FRII to it, using them as left and right for guitar. But i also play bass lines with an octave, organ sounds with a pedal, and mix everything with a looper, so it is used like a mini PA. I often play with a violinist that also sings, so at some point we'll switch rigs and I'll have her try the TOOBS for fun.
But for just talking to the audience, any TOOB with the Bam 200 can definitely handle that.
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Spook, Toobs are cabs with no power. They need an amp head to drive them.
The BAM200 is a very popular bass amp head that is popular on the forum for driving a Toob of any size. I have a similar amp head made by Warwick, but the BAM is less expensive at just over $100.
The Quilter Superblock is also a good match, but more expensive.
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I have a BAM on back order with Guitar center. Glad to hear it’ll work. I’m not super happy with how distorted the Quilter Microblock gets when I need volume, so for $119 I thought I would try a BAM.
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Oh. Thank you Ukena.. I don't get out much.
Originally Posted by Ukena
So how does one go about hooking a microphone into a BAM200?
Given the OP's requirement for a lower tonnage load out and occasional voice, I would just buy an Alto 408. $130, bluetooth, flexible inputs, 300W, 13 pounds. A brief online check says it will accept a dynamic mic directly into XLR inputs. Would double check but that would be a real convenience in this scenario.
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A Bose S1 Pro makes a very versatile self contained PA system. Battery powered too…doubles as a monitor or a bluetooth party machine. Play music between sets etc. Single most used piece of equipment I ever bought. Originally Posted by AllanAllen
I’ve even put a mic on my amp and fed the Bose to get more volume and a bigger sound.
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That's a relevant question. I have a cable with female XLR to male 1/4" plug that I use for just such a scenario. Or just an XLR-to-phone jack adapter. Originally Posted by Spook410
It's definitely a situation for a dynamic mic, not a condenser.
As per the 408, OP's whole point is to not to have to carry around a PA. The 408 is light as a PA goes, but the Toob's weight is inconsequential, and the BAM fits in a pocket.
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I use a simple little mixer when I need multiple inputs. I've had this Samson 8 in / 2 out for many years. I drive my BAM with it, and I run it through my equally old and excellent Alesis RA100 stereo power amp when I need a stereo rig or more sound coverage.
I've used it when I needed multiple guitars (archtop, solid, flat top etc) on a gig. It handles the stereo outputs from my Roland synthesizer and keyboards, plus up to 3 mics through the XLRs. I can play background music through it on breaks. A small mixer turns a single input combo amp into a versatile sound system and is well worth having. There are many excellent models out there from Behringer, Yamaha, Mackie etc.
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Re: Alltunes Spook410
I already have a QSC K2 powered speaker, that I barely use. So I’m not looking to buy a second powered speaker, just trying to find a way to use stuff I already have in a different way.
If I could do it again, knowing I wouldn’t have to pivot my group into a blues band, I would get the Bose S1 over the QSC. The QSC is great, but more than I need in every way.
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@NeverShouldHaveSoldit, I’ll look into a mixer, running guitar and MC through the toob hadn’t occurred to me.
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A mixer is a brilliant idea.
Nady makes a small, battery-powered simple mixer that I have used successfully. Only phone jacks, and no EQ, but for a dynamic mic and guitar input, it works, and weighs less than a pound.
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I assume you mean the Nady 141. It’s a nice little box, but I think its limitations are considerable. Apart from the lack of EQ, it doesn’t offer enough level control to let it be used with amplifiers of widely varying input sensitivity. Originally Posted by Ukena
You can only use high impedance unbalanced mics through it, which means noise. How much noise depends on the mic, cable (length, shielding etc), location, proximity to sources of interference, etc. Some stages and rooms are plagued with severe electromagnetic radiation. Even wireless systems and WiFi can induce noise, and you can’t control or reduce it if it’s there. One local club has a cell tower right outside the stage wall, and you can hear noise through your amplifier when calls are being made.
I also don’t think that the sound quality of a decent mic (even simple ones like my SM58 and Sony condensers) is faithfully passed through the low end chips in those simple mixers.
You can get a decent full feature mixer similar to mine for under $100. These allow you to get equal levels from a pair of amplifiers with different input sensitivities and pan every input. So you can use a BAM + Toob plus a combo amp or powered speaker and route your mic to both equally plus your guitar primarily to the guitar amp. You can add effects like reverb selectively to one or more inputs, and the EQ is very useful.
I have a simple 4 in / 1 out mixer that I bought years ago. It’s useful, but I don’t think it’s good enough for gigging. A full feature mixer is so cheap that I don’t think there’s any reason to use less.
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I hear of Toob speakers quite a lot.
Do they have any advantages over other speakers?
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Mixers?
I have a small Allen and Heath.
This below:
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Weight basically, you get a tiny enclosure with a 130 watt speaker that weights about 2 kilos. And also clever engineering/voicing, despite being tiny they don't sound boxy or lack bass. You can basically do quiet to middle volume jazz gigs with a weightless amp setup. My stereo hotel rig with them weights 5 kilos, mono one 3..!Do they have any advantages over other speakers?
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As I said, I have used the Nady (242, as it happened) successfully –outdoors, with a battery powering my Bud 6 – with 3 guitars, 1 bass, and a looong cable (50 feet? It was unavoidable) connected to a SM58. The Nady fits in the pocket of my Bud case.
But noise is a definite possibility, and once I couldn’t use it powered by battery because it set up a loud hum. It worked okay plugged in. And the lack of EQ, and possible lower audio quality, may well be disqualifying, as nevershould has pointed out, in spite of its undeniable portability.
I also have a Allen & Heath Zed-10fx that is very handy and I have used on gigs. But it does add some extra weight – mine is almost 8 lbs, although the Zed-6 is only 3.
There are some trade-offs in lighter weight, but less low end (smaller speaker) is more acceptable than worse sound quality (inferior mixer).Last edited by Ukena; 04-18-2025 at 12:14 PM.
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My clan uses a pair of Metro II FR+ full-range cabs for PA, powered by an old Yamaha Stagepas mixer amp or through a Soundcraft mixer and BAM200 amp. This version comes with a stand mount. Lightweight lighting stands will do.
Several artists make use of a single FR II for combining voice and an instrument through a mini-mixer. Singer Cait Jones from NY uses one powered by a Kyro Dulo micro-amp. While the mic level signal and instrument-level amp present a mismatch, the Dulo and 200W bass amps feature a broad-range Gain function which does not begin to distort, enabling the use of a dynamic microphone.
The FR II is in professional use for electric and acoustic guitar, oud, violin, cello, accordion, harmonica, keyboard and vocals.
Disclaimer: The usual; I make and sell them. As a hobby, not for a living. Check out the relaunched toob.fi website
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Thanks Originally Posted by Alter
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QSC is 40 pounds if it's the 12" and probably doesn't allow for a direct mic connect. So I can see finding an alternative if you don't need that much power. Thing is, how much do you want to chase using your Toob?
I sometimes use a small mixer to get bluetooth into a Schertler speaker. Mixers are flexible tools. However, extra power and signal connections are to be avoided and I don't like that part. Add in a power amp and that's yet another extra set. Not only the set up and tear down and making sure you have everything but finding a place to put additional fiddly bits on stage. As for weight, a speaker allowing an easy one hand grab is good enough. Unless your camping and hiking. That's why we have titanium sporks.
Finally is cost. It appears to cost more to add power and a method to hook up a mic to your Toob than to buy an Alto 408 outright. If it were me and I wanted to play with a cool piece of gear I had laying about that wouldn't matter. But there it is.
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The Bose S1 sounds great, and is as loud as I'd ever want to play, but if you need some EQ adjustment you may not get it from the S1. The Everse 8 has all kinds of EQ but just doesn't sound as good as the S1.
Even though it's more gear and a little more hassle to hook up, I like having a mixer on a gig. Gives me more control over the sound of the guitar, with 3 band EQ (I prefer 3 or more bands) and reverb available. I connect microphones for vocals and announcements. It even has a footswitch to turn off the reverb since reverb can make announcements harder to hear. And, I can accommodate another player if somebody has gear problems. I use the Yamaha MG10XU which I think softens the sound in a pleasing way.
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The 408 is a great piece of gear - 2000W, 20 pounds, excellent sound quality, 3 channel mixer, $250. You can run 2 mics directly into its mixer, but I'm not sure if it has the sensitivity to let standard or low output guitar pickups achieve full volume straight in. Of course, it's a FRFR system, so it'll neeed some kind of preamp and cabinet emulation between guitar and input to get the tone of a guitar combo. Originally Posted by Spook410
One way or another, it takes a bit of gear and a bit of imagination to get a great jazz guitar tone from a small, light package. BAM into TOOB Metro gives a wonderful jazz tone in a tiny package that weighs less than 10 pounds. But if you want a mic too, you have to use a mixer. A UA or similar preamp / modeler into an Alto 408 will give great guitar tone, and you can use 2 mics in addition. But it may require preamplification for lower output pickups. There are many good powered speakers out there in the same price and power range. All will need some kind of front end pedal or device to get the kinds of jazz tones most of us want.
All of the options in this category cost about the same thing. So your preferences in sound quality, size, weight, configuration etc should deermine your choice. They're all excellent options.
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