Karaoke Forums

Am I the only one here who has actually heard a Fender Passport
P-250?

I heard a guy sing and play guitar through one at an outdoor event.
I'm starting to think that the P-250 is one of the worlds best kept secrets.

We have all sorts of newbies comming here who want pro sounding karaoke for thier home.
We have newbies who want pro sounding karaoke because they want to go out gigging.
These people ask us stuff and don't tell us where they live so we don't know if they can go to a pro audio shop or not.
They don't tell us what thier budget is.
They don't take into account the fact that there's going to be "hidden costs" like the cost of patch cables, speaker wires, mic cords, RF rectifiers, etc., and we, (self included), are negligent about telling them about these costs.

I have yet to see anyone here, that I couldn't confidently recommend a P-250 to. I would recommend it to newbies and to people who are already into pro audio that want a lighter second system.

I recommended the P-250 to LadyC and she didn't really seem to notice or take it to heart.

Nobody seemed to notice!

I MUST be the only one here who's heard the P-250!

If someone wants a recommendation on players, it's pretty easy to recommend the JVC triple drawer player, or a Pioneer 2 drawer player. This is a "nobrainer" recommendation that works for 99 + 44/100% of the newbies. Of course there are people who might want something a little on the esoteric side, (like a cavs unit), but for most of the time a JVC or Pioneer is a solid recommendation.
If somebody wants a recommendation on mics, we could get into a big discussion on mics, or we could simply recommend an SM-58.

I'm not going to give a technical discription of the P-250.
That belongs on the Ask Sammy forum.
The P-250 package has 2 mics.
I would recommend an SM-58 when it comes time to upgrade or to somebody that just wants to buy a mic.

If anyone, including pros, asks me for my recommendation on what to buy my answer is:
A Fender Passport P-250, or a Carvin package.
A JVC triple drawer player, or a Pioneer 2 drawer player.
An SM-58 mic.
A Sylvania 13" color TV.

Disk mfrs:
DK, Pridis, Sound Choise, Pop Hits Monthly, Sweet Georgia Brown, Chartbuster.

Comments?

Having been a fan of Fender for years (Two Strats and a Fender Twin) I am surprised to have to say I have never seen or heard of this unit and don't know what it is!
As for the rest of the post: The JVC is most commonly recommended because it's a great machine and user friendly. The SM58 is the industry standard and patch leads tend to come supplied with new equipment.
These are not just 'easy options', they are solid advice from people who use, trust and admire them!

Interesting point, though, Kojak.

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Imagine!

Good post Nice to have a list like that, only I too am not familar with the p-250. I think the only reason you have so many different recommendations from everyone is that people aren't going to recomment something they have no experience with or are not familar with. Therefor, if someone has had a player or piece of equip they liked they'll recommend it to someone else. If they've had numerous, they'll recommend whichever one they had the best luck with, or was their favorite as "the only way to go". Nothing wrong with getting more than one opinion, as long as ya don't get bogged down and confused in a swamp of differing opinions.

I took a listen to the P-250 & the PD-250 (this one has better speakers and a couple other features the P-250 don't). They are ok for small rooms but they don't put out a lot of low end at all - kind of tinny sounding overall (the PD250 did sound fuller overall). 125 watts per channel is the rating which is less than even most karaoke amps. Home use this might be a great way to go & the fact that you can use battery power for it is a bonus, but outdoor shows would sound very thin with this system.
If you were serious about professional sound, you may want to consider something else. If you just want a system for small rooms (up to 50 people) & home use, this could be just what you are looking for.

Now this system can be expanded upon as well so you can add external amps & speakers but that kind of defeats the whole concept of the systems portability feature.

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Lonman,
Though the P-250 isn't one of the most highly powered systems, I think that it may handle a room that's a little larger than what you would think that it could handle. I heard it outdoors.
Many pro speakers have a harsh sounding high end due to horns.
A lot of this harshness seems to go away when bodies start to fill a room.
When I heard the P-250 it didn't sound harsh, but it did indeed sound a LITTLE tinny, but I didn't get to adj the eq.
I think that cutting the high end and boosting the low end will give the P-250 a mellower sound, (my friend had all of the eq adjustments set at zero with no cut or boost).
I don't think that this will give you any bass but, even the smallest of powered subs should balance things out just fine.
I think that one or two small monitors with good low end may do the same.
The P-250 seems to me to have enough power for its own speaker array but I wouldn't ask too much from it. Powered monitors would probably be the way to go. I've seen some with a surprizing low end responce.
You could probably get by with some small unpowered monitors but like I said you don't want to ask too much from the P-250, and like you mentioned you don't want to expand too much and defeat the concept of the systems portability.
Monitors may be a nessasary evil. So it is with any system. Too many singers are a little on the deaf side and NEED them. It's too bad that even with bassy monitors for the singer, the audience might not hear much low end.
The P-250 is not perfect, and expanding it will defeat some of its portability, but consider the cost.
How about some opinions on the cost of upgrading to the PD-250 vs the cost of expanding the P-250. I think that all sysems need a monitor.

http://www.fenderaudio.com/gear/gear.php?partno=0692001003 P-250

http://www.fenderaudio.com/gear/gear.php?partno=0691002003

Well between the 2 there is about a $250 difference. The PD250 definately sounded fuller, & with better speakers than the standard, in my opinion the difference would be well worth the extra cost.
It does state that it can handle a room between 300-500 people, I can't believe this statement with it's power rating & speaker size. At least not with a nice full sound. That many people would suck up the sound so fast that that poor little thing would be pushing red line all night.

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kojak
the place where i sent lady sells all this like the fender.. but is right in my hometown.. they make sure that all the people they serve are well taken care of.. .. it's not normally like that when you walk in the front door of the place though.. i know these people well.. i make my living doing audio and recording.. and when i send a person a peticular place they get well taken care of.. not blown off.. if they do.. believe me they do hear about it.. and these folks are all about customer service.. especially when your label record label group has spent 6 figures in a year and you are on the acct. as an authorized purchaser and you are the locasl contact for the record label. When you bring new customers in there, it does seem to have some priveliges to those new costomers just by association. They know I consult other small audio companies, Other Karaoke companies, and buy for my label.. as well as my studio and myself. so they will treat me right as well as someone i send to them.

They do know I have a good size network.
and only one rep handles them all.

Brian,
What does this have to do with the P-250?

Kojak.. any product that you can tell me about that is on the current market.. I can get in a couple days.. and check out for myself like the fender products.. especially in "Musician's Friend" Fender does make some great things I have even seen some powered 8 channel pa heads that are great too!

Brian,
I understand what you are saying. Now let's talk about the P-250.
Do you think it's durable?
How do you think it sounds?
What about how it looks?
I've never seen knobs like that on a mixer before.
What about price?

Please, I want opinions on the system.
It's not perfect.
Many things have to be considered when thinking about buying this or any other system.
Weight, performance, durability, looks, ease of use, etc.
I would like other peoples overall opinion the P-250 based on each of its features, positive and negative, weighed against each other, before I buy.
I would like to hear what others like about this system, and what they don't like about it.

Even if you haven't heard the P-250 I would like to know what you, and others, think about it based upon what you've read about it.

BTW the PD-250 speaker system was co-designed & developed by Bose.

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