Which sound system / setup?

OP-1
#1

At this moment i’m thinking about how to setup my OP-1. I own:


- OP-1;
- Pair of JBL LSR308 speakers which i don’t use at the moment;
- iPad Mini 2
- iConnectivity mio MIDI interface
- Mutable Instruments Ambika

And some other gear, but i won’t use it in combination with my OP-1. I want to make a setup at the kitchen table. The reason why i’m not sure about what to do, is because the JBL speakers are pretty big. Ofcourse the sound is great (for the price), but it takes a lot of space. So what to do? Buy a small mixer to make this setup work? Sell the JBL speakers a go for another speakers/sound system?

Looking forward for tips and if you want to show you setup: be my guest!

p.s. i also own an AKG701 headphone. So in case you guys know a cool setup, it’s also possible to work with headphone only.
#2

For the Price the JBL LSR series beats just about anything else out there for balanced reproduction. If I had to sell my Genelecs for any reason, the LSR 305 or 308 would be my fall back.


If you feel the 308s are too much for your desired kitchen table setup, consider the 305s!
Since you have the AKG, you can use those to check your low end balance and enjoy the smaller foot print of the 305s.

As for the iPad, I’ve been using Patterning on my iPad Air for drums and sampling that into the OP-1 for track building. This way I can get some more FX and more expressive drum tracks in the OP-1, as it is a bit easier to sequence complex drums than the OP-1 drum pattern sequencer. But it is still just as mobile. Also, I’m using a CCK with a behringer UCA202 for audio output of the iPad, it is surprisingly better/higher quality than the iPad Air’s own headphone output.

And yes, a small mixer would help tremendously. What do you plan to sequence the Ambika with? The iPad or the OP-1?
#3

Imo if you’re just wanting to jam at the kitchen table, monitors are overkill; save them for your recording space. I’d either get a mixer or an audio interface with enough inputs for the iPad and use the headphones unless you want people to be able to hear what you’re doing.