An interesting portable amplifier/speaker for theremin use

Posted: 5/29/2021 4:00:40 PM
pitts8rh

From: Minnesota USA

Joined: 11/27/2015


I had the good fortune to pick of of these little battery-powered (or optional AC-adapter powered) monitors on eBay a little while ago, and it's quickly becoming a favorite portable theremin amp for personal monitoring:


It's called the Roland Mobile AC, and its a dense and rugged little unit.

It's not going to overwhelm you with bass, but it has dual speakers, five inputs (two 1/4" for guitar and mic, stereo RCA, and one stereo audio 1/8") with individual level controls for audio, mic, and guitar. The other end has the power switch, adapter jack, and a stereo headphone output. And it has a variable reverb and switchable chorus and wide effects built in.  The clarity and presence with a theremin is great for monitoring, and I find it really handy to have something that is known to be ground-isolated when testing theremin noise issues.

It uses AA batteries, supposedly good for 15 hours.

I had one of these is a shopping cart for about a week while I second-guessed it, but just before I pushed the Buy button one popped up on eBay for $65 with free shipping (about half the new price).  It was a new demo that had been set aside because it was supposedly intermittent (a potential easy fix), but if it ever had a problem it hasn't shown up yet.

Did I save any money in the end? Not really.  I liked it so much that I bought the second one that had been sitting in my cart the whole time to keep on my bench.  Lately I've been using it as a pitch preview monitor too.  I haven't tried it with an acoustic guitar but it is often suggested for use as a lightweight busking amp.  It even has a threaded insert on the bottom to mount it up on a mic stand.

Entirely decent for the price, IMO.


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