Yamaha EMX 5

I've found this amplifier to offer really good value for the money paid. Really easy to use, important when trying to set up quickly for gigs.
Particularly like the inbuilt feedback suppression circuit, has helped me out once or twice when the gig has been in full flow...very simple button press if needed.
I like the multi function input sockets, allowing balanced and unbalanced mics etc to be used, same for the output sockets allowing speakon or jack plugs to be used.
Has mp3 style input which is useful for backing or pre-gig music playback, would really like an SD card option for the price point, but that is just a personal preference.
The amp is relatively light, so won't require biceps of Arnie, the external case extends outside of buttons providing drop protection, but again I would like a clip on front cover or a padded bag for transit.
Easy to set up fold back if needed.
Overall the amp is great value, performs well, user friendly and powerful enough for most pub like venues, I'm pleased to have chosen this amplifier over others, I took a few months on Internet before deciding,

I’m in a 3 piece indie punk band and wanted a powered mixer in order to keep the PA set up as simple as possible. In the past I found that powered speakers, subs, monitors and separate mixers don’t allow for a fast set up and pack away at the end of each gig due to all the added power and signal cable that’s involved. It’s frustrating that there is limited choice when it comes to powered mixers, many of the ultra cheap ones are aimed at bands but have nowhere near enough power. A lot of speakers are at least 250 watts RMS, if you crank an amp with less power than this then you’re asking for trouble! I’d used Behringer before and wanted to avoid them as I had received a fair few faulty products in the past and their amps never perform the way you’d expect them to. They seem to exaggerate their RMS power as they often struggle at volumes that aren’t really that loud. Although the Yamaha had quite a hefty price tag I felt confident that I would be investing in something that’s well designed and built to last.

The Yamaha is easy to use, it’s light, I use it to run a pair of EV ELX112 speakers and it provides plenty of power and volume for those. It simply performs better than a cheap amp. It does seem to hiss a fair bit when you push the volume which is a little annoying but you’re less likely to notice this when using it at a busy venue. You can plug an iPod through the mini jack or phono input, this channel (11&12 along with 9&10) isn’t affected when using the mute button, which is a great feature for when you want music playing between change overs. However for some reason the output is far lower when using these channels for this purpose which kind of makes it unusable at gigs. When I use the stereo input on any other channel the volume is much better.

The eq dial isn’t something I appreciate very much, the bass boost hardly makes a noticeable difference. I would have preferred an actual eq of some sort to give me better control over the sound. There are no gain dials or pad switches available so you don’t have much control over volume issues either.

One of the main selling points for me was the inbuilt feedback suppressor. It works great, you just push a button and it does the job, it detects and responds very quickly, no fiddling with settings, perfect when you’re performing whilst trying to manage the sound at the same time. However I was seriously disappointed to discover that this feature is only applied to the front of house signal. If you run the amp in foh/monitor mode, or set up a monitor through the dedicated output, the feedback suppressor is bypassed which means that if you want one for your monitors, which you most likely will, then you have to buy a separate suppressor. Luckily I still have a DBX go-Rack, which also has a very effective suppressor that again is just a simple on/off button, but this is now a discontinued product and have yet to find something similar that’s just as easy to use. It also means that it’s another thing that I have to plug in at a gig, and the whole point of me buying this powered mixer/ passive speaker set up was to simplify everything as much as possible.

It is still a great user friendly product that actually provides the volume that bands need but it could do with some serious improvement.

Good sound, enough volume for medium sized venues, bars ( acoustic duo/ folk/ Irish). We use it with two EVzx1-90 speakers. It has got everything we need. Only downside is that the volume knobs are not subtle, they go from zero to on quickly, no real fine adjustment at the low volume side. Once you get louder it goes in finer steps. And an other thing.... it has no individual mute on every channel but I knew that when I bought it so it is not a complaint, just something I would have liked. Overall very happy, good mixer for the price and good sound quality, which is most important to me. I run a personal monitor of the 2nd aux with has the ability to individually adjust the volumes of the Instruments different to the main mix.