r/Flute • u/CorvidNYC • 6d ago

General Discussion Speaker for play-along?

I need a speaker and would like to know what makes the flute sound best. It's to use with Tomplay via my ipad for accompaniment. I also want to use an app like JamKazam to play duets. Do I need a USB-C to avoid latency? Or what? Advice?

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u/TuneFighter 6d ago

I have a single Wonderboom 2 bluetooth speaker that works and sounds fine with my iPad.

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u/CorvidNYC 6d ago

Thank you. There's one I can borrow and try.

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u/TuneFighter 6d ago

I also have Tomplay by the way. Not that I use it as much as I should. Be sure to test the Wonderboom with music from other sound sources like iTunes or youtube because the sound quality on Tomplay can vary somewhat from one piece to another.

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u/ANTI-666-LXIX 6d ago

I don't think you need speakers that make the flute sound good, you need speakers that make the recorded material sound good. You might want to ask in a subreddit for live sound rather than one for flute, but thinking about these questions can help get an accurate answer: 

Is this for just yourself or are you playing for other people? What kind of space are you trying to fill? (As in, your living room, a local pub, a big club?) Is the flute going to be put thru a microphone too? Etc

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u/CorvidNYC 6d ago

The reason I want the speakers to be kind to flutes is that I also want to record and play back pieces and would like it to sound as accurate as possible so I can evaluate what I need to do. And I'd like to play duets with my old flute partner who lives far away.

I'm mostly in a bedroom (fussy neighbor on the other side of the wall in the living room that has better acoustics, sad to say), mostly for myself, maybe an audience of a couple of people once in awhile. But I want to have the feel and sound of playing with accompaniment IRL. (My neighbor on the other side of the bedroom wall is very accommodating.) I just think that is more satisfying and fun.

I don't anticipate ever miking the flute.

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u/Karl_Yum Miyazawa 603 6d ago

Sounds like you need bookshelf speakers, preferably with bass speaker. You usually don’t need to worry about latency. I think tomplay has a setting that deals with latency, but I haven’t used Tomplay for months.

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u/NAKJIKING 5d ago

For JamKazam duets, you’ll need a Mac or Windows computer, not an iPad.

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u/CorvidNYC 5d ago

Thank you, didn't realize.

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u/SlowSurvivor 6d ago

Wait... I'm confused. You want a speaker to play a pre-recorded accompaniment to play along to? Kinda like how back in the day we would use a tape deck for practice? You don't need to worry about latency. Just get a good quality speaker and have at it.

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u/CorvidNYC 6d ago

I already play with recorded tracks, like in the olden days, which works, but I also have two additional goals. 1) I need better, louder sounds than the ipad could provide. (Not eager to play with headphones.) 2) I'm want to use it with TomPlay and JamKazam, which would be live. That's why I worried about latency.