Pushing K12's

[mikekars]

We had a small annual run/walk that ended up attracting quite a few more participants than were expected.  This was a volunteer sort of gig and I was caught with my pants down with just a pair of K12's on sticks. My reinforcements were over an hour away.

So I tried to make the best of things.  On the mic inputs I rolled off everything below 200Hz and  boosted 2.9K 3dB to try and get as much volume for vocals as possible.  Since the crowd spread up and down the street both directions I jacked them up as high as I could and pointed them down and angled them very wide.  This resulted in somewhat less SPL in the middle but got a lot better coverage to the sides than I would have pointing them straight or inward.

I pushed them to the point of the limiter light coming on and crossed my fingers.  I was actually pretty surprised at how well they did.  People even at the ends could hear the race announcements and more importantly the raffle winner's names.  I really did not sound bad even with some music playback.  Although I did see Uncle Sam cringe as he walked past them on 6 foot stilts!

Overall it worked out OK and no one seemed to be the wiser but I wouldn't  recommend it.

 

 

 

[Pro Sound Guy]

Sure looks beautiful where you live

I would not have boosted those upper regions

That loudspeaker should provide close to a flat response "as is"

Those are quite the sticks you have them up on!

Glad it worked out.

 

[mikekars]

I always thought that a broad eq bump around 2.5-3.0kHz would help with vocal clarity or "presence".  I realize that it might also make the overall sound more piercing and possibly fatiguing to listen to.  But that concern was secondary in this situation.  The mic was a shure sm58.

Would it have been "better" for vocal penetration to have left the EQ flat in that high-mid range?