Live Sound & Production

[jackajesusfreak]

I know that some folk in here will only recommend the best and I understand why. I don't disagree with that philosophy but I really need the ones that are willing weigh in with the situation I am presented with, and advise me accordingly. Thanks again for all your help.

Our church just adopted our fourth campus. Starting August 1st, the praise band I play in is going to start leading the worship in a contemporary service. The sanctuary is average size so the instruments will all be running through our own amplifiers which we tested out the other night and all of our amps have more than enough output. We are going to run the vocals through a PA. The PA we have requires powered speakers. We have 3 powered speakers which is plenty to send out the vocals to the congregation. The missing link is we do not have any powered speakers to use as monitors. Instead of making a monetary donation above and beyond my tithe to this new campus, I have volunteered to purchase a couple of powered monitor speakers.
Keep in mind the band is in relatively small quarters and all we need to monitor are the vocals because we can hear each others instruments with no problem and the drums are acoustic. I want to spend no more than 100 dollars and I've linked some possibilities here and I know I can get your opinion on which one of these you'd say was the best option.

SameDayMusic.com: Numark NPM5 Powered Studio Monitor


Amazon.com: Pyramid 4080 High Performance 400 Watt book case Speaker System with Monitor Style Bass ...


Amazon.com: M-Audio Studiophile AV30 Professional Reference Speakers: Musical Instruments


Amazon.com: Samson MediaOne 3A Precision-tuned Powered Studio Monitors, 3…


BEHRINGER POWERED STUDIO MONITOR SPEAKERS MS16 NO RES - eBay (item 180498781521 end time Jul-23-10 1...

Thanks again,

Jack

[stangconv]

TO be frank, I think you will be disapointed with any of those choices. You may as well save the 100 because you wont hear yourself anways.

[jgthatsme]

None of those. Those are all studio monitors, not live music monitors. The monitors you've listed are meant to be relatively low volume playback monitors in a very controlled environment playing back music which is balanced, compressed, processed, etc. They're not made for the vagaries and transients you'll enounter playing live music.

What are you using for your main PA? How many vocalists? You certainly don't need the best but unless you find something used, it's going to cost more than $100 for a pair.

This is as low as I'd go but I'm not sure it would be adequate for your needs: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/TC-Helicon-VSM200XT-VoiceSoloXT-Active-Personal-Monitor...

I'm sure you can find a better price if you shop around, but I'm figuring you won't find anything adequate (new) for under $200 each.

[abzurd]

The personal monitor mentioned above is one I own and will work if each member is to get one. Your budget only gets you 1/2 way to one though- there is a better place to buy it though and a better model - http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TCE-VSM300XT-LIST Bottom line is, you're in completely over your head. You're not even sure what type of product you need, yet have drawn a $100 line in the sand? Not trying to be mean, but this will end in embarrassment if you stick to your plan.

[stangconv]

We used these at a small bar a couple weekends ago, and I was very suprised at how well they worked. WE had 2 at stage front and one for the Drummer. No problems hearing ourselves and they werent even turned up that loud. One should do in a pinch. 3x's your budget though

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-EUROLIVE-E1220A-400W-12-Powered-Speaker?sku=5...

[Shaster]

OP... Please don't get any of the monitors you listed - wrong application.

How loud is the band. If you aren't loud and the physical space permits, you might be able to get away with setting up the vocalist slightly in front of the mains - then you might not need any monitors (or maybe just one). Or to put it another way, if you could play quiet enough for those monitors you listed to work, you wouldn't need them.

I play a gig at a place that holds 200 to 250 people. I'll often bring a pair of Yorkville Unity U15's and set them up just behind me. I angle them in and can hear myself (and the mix) just fine - YMMV. The only person that has a monitor in my situation is the drummer (if he's singing).

Whatever you do, save up for something appropriate and somewhat decent.

I believe Peavey makes some entry level powered monitors - maybe consider something like that.

[tlbonehead]

The personal monitor mentioned above is one I own and will work if each member is to get one. Your budget only gets you 1/2 way to one though- there is a better place to buy it though and a better model - http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-TCE-VSM300XT-LIST

Bottom line is, you're in completely over your head. You're not even sure what type of product you need, yet have drawn a $100 line in the sand? Not trying to be mean, but this will end in embarrassment if you stick to your plan.

Mine just showed up. Eager to hear it. $199 is dirt cheap with the carry bag!

[MainEventSound]

I know its more money but I really like the Anchor AN-1000X. They sound good, get loud (for small stuff), and they are tiny in size.

[jackajesusfreak]

Thanks for the valued advice. I know guitars and amps but not PAs and speakers. I will increase the budget and go from there.
Jack

[Alex_SF]

I'm looking into powered personal monitors as well, still learning about them. I didn't know about that TC Helicon VSM300XT model: looks like it could be a decent deal compared to the other two I was aware of -- the Galaxy PA6S or the Mackie SRM150 -- if it sounds good and works well and reliably.

Anyone have any thoughts on which of these three would be preferable for a mic-stand mounted personal monitor for a guitarist & singer in a rock bar band? If there are other comparable units, please throw them into discussion as well.

Criteria that are important to me include being able to get my own personal mix of a feed from the mixing board and my own microphone without having to get a separate mixer; stand-mount capability; enough volume to hear myself on a fairly loud stage; and durability.

[abzurd]

Anyone have any thoughts on which of these three would be preferable for a mic-stand mounted personal monitor for a guitarist & singer in a rock bar band? If there are other comparable units, please throw them into discussion as well.

Hands down the TC-Helicon wins. Here's a review I did a while back. It's not formatted well, but gets the point across. I don't use it all the time, but when space is uber tight I still use it.

TC-Helicon VSM300XT (6.5" co-axial speaker)

I'm the lead singer and this is what I use for my monitor. It does the job and allows a "more me" mix by running a line from the "direct out" of my vocal channel to the "line in" on the monitor. I then run a "band only" monitor mix. I now have separate control of the band and my vocals.

PROS
VERY well built. All metal
Smartly designed
Well balanced angled and mounted on mic stand with boom on top
Can be mounted as shown in picture to the right on a microphone stand and not angled
Can be used as a floor monitor
Loud enough for a coffee shop type acoustic gig PA main
"Shape" knob is like a upper mid boost and brings out vocals
Bass and treble controls on unit
Selectable 75Hz or 150 Hz filters
Clip indicator
No wedge on floor in front of me is handy for tight performance areas
Slick input box that goes on floor and allows all but power cable to plug into it.
The controls are recessed in the cabinet so if the unit is dropped on its face the knobs don't come in contact with the ground

CONS
No real low end (but that's not why I bought it and don't really expect it)
Due to speaker being 2 feet away from microphone, can feedback if your careless with the microphone (true of any of these types of monitors)
Position on boom mic stand is directly behind the microphone. This isn't the best for hyper-cardioid microphone patterns
Adding power input to floor input box would have been a nice touch as then you'd only need one cable running up the microphone stand.

[Dookietwo]

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Kustom-KPC15MP-15-Powered-Monitor-Speaker?sku=485596

Only 100 watts but with a 15 and a horn these may just do it for you. I have not heard them myself but you can return them if you don't like them. $150 is a little more than you want to spend but this would be the bare bones least I would go.

I have these and love them but over your budget.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PV115PM

Dookietwo

[monthlymixcd]

Thanks for the valued advice. I know guitars and amps but not PAs and speakers. I will increase the budget and go from there.
Jack

Think of it this way... how much did those guitars and amps cost? You should spend at least as much to allow vocals to be heard over them. That's a pretty good rule of thumb.

[Mogwix]

Think of it this way... how much did those guitars and amps cost? You should spend at least as much to allow vocals to be heard over them. That's a pretty good rule of thumb.

I see lots of bands with $15,000 invested in backline, and $400 invested in the PA :facepalm:

[monthlymixcd]

I see lots of bands with $15,000 invested in backline, and $400 invested in the PA :facepalm:

I know, right?!?

At the very least most bands would benefit from doing some simple math and figuring out what they have invested in backline per person and then use that number as a multiplier for the number of band members that send signal through the PA. That should be the BARE minimum for FOH budget... IMHO. Of course, this involves math so somebody will have to help the bass player (jk... bass player here) and as a side benefit this formula might help convince the (cheap @$$) guitarist to downsize his rig so that he doesn't have to contribute as much to the PA fund. :lol: