What I Run, Why I Run It, and What I Think of It

[madjack]

I'm 50, a high-school teacher by day, and have been a player for 36 years. For the last 18 years it's been just weekend warrior stuff, but I play most weekends.
My current basic system is:

Mixing - FOH Allen/Heath GL2. When I need more channels I use a JBL MusicMix 16 as a submix, but I recently bought a second GL2 which I'll use once I finish installing the sys-link kit.
I bought the GL2 new 10-12 years ago for about $1000. I've had no problems with it in that time and am quite happy with the sound. The only thing I don't like is that the channels are very unforgiving in that any real clipping adds an almost digital clipping noise. One must make sure the gains are high enough for good punch but not high enough to clip.

Processing - Driverack PA, Lexicon MPX100
I have the calibrated mic for the driverack, and use the wizard to get a flat system starting point the first time into a new club, then save the setting. The driverack, while cumbersome, has all the processing I've needed so far. The Lexicon, while quite basic, has a decent unobtrusive reverb which I use combined with a basic echo. I have a foot switch set to bypass between songs, and let me tap in the tempo for the echo for each song. I don't need anything fancier.

Amps - 1xSoundtech PS1300 for FOH, 2xRMX1450 for monitors
IIRC the soundtech is rated at 350 watts into 8 ohms and 600 into 4 ohms, which makes it a good match for the SX200 tops. The only problem I've had with it in 12 years is the binding posts on one channel took a hit and broke the insulator. I've had a difficult time finding the correct heavy duty posts and insulator to replace it. Each channel of the 1450s drives one monitor. The monitors are clean and smooth enough with enough GBF that I've had no need to put eqs on them.

FOH - 4x EV SX200 tops; 2x Yorkville PS210P (the pulse series predecessor to the LS700) active subs.
I bought the first pair of EVs shortly after they first came on the market. I think I paid somewhere around $550 each. I bought the 12" subs that matched them, and while I used the subs for several years, I never really liked them. They didn't have nearly enough punch. I bought the Yorkies from a friend for $750 for the pair, and am quite happy with them. They are strong enough that they caused me to pick up the second pair of SX200s, which I bought on ebay for $600/pair. The subs weigh about 70lbs each, and the tops weigh 39lbs each. The sound is smooth and even, with plenty of bottom end. They cover venues of up to 250 seating quite well, and I've used them in outdoor beer tent setups with reasonable success. If I were going to go any larger venues I would at least want another pair of subs, and maybe a third pair of tops.

Monitors - 4x Kustom 12" loaded with EV 12L and EV horn.
The monitors I purchased sometime in the late '70s, for I think $250 each. They came loaded with SRO12s (predecessor to the EV12L) and very small Renkus/Heinz horns. The horns died after several years, but the cabinets are good plywood construction, and the EV speakers have always sounded good. Thanks to a faulty amp the speakers were reconed about 10 years ago, and 4 years ago I got a deal on some 25 watt EV horns and drivers which I installed in the cabs with replacement crossovers. The crossover point is 3.5K. The monitors sound very good, and as mentioned earlier, I have had no need for eqs or other processing on them.

Mics - various. I use an EV757 for vocals, a Sen 609 for my guitar, a pair of SM57s for the leslie. Other mics are provided by the various musicians.

Cabling - Most of the cabling is homemade, including the stagebox, snake, multipins, most of the speaker cables, etc.

The rig is set up for onstage mixing. With the GL2 I can submix the various instument/vocal groups and still have 4 separate monitor mixes. The GL2 is mounted in a plywood mixer rack with the processing below it and the amps in a 10 space anvil rack below that. The mixer rack connects to the amp rack via a multipin cable. The stage box for inputs is on a 15' snake which connects to the mixing rack via multipin. The system can fit in the back of a pickup with topper, be completely unloaded by me, and set up ready to go in about 20 minutes.

I have been quite happy with this system for a number of years now.

[smaynor]

I'm 37, been playing bass since I was 10. Also play drums and some guitar. We're a 4-piece covers only rock and funk band that plays clubs primarily. We work about 2 weekends a month, and that's enough for all of us. Pretty decent band with no desire to "make it big". It's just for fun and enjoyment for us. If we can make a few bucks doing it, great.

My rig has downsized considerably in the last couple years. That was intentional. The new system sounds great, goes up in less than 45 mins, and I couldn't be happier with it. A lot of the pieces were picked based on countless reccommendations from this board, so thanks to everyone for their knowledge and sharing.

Mics: Shure SLX-4 Wireless with Beta 58 for lead vocals. Great sounding mic. Never any problems with dropouts, etc. Remainder of vocals are wired Beta 57a. I really like the sound of the Beta 57 for vocals. Kick mic is the dreaded AKG D112. I may upgrade to the Audix D6 soon. Instrument mics are Sennheiser 835's. Good mic for the 3-pack price. Various other mics are in the mic cases when needed.

Mixer: Primary mixer is Allen and Heath Mixwiz 16. Great mixer for the money. Lack of subgroups doesn't bother me at all for our situation, which is me mixing from stage. The lack of a littlelight socket is my biggest complaint. Backup mixer is a Soundcraft LX7 24 channel. Great sounding mixer to me, and I like the layout, but the MixWiz is rack mounted, and we don't need 24 channels for our group. We actually only use 9 typically.

Mains: (2) Yorkville NX550P. Love 'em. What a great sounding, self-powered, 47 pound cabinet.

Subs: (2) Yorkville LS800P. Love 'em. Nuff said.

Monitors: (4) Yamaha SM12V monitors. I like them, especially for the sub-$300 price. I actually bought the last two for $269 each including shipping. Powered by two Peavey CS1800G's with one monitor on each channel for an 8 ohm load. I'd like to switch to PLX amps for the weight savings, but I'm not having any issues with the Peavey's, so why switch?

Processing: Minimal gear. DBX 1231 dual 31 Eq. One channel is for the house mix. Usually set flat, except when needed to take out a boomy notch or something. Other side is used for mon-1, which is the lead singer's monitor. Not much going on there either. Since we don't run insane monitor levels, not much eq is needed for feedback control. Actually, the only time I even recall a moment of feedback was the 1st night my wife (lead singer) got her wireless. She was holding it, and forgot and pointed it directly into her monitor. One loud, quick, burst of feedback later, it was over. She's never done that again. DBX 4 channel gate with one channel used on the kick drum. Peavey mono 4-way crossover, using the 4 bands as such: Sub Out -using as a low pass filter at 40Hz, Low Mid Out - output to subs running from 40Hz-100Hz. Hi Mid Out - Running to NX550's from 100Hz-20KHz. High Out - Not used.

Cabling: A lot of cabling is from Audiopile. Speakon cables for monitors are from Mark, along with many of the XLR's. Great cables for the money, and great customer support also. Great people to deal with. Liz once went out of her way to get me a replacement package shipped out when she accidentally shipped my original package to the wrong state. I had the replacement two days BEFORE I would have received the original one. I've never had the pleasure of talking to Grumpy on the phone, but have Liz several times.

Cases, etc: I have pullover rolling cases with 4" casters for the mains, and each pair of monitors. No case for the subs, but they have wheels anyway. I'm thinking about making some caster boards for the bottom of these, so that they won't have to be kicked back onto the wheels. All power leads, quad boxes, etc. go into a large truck bed box that comes from Lowes with casters mounted to the bottom. GREAT durable cases for the ~$40 price. All speakon, mic, and misc cables go in an identical truck box that I have made dividers for the inside. Each bin is labeled "Speakon", "Mic", and "Misc". Makes it easy when you are looking for a particular type of cord. Mic stands, speaker stands, and lighting stands are stored vertically in a tall rolling cart that I made. We can haul every stand in one trip. Mixer, processing, monitor amps, and lighting controller are all housed in a rolling slant-top rack that my wife and I built. Huge time saver. Everything is pre-wired inside, and the only hookups are the incoming power, mic cables, and 4 speakon outs.

My Bass Rig: MusicMan Stingray 5. Shure wireless. Korg rackmount tuner. Ampeg SVT-350H into an Ampeg 6x10. Love the sound, hate the size. I slightly modified the head to use the space underneath the power amp section for a rack mount for my tuner and wireless. They are recessed behind the front grill. I took the old grill material off the original front panel, made a new, more open panel, recovered it in the original material and piping, replaced the logo, put it back on just like the original, and now everything is contained in one unit. I can still see my tuner perfectly. Wireless has never dropped out. You cannot tell it is not original unless you happen to notice the tuner and wireless lights shining out from behind the grill.

Trailer: 6x12 Haulmark single axle trailer with ramp door, side door, and interior lights. Hooks along one side to hang pre-lit and pre-wired rear lighting truss. Black exterior.

Tour Bus: 2001 Ford F-350 Crew Cab 4x4 Dually. 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel.

That about covers the basics. I couldn't be happier with the system I have now. Thanks go out to a lot of people on this board for their knowledge and expertise. I've learned a lot in the couple of years I've been lurking here.

[coyote-1]

What I run: Yamaha MG32/14FX board into a couple different EQs (Alto dual 15 for monitors, Behringer dual 31 for mains). From there into Samson S1000 power amps for mains and a Yamaha EMX660 that's been reassigned to monitor power amp duty.

FOH speakers are old EV Eliminator 3-way folded horn cabs for instruments and lows, Yamaha SE15 2-way cabs for highs and vox. Monitors are Squier and Nady.

Why I run it:
a) It works for everything my band's done to date. For anything bigger, we'd have to rent a much larger system anyway.
b) I'm a sucker for inexpensive gear that works well. Which brings me to....

What I think of it:
I'm happy with all the components in the system except the Nady monitors. They work, but are kinda harsh. I have yet to decide whether I want to sell them, or use the cabs but load them with higher-quality components.

I've found that graphic EQs, if you don't boost frequencies, are all good if they are quiet. So both the Alto and Behringer units are doing the job - no need for anything else.

The Yamaha board I did spend a bit on (though I got a special deal on that too), and it's worth every penny. The EMX660 is a great little powered mixer, and does a good job as a monitor amp for us.

In general, my system is simple and effective. Just the way I like it.


My background:
I've been in bands for over 25 years. Played drums & percussion professionally, played guitar in both pro and original bands, played bass in a couple projects, have been playing keyboards in prog-oriented situations for 3 years now. Have performed live on all the above. Have always sung backing vox. While I've often thought my own performances were sub-par, I've always gotten requests from people in other bands who hear me play to come join them.

And while I'm not a stickler for detail, I have a rep among those who know me for having an ear for sound. Consequently, I've been drafted many times to do sound for other bands. It usually works out well.

[smorrell]

We use a pretty basic speaker-on-a-stick setup. We all have day jobs and only play out once a month or so. It's simple but it gets the job done.

We've used this setup for indoor and outdoor gigs for up to 100 people with no problem. At the moment, we're only running vocals into the system.

mains - (2) Yorkville E12: I like 'em. They just sound great and they're shaped to double as a monitor wedge if needed.

monitors - (2) Community MVP28: Acceptable 12" monitors. Seem to be okay drivers in poor boxes. I'm sure they would crumble if they were to get wet. But for $200 ea, they get the job done.

amp - (1) QSC 1850HD (600/ch @ 4 ohms): One channel to the mains, one to the monitors. It's heavy. That is all.

mixer - Soundcraft Spirit M12: 2 pre-fade aux, 2 post-fade. 12 mic inputs, 4 stereo. The pots are color coded so it's easy to find the one you need. I would buy one again in a heartbeat.

effects - Lexicon MPX 110: This is the only effects processor I've owned so I can't really compare to anything. It's acceptable. I somtimes wish I just had a better/simpler reverb.

mics - shure SM58's


Upcoming gear purchases will include a more sturdy rack case and a snake for mic cables and whatnot. Maybe a dedicated amp for the monitors so we can have a seperate mix for the drummer. A powered sub for the kick drum might be nice too.

I have a Ashly 31 band EQ but, as it turns out, I've never even loaded it in the rack. Our band plays a relatively low volume and we've never had feedback issues, so I figure why bother.

[laidback]

Speakers: 4 EV SX500+ 15" 2-ways. 2 Community CSX60 4X15 subs. 4 Yorkville NX20 12" 2-ways. 2 Yorkville E12 moitors.
Power: 4 QSC RMX1850, racked together for FOH. 1 RMX 1450, 1 RMX 850 and 1 Yorkville AP1200 racked together for monitors.
Mixers: Spirit LX7-24, Mackie 1604VLZ.
Processing: 1 ART HQ 231, 2 ART HQ215, Lexicon MPX100, DBX166XL, Behringer Quad comp/limit/gate, Aphex Aural Exciter (don't recall the model,)Denon CD/Cassette player.
We also have a Behringer powered box mixer and a gig rack with a Spirit 12 channel board, PLX1602, DBX 215 EQ, PV CDS Compressor, and Lexicon MPX100 all racked together.
We put the whole mess together using SX 500's for tops and Community's for subs running off the 4 RMX1850's for festivals. We use the Yorkvilles for monitors for larger shows. The gig rack gets used for my acoustic 3-piece with NX20's for tops and E12s for monitors.
In addition we do some corporate rentals, using whichever components seem best suited to the job.
I'm pretty happy with the gear overall. I'd like to replace the subs, but they do get the job done. If I were starting over, I'd go with a narrower-angle 12" top and better subs and cross over higher than now, but honestly the system sounds pretty good and gets plenty loud. So far everything has been extremely reliable, but we have enough stuff that we could handle a pretty major failure and keep going.
A word on the Aphex: We had serious issues getting the "thump" we wanted. The Aphex resolved that problem efficiently and cost-effectively. It can certainly be overdone, and I guess you could get there with some creative EQ, but the Aphex makes it simple and it can be adjusted on the fly to get what you want.
Our rig is set up with all 4 of the 1850's in bridge mode running into 4 ohm loads. We're in South Carolina, and we've run this stuff under some pretty hot conditions. They've never given us a moment's trouble. We are careful about clipping and never let the tops clip.

[Guest Anonymous]

Originally posted by Axisplayer
I have noticed that all of my EWI speaker cables have a common niggling problem. The cale is slick and will routinely want to slide out of the NL4 retaining clamp so I do have to tighten those clamps and reinsert the cable semi-regularly. Other than that, they are sturdy and reliable.

I just noticed this, while reading through the thread (backwards). There's lots of good reading here BTW.

Something ain't right with your cables. I have about a 6ft. NL4-13ga. cable here I assembled about 2 years ago. I use it for a jump rope... as a test sample. I use the NL4FC ends as the "handles" for the jump rope cord. I jump rope most every morning for about 10 minutes (boxer style). I'm starting to wear the jacket of the cable through where it slaps the concrete floor, but the NL4FC "handles" are still tightly clamped on the cable, and the conductors are still well seated in their termination sockets.

I can't imagine your speaker cables are seeing more "use" than that... so something's gotta be wrong... and one way or the other, I'll fix it... if you're interested?

I also have approx. 80 additional NL2, NL4, and NL8 cables personally in-service (hard service) as real-world test samples... and no reported failures of the type you've described... and the "wrecking crew" (as I affectionately refer to them) is pretty quick to report any deficency.

E-mail me: audiopile@starband.net or call me at 1-509-287-2020 if you'd like.

[Dogoth]

updated 08-10

I'm 52. I owned part of a small local SR company through most of the 80s and finaly got tired of the long hours, low pay and no benefits (during this time I also did a lot of contract installation and service for the local muzak distributors as well as other freelance jobs )so I went to work as an electronics tech for a hotel/casino which inevitably lead to my working on the stage crew for that same casino.

Primarily I work for a casino Showroom running backstage monitors. I've worked for a couple of different casino's (always doing audio) and have decided I like the environment here the best (I.E. I rarley have to do A.V. setup work and almost all of my time is spent on music production of some type or another). In between Casino gigs I briefly spent some time on the road with a couple of well known acts and traveled to the phillipines and Ukraine/Russia as part of my job.

I've built a small AV production studio at home and I have a few personal toys (I won't coment on this equipment as it's more recording gear and thats another forum) the inventory can be found here: Studio Inventory

Aside from a Cabaret system (which I really only maintain) and a Portable PA on a stick for a weekly jazz show, here's the system I run. Keep in mind that most of the time I do monitors but ocasionaly I do FOH (actualy I had the FOH position for years and was instrumental in buying and installing their current setup (including blueprints for the sound booth ,CADs to Whirlwind for the custom patchbay and all of the installed mic lines and splits (most of which was custom built by me)).

FRONT OF HOUSE
Yamaha pm 3500 48x8x2 plus 4 stereo channels
Presonus 8 channel compressor/gate
Ashly Protea 2.4 digital equalizer
SPX 990, SPX 900, SPX 90
(5) DBX 166
Tascam DA30 MKII dat deck
Tascam 203 dual cassette deck
Pioneer PD M703 cd deck
Sony CDP CE 275 5 disc CD

MAINS (Bi Amp)
Behringer Ultra Drive
Behringer CX 3400 cross-over
(4) QSC RMX 2450 amp
(2) QSC RMX 1450 amp
(2) EAW 695Z left/right
(4) EAW SB250ZP dual 15 subs
(2) EAW 695Z stereo center cluster

MONITORS *FULL RANGE (stage left)
Yamaha M7CL 48X16
(1) QSC PLX 2402 amp
(1) QSC 1400 amp
(6) QSC RMX 2450 amp
(4) JBL SRX 712m
(8) EAW SM 500
(2) EAW SM 202H
(3) EAW SM 202B
(2) EAW SM 155H
(2) EAW FR 253HR 3/way side fills *bi-amped

So as not to go into detail with each piece of equipment, I'll pick the high and low points.

PM3500
Pros: Clean, Quiet, Good (not killer but good) mic pre's and very dependable (never used the BU supply once in 11 yrs)
Cons: No stereo Auxes, Littlelite connectors have come loose in back

Presonus ACP88
Pros: Good gates, every parameter's adjustable
Cons: Sorta lame comps, Gates are not multiband

DBX 166
Pros: Great Comps (fairly invisible unless abused)
Cons: Jacks and switches are wearing out

Behringer X-oxers etc...
Pros: They're cheap
Cons: THEY'RE CHEAP (I try to avoid Behringer but it wasn't my call)

QSC Amps
Pros: I love them. They sound almost as good as the Crown Macrotech
stuff and are maby even more dependable for much less $$$s
Cons:The little DIP switches drive me crazy

EAW Mains
Pros: Good sounding, loud, compact (you can tear the room up with just a
couple of boxes). Will meet most of the rider that we get.
Cons: a bit pricey

Yamaha M7CL
Pros: Probably one of the easiest and fastest to operate digital boards made. The touch screen makes it fast and VERY useful. Rarely will it not meet rider specs.
Cons: It's not the 5D that I wanted but managment cheaped out. It works fine and has sufficient bells & whistles to do what our riders demand. Sound quality is only OK at best but for most R&R it's sufficient

JBL SRX 712m
Pros: Light weight, Power handling from hell and efficient to boot, These things are light small and they'll get LOUD. They need very little EQ. Great for REALLY LOUD vocal clairity.
Cons: Not great low end, I wouldn't use them as a Drum fill or a keyboard monitor.

EAW SM 500
Pros: These boxes KILL. Great full range fidelity at R&R Volume. Will meet almost every rider we get (unfortunatly we're underpowering them and running them Full range (although I've set up all our speakon cabling for 2way in anticapation of more amps and x-overs))
Cons: They weigh around 100lbs Ea (gotta move them on dollies). pricey

Other EAW wedges
Pros: These boxes are 15 yrs old and still do the job (driver failure rate is very low)
Cons: Can't think of any.

I'm sure I missed a few things but if you got any questions just ask (I got lots of opinions )

[agedhorse]

Originally posted by JRBLE

Peavy Mains
Cons: The HT94 driver sounds bad and blows up periodicley (but nobody really misses it much)

I've got a pair of spare HT-94 drivers w/ brand ned diaphrams available cheap. Love to get rid of them

Yamaha GA 32/12
Pros: Soon to be replaced with a PM5D (this board was bought as a "temporary" measure 8 yrs ago) It's been in service constantly and still sounds as bad as day one,
Cons: Poor Mic Pre's

I believe the mic pre circuit itself is identical to both the M-2000 and the PM-3500, as well as the PM-1200, 1800 and 2000.

Klark-Technics DN360
Pros: Great EQs, Sound great, Old as dirt and still work perfectly.
Cons: phase is Pin 3 high (both in and out so it really doesn't matter until you try to run unbalanced, shorting pin 2 to ground passes no audio)

If you do not have the optional isolation transformer output installed, the units may be configured pin 3 hot UNBALANCED. It may depend on the version you have. They are easily updated to unbalanced pin 2 hot if you wish.

[Dogoth]

Originally posted by agedhorse

Peavy Mains
Cons: The HT94 driver sounds bad and blows up periodicley (but nobody really misses it much)

I've got a pair of spare HT-94 drivers w/ brand ned diaphrams available cheap. Love to get rid of them

Yamaha GA 32/12
Pros: Soon to be replaced with a PM5D (this board was bought as a "temporary" measure 8 yrs ago) It's been in service constantly and still sounds as bad as day one,
Cons: Poor Mic Pre's

I believe the mic pre circuit itself is identical to both the M-2000 and the PM-3500, as well as the PM-1200, 1800 and 2000.

Klark-Technics DN360
Pros: Great EQs, Sound great, Old as dirt and still work perfectly.
Cons: phase is Pin 3 high (both in and out so it really doesn't matter until you try to run unbalanced, shorting pin 2 to ground passes no audio)

If you do not have the optional isolation transformer output installed, the units may be configured pin 3 hot UNBALANCED. It may depend on the version you have. They are easily updated to unbalanced pin 2 hot if you wish.

The Peavy mains are way up in a curtain above the apron of the stage (really hard to access) after replacing the dias 6-8 times (visiting engineers try to push the 10k + in the center fill trying to get some fidelity) we decided not to replace them anymore (It's about a 3-hour job ). There is a plan in place to replace them with some more EAW boxes. We have a bunch of old 15 10 and 30 20 boxes for parts but thanks anyway.

I did not know that about the mic pre's maby it's just a poor EQ section (There dosen't seem to be as much gain available as with the PM3500). I will give this board credit for surviving as well as it has (although one of the output ICs died and upon replacement I noticed that the output protection caps were rated at 36V (isn't phantom 48V on most boards?(isn't this protection for when you send your output to another mixer/device that may have erant voltage?) and mostly blown up (sorta like popcorn ) I replaced them all with higher voltage rated caps.

I always thought KT would come balanced (for that price they should). When we get the PM5D the point will be moot as this eliminates the need for outboard graphics (I'll probably save wedge EQs in the library for the parametric and then give the internal graphics to the visiting engineers). We're also getting the series G wireless network setup (studio manager software) so I can stand next to the musician and adjust the mix on the spot). I've used this setup a couple of times and it's very cool (monitor world can be anywhere you can take the touchpad)

[Guest Anonymous]

Ok, my "A" rig (sort-of):

FOH Speakers: 8 ea. Meyer UPA-1A's & 2 ea. Meyer 650R2 subs (wish I had 4 of the subs).

Pros: just about everything: Real good sounding, small, looks good in traffic.

Cons: 'spensive

FOH Amps: 6 ea. E&W AL-1600's (my house brand).

Pros: Just good ole class AB lineal power amps: reliable, sound good, cheap, look good in traffic.

Cons: Kind-of heavy and kind-of power hogs (of-course).

FOH Processing: 2 ea. Meyer M1A's and 2 ea. Meyer B2's. They do the job they're suspose to, and they're what you suspose to run with these speakers.

Other stuff: 2 ea. White 4650 1/3 oct EQ's, Yam 990, Sony R7, Roland delay, 2 ea. DBX 166 comps, 2 ea. JBL M644 quad gates. No complaints with any of this stuff... although I'm looking to maybe replace the Roland delay with a Sony D7.

Board: Primarily a Soundcraft Venue II-24ch.

Pros: Sounds good, works good.

Cons: A few typical Soundcraft by Lucus glitches (nothing ever serious) and I wish the metering had a few more (usable) selection features.

Monitor EQ: 4 ea. ART HD-31. These are actually pretty good EQ's.

Snake: EWI 24 x 8 x 100ft. reel jobbie (house brand again).

Monitor power: 2 ea. E&W PS-802 and 1 ea. E&W AL-1600 (again, house brands)

Monitors: 4 ea. JBL 4602 and 2 ea. JBL 4604's. They're fine... kind-of heavy... the the HF in the 4602's is real beamy, but for old, cheap, passive wedges... they still sit pretty tall in the saddle.

Summary: I'm quite happy with this package... and I can't really think of much of anything that's cost effective to upgrade, except 2 more subs... considering the area market and the level of shows I do with this rig. The reason I run this stuff is cause Liz and I can easily set-up a show, this gear's proven to be cost effective and seemingly suitable for the niche market I work, and I like the way it preforms for the money invested. I have about $20K +/- (more like + I'm afraid) into this rig including mics, stands, cabling, distro, cases, patchbays, wireless mics, and "stuff". It's suitable for a R&R show with an "EZ group" to an audience of a few hundred IMO, depending on the situation.

[agedhorse]

OK, since I sold off my "other" A rig and monitor rig, here's the rig I've got as my house system in a 1000 seat theatre:

FOH Console: Yamaha M-2000 (Spare console PM-1200... same PSU's)

Pros: Solid, reliable, built on a PM style frame w/ PM style PSUs, industry standard interface... if you know PM's you know this console.

Cons: Pretty 'spensive for a 32x8 console

FOH EQ: DBX 1231 (replaced KT DN-360)

Pros: Quiet, functional performance, reliable. Sounds as good as the DN-360 IMO.

Cons: Not as sexy as the DN-360 but infinately more reliable.

Monitor EQ's (from FOH): Yamaha 2031B's

Pros: Reliable and quiet, decent performer but not quite as good as the DBX 1231 or 231.

Cons: long in the tooth though they are in dead-mint condition.

X-overs: paired DBX DRPA's (to allow for sub fed or composite sub operation

Pros: Excellent performance and better than average user interface. Cheap as hell too.

Cons: Turn-on/off noise. No basic password lock-out.

FX: Yamaha SPX-990, Lexicon PCM 90, SPX-90

Pros: Industry standard and good performance

Cons: cost, LEX's rough user interface, SPX-90 limited performance.

Comps/Gates: DBX 1046/1074

Pros: Very good sounding units, more reliable than previous DBX units

Cons: Cost (relative) and a bit difficult to read in dark.

CD Playback: Marantz PMD-320

Pros: good compatability, easy track cue

Cons: doesn't read every CD... but what does?

Cassette Playback: Tascam 112-II

Pros: solid machine

Cons: expensive for a cassette deck at about $1k list.

CD Burner: Tascam CDRW-750

Pros: easy to do a good job with

Cons: If you lose power or shut the machine off after recording but before finalizing, there's no way to recover the data on the disc as the TOC and header info is no longer available.

Intercom: Custom Clear-Com compatable

Pros: Industry standard and works every time

Cons: people can now get hold of me even if I want to ignore them.

Main speakers: Custom 4 box + subs line array, 2 x 12", 2 x 1" and 2 x 18" sub (about 10 years old now)

Pros: Very dependable and natural sound, especially for acoustic music, very lightweight and compact, very inexpensive by comparison to the other commercial boxes available.

Cons: Early implimentation of a solid design, but there are better component choices these days. Still not cheap as they have full ATM flyware built in.

FOH AMPS: QSC PLX-3402 x 4

Pros: Excellent performance, size/weight ratio, inexpensive and very reliable.

Cons: none really

Monitors: Our custom 12" x 2 way biamp wedges ( 8 avail in house w/ additional inventort at shop

Pros: Very natural and user-friendly, lightweight, stack to a cube condition 4 to a road case. Biamped by design and very flat.

Cons: not as efficient as some, traded off efficiency for flatness.

Monitor Amps: QSC CX 4 channel w/ TDM 4 x 2 way crossovers

Pros: cost effective but a lot of performance and mixes in a small package.

Cons: limited power, but not an issue for my application as I almost always double-box the lead positions anyway.

Cabling: anout 60 mic cables, are all Belden 8412 w/ Switchcraft or Neutrik connectors. All speaker cables are 4 cond NL-4's and there's a 4 channel (biamped) speaker snake to get monitor connections to the stage. Plenty of sub-snakes for mic inputs as well. Lots of AC quads and some 4 wire break-outs.

Pros: All pro quality, reliable and easy to deal with.

Cons: Expensive and a bit heavy.

Distro: Built into stage w/ ckts SR, SL and FOH mix position. Amp power is contactor controlled from FOH. All distro is on isolated technical grounding system and system is dead-quiet. Additioal distro lives in shop.

Main Snake: 40 pair w/ passive split in house, all XLR including the split to allow for assigning split channels as needed and where needed.

Pros: Simple, we installed this 20 years ago and have had NO problems.

Cons: Wish I had xfmr isolation in this, but I also have an xfmr isolated split at the shop so if I'm splitting to a recordinbg truck I bring that in.

Monitor Rig: Can be a Crest XR-20 all self-contained for 6 mixes, DBX 231 EQ's w/ Yamaha REV-500 and DBX 1046 comps OR a Yamaha MC-3210-II w/ similar processing.

Pros: simple, effective reliable rigs. Reasonably inexpensive.

Cons: not big enough for real hard R&R etc... but that's ok as I'm not doing those kinds of shows in house anymore anyway... too old for that kind of shit and I get paid better for production managing those shows anyway.

Mics: about 35 mics of various flavors, nothing too special but I can bring something in if needed. 12 transformer isolated DI's and a few active DI's, plenty of 1:1 isolation transformers, 24 output transformer isolated press box, pads, adapters etc

Pros: Generally I've got just about anything I need

Cons: finding it can be a challange since there's so many small accessories;

Wireless Mics: 6 channels of AT-5000 w/ large area ground plane antennas, all systems have body pack and hand-held transmitters, antenna DA's. Additional 8 channels of Shure UHF series w/ HH and bodypack transmitters are available at the shop.

Pros: Works very well, excellent quality pieces.

Cons: expensive-expensive-expensive.

So that's what makes up a typical [intermediate] pro-level rig for this kind of application.

[rinkydinkron]

I am a 35 years old Guitar tutor/musician from Scotland.
I am currently playing in a 80's 3 piece rock band in Scotland and the North of England.
Venues generally range from 100-500 in capacity.


Mixers:
SOUNDCRAFT Spirit F14/2
SOUNDCRAFT Spirit FX 8


FOH:
NEXO PS15 x 2


SUB:
NEXO LS1200


Monitors:
RCF ART300A 12" 300watt x 2


Racks and Gear:
NEXO PS15TD Speaker controller
GATOR 10u


Amplifiers:
CAMCO VORTEX 4
CAMCO VORTEX 6


Microphones:
SHURE BETA 87
SHURE BETA 57
SHURE SM58 x 3


The PS15's are wonderfully crisp,clear,precise and go fantastically loud.
They are an excellent single box option for venues holding up to 500 bodies.
It is however important to note that these boxes are designed as a single speaker option and with their dispersion characteristics do not lend themselves to arraying.

[Unalaska]

Most of what I do are cover bands at corporate or private parties. 120db @ 30m isn't required, 90-95db is. Many bands I work with are 5-8 piece and really need 4+ mixes. Since they hire me I try to to acomodate when I can. About 1/2 the rooms I do can be covered with the smaller EV system, B rig amp rack and the 01V. Makes an easy load in! Lighting is covered by 2 trees of Par 64's (300w) or Par38's (150w).

Mixers:
Allen & Heath GL2400-24 FOH/monitor console: Great board, nice and small. Not enough stereo inputs though and I still need a good case for it...
Mackie SR24.4: modded to be a 6 mix monitor console, it's in a road ready case and is becoming my fav little board for the mixes
Yamaha 01V with MYAT8 card, This gets used about 80% of the time. Wish it had more auxes...
Behringer ADA8000 8 channel mic pre (for 01V): Busses can be assigned to outputs for extra "just me" monitor mixes if needed
Mackie MS1202: sits in my studio on 24/7 for the last 5 years
Yamah MG8/2FX: gets rented out all the time for very small gigs. Needs more inputs though...

FOH Speakers:
4x Electro-Voice S-15 mid/high
4x Paradise Dual 18

[Unalaska]

So found some pics of a gig recently so I'm gonna bore you with them...
As I said in my last post that the EV S122/S181 system is my fav, heres a couple pics of that rig in action...

[Unalaska]

It was a small room...

http://www.samsstudios.com/A_H_FOH1_cropped.jpg

[ctardi]

Originally posted by Mark G. Hinge
Another idea for a "sticky", to go along with this one regarding the "What PA to buy" questions.

You know how folks come in asking for advise on what equipment to buy, but they don't give enough information, so someone has to ask every time... "what kind of music do you play", "how many people does it have to cover", "what are you running now", "what's your budget"...etc. etc... and sometimes the guy trying to help can't help but get frustrated and short with the OP.

I'm certainly not qualified to design the thread, but hows about one of you pro's, (Audiopile?) comes up with a sticky DIRECTLY designed to adress this type of post.

It could be titled something like "BEFORE ASKING FOR PA ADVISE, READ THIS" Then explain to them what information they should include in their post so that they can get the advise needed, and make it easier on you guys.

Just a thought.

I think we just need to update the Gude for Goobers.

[roabre999]

Age 36: Occupation Tradesman. Hobby: You've heard of Soccor moms, I guess I'm a Rocker Dad.

Played bars etc back in the 80's with a pretty decent sound/light rig. My two sons got bit by the music bug and ended up in bands. There was a pretty good local punk/rock scene in town for the past 12 years or so, with various bands providing the backline and putting on shows. Most of those bands were gone, and since my kids band was practicing at our place (he's the drummer) and singing through an old peavey amp of mine, my wife and I decided that maybe it was time for us to pick up the ball and continue the fine tradition of putting on local punk shows.

Punk shows consist of 5 bands, 2 - 3 local with the other 2 - 3 being from out of town. Good for the kids as they get to see a lot of out of town bands they wouldn't normally get to see. Great for the local bands as it gets them out of the basements and garages and lets them play "real" shows in front of "real" crowds. 80 - 150 kids at the shows, so I know we needed some thump to make it all sound good. Had 16 lights and a controller left over from my gigging days. Our band fell apart when the drummer who owned the PA moved, along with the bass player.

ANYWAY, the gear.

FOH

2 - Yorkville Unity U15s
2 - Yorkville LS800P subs

Monitors: borrow 4 monitors & an 800Watt power amp from a bud. Not sure what they are but they work well and will probably purchase from said friend in the future

Board:
Yorkville Powermax 16
2 - 800W built in amps for the mains
2 - 275W built in amps for the monitors

Snake:
100' Yorkville snake with powered speaker returns

Rack Gear:
Drum setup:
6 - ddrum Pro Acoustic Triggers
Alesis DM5 Drum module into an
EWI 4 channel Direct box (which then run into the snake)

2 - PEAVEY PV Q431F EQ with Feedback locating system for FOH
1 - Peavey Q215FLS Dual band eq with Feedback locating system for monitors
1 Peavey Q215 that I use on inserts for the guitars if I need to tweak a bothersome frequency (this one guitar player has this one freq that just BOOMS when he plays clean. Has always done it so I know to drop that one freq and he's good for the show.
1 rocktron compressor
1 Alesis Quadraverb
1 DI for bass

Mics
4 - SM58
3 - PVM 480 condensors for cymbals
2 - sm57's for guitars

Boat Anchors:
Behringer De-Noiser - lots of pretty lights, doesn't seem to do anything.
BBE Aural Exciter - a few pretty lights, doesn't do enough to use.
Both sit in the basement as paperweights. Sometimes u just don't know why you need something, or you don't know that you DON'T need something.

Nice ballsy system. More than enough for what we do. I'd rather have the headroom and not need it then have everything clipping and still need more. Always get positive compliments from the out of town bands about the production and the sound quality. One said the setup was better than half the bars in the big city so that was cool. It's good and loud though we don't totally blow our brains out. Lots of thump which always brings a smile to my face.

You probably won't get "screamo" but I don't think we're supposed to get it. My parent's didnt get Motley Crue and Iron Maiden, and their parents never got The Beatles or Elvis. But they were always there to support me so its nice to be in a position to support my kids. Also as we were growing up and in the young bands, there was always the old guard around, willing to help out if we needed a power amp or a monitor or two. Again, it's nice to become part of the old guard helping out the young whippersnappers.

Here's the boys in action with my setup....
http://indyinghands.com/videos/m0405/m04twilight.wmv

And them again playing in another city with a typical setup for the same type of show. Not as many people but they were playing rather late. I think there were like 10 bands which was way too many, lol the audience basically got burned out with all the moshing but it was cool that some people stayed behind.
http://indyinghands.com/videos/sep1705/sep17perfect.wmv

We looked at a few smaller systems, but from being in bands, I knew how loud it had to be for gigs. The other 3 systems wouldn't do it, and we thought if we bought a lesser system and it wasn't enough, we would probably get only half or less back from what we paid and would have to get a bigger setup anyway. So we bit the bullet and thought if we are going to do this, might as well do it right. Happy with the sound, the ease of setup, the quality of the gear, (really liked the 2 year "even if you break it" warrenty) And geez, I even ended up putting a bar band back together, so we'll use the setup for that as well.


Oh yeah, and a Tascam Digital Portastudio 2488 to record the works.

[laidback]

My experience with Unity cabinets was that they sounded wonderful, but lacked the edginess (probably distortion) that many people equate to loudness. Especially in a punk situation it seems you'd want that "harshness" when you're pushing the system.
I'm really curious to hear more about how they sound when they're pushed. I was giving serious thought to replacing my EV SX500's with them, but the EV's just sounded more "rock-n-roll."
I have installed Unitys in a church and the client and I are both very satisfied with them.

[soul-x]

Who do we talk to in order to get this thread stickied?

[Guest Anonymous]

Originally posted by soul-x


Who do we talk to in order to get this thread stickied?

I'm wondering what would be the best way to handle keeping the thread going and explaining updates to our systems?

For example: I'm not satisfied with my FOH speakers for my "band in a van rig". I decided to do something about this glaring deficiency and have stepped up to some EAW cabs... which I expect to run at their first job here in about 10 days. I expect this upgrade to be a noteworthy improvement and would like to report on the outcome. I thought about:

1) Editing my original post, and leave the post where it is, or:
2) Delete the first post, and post an updated report, or:
3) Post a new post, and leave the first post alone.

So, bearing in-mind what would be the best for the reader, I'm wondering what would be most useful and efficient way to handle this... knowing that writing doesn't particularly exist for the author, but rather, writing exists for the reader.

[joel77]

Mark,

I think I'd state your equipment changes in a new post, but edit your original to indicate that you've recently updated you rig. That way any new readers will know that the rig mentioned in your original post is no longer current.

Just a thought.

Joel

[Guest Anonymous]

Originally posted by joel77
Mark,

I think I'd state your equipment changes in a new post, but edit your original to indicate that you've recently updated you rig. That way any new readers will know that the rig mentioned in your original post is no longer current.

Just a thought.

Joel

Ok!

That makes perfect sense.

[daklander]

You could also just post your new setup and critique and link back to the origianl setup. That way folks know what you started with, and the ensuing upgrades.

[Guest Anonymous]

Ok, well... I'm working on incorperating some preformance to my band in a van system.

The intent with this system is:

1) The system including most of the backline gear has to fit in a full sized Chevy van.
2) Clean, clear, punchy and "loud enough" for a good R&R show (or most anything else) in settings of a few dozen to possibly 100 or so audience size.
3) Mains and monitors combined will operate fine off-a one 110V 15A outlet.
4) I single handedly can set-up mains, monitors, mics... basically the whole PA in under an hour without breaking a sweat... out of the van and into the venue... barring venue and talent complications.
5) Price is not an issue, but I want to do it as cheaply as possible while not significantly compromising the first 4 criterion. I'll spend the money it takes to determine the diminished point of return on the first 4 criterion.

I've decided my origional low budget FOH speakers, explained here, do not cut it and were just too low budget:

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...4&pagenumber=1

Third thread down.

The origional FOH speakers were cheap, but they sucked. The highs were really harsh... so I added an L-pad to the horns to try and get a handle on the nastieness... But now they sound like they have a wet sock stuffed in the horns when attenuated to the point where they're not rude. The mids were mushy. The subs sounded like a kid whopping a wet blanket with a stick. For the size and weight vs. the performance, I decided this weak link (the FOH speakers) needed more homework and money thrown at it.

I've purchased 2 ea. EAW JF260 mid-high cabs and 2 ea. EAW SB330 subs to replace the origional cheap FOH speakers. I've received the EAW cabs today via truck freight, and I sparked them up in the shop this afternoon. Doing A-B testing against the cheap FOH speakers is like a night and day difference. So-far, I believe this is time and money extremely well spent. I have a gig this weekend (corporate party)... and I'll make my final determination on the FOH speaker upgrade then.

[Tony S.]

System was bought all new from Chuck Levin