Jump to content

Crazy subs not working - Gig today!!!


Recommended Posts

  • Members

I have final sound check in a few hours for an 8pm show tonight. I hope someone can think of something I missed.

 

Rig =

 

Audix D6 into Yamaha MG 8 submixer into channel 10 of my Peavey PV14 mixer.

Mixer to X-over then to power amp, then subs.

 

Situation =

 

No kick at all through subs. However, when I play the break music (cd player into main board) subs work, but I only hear the bass guitar, not the kick drum. Have tested the kick mic by talking into it, and get good sound out of the tops, but nothing in the subs.

 

Only thing I can think of is that there is either a low-cut filter on somewhere, or that the x-over settings got changed somehow. I can't get in to the venue for an hour, but that's what I'm checking first.

 

Any other ideas would be welcome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My first step would be to turn off the tops completely and play your break music again. Getting anything out of the subs now?

 

Maybe your tops were vibrating the grills on your subs or something because it makes absolutely no sense that your break music is producing bass guitar, but not kick drum in your subs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Ok, just got back - Here's the deal.

 

Checked all filters - Not that.

 

Tested as instructed above with known mic/cable. Sub mixer is connected via 1/4 to the left/right inputs of channel 10. Still no kick.

 

Took the kicks (drummer uses 2) directly into the main board - one channel each via 1/4 cable and now I have both kicks!

 

Go figure. At least I'll get through this show. Still, it's very weird.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Are you using a TRS connector (I'll bet you are), you are getting common mode cancellation of the balanced signal into the stereo channel.

 

Use ony one output, go into a standard channel or use the monom function/input on the stereo channel.

 

I'm 99% sure this is the problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Your D6 might be having problems. Mine did the same thing a while back. Try a different kick mic or some other drum mic if you don't have one and see if you get some low end.

 

D6's are fairly notorious for failing if you do not properly place them. In the manual, it clearly states you MUST place the diaphragm of the mic INSIDE the port of the head... and not 'parallel' or equal at it. Supposedly the turbulence of the air causes the mics to fail.

 

:eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

D6's are fairly notorious for failing if you do not properly place them. In the manual, it clearly states you MUST place the diaphragm of the mic INSIDE the port of the head... and not 'parallel' or equal at it. Supposedly the turbulence of the air causes the mics to fail.


:eek:

 

That's crazy designing a kick mic you can't flush mount to a drum port but your 100% correct we found out the hard way when my ex drummer's D6 died.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Ok, back to shed some light.

 

Horsie - Was using straight 1/4 T/S cables all around.

 

Ok, now here's the kicker (hehe...like the way I worked that in here?)

 

If I picked up either of the kick mics and spoke into them, I was loud and clear through the tops, but nothing in the subs.

 

When I put each kick into it's own seperate channel on the board, using the exact same cable I had just unpluged from the sub-mixer, all was well. Also, the snare and cymbals from the sub-mixer came through loud and clear through the tops, too.

 

Still can't figure it out for the life of me. Each channel of the sub-mixer had a 80hz high pass filter, but I made sure they weren't on. Could they have been "stuck" somehow?

 

I just don't get it.

 

 

BTW - One of our best shows ever. People keept asking for more and wouldn't clear the dance floor, until the venue finally made us stop!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

maybe the d6 fad is finally turning, i sure hope its over soon. member the beta 58 fad? the one where you had to have beta 58's or you were "da fool"? i have two now and they mostly sit there and do nothing. i use them maybe once every other year.

 

 

I still use B-58's, but maybe that's because I am dealing with acts that request them and they can really cjhoose anything they want. It's a go to mic for some pretty experienced and good engineers IME. I have no problem using them whatsoever. I am hardly "da fool" either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Are you using 1 or 2 kick mics????

 

Are they on the same kick or are there 2 kicks?

 

If on the same kick, was one on the front head and the other on the back head? If so, did you reverse the polarity of the beater side mic?

 

Did you check that both mics and/or cables were wired for the same polarity?

 

Sounds like a polarity inversion somewhere, maybe in the cabling to the main mixer on one of the 2 submixer output channels.

 

Time for some step by step troubleshooting. This should not be a difficult problem to figure out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Troubleshoot the submixer and especially the output cables. If one is out of phase with the other, it's a possible outcome (depending on summing).

 

Does the same symptom exist if you only use 1 mic through the submixer? Does it happen whenever you bring the second mic up?

 

What submixer and which channels are you using on it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...