Lost In The Sea Of Modern Small Room P.A. Gear

[MrHarryReems]

My band has eliminated amps and runs everything into a single mixer. We are using a the Behringer XR18 but are seriously considering the Soundcraft Ui24 digital mixer. I originally started with the goal of reducing the weight and complexity. Our drummer uses an electronic set. The sound benefits soon became apparent. Every musician that has come to our gigs comments on how transparent and clear every single instrument is. Every voice, and instrument can be heard in the overall mix. And stage volume is low, no cymbals crashing in your ears or the guitar stepping over the keys.

 

We originally daisy chained a 10 channel and a twelve channel mixer. While this worked, monitoring wasn't nearly as flexible and the noise floor was probably higher. It didn't have near the clarity and headroom as the single mixer.

 

I also play in another band with their equipment which is the typical passive speakers, power amps, rack of electronics, Acoustic drums and loud guitar amps. Loading in and out is a pain in the rear and the mix the audience hears isn't nearly as good. There are constant battles on stage over volume. In short its not nearly as fun.

 

Sorry about the rants, but I really have been converted. If your playing huge venues, then the traditional setup is required to push a lot of air to 2 -3 hundred people especially outdoors. But if your playing typical bingo hall sized rooms, outdoor patios, breweries and pubs its best to keep it simple. Your load in and out is quicker, your not tripping over dozens of cables and the sound in most cases is way better.

 

Why would you move to the Soundcraft? I've heard that the app on the X18 is better, but I haven't seen it myself. I just went to an X18 from my Yamaha analog board this year and am pretty happy with it.

[kbeaumont]

Why would you move to the Soundcraft?

 

I have had a very good experience with other Soundcraft mixers in the past. I but the main thing is more channels and the effects offered look better. The wifi on the X18 is iffy, I ended up using a separate wireless router. The effects, lexicon reverb, dbx compression are well known. But its not really a priority, we are just considering it. And its not really a snub of the Behringer, which has been a fine mixer better than my analog one.

[happwith12strin]

 

 

 

Peavey

Peavey PV5300 Powered Mixer $200amazon

you mite consider a limiter to prevent damage to your pa from keyboardsbassect

maybe some litewght peavey 12inch pa speakersmite need a crossover if yourbass intensive

that splits the signal into low and high and mids then just use a bass ampp to suppliment the powered mixer for more bass if wantedfor highquality sounds use powered studio monitors use main out connection on powered mixer to go to studio monitorsfor more volume usee a 12inch powered speakervia main out