Members thecrunge Posted November 4, 2006 Members Share Posted November 4, 2006 Hello, I would like to thank the people who responded to my last post-your advice was appreciated. I just bought two used Yamaha 15 inch clubV's, and now I am trying to find a powered mixer and eventually, monitors. The thing is, I am not exactly sure what to look for. At the time, I am only going to be using this setup for small shows, as a solo artist and a band where we probably wouldn't be miking everything. But I plan to expand in the future, and I want to use this powered mixer as part of a larger system. I would buy more power amps for the subs and whatever else the powered mixer couldn't handle. My question is, if I have future expansion in mind, and I wanted to buy a powered mixer that will save me money in the long run by doing as much duty as possible within a larger PA system, what should I buy? Should I try to buy a powered mixer that will be able to handle the mains, the monitors, or both? I am thinking that the Carvin RX1200 might be a good buy because it has 4 power amps (each 300 watts @ 4 ohms), and you can have up to 4 separate mixes. But if you powered the subs separately, and used the RX1200 to power two mains and two monitors (at 8 ohms, which would then be 200 watts), would this be enough power for the mains in a larger venue or outdoors? Would two separate monitor mixes be enough for a loud 4-piece band? Musicians who play in 3, 4, or 5 piece bands- how many different monitor mixes would you recommend having? Maybe this would be more useful just to power 4 differently mixed monitors? How much power do you need for just the mains in a large venue or outdoor setting? There are also mixers with 3 power amps, and, of course, ones with two power amps, and these can have more power per channel than any 3 or 4 amp mixers (I have seen up to 500 watts per channel). What would you recommend getting, and how would you plan on using it? Sorry-there are a lot of factors involved here and lots of questions so it might be kind of hard to answer. But any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted November 4, 2006 Members Share Posted November 4, 2006 Really doing out door gigs with the gear you mentioned wouldn't even come close for good coverage usually outdoors and large venues require pretty large system. As far as monitoring you need a mixer with at least four to six aux sends that way you could have 4- 6 different monitors wedges or IEM. Stick with your small format first, then learned to milk it for all it's worth then you have a better understanding how to run sound. Personally powered mixers have limitations! in my opinion a non powered mixer, the sky the limit on how much power you can add i.e. 5k-100k watts. Your not limited by the mixer's built on amp. But hey that's just my opinion and preference. Good luck and peace out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted November 4, 2006 Members Share Posted November 4, 2006 When you're upgrading the powered mixer is the first thing that becomes obsolete. If you must have one I'd recommend the Yamaha EMX5000-12 or whatever the table top version is. It's got enough features to expand upon and the power is decent on it. That's a start but I'd consider a smaller unpowered board along with a dual 31 eq and amp. That's mains and monitors right there...p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moody Posted November 5, 2006 Members Share Posted November 5, 2006 Originally posted by Unalaska When you're upgrading the powered mixer is the first thing that becomes obsolete. If you must have one I'd recommend the Yamaha EMX5000-12 or whatever the table top version is. It's got enough features to expand upon and the power is decent on it. That's a start but I'd consider a smaller unpowered board along with a dual 31 eq and amp. That's mains and monitors right there...p The lack of adequate eq to the monitor mix is the Thing that most makes me stay away from powered mixers. At least with a normal mixer you can put whatever processing you need between it and the power amp without having patch leads and inserts all over the place.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted November 5, 2006 Members Share Posted November 5, 2006 Originally posted by thecrunge Hello, I would like to thank the people who responded to my last post-your advice was appreciated.I just bought two used Yamaha 15 inch clubV's, and now I am trying to find a powered mixer and eventually, monitors. The thing is, I am not exactly sure what to look for.At the time, I am only going to be using this setup for small shows, as a solo artist and a band where we probably wouldn't be miking everything.But I plan to expand in the future, and I want to use this powered mixer as part of a larger system. I would buy more power amps for the subs and whatever else the powered mixer couldn't handle. My question is, if I have future expansion in mind, and I wanted to buy a powered mixer that will save me money in the long run by doing as much duty as possible within a larger PA system, what should I buy? Should I try to buy a powered mixer that will be able to handle the mains, the monitors, or both?I am thinking that the Carvin RX1200 might be a good buy because it has 4 power amps (each 300 watts @ 4 ohms), and you can have up to 4 separate mixes.But if you powered the subs separately, and used the RX1200 to power two mains and two monitors (at 8 ohms, which would then be 200 watts), would this be enough power for the mains in a larger venue or outdoors? Would two separate monitor mixes be enough for a loud 4-piece band? Musicians who play in 3, 4, or 5 piece bands- how many different monitor mixes would you recommend having? Maybe this would be more useful just to power 4 differently mixed monitors?How much power do you need for just the mains in a large venue or outdoor setting?There are also mixers with 3 power amps, and, of course, ones with two power amps, and these can have more power per channel than any 3 or 4 amp mixers (I have seen up to 500 watts per channel).What would you recommend getting, and how would you plan on using it? Sorry-there are a lot of factors involved here and lots of questions so it might be kind of hard to answer. But any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! What makes that Carvin a better deal than a pair of stereo amps instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thecrunge Posted November 5, 2006 Author Members Share Posted November 5, 2006 Thanks for your replies! Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but I just thought that it might be a good idea to be prepared to expand-so that when that point came I would save time (and money?) by buying a smaller amount of gear and not needing to sell anything. (Got other things I should spend time on, like actually practicing and writing music, right? ) Also, I thought that it might be a good idea to still, even at that point, have a compact little unit I could do solo shows with if possible. What makes that Carvin a better deal than a pair of stereo amps instead? Well, I guess I didn't consider two stereo amps because I thought that the convenience of having everything all in one box would be nice and more so if you're playing some of the shows all by yourself, but maybe that's not that big of an advantage? The RX1200 runs for $800 new. I haven't really priced a stereo amp/passive mixer combo because of the aforementioned reason. But... Do most of you guys feel that the expansion capabilities of a passive mixer/power amp combo are so much better than those of a powered mixer that they outweigh the convenience of having everything in one box? The passive mixers I have seen have had no more than 4 different mixes to send, which is the same as that powered Carvin, so I can't understand why the Carvin wouldn't be a good idea unless 300 watts per channel is just too low to even use for monitors or monitors/mains as part of a larger setup (with additional source of power for subs or subs and mains that I would buy later when I expanded). Does anyone here use a powered mixer as part of a larger setup? I'm going to re-ask my other related questions in different threads so that I'm not bombarding you all with them here. I've done lots of research on the net but I can't find definitive answers, so I've come to the veteran experts, hoping they will lend me their knowledge like they graciously have before. Thanks again for your time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted November 5, 2006 Members Share Posted November 5, 2006 Originally posted by thecrunge Thanks for your replies! Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but I just thought that it might be a good idea to be prepared to expand-so that when that point came I would save time (and money?) by buying a smaller amount of gear and not needing to sell anything. (Got other things I should spend time on, like actually practicing and writing music, right? ) Also, I thought that it might be a good idea to still, even at that point, have a compact little unit I could do solo shows with if possible. Well, I guess I didn't consider two stereo amps because I thought that the convenience of having everything all in one box would be nice and more so if you're playing some of the shows all by yourself, but maybe that's not that big of an advantage? The RX1200 runs for $800 new. I haven't really priced a stereo amp/passive mixer combo because of the aforementioned reason. But... Do most of you guys feel that the expansion capabilities of a passive mixer/power amp combo are so much better than those of a powered mixer that they outweigh the convenience of having everything in one box? The passive mixers I have seen have had no more than 4 different mixes to send, which is the same as that powered Carvin, so I can't understand why the Carvin wouldn't be a good idea unless 300 watts per channel is just too low to even use for monitors or monitors/mains in a larger setup (with additional source of power for subs that I would buy later when I expanded). Does anyone here use a powered mixer as part of a larger setup? I'm going to re-ask my other related questions in different threads so that I'm not bombarding you all with them here. I've done lots of research on the net but I can't find definitive answers, so I've come to the veteran experts, hoping they will lend me their knowledge like they graciously have before. Thanks again for your time!! If you mount it all in one or two racks with most of the stuff connected all the time you really aren't losing much convenience. Here's how I have mine set up. In my top Mini Gig-Rig rack I have a Soundcraft M12 mixer in the top pop-up spot, and a rackmount Tascam CD player, Digitech S-100 effects processor, dual 31-band EQ for the monitors, Soundtech PS802 monitor power amp all mounted in the bottom front 6-space area. All this can stay hooked up. -In my bottom rack I have 2)QSC PLX3002 power amps for subs, 2)Peavey DPC1400 power amps for top cabs, dual 31 band EQ for mains, Soundtech 2-way stereo crossover, and a DOD frequency analyzer(usually not hooked up to anything.) All this stuff stays connected together as well. So at a gig, the only thing that needs to be done to link everything is to connect the main-outs from the mixer in the top rack to the main EQ in the bottom rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Will Posted November 6, 2006 Members Share Posted November 6, 2006 Powered mixers are the best solutions when the primary considerations are cost, size, and weight. Powered mixers are not the best solution when the primary considerations are expandability, flexibility, and sound quality. I own a Peavey 8-channel powered mixer and like it quite a lot--for intimate acoustic style music. Even the most powerful ones are underpowered for large venues, full bands, or high-volume music. Further, while you CAN integrate powered mixers into a component system, they don't integrate well. Ultimately, my take on them is that they are good purpose-built tools. Once you get outside the range of their purpose, however, they become expensive clutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rbts Posted November 7, 2006 Members Share Posted November 7, 2006 Yea. A powered mixer is the LAST thing I would reccomend for someone planing to upgrade in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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