The wish list!
Home > Home Recording Forum > Live Sound Reinforcement > The wish list!
Posted on Dec 28, 2008 08:31 am
Gear Addict
Member Since: Jul 09, 2008
Shopping time boys! My band wants to totally redo our PA and there are so many choices out there that we are lost in the forest. We are a rock band that plays in venues that will hold up to 500 people and we also play outdoors alot. Here is the line up. 2 mic'd guitar amps a bass guitar line out from the bass amp. 8 channels of drum mics, keyboards, occasional sax and flute, 3 vocal channels, occasional acoustic guitar and we are looking to add a synth guitar in the future.
We wand a PA that will fill all of these needs and will hopefully be easy to set up. None of us know anything about digital PA gear but we are intrigued by it. Any suggestions?
[ Back to Top ]
Dec 28, 2008 10:19 am I wouldn't go digital myself in this instance.
It looks like you'd need a 24 channel (being just over 16 that's the next step), which is good, most 24 channel mixers have at least 4 subgroups which would be nice for a drum submix, maybe a vocal submix and guitar submix too.
Unless it's a big drum set, I doubt 8 mics are necessary for 500 person rooms but I won't pick that battle at this point.
A couple 12" and horn hipacks with 18" bins would be nice, if you are outdoors, a couple 12" and horn hi packs per side might be nice...
Then comes processors, a couple multiprocessors for the vocal's would be easiest, one unit for all the vocal effects rather than a chain of many units. A graphic EQ, 30 band, for ringing out the room...
Hmmmm, lots of think about...not sure if this helps, I was more just kinda rambling while thinking...
Dec 28, 2008 03:13 pm There are advantages to going digital. One of which is having all of the dynamics built into the board. But, it does come with a hefty price tag. Not to mention the learning curve as well.
What is your budget? There are a whole host of products to chose from. Each with it's own price tag for what you want.
Dec 29, 2008 08:35 pm Thanks for the responses guys. We're not really set on a budget, but I think we will be maxed out at around $12,000. The money is not really the issue, it is the sound. Rob, when you say that the dynamics are built into the digital system, do you mean that we don't need a whole rack of compressorsm equalizers, crossovers etc? (please say yes). What would be the best way to learn about all of the options availeable?
Dec 29, 2008 09:02 pm Well, depending on which one your looking at, yes.
The Yamaha DM1000 has the compressors, gates, and four band parametric EQ's. None of them have a crossover built in.
The M7CL has the comps and gates for every channel, plus 31 band graphic EQ's.
Each has built in effects as well. The M7 has a nice little feature of a USB port that will play MP3's.
the only catch is the price of each. I think the M7 is at or above the 12k that you have set aside for your PA.
I'll check with a few contacts that I have to see if I can find you something at a good price.
Dec 30, 2008 07:49 pm Looks like we lost a little information on this thread. It's all good.
If I remember right, you had asked if I was familiar with the DM1000. Yes I am. The company that I work for has 3 of the DM1000's.
We originally purchased them to replace our Mackie 1642 in our corporate racks. Turns out that the DM1000 was better suited for replacing our Crest VX and LMX boards.
Initially you get 16 channels with the board. but, you can get the expansion card, and a bank of 8 additional preamps. The board has 2 card slots. So, if you buy 2 cards, and 2 banks of preamps. You can get up to 32 channels. And there are still additional channels available for internal patching for Effects or CD returns.
The board also has 4 SPX2000's built into the board. Which has stereo and mono effects.
It has 4 band parametric EQ's on every output. So 31 band EQ's are still necessary. For our racks, we put the Ashly Protea' EQ's in there. And you will also need a crossover for your speakers as well.
The DM1000 has 8 Aux sends, And 4 band parametric EQ's for every input, and output of the board. Plus Comps and Gates for every input. And just comps for every output.
All and all, it's a great little board. One of the only draw backs is the fact that the head amp is not recallable. Well, that and a step learning curve to boot. This is not a board that you just walk up to and start mixing. This is a piece that you need some time to train yourself where all of the functions are. And how to get to them in a hurry. That takes some time to learn.
But, one of the biggest attributes is the fact that you can run the Studio Manager software with the board. This is something that I do all of the time. It makes it easier to get to all of the functions by your laptop. And with a Tablet PC, or another laptop. You can be anywhere and run the board. That's what I was doing for the Cape May Jazz Fest. When ever I needed a cigarette, I would walk out the front door of the club with the Tablet. Have my cigarette, and mix the show at the same time. Loved that!!!
Do some research at the Yamaha website. See if it meets your requirements.
Dec 30, 2008 08:17 pm I forgot. You had asked about a sonic maximizer. Not needed with a digital console. In order to get a digital console to sound better, you need an external clock. Such as a Big Ben. The DM1000 can be clocked up to 96k.
Also, you can download the Studio Manager program for free from Yamaha's website. This way you can test drive any of their consoles before buying.
Jan 01, 2009 08:13 am That sounds pretty sweet. I am concerned about the learning curve though. I'll take your adice and download the software from Yamaha. If I understand correctly we would be able to preset the levels for the most part in advance for our mix and then deal mainly with overall levels and EQ at gigs correct? Or is that wishful thinking?
I was looking at some Mackie active speakers I forget the model, but there were actice subs and the mains were tri-amped with a 15" woofer a horn and tweeter. Any opinions on them?
Jan 01, 2009 11:14 pm Where I work, we have the Mackie SRM450 G2. I think that they are fine. They blow our JBL Eon 15's away. You need to know, the Mackie bought EAW. So, the Mackie speakers are EAW designed. And EAW is a fantastic brand.
And yes, you are correct about the set-up with the Yamaha DM1000. In addition to that, you can save scenes form each place that you play. Then all you have to do is hit recall. You can do this for each song, or each venue.
monmixrIf 50hz 60 will kill ya.Member
Since: Jan 08, 2009
Jan 08, 2009 01:49 am The mackie powered stuff is ok, the qsc powered stuff is ok. I might consider that route if you want someting thats fast and easy. a used m7 would take your whole budget...I dont know if Id go there yet. you didnt say if you had a sound guy or mixed from stage. If your the only band on the board, then you would be saving a rack of processing by going digital, but thats about it. decent outboard gear is so cheap now that for one band, going digital almost isnt worth the expense, as your mix can stay on the board anyway. your budget kinda looks like 4 powered subs, 4 powered tops , a A&H 3000 and a few outboard pieces.
