advice on gear setup
Home > Home Recording Forum > Gear Gab > advice on gear setup
Posted on Jun 20, 2009 01:07 pm
mk1378
Member Since: Jun 20, 2009
ok, so we have been aquiring gear for about a year now for rehearsing and trying to get the sound right...
~list of gear,
two guitarists through 2 marshall amps mic'd up with sm57's running through a dual channel presonus bluetube preamp, heading into an (old) peavey 12x2x1 mixing board, (2 audio-technica atm410 vocal mic's for both vocals going direct into two channels on the board as well) all out to a dual 31 band peavey 231eq leading into an 80's model peavey CS400 feeding a pair of Alesis Mk2s' passive monitors...
the problem seems to be with the vocals just not fitting in the mix right with the guitars...
(im thinking that i need a preamp for these vocal mic's.. any tips?)
trying to get the sound right and sometimes its amazing...and sometimes its just awful...i dont know if its just the vocals into the mixing board, or the EQ needs more fine tuning?... any help, ideas, or maybe changing the way the gear is setup woud be great..
if i need to be more specific just let me know...thanks!
[ Back to Top ]
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jun 20, 2009 09:08 pm I just want to make sure I'm getting this right.
You are using those Alesis near field monitor's as PA speakers for rehearsing?
I'm going to guess that if rehearsal volume is normal that those speakers themselves may be the problem in the sound you are hearing.
Granted the mixer is a bit older but it odds are good it still works fine for simply mixing of levels.
Jun 21, 2009 01:18 am yeah ditch the alesis mk2's and get some PA speakers and tripod stands for them.....also the blue tube preamp is kinda redundant as your mixing board has built in pre's...the tube does nothing for you sound quality wise.....also notice both the blue tube and the mk2's are designed for studio/recording whereas the rest of your setup is a solid live PA system.. also consider adding a dual channel compressor/limiter after your eq so your vocals don't jump in and out as your vocalist(s) get close and move away from their mi, and it'll keep your poweramp and speakers from overloading..
my two penny's
wyd
Jun 21, 2009 08:17 am If rehearsing you could try not miking the guitars cos on a gig you will need PA speakers.:) Also adding another pre-amp will make things worse so plug the mikes straight into the desk.
mk1378Member
Since: Jun 20, 2009
Jun 21, 2009 10:27 am yes, i picked up the Mk2s' for studio use only, and have ended up kinda temporarily using them for rehearsing until i get my hands on a pair of PA speakers...
mk1378Member
Since: Jun 20, 2009
Jun 21, 2009 10:36 am the only thing about the bluetube, is that the preamp seems to be much better sound qualitywise than the preamp on the board...the board preamp is turned way down (just so that the bluetube preamp comes through)
thanks for the tip, i will try taking it out of the rig...i know it seemed to make a big difference when we first hooked it up...havent tried unhooking it since putting the EQ in...
and yep, the compressor/limiter has been on the list for a while lol...also been wondering about a crossover...is it worth the while?
thanks for the help guys!~~(:
Jun 21, 2009 01:12 pm well, if yer convinced the blue tube is helping, then i don't see any point in tryin' to push ya off of it (although, normally i would*, but it really doesn't matter in the long run).....as for a cross over, you'll only really need one if you are using PA speakers with separate sub woofers. which is waaaay down' the road, so i wounldn't worry about a crossover just yet.
* for an objective test, put the mic and amp in an isolated room away from the mk2's (so you can hear what the preamp is doing, and not have the amp muckin' with the total sound in the room...then take out the blue tube, use the mixer pre's to match the volume as close as possible, and see if ya hear a difference. i've got a blue tube and use it dang near all the time (as i have no other pre's around, not even a mixer) and i'll tell ya, i'm quite familiar with it, the "tube drive" really sounds like crap (imho) when sending a sine wave or a vocal and turning it up to the point of distortion....well it sounds like what it is, a preamp clipping...mostly in a squarish kinda way (aka unpleasent) so really when i use it i keep the tube drive all the way off and use it for a clean transparent preamp. yer gonna have to drop a bit more money before the "colored" pre's become a factor in your setup....again this is more for a recording situation rather than a live situation.
oops, i wasn't supposed to spew all that out. LOL
again, if you like what you hear, to hell with everyone else.
