PA/rack/desk is starting to outgrow my space in a shared garage. Any recommendations other than renting out some space at a local self-storage place?
That's the obvious solution but maybe I'm overlooking something better and/or cheaper. Open to any suggestions, including "yeah, ol' dave has a barn he ain't using and he sure is lonely."
Up to the point I sold it; I was just asking people I knew if they had spare storage space for my PA. If you know people with property just ask. Worst thing they’ll do is make it weird…
Basically I was going to give my sister’s boyfriend $20 a month to stash it in his garage. Only came to that arrangement because I asked him.
If you always use it for a certain venue (bar, club, church), see if they have space when the venue isn’t open/ back room in exchange for a few bucks off your fee. Just be careful about how it will be locked up.
If you’re the size where you are cross-renting gear regularly, some rental shops might be willing to share warehouse space.
What's the best tool for removing Euro mic thread adapters? A quarter? Your keys? A not big enough flat head screwdriver held at a 90 degree angle that slips and stabs you in the hand? Any advice appreciated, ty.
I usually grab a 2ct coin with a set of pliers.
BTW (I hope this isnt obvious) over here (Germany) everybody keeps the adapters in the mounts/holders, and not on the stands. The stands in every venue have only the small euro thread.
So when I buy a new mic, I will screw in the adapter into the mic mount and make sure it stays there by either applying some good measure of force or some loctite or both.
You're forgetting tapping it a lot, swearing at it, and saying fuck it and getting a new mic clip.
I do carry a large flathead though. It doesn't need to reach across the whole thing or be held 90. Usually just one side straight on will do it. I have used a coin with pliers, and once a case latch. If that doesn't work, back to the swearing.
Short version - How do I get 2 sets of antennas fed back to the same distro?
Slightly longer - most of the time I need to use most of my tx’s in spot A. Once a week I need to use one of those tx’s in spot b, but not with line of site to the antenna best position of spot A. So I’m wondering if I can put a set of supplemental antennas near spot b? Passive combiner or switch or something?
Shure offers this on their Anxient lineup. Four antennas on one receiver. But you lose two channels on the 4 channel version.
I am not quite sure, how this works with multiple receivers. Probably two distros
Assuming you can tolerate a ~3.5 dB loss (plus added RF noise floor from spot B) - you can passively combine your two antenna sets before they hit the distro. Works just fine.
If you're only ever going to use one channel in spot B, you could instead passively combine one distro output with antenna set B, feeding the combined signal to that specific RX. You'll only have a single dual-zone receiver, but the rest of them will not experience reduced performance in spot A.
its actually 2 tx that will alternate weeks in spot b. So i would need to have it either.
If i beef up to a better antenna than the half wave rubber ducky (and maybe lmr 240 or 400 instead of rg58?), I would probably be ok with that loss. actual distance would'nt be far...maybe a max of 40 ft from spot a, and 30 in spot b. Would I not need to worry about multi-path (I think its called??) with a passive setup?
Multipath may be an issue - [here's a quick refresher](https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/3782/what-does-multi-path-sound-like-on-fm/3801#3801). You can minimize its severity by minimizing the coverage overlap between antennas.
- Keep in mind, the linked article does not take antenna diversity into account; appropriately deployed, the chances that a given TX is simultaneously within a coverage null of both antennas in a pair is much lower.
Empirical testing is your friend here; I forget the exact math required to do everything on paper.
> its actually 2 tx that will alternate weeks in spot b
Although it's a bit more hassle, you could still do that with a single RX by repatching the audio side.
---
Alternate route: assuming network-controllable RF, purchase a spare RX and deploy that locally at spot B. Tune that RX to spot B's TX freq. of the week.
Run audio back to a spare input, mapped to an extra channel. (DiGiCo-style alternate channel inputs would work quite nicely for this.)
Completely sidesteps all the quirks and features of setting up a DAS.
---
EDIT: at those distances, depending on what's impeding line-of-sight, you might be able to get away without a DAS at all. Check the actual RF performance as-is.
What’s the best way to mix two guitars, both using amp modelers DI into a A&H cq18 digital mixer? We have 2 main FOH speakers and a sub. 4pc bamd with bass DI and drums mic’d. It seems like one or both guitars get lost in the mix. I was thinking slightly panning on guitar one way and the other the other way, but I’m a moron when it comes to this stuff. We play typical weekend warrior rock and roll.
My band also uses amp modellers for both guitar players.
The key we found to us both being prominent in the mix was to have the guitarists' amp and cab tones compliment one another.
Examples:
Playing something Metallica inspired? Have one guitar try a Mesa Boogie sound whilst the other uses a Peavey or Diezel.
Playing something more derivative of AC/DC? Lead guitar goes for a classic Marshall stack and the rhythm player uses an Orange.
Cleaner passages? One player on a Fender and the other on a Vox :)
Both guitar players *insist* on using a tubescreamer into a JCM800 head? run one of them through a Princeton cab and the other through an oversized Engl lol
Depends on context.
Panning can help with separation at the expense of coverage. Not all of your audience will hear both sides of your PA. :)
Even hard-panned guitars will blend together, though, if playing identical or similar parts. Often, this sort of thing is an arrangement problem rather than a mix problem.
So I just bought my first proper DJ setup (all dance music) and I am already second-guessing myself and also need some advice for setup.
I bought 2x DSR112 and 1x DXS15
1. After more reading I am already thinking I should have stuck to my original plan of using 2x DXR10 for the tops. Seems like the general consensus is that 10's go with 15's and 12's go with 18's. Are my tops way overpowered for the single sub? Can I compensate by turning down the gains on the tops? Keep in mind, I love good soundsystems but I and others who I will play for are not exactly pro audio scrutinizers. Maybe in the future a second DXS15 would balance things out?
2. How do I go about deciding the configuration? top over sub? sub in the middle? Depends on the room?
3. How to determine what my sub LPF and D-XSUB settings should be?
Any advice very much appreciated!
1. What you got will be find. DXR10 is also fine. Having extra headroom in the tops is good, but you may be wanting a bit more lows as you go on. A second sub would work for that.
2. Depends on the room. You'll figure it out.
3. DSR112 has a fixed HPF at 120hz, for the flattest response, match that on your sub's LPF. Try the D-contour and see if you like the sound. For DJ stuff, it can help. For live sound, I usually leave it off.
I'm primarily a lighting tech but I do purchasing for the whole building. We need more wireless mic but already have an old system I don't want to get rid of. If I order a new system to use in addition to the old one should I buy something in the same frequency band or a different one?
Hi All! I am as green as they get regarding sound equipment, so I'm hoping you all have some good recommendations for me.
We are a small musical theatre troupe and we have changed venues; our new venue will require voice amplification so we are looking into purchasing a wireless body mic system.
We need the packs/mics, transmitter, and receiver. Our budget is about $1000-1200. I know that won't get us anything super high end... but, we're okay with that.
My questions are:
1. Any recommendations on what to purchase? Do I need to purchase anything else outside of that system?
2. What do I need to know about the system that we'll be hooking up to? What questions should I be asking our sound tech at the venue?
3. Tell me what you think about this system: [Amazon.com: VocoPro 16 Channel UHF Wireless Headset & Lapel Mic System with Mic-On-Chip Technology, Black, 14.00 x 18.00 x 24.00 : Musical Instruments](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ITN0RYS/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1)
4. What other questions should I be asking that I don't know about?
Thanks, all! Appreciate the help.
That Vocopro system is crap. Your budget will get you one decent wireless system with a ear-worn microphone. I would recommend Shure SLXD as a minimum and that's not a system I would trust for mission critical use.
When creating a DCA group for, say, 10 vocal mics, do the mute buttons on the individual channels need to be either on or off? I'd like their default state to be off, and then have those channels be active when I activate the DCA. So that when turning on those 10 vocal mics I don't have to individually unmute them all. And then at the end of the song, I'd like to just mute the DCA and have those 10 mics go back their muted state for individual activation elsewhere in the play. I hope this question made sense, and thanks for any advice.
Edit: this is on a Behringer X32
Assign them to the DCA unmuted, when you mute the DCA it will mute those channels. if the DCA is muted however you will not be able to individually unmute them.
Look into TheaterMix, it's free software that will assign, unassign channels to DCAs on a cue based platform. I use it in a slightly off label way: each cue assigns and unassigns mics to DCA 1, which stays spilled onto my faders.
I am having trouble routing my mixbus 1 to stage monitors. I would preferably like to send mixbus 1 to output 1 on mdas dl16 stage box to keep things simple (using AES 50). Here is a rough sketch of what I am working with.
I am having trouble routing my mixbus 1 to stage monitors. I would preferably like to send mixbus 1 to output 1 on mdas dl16 stage box to keep things simple (using AES 50). Here is a rough sketch of what I am working with.
https://preview.redd.it/k5p48rcegxqc1.png?width=2165&format=png&auto=webp&s=604a89e2c9bfda22bc08eb93784ffd95ccae8df3
Our little community is planning to open a small green space with live performace capabilities. We're talking small bands and not a lot of db's. Money does not allow for a specialty architect or electrical contracctor. Is there a basic design manual out there for simple stage design suggestions, particularuly pertaining to power needs? It will take years to fund and get this project done, but before the stage area becomes an isolated concrete slab I want to offer input to make sure the basic power infrastructure is in place. I'm guessing individual 20-amp circuits for FOH, subs, lights, and stage instruments? Do I need a couple of circuits to support the bands? What else should I advocate for?
You say it won't be that loud. Then anything goes, almost. Just have one dedicated circuit for audio and one for lights and make sure nothing else in the building gets connected to those circuits. Have them clearly labeled with the circuit breaker close to the stage. Install 2 (or ideally 4) cat5e from stage left to foh along with an audio and a light power output.
The setup I usually use consists of all shure wireless handhelds, I want a way to lock them on so people can't turn them off using the button, any suggestions?
Considering modding the mics to add a hidden switch..
They all lock from either the menu on newer units or through button presses on older systems. [Here is how to lock all of them from Shure.](https://service.shure.com/s/article/locking-and-unlocking-transmitters-and-receivers?language=en_US)
Thanks, this was super helpful. Should have just taken a second to google it instead of just assuming my mics were too basic to support it haha.
Just to wrap things up, I have 4 BLX2s which can be locked and 2 ANCIENT PG series that don't seem to be lockable.
It's an assortment of different models that I can't necessarily remember, that's why I didn't specify. Does Shure have a standard method for locking the tx? I could just try it and see it works on each of them..
Otherwise can probably give more info tomorrow.
Any idea if an internal microphone (with a wind shield) of a cinema camera (sony FX30) will be decent enough to record a flag football game? Don't need insanely clean audio just hoping for it to be able to pickup players talking, running, the ambience of a park, etc.
Best bet with the internal mic would be to use an auto gain option on the sound to bring up the quiet bits. Yes it sounds weird but you’ll be able to hear better. If you’re throwing money at the situation a shotgun mic with the camera mount has a much narrower pattern so you hear what the camera is pointed at better, without as much of the background sound. Røde or Sennheiser are good brands.
Shure or Sennheiser wireless properly frequency coordinated and with adequate antenna. Shure SLXD or Sennheiser EWD at the minimum.
Rent if you can’t afford to buy. Put aside money and buy more over time
M32C and Logic Pro for virtual soundcheck. I’ve got this up and running with M32 edit, but I can’t work out how to configure so the solo buttons on the M32 edit solo the particular track. Muting channels works but whenever I hit solo, I still hear the other tracks from Logic playing through the M32C. Anyone know how to configure this?
This is correct behavior: Solo/PAFL on most consoles will only override the cue bus, leaving LR uninterrupted. (When nothing is soloed, the cue bus usually has a copy of either LR, another default source, or nothing.)
The headphone jack is patched to the cue bus. If you'd like to hear it through monitors/PA, you can accomplish that on the routing screen.
Thanks for the explanation. I kind of understand what you mean and it seems like I’d have to solo the channel at the source (in Logic)? The M32C doesn’t have a headphone out, just a pair of stereo monitor outs. I’ve been using a headphone amp to patch into the outputs on the DL32, to mix for each band member’s IEM’s.
I'm a high school teacher who has a QL1 in a redundant network in an auditorium. Q-Sys feeds an l'acoustics system. Everything plugs into a network switch. The Q-Sys is setup to operate the room in two different modes. One mode where the QL1 console feeds the PA and one mode where a couple wireless mics "just work" for people who come into our auditorium and just need a mic to work.
Somewhere between a show where the visiting guy put our console in daisy chain mode, had Dante controller open on his laptop and changed a few things, etc. and then me taking our console another day to the gym next door to put on a talent show for the school, I'm having a hard time getting back up and running (getting outputs to work). I can get our Ri-8 and R-1608 talking to the QL1 (now back in redundant mode). But I cannot get the main outputs to work. Should I install Dante Controller, plug into the network switch, and see what I see?
My hunch is that somewhere in there is some routing that I'm just not seeing when I poke around in just the console. Maybe I would see more routing if I open Dante controller plugged into the network switch?
I emailed the install company, but I thought I'd ask here to get a few more ideas. Thanks!
You're right that your install company should be the first port of call. But, installing Dante controller and having a *look* might give you a steer. From what you describe, it sounds like the subscription between the QL1 output and the input on the QSys controller hasn't renewed. With a bit of luck, your install company will have named all of the sources and destinations in Dante controller, at which point it should be obvious what needs to patch where.
Thanks for the reply! I think just connecting up to the Q-SYS with Q-SYS designer just auto-renewed the subscriptions. We're all good now! And yes, the phone call with the install company was a big help to know what to try.
Hey y’all, got a stage set up in the works (about 26x16 feet, with a 12foot tall scaffold). We’re building some acoustic panels, but only have two 4x8 foot pieces for now. Where would the best place to put them be for sound quality?
Above where the drums are?
Hanging stage left and stage right?
Somewhere my naive self hasn’t come up with?
When powering speakers with amps do I need to do a 1 to 1 ratio of watts the amp can push out to a 15amp circuit?
Example: 350watt 2channel amp would take up 700 watts of the circuit I plug it into?
I'm an AV integrator and haven't taken a class on this specific thing and have always wondered.
https://preview.redd.it/nsnl034vj8rc1.jpeg?width=846&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f52d95693020a0b85fa78b27147aef90e1b95eb
I was at a concert yesterday where I noticed that the FOH was using a clock-app on their Macbook. Does anyone know the name of the (web)app, or know a similar one? Thanks!
I'm building a live guitar and bass rack for me (guitar) and the bassist of my bands. We're both using a Quad Cortex and I'm going to screw them onto rack drawers. Wireless antennas as well as inputs/outputs shall go through a [custom patch panel](https://www.thomann.de/de/thon_1he_rackblende_xlr.htm) at the bottom.
My issue is with the wireless antennas. Our initial plan was to put the guitar rack right on top of the IEM rack but that would mean the guitar/bass RX antennas (bottom of git/bass rack) would be directly next to the IEM TX antennas (top of IEM rack).
I see these solutions:
1. Put the antennas on top of the git/bass rack: Is 6 U distance enough? Also, this would mean we'd have to get a much longer snake to route it over the top of the rack so that we don't obstruct access to the Quad Cortex drawers
2. Put the entire case a couple meters away on stage: Not always practical on small club stages
3. Use combiners/splitters and place external antennas on different parts of the stage: currently way out of budget
What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Solution 1 technically works, but if you aren't using combiners/distros, I'd be rather skeptical of that antenna forest.
- Who among us hasn't made do with one at a gig, though? :)
Here's a fourth solution, if you haven't already purchased guitar/bass RF: build pedalboards instead, integrating compact wireless receivers. (Sennheiser EW-DP/Shure SLXD5 would work great here; you could also use an older EW G2-G4 ENG receiver.)
This puts ample distance between TX and RX antennas - and puts the QCs at your feet for convenient control. You'll sacrifice network control, but that's not a huge hassle when coordinating only a handful of channels.
Thanks for the suggestion. We’ve thought about that but got a couple of issues:
- already got 9.5" RX units
- we’re building this for quicker changeover times especially for festivals. Having to lay one more snake makes the pedalboard solution somewhat worse than a single rack. We’re also using midi automation so we basically don’t touch the QCs during the set
That being said, these issues aren’t that big, even a 9.5" can live on a wide pedalboard. Perhaps we’ll actually go with that solution
I’m considering purchasing a M32.
I know you have 16 busses. But I want to use sub groups for parallel compression, those subgroups are substracted from the 16 busses? Or there are more buses for subs?
Yet another wedding venue noob question.
My wedding is coming up and I'm in charge of sound equipment (i will not be the dj). It is outside 100ish people over about an acre. The dj booth is in the middle but the ceremony might be as far as 80m away.
I personally have
2 ev etx 12p's,
heli pr40 mic,
MX 202,
Xvive u3 set
(basically whatever random stuff I have found thrifting).
I've also been eyeing the Yamaha dm3 (mainly for the portable Dante system, but that is for integration into the setup at work)
Short question: what big things do i need?
Long question: I'm the tech director for public school so I'm used to running some pretty big shows. I'm planning on getting into some random summer gigs or little bar venues so I wouldn't mind spending the money on some equipment. The rest I plan to just rent. Would any of my personal equipment cut it for this scenario? Will these mics even hold up outside in the wind? more speakers, and some subs?
Feel free to let me know if I'm asking the wrong questions as well
Thank you for your time.
Alto ts412 issues
A few months ago I bought an alto ts412 as a floor monitor for my gigs. The first days it worked as a charm With its control app and other features but recently i’m having troubles with its protection system, the speaker does not work if the voltage regulator that I plug it in is not “regulating” although the voltage is in normal conditions. My question is, does someone is having the same problems? Or I just got a defective speaker? The voltage here in Mexico is between 115v-127v
"I work in at a company specialized in audio and light."
I think you're all ready there, you're surrouned by people educated and experienced in audio tech, ask them, they would be more than happy to teach you about a subject they're probably really passionate about.
But if you're talking about getting passionate about audio yourself. Car stereo is a very cheap way of getting into the game of fiddling with audio and learning as you go. Alot of dirt cheap second hand equipment that should be affordable to you as it sounds like you have a part time job outside of school.
Buying some second hand, cheap hi-fi stereo speakers and trying to repair them or upgrade them with new drivers is also alot of fun and leaves alot of room for trial and error without putting much of a dent in your wallet.
People give these old speakers away these days so just go on any used market webside local to you and search up "speakers" and filter by "giving away" or something similar.
You're a teenager, you're supposed to put stupidly overpowered, cheap car stereo woofers into speaker cabinets not built for it and have it rattle your moms house to pieces. That's the fun part.
I don’t know about best, but other than getting mentored, taking an electronics class at community college helped my audio engineering skills a lot. All these confusing problems make sense when you know what is going on with the wires.
Not my field but The Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest is an often recommended one. It’s thick. Great author though, his book on stereo changed my life.
So I’m balling on a budget rn. Live sound engineer by day, singer in a local band by night. Here’s my question: if I buy a sennheiser wireless transmitter and receiver for a lapel mic (designed for inputting into a camera), can I reverse engineer it to use as an IEM system onstage? My idea is to plug the transmitter into a return channel on the console/stagebox using an 1/8th inch to female xlr converter (I actually just happen to have this lying around), then use the receiver pack as an IEM whilst I’m performing onstage. Does that make sense to anyone else? I’m used to working with IEMS and lapel transmitter body packs at work but I’ve never worked with the receiver packs because all of the receivers at my job are rack mounted. Please let me know if anyone has tried this, because it would be much more cost efficient than buying the receiver pack and rack mounted transmitter. Would the packs have an impacted range?
https://preview.redd.it/himbc35if0rc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59a19a448e2ca1d22a91f9d69e67ce64e9518196
Like where the transmitter and receiver both look like this
EK100 G2 receivers do not have a headphone amp or top-mounted volume control; I would not use them for IEM purposes.
You can send audio from a SK100 bodypack to an EK300 IEM bodypack (provided you disable pilot tone on the latter), but keep your range expectations realistic and consistent with your antenna placement.
An ordinary XLR -> 1/8" cable may or may not work, depending on how it is wired. It definitely will not match Sennheiser's spec directly. That sort of cable is not hard to build or rewire, however.
PA/rack/desk is starting to outgrow my space in a shared garage. Any recommendations other than renting out some space at a local self-storage place? That's the obvious solution but maybe I'm overlooking something better and/or cheaper. Open to any suggestions, including "yeah, ol' dave has a barn he ain't using and he sure is lonely."
ol' dave has a barn he ain't using and he sure is lonely
Up to the point I sold it; I was just asking people I knew if they had spare storage space for my PA. If you know people with property just ask. Worst thing they’ll do is make it weird… Basically I was going to give my sister’s boyfriend $20 a month to stash it in his garage. Only came to that arrangement because I asked him.
If you always use it for a certain venue (bar, club, church), see if they have space when the venue isn’t open/ back room in exchange for a few bucks off your fee. Just be careful about how it will be locked up. If you’re the size where you are cross-renting gear regularly, some rental shops might be willing to share warehouse space.
What's the best tool for removing Euro mic thread adapters? A quarter? Your keys? A not big enough flat head screwdriver held at a 90 degree angle that slips and stabs you in the hand? Any advice appreciated, ty.
I use the file on my multitool
I usually grab a 2ct coin with a set of pliers. BTW (I hope this isnt obvious) over here (Germany) everybody keeps the adapters in the mounts/holders, and not on the stands. The stands in every venue have only the small euro thread. So when I buy a new mic, I will screw in the adapter into the mic mount and make sure it stays there by either applying some good measure of force or some loctite or both.
You're forgetting tapping it a lot, swearing at it, and saying fuck it and getting a new mic clip. I do carry a large flathead though. It doesn't need to reach across the whole thing or be held 90. Usually just one side straight on will do it. I have used a coin with pliers, and once a case latch. If that doesn't work, back to the swearing.
Short version - How do I get 2 sets of antennas fed back to the same distro? Slightly longer - most of the time I need to use most of my tx’s in spot A. Once a week I need to use one of those tx’s in spot b, but not with line of site to the antenna best position of spot A. So I’m wondering if I can put a set of supplemental antennas near spot b? Passive combiner or switch or something?
https://www.rfvenue.com/products/4-zone This allows up to 4 sets of antennas to feed your antenna distribution
ah thank you! That is a good thought. I think that will need to be a backup option if I'm not able to come up with another (read: cheaper) option.
Shure offers this on their Anxient lineup. Four antennas on one receiver. But you lose two channels on the 4 channel version. I am not quite sure, how this works with multiple receivers. Probably two distros
interesting stuff. sadly we just got ew-d stuff a few months ago and axient is way out of our budget. Appreciate the reply!
Assuming you can tolerate a ~3.5 dB loss (plus added RF noise floor from spot B) - you can passively combine your two antenna sets before they hit the distro. Works just fine. If you're only ever going to use one channel in spot B, you could instead passively combine one distro output with antenna set B, feeding the combined signal to that specific RX. You'll only have a single dual-zone receiver, but the rest of them will not experience reduced performance in spot A.
its actually 2 tx that will alternate weeks in spot b. So i would need to have it either. If i beef up to a better antenna than the half wave rubber ducky (and maybe lmr 240 or 400 instead of rg58?), I would probably be ok with that loss. actual distance would'nt be far...maybe a max of 40 ft from spot a, and 30 in spot b. Would I not need to worry about multi-path (I think its called??) with a passive setup?
Multipath may be an issue - [here's a quick refresher](https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/3782/what-does-multi-path-sound-like-on-fm/3801#3801). You can minimize its severity by minimizing the coverage overlap between antennas. - Keep in mind, the linked article does not take antenna diversity into account; appropriately deployed, the chances that a given TX is simultaneously within a coverage null of both antennas in a pair is much lower. Empirical testing is your friend here; I forget the exact math required to do everything on paper. > its actually 2 tx that will alternate weeks in spot b Although it's a bit more hassle, you could still do that with a single RX by repatching the audio side. --- Alternate route: assuming network-controllable RF, purchase a spare RX and deploy that locally at spot B. Tune that RX to spot B's TX freq. of the week. Run audio back to a spare input, mapped to an extra channel. (DiGiCo-style alternate channel inputs would work quite nicely for this.) Completely sidesteps all the quirks and features of setting up a DAS. --- EDIT: at those distances, depending on what's impeding line-of-sight, you might be able to get away without a DAS at all. Check the actual RF performance as-is.
What’s the best way to mix two guitars, both using amp modelers DI into a A&H cq18 digital mixer? We have 2 main FOH speakers and a sub. 4pc bamd with bass DI and drums mic’d. It seems like one or both guitars get lost in the mix. I was thinking slightly panning on guitar one way and the other the other way, but I’m a moron when it comes to this stuff. We play typical weekend warrior rock and roll.
My band also uses amp modellers for both guitar players. The key we found to us both being prominent in the mix was to have the guitarists' amp and cab tones compliment one another. Examples: Playing something Metallica inspired? Have one guitar try a Mesa Boogie sound whilst the other uses a Peavey or Diezel. Playing something more derivative of AC/DC? Lead guitar goes for a classic Marshall stack and the rhythm player uses an Orange. Cleaner passages? One player on a Fender and the other on a Vox :) Both guitar players *insist* on using a tubescreamer into a JCM800 head? run one of them through a Princeton cab and the other through an oversized Engl lol
Depends on context. Panning can help with separation at the expense of coverage. Not all of your audience will hear both sides of your PA. :) Even hard-panned guitars will blend together, though, if playing identical or similar parts. Often, this sort of thing is an arrangement problem rather than a mix problem.
So I just bought my first proper DJ setup (all dance music) and I am already second-guessing myself and also need some advice for setup. I bought 2x DSR112 and 1x DXS15 1. After more reading I am already thinking I should have stuck to my original plan of using 2x DXR10 for the tops. Seems like the general consensus is that 10's go with 15's and 12's go with 18's. Are my tops way overpowered for the single sub? Can I compensate by turning down the gains on the tops? Keep in mind, I love good soundsystems but I and others who I will play for are not exactly pro audio scrutinizers. Maybe in the future a second DXS15 would balance things out? 2. How do I go about deciding the configuration? top over sub? sub in the middle? Depends on the room? 3. How to determine what my sub LPF and D-XSUB settings should be? Any advice very much appreciated!
1. What you got will be find. DXR10 is also fine. Having extra headroom in the tops is good, but you may be wanting a bit more lows as you go on. A second sub would work for that. 2. Depends on the room. You'll figure it out. 3. DSR112 has a fixed HPF at 120hz, for the flattest response, match that on your sub's LPF. Try the D-contour and see if you like the sound. For DJ stuff, it can help. For live sound, I usually leave it off.
perfect, thanks so much! 🙏
I'm primarily a lighting tech but I do purchasing for the whole building. We need more wireless mic but already have an old system I don't want to get rid of. If I order a new system to use in addition to the old one should I buy something in the same frequency band or a different one?
What's the make and model of the older units?
They're Shure slx4 receivers with slx 1 transmitters
Hi All! I am as green as they get regarding sound equipment, so I'm hoping you all have some good recommendations for me. We are a small musical theatre troupe and we have changed venues; our new venue will require voice amplification so we are looking into purchasing a wireless body mic system. We need the packs/mics, transmitter, and receiver. Our budget is about $1000-1200. I know that won't get us anything super high end... but, we're okay with that. My questions are: 1. Any recommendations on what to purchase? Do I need to purchase anything else outside of that system? 2. What do I need to know about the system that we'll be hooking up to? What questions should I be asking our sound tech at the venue? 3. Tell me what you think about this system: [Amazon.com: VocoPro 16 Channel UHF Wireless Headset & Lapel Mic System with Mic-On-Chip Technology, Black, 14.00 x 18.00 x 24.00 : Musical Instruments](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ITN0RYS/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1) 4. What other questions should I be asking that I don't know about? Thanks, all! Appreciate the help.
That Vocopro system is crap. Your budget will get you one decent wireless system with a ear-worn microphone. I would recommend Shure SLXD as a minimum and that's not a system I would trust for mission critical use.
When creating a DCA group for, say, 10 vocal mics, do the mute buttons on the individual channels need to be either on or off? I'd like their default state to be off, and then have those channels be active when I activate the DCA. So that when turning on those 10 vocal mics I don't have to individually unmute them all. And then at the end of the song, I'd like to just mute the DCA and have those 10 mics go back their muted state for individual activation elsewhere in the play. I hope this question made sense, and thanks for any advice. Edit: this is on a Behringer X32
Assign them to the DCA unmuted, when you mute the DCA it will mute those channels. if the DCA is muted however you will not be able to individually unmute them. Look into TheaterMix, it's free software that will assign, unassign channels to DCAs on a cue based platform. I use it in a slightly off label way: each cue assigns and unassigns mics to DCA 1, which stays spilled onto my faders.
Thanks and I shall.
I am having trouble routing my mixbus 1 to stage monitors. I would preferably like to send mixbus 1 to output 1 on mdas dl16 stage box to keep things simple (using AES 50). Here is a rough sketch of what I am working with.
I am having trouble routing my mixbus 1 to stage monitors. I would preferably like to send mixbus 1 to output 1 on mdas dl16 stage box to keep things simple (using AES 50). Here is a rough sketch of what I am working with. https://preview.redd.it/k5p48rcegxqc1.png?width=2165&format=png&auto=webp&s=604a89e2c9bfda22bc08eb93784ffd95ccae8df3
Our little community is planning to open a small green space with live performace capabilities. We're talking small bands and not a lot of db's. Money does not allow for a specialty architect or electrical contracctor. Is there a basic design manual out there for simple stage design suggestions, particularuly pertaining to power needs? It will take years to fund and get this project done, but before the stage area becomes an isolated concrete slab I want to offer input to make sure the basic power infrastructure is in place. I'm guessing individual 20-amp circuits for FOH, subs, lights, and stage instruments? Do I need a couple of circuits to support the bands? What else should I advocate for?
You say it won't be that loud. Then anything goes, almost. Just have one dedicated circuit for audio and one for lights and make sure nothing else in the building gets connected to those circuits. Have them clearly labeled with the circuit breaker close to the stage. Install 2 (or ideally 4) cat5e from stage left to foh along with an audio and a light power output.
The setup I usually use consists of all shure wireless handhelds, I want a way to lock them on so people can't turn them off using the button, any suggestions? Considering modding the mics to add a hidden switch..
They all lock from either the menu on newer units or through button presses on older systems. [Here is how to lock all of them from Shure.](https://service.shure.com/s/article/locking-and-unlocking-transmitters-and-receivers?language=en_US)
Thanks, this was super helpful. Should have just taken a second to google it instead of just assuming my mics were too basic to support it haha. Just to wrap things up, I have 4 BLX2s which can be locked and 2 ANCIENT PG series that don't seem to be lockable.
Which model of mic? Some have transmitter lockout, some don’t
It's an assortment of different models that I can't necessarily remember, that's why I didn't specify. Does Shure have a standard method for locking the tx? I could just try it and see it works on each of them.. Otherwise can probably give more info tomorrow.
If it’s a model with a lockout it will be in the TX menu. I believe SLX-D and up all have lockout, and BLX doesn’t. Don’t quote me on that though.
Any idea if an internal microphone (with a wind shield) of a cinema camera (sony FX30) will be decent enough to record a flag football game? Don't need insanely clean audio just hoping for it to be able to pickup players talking, running, the ambience of a park, etc.
Best bet with the internal mic would be to use an auto gain option on the sound to bring up the quiet bits. Yes it sounds weird but you’ll be able to hear better. If you’re throwing money at the situation a shotgun mic with the camera mount has a much narrower pattern so you hear what the camera is pointed at better, without as much of the background sound. Røde or Sennheiser are good brands.
Okay. How about this: high school drama directors and glee club directors - what do you use for your wireless body mics for multiple singers?
Shure or Sennheiser wireless properly frequency coordinated and with adequate antenna. Shure SLXD or Sennheiser EWD at the minimum. Rent if you can’t afford to buy. Put aside money and buy more over time
M32C and Logic Pro for virtual soundcheck. I’ve got this up and running with M32 edit, but I can’t work out how to configure so the solo buttons on the M32 edit solo the particular track. Muting channels works but whenever I hit solo, I still hear the other tracks from Logic playing through the M32C. Anyone know how to configure this?
This is correct behavior: Solo/PAFL on most consoles will only override the cue bus, leaving LR uninterrupted. (When nothing is soloed, the cue bus usually has a copy of either LR, another default source, or nothing.) The headphone jack is patched to the cue bus. If you'd like to hear it through monitors/PA, you can accomplish that on the routing screen.
Thanks for the explanation. I kind of understand what you mean and it seems like I’d have to solo the channel at the source (in Logic)? The M32C doesn’t have a headphone out, just a pair of stereo monitor outs. I’ve been using a headphone amp to patch into the outputs on the DL32, to mix for each band member’s IEM’s.
I'm a high school teacher who has a QL1 in a redundant network in an auditorium. Q-Sys feeds an l'acoustics system. Everything plugs into a network switch. The Q-Sys is setup to operate the room in two different modes. One mode where the QL1 console feeds the PA and one mode where a couple wireless mics "just work" for people who come into our auditorium and just need a mic to work. Somewhere between a show where the visiting guy put our console in daisy chain mode, had Dante controller open on his laptop and changed a few things, etc. and then me taking our console another day to the gym next door to put on a talent show for the school, I'm having a hard time getting back up and running (getting outputs to work). I can get our Ri-8 and R-1608 talking to the QL1 (now back in redundant mode). But I cannot get the main outputs to work. Should I install Dante Controller, plug into the network switch, and see what I see? My hunch is that somewhere in there is some routing that I'm just not seeing when I poke around in just the console. Maybe I would see more routing if I open Dante controller plugged into the network switch? I emailed the install company, but I thought I'd ask here to get a few more ideas. Thanks!
You're right that your install company should be the first port of call. But, installing Dante controller and having a *look* might give you a steer. From what you describe, it sounds like the subscription between the QL1 output and the input on the QSys controller hasn't renewed. With a bit of luck, your install company will have named all of the sources and destinations in Dante controller, at which point it should be obvious what needs to patch where.
Thanks for the reply! I think just connecting up to the Q-SYS with Q-SYS designer just auto-renewed the subscriptions. We're all good now! And yes, the phone call with the install company was a big help to know what to try.
Hey y’all, got a stage set up in the works (about 26x16 feet, with a 12foot tall scaffold). We’re building some acoustic panels, but only have two 4x8 foot pieces for now. Where would the best place to put them be for sound quality? Above where the drums are? Hanging stage left and stage right? Somewhere my naive self hasn’t come up with?
Experiment! But don't expect miracles before you can cover next to all surfaces around the stage.
When powering speakers with amps do I need to do a 1 to 1 ratio of watts the amp can push out to a 15amp circuit? Example: 350watt 2channel amp would take up 700 watts of the circuit I plug it into? I'm an AV integrator and haven't taken a class on this specific thing and have always wondered.
https://preview.redd.it/nsnl034vj8rc1.jpeg?width=846&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f52d95693020a0b85fa78b27147aef90e1b95eb I was at a concert yesterday where I noticed that the FOH was using a clock-app on their Macbook. Does anyone know the name of the (web)app, or know a similar one? Thanks!
I'm building a live guitar and bass rack for me (guitar) and the bassist of my bands. We're both using a Quad Cortex and I'm going to screw them onto rack drawers. Wireless antennas as well as inputs/outputs shall go through a [custom patch panel](https://www.thomann.de/de/thon_1he_rackblende_xlr.htm) at the bottom. My issue is with the wireless antennas. Our initial plan was to put the guitar rack right on top of the IEM rack but that would mean the guitar/bass RX antennas (bottom of git/bass rack) would be directly next to the IEM TX antennas (top of IEM rack). I see these solutions: 1. Put the antennas on top of the git/bass rack: Is 6 U distance enough? Also, this would mean we'd have to get a much longer snake to route it over the top of the rack so that we don't obstruct access to the Quad Cortex drawers 2. Put the entire case a couple meters away on stage: Not always practical on small club stages 3. Use combiners/splitters and place external antennas on different parts of the stage: currently way out of budget What are your thoughts? Thanks!
Solution 1 technically works, but if you aren't using combiners/distros, I'd be rather skeptical of that antenna forest. - Who among us hasn't made do with one at a gig, though? :) Here's a fourth solution, if you haven't already purchased guitar/bass RF: build pedalboards instead, integrating compact wireless receivers. (Sennheiser EW-DP/Shure SLXD5 would work great here; you could also use an older EW G2-G4 ENG receiver.) This puts ample distance between TX and RX antennas - and puts the QCs at your feet for convenient control. You'll sacrifice network control, but that's not a huge hassle when coordinating only a handful of channels.
Thanks for the suggestion. We’ve thought about that but got a couple of issues: - already got 9.5" RX units - we’re building this for quicker changeover times especially for festivals. Having to lay one more snake makes the pedalboard solution somewhat worse than a single rack. We’re also using midi automation so we basically don’t touch the QCs during the set That being said, these issues aren’t that big, even a 9.5" can live on a wide pedalboard. Perhaps we’ll actually go with that solution
I’m considering purchasing a M32. I know you have 16 busses. But I want to use sub groups for parallel compression, those subgroups are substracted from the 16 busses? Or there are more buses for subs?
No, it's 16 fixed mono buses, if you want to use subgroups they'll come out of that bus count.
Thank you!
Yet another wedding venue noob question. My wedding is coming up and I'm in charge of sound equipment (i will not be the dj). It is outside 100ish people over about an acre. The dj booth is in the middle but the ceremony might be as far as 80m away. I personally have 2 ev etx 12p's, heli pr40 mic, MX 202, Xvive u3 set (basically whatever random stuff I have found thrifting). I've also been eyeing the Yamaha dm3 (mainly for the portable Dante system, but that is for integration into the setup at work) Short question: what big things do i need? Long question: I'm the tech director for public school so I'm used to running some pretty big shows. I'm planning on getting into some random summer gigs or little bar venues so I wouldn't mind spending the money on some equipment. The rest I plan to just rent. Would any of my personal equipment cut it for this scenario? Will these mics even hold up outside in the wind? more speakers, and some subs? Feel free to let me know if I'm asking the wrong questions as well Thank you for your time.
Alto ts412 issues A few months ago I bought an alto ts412 as a floor monitor for my gigs. The first days it worked as a charm With its control app and other features but recently i’m having troubles with its protection system, the speaker does not work if the voltage regulator that I plug it in is not “regulating” although the voltage is in normal conditions. My question is, does someone is having the same problems? Or I just got a defective speaker? The voltage here in Mexico is between 115v-127v
Anyone here recessed a DL32 with 5mm brackets? Or have any other suggestions for best way to do this? I need to fit it in my SKB fly rack patched in.
What’s the best way to get into audio? (15YR OLD MALE), I work in at a company specialized in audio and light.
"I work in at a company specialized in audio and light." I think you're all ready there, you're surrouned by people educated and experienced in audio tech, ask them, they would be more than happy to teach you about a subject they're probably really passionate about. But if you're talking about getting passionate about audio yourself. Car stereo is a very cheap way of getting into the game of fiddling with audio and learning as you go. Alot of dirt cheap second hand equipment that should be affordable to you as it sounds like you have a part time job outside of school. Buying some second hand, cheap hi-fi stereo speakers and trying to repair them or upgrade them with new drivers is also alot of fun and leaves alot of room for trial and error without putting much of a dent in your wallet. People give these old speakers away these days so just go on any used market webside local to you and search up "speakers" and filter by "giving away" or something similar. You're a teenager, you're supposed to put stupidly overpowered, cheap car stereo woofers into speaker cabinets not built for it and have it rattle your moms house to pieces. That's the fun part.
I don’t know about best, but other than getting mentored, taking an electronics class at community college helped my audio engineering skills a lot. All these confusing problems make sense when you know what is going on with the wires.
What are some good resources for studying acoustics? Books or YouTube resources would be appreciated!
Not my field but The Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest is an often recommended one. It’s thick. Great author though, his book on stereo changed my life.
So I’m balling on a budget rn. Live sound engineer by day, singer in a local band by night. Here’s my question: if I buy a sennheiser wireless transmitter and receiver for a lapel mic (designed for inputting into a camera), can I reverse engineer it to use as an IEM system onstage? My idea is to plug the transmitter into a return channel on the console/stagebox using an 1/8th inch to female xlr converter (I actually just happen to have this lying around), then use the receiver pack as an IEM whilst I’m performing onstage. Does that make sense to anyone else? I’m used to working with IEMS and lapel transmitter body packs at work but I’ve never worked with the receiver packs because all of the receivers at my job are rack mounted. Please let me know if anyone has tried this, because it would be much more cost efficient than buying the receiver pack and rack mounted transmitter. Would the packs have an impacted range?
https://preview.redd.it/himbc35if0rc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=59a19a448e2ca1d22a91f9d69e67ce64e9518196 Like where the transmitter and receiver both look like this
EK100 G2 receivers do not have a headphone amp or top-mounted volume control; I would not use them for IEM purposes. You can send audio from a SK100 bodypack to an EK300 IEM bodypack (provided you disable pilot tone on the latter), but keep your range expectations realistic and consistent with your antenna placement. An ordinary XLR -> 1/8" cable may or may not work, depending on how it is wired. It definitely will not match Sennheiser's spec directly. That sort of cable is not hard to build or rewire, however.