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Powered Mixer not powerful enough... what's my next move?

#42
Vinny D said:
And how much power are you running with your system?
What speakers are you using?

The OP still has not addresed what type of music they are playing, that will shed the most light of if the system the OP has is even useful for what they are trying to do.
Click to expand...

A little off topic, but I am running an unpowered Samson board into two power amps (1000 and 400W), but I am running a whole band into the PA, not just vocals. My speakers were built by a local shop - 3 way 15's for mains, 18's for subs, and 2 way 12's for monitors.
 
#43
Joe Smithberger said:
A little off topic, but I am running an unpowered Samson board into two power amps (1000 and 400W), but I am running a whole band into the PA, not just vocals. My speakers were built by a local shop - 3 way 15's for mains, 18's for subs, and 2 way 12's for monitors.
Click to expand...

What you have is already big steps above what the OP is using.
Seeing how the OP is in a *Heavy Rock Alternative* band, I stand by what I said before, the system they have no matter how much tweaking is not going to cut it.
 
#48
So I think we have it taken care of, at least for now.

My singer and I went to GC and the guy there was extremely helpful. (everyone complains about GC employees, but I've had nothing but good results) We showed him the board and the specs that we have, and he suggested that we pick up powered speakers and run/daisy chain them from the mono out line as the mains. Then, since my singer just got a promotion and felt like spending money after hearing I was going to help her with some of the cost, she went and got 2 more powered monitors, which he suggested get run through the aux lines.

Again, I'm pretty much a newbie at most of this but I'm trying to learn. We played a gig with it that night and everything sounded great. We had more than enough power, and the sound was very clear. She had also picked up an sm58 a few weeks ago that we didn't know about, so between the new cabs, proper positioning, and the mic we had a great sound overall for what we're doing. In the future we'll be getting a new board, but for now this setup is definitely sufficient.

cabs that we got are here

mains: Invalid Link Removed

monitors: Invalid Link Removed
 
#50
modulusman said:
Well the guitar center employee wasn't that helpful if he talked you into buying Behringer.
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he didnt. that was our call bc of our budget. i know that theyre not as good as the jbl's that the guy had suggested, but to be honest, for the price it was as good as it's going to get. we used them at our gig and it sounded fine for what we used it for, plenty of power and clear so i'm happy with it.

could we have gotten better? sure but for what we spent we got what we needed
 
#51
Here's a thought ... I'd borrow/rent a wireless set-up for your guitar, so you can walk out in front and actually hear whats going on, make sure the main speakers are facing straight out, the first thing to do is EQ and dial in the monitor level, with the mains turned down, the monitor level/sound will be somewhat different than the main sound, I'm not a big fan of the SM-58, the pick-up pattern is too wide, I'd go with the Audix OM-7, it has a tighter pick-up pattern= less feedback, remember try to keep the monitors somewhat behind the microphones, this will minimize the feedback issues, ( I would recommend practicing in getting a good monitor mix first, and this entails learning how to place and EQ the monitor level, so everyone can hear themself's at a realistic level with out feedback, once you master this, the FOH sound is a lot simpler ) as to the main sound your somewhat restricted as power goes, but you can make it work in small clubs, the bigger places you'll need larger amps/speakers ... IMHO
 
#52
officialjlox said:
..... she went and got 2 more powered monitors, which he suggested get run through the aux lines.
Click to expand...

So you're not using the built-in board amp at all?

If you need a couple more monitors, maybe you can pick up some on the cheap and power them with the board's amp?
Maybe the drummer can use his own monitor?

OR maybe the you can get an unpowered sub and use the 500 watts for it.

I'd also think about mic'ing the kick drum. Also, recording your gigs/rehearsal from the mixer could be useful.

+100 on going wireless so you can check the FOH sound any time you want to. When you do a sound check, an unfilled venue may give you different responses than when the venue is filled. Always good to check the sound a few times a night.

Glad it worked out for you.

Check out the link in my sig. for more PA info.

Good luck.
 

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