We're a 6 piece with 2 lead singers. Classic rock to modern, some R&B. We play pretty loud.
PA is a Yorkville integrated with 800 per side @ 4 ohms. It's been pretty good for what it is. Monitors are powered Mackie's - so it's not taxing the amp. Speakers (used to be) 1 18" sub plus 15" with horn top per side. Owner sold the subs because he thought they were sucking the life out of the amp. We had 1 bad eq nite where we were lacking headroom, and it was tough to get a good mix from the stage.
Now only 2 15" speakers are being asked to handle guitar, keys, drums, 2 lead vocals, 3 backup vocals! That's without the bass being into it. I stated that adding the bass would overtax this setup, and I now always have to push the house with my rig (which I can do). This means most times bringing my "big rig" which is taxing at times. I explained that now the PA head is running at closer to only 400w per side due to the 8 ohm load, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. More...
I had a ART Prochannel mic preamp that I ran our lead male vocals into. It really made a diff to my ears. I had another small mic pre that I ran the female into, and it seemed to warm it up a bit. Last practice the guitarist decided that the pre's may be responsible for the lack of volume and asked that they be pulled out of the loop. I gladly did that explaining that they would not suck anything from the PA, if anything, it was another gain stage. More deaf ears. Now the vocals sounded very raw and in your face at the last prac, but the drummer (owner of PA, said he never heard the vocals so clearly. I explained that we needed to just properly eq the pre. Deaf ears...I can now really hear the lack of a little compression and warmth on the male vocal (he has a huge dynamic range), and this whole thing is making me nuts. I keep telling myself - I don't own the PA, so...How do I backup my beliefs that we're headed backwards tonally...or let it go?
PA is a Yorkville integrated with 800 per side @ 4 ohms. It's been pretty good for what it is. Monitors are powered Mackie's - so it's not taxing the amp. Speakers (used to be) 1 18" sub plus 15" with horn top per side. Owner sold the subs because he thought they were sucking the life out of the amp. We had 1 bad eq nite where we were lacking headroom, and it was tough to get a good mix from the stage.
Now only 2 15" speakers are being asked to handle guitar, keys, drums, 2 lead vocals, 3 backup vocals! That's without the bass being into it. I stated that adding the bass would overtax this setup, and I now always have to push the house with my rig (which I can do). This means most times bringing my "big rig" which is taxing at times. I explained that now the PA head is running at closer to only 400w per side due to the 8 ohm load, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. More...
I had a ART Prochannel mic preamp that I ran our lead male vocals into. It really made a diff to my ears. I had another small mic pre that I ran the female into, and it seemed to warm it up a bit. Last practice the guitarist decided that the pre's may be responsible for the lack of volume and asked that they be pulled out of the loop. I gladly did that explaining that they would not suck anything from the PA, if anything, it was another gain stage. More deaf ears. Now the vocals sounded very raw and in your face at the last prac, but the drummer (owner of PA, said he never heard the vocals so clearly. I explained that we needed to just properly eq the pre. Deaf ears...I can now really hear the lack of a little compression and warmth on the male vocal (he has a huge dynamic range), and this whole thing is making me nuts. I keep telling myself - I don't own the PA, so...How do I backup my beliefs that we're headed backwards tonally...or let it go?
