• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Updated PA...doesn't sound nearly as good

#21
I'm not the PA guy in my band, but I love our stage sound over any of the old school setups at venues from my last 15 years of gigging. No subs either, just Alto powered speakers.

For bigger gigs, our sound guy has a new Turbosound rig that thumps. Powered subs and full range stuff, mixed from a tablet. Super fast setup, it's light, and absolutely destroys any of the "traditional" PA setups I've played on.
 
#24
I would have replied earlier, but I had a gig last night. Why the owner needs to have the band play until 1am on a Thurs night, idk !!!! :rollno::rollno:
We finished our 3rd hour-long set at midnight. The 2 remaining patrons left.. We sat around for 30 mins, then played 12:30-1:00 to the staff!!! :confused::(:sour::mad:
Sorry.. /end_rant (I'm tired and I have to play there again - to 1:30 - tonight and Sat)

Not going to add to the comments about dialing in the system (which sounds right).. but we've been mixing on tablets/iPads for over 2 yrs now.
Most venues we play provide house-PA.. They either run FOH or we do, and send them an L/R feed or we [rarely] use our own PA.
Last nights venue is one in which we use our PA.
We have 2 EV EKX-18SP subs, and 2 EXK-15P's on top. They sound awesome and we mix our 6-piece Country band via tablet.
We do a basic sound check to get levels, then turn it over to the BL's wife to push faders. She's a Full Sail grad so has SOME idea of what is needed.
Being IEM, we run that off a separate mix, so we control those and don;t worry about FOH.
I can assure the OP that tablet mixing provides a level of mobility and control that the old static desk does not.
But YMMV
 
#27
I am going to join the others in the opinion that there is no reason your PA can't sound good. It's probably not being used correctly.

Also regarding wireless digital mixers: I don't have any experience with the Behringer stuff but we just started using the Soundcraft Ui16 and it sounds unbelievably good. Better than the analog mixer we were using before and maybe even a little better than our Allen & Heath in the B rig.
 
#29
ficelles said:
You have your opinion, I have mine.
Click to expand...

Not that simple. Your opinion overlooks the many venues and FOH operators using digital boards, from small clubs to the industry's biggests artists and shows.

Yours also overlooks that A&H and Midas make digital boards, and as lakefx points out, there are Midas designed pres in the new Behringer digital boards.
 
Last edited:
#30
EastCoastThump said:
Not that simple. Your opinion overlooks the many venues and FOH operators using digital boards, from small clubs to the industry's biggests artists and shows.

Yours also overlooks that A&H and Midas make digital boards, and as lakefx points out, tere are Midas designed pres in the new Behringer digital boards.
Click to expand...

Well excuse me all to hell for daring to have an opinion... since pres are nothing to do with it and I doubt an in-depth discussion of DSP would ever end, I will take my opinion elsewhere :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: EastCoastThump
#32
ficelles said:
Well excuse me all to hell for daring to have an opinion... since pres are nothing to do with it and I doubt an in-depth discussion of DSP would ever end, I will take my opinion elsewhere :)
Click to expand...

I think that a discussion of DSP vs analog signal chains could be useful if this was a studio application. In a live setting, nobody can tell the difference.

I worked for a large sound company in the mid 90s and we used digital reverb and delay units on some very large acts. They sounded great and technology has come a long way since then. To my ears, the Behringer X-18 sounds more transparent than any board I worked on then, including Soundcraft, Ramsa, Allen and Heath, and even the Yamaha PM-4000 which was more than $50k used back then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BAG
#34
lakefx said:
I think that a discussion of DSP vs analog signal chains could be useful if this was a studio application. In a live setting, nobody can tell the difference.
Click to expand...

Ok ok I know I said I wouldn't get drawn in... to my ears live sound is precisely where you hear the difference between analog and any sampled/reconstructed signal due to the inherent loss of clarity in the reconstruction process and the subsequent indistinctness at higher volume levels. So I'm sure we all know about aliasing and artifacts in D to A and how these inherent problems in the process are - supposedly - dealt with, but that's where the difference is between analog and digital. Pro sound reinforcement DSP certainly reduces this as much as possible (compare sound reinforcement DSP to the wall of indistinct mush that comes out of most guitar processors) but it's still there. Imho of course and I'm sure someone will now quote sampling rates and lossless reconstruction, but my ears still prefer the analog domain :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: WayneP
#35
You can prefer what you prefer. Can't say this with a straight face, though:

ficelles said:
As soon as software is involved your sound will turn to poopie.
Click to expand...

Sure, you can *personally* hate everything recorded on ProTools since the 90s or hate the sound of every show that uses a digital board or Waves Multirack or the Avid VENUE or every other live sound rig that has a whiff of software code to it. But these days you can't be a member of the live sound tribe and dismiss those tools as unusable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BAG and lakefx
#38
ficelles said:
Ditch the Behringer and get a real mixer. Allen & Heath or Midas. As soon as software is involved your sound will turn to poopie.
Click to expand...

You sound like you know a lot about digital desks however your blanket statement doesn't always apply.

ficelles said:
but my ears still prefer the analog domain
Click to expand...

And I'm purely using my ears when I hear that my sound is much better with my digital desk. In my instance, as mentioned earlier in the thread, the only thing changed is from the analog Mackie mixer to the Soundcraft Ui mixer and our sound is markedly improved.

You sound like the kind of person a bit over 10 years ago that still persisted in saying "digital photography will never be as good as film"
 
Last edited:
#39
BAG said:
You sound like the kind of person a bit over 10 years ago that still persisted in saying "digital photography will never be as good as film"
Click to expand...

Yes it'll never catch on and neither will this interweb thingy :)

As for these new-fangled transistor amplifiers, they will never replace the vacuum tube...

Equally you'll never convince me that C# or C++ are better than ANSI C, although Objective C or Swift might be ok. I still miss Delphi and Bliss though.
 
#40
To OP:
Here too , not a fan of QSC powered boxes.
But I know they are very popular around here in TB.

And I wouldn't use a Behringer mixer even if you'd pay me to.
Digital or analog.

But there are so many variables in your situation ,it's really hard to give a good suggestion.
I'd say : hire a good soundman for one gig and keep his file and start the other gigs from that File.
(Eq , gain structure, etc...)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back