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Will 2000W do?

Depth_Charge

Depth_Charge

Sep 13, 2006
4,143
182
Perth, Western Australia
#1
I've searched through a few threads and read the one about an outdoor event for 1500-2000K so that answered my monitoring question...but I have one last question to ask

My band are doing an outdoor gig in Oct. and the stage may end up being a flatbed trailer. Not sure if they are going to setup a stage as such or just leave it flat and open.

The organisers are arranging a production company to provide sound but are also asking me if a 2000W PA will cover the sound on the day?!? I don't know since we normally play small indoor venues with local sound guys who bring up to 1000W PA's for up to 300 people on a good night.

This event is happening coming into summer and is backed by a local radio station who will be splashing our name across the airwaves for a couple weeks leading into the event...so we want to make sure we sound ace! Any advice on working out PA power requirements is most welcome :)

Thanks peeps!
 
#2
The short answer is probably not. The long answer is that there simply is not enough information here to make any sort of judgment. How big an area are you trying to cover? What type of music is it? Besides live music, will it be used for DJ or house announcements? What do you have for subs and hi-packs? What is your target average volume? I suggest you check out http://www.prosoundweb.com for lots of good info.
 
#3
BFunk said:
The short answer is probably not. The long answer is that there simply is not enough information here to make any sort of judgment. How big an area are you trying to cover? What type of music is it? Besides live music, will it be used for DJ or house announcements? What do you have for subs and hi-packs? What is your target average volume? I suggest you check out http://www.prosoundweb.com for lots of good info.
Click to expand...
Yeah, we definitely need more info before we can give you any kind of real answer. Honestly, I HIGHLY doubt it, unless the music is just there for background noise. I work for an A/V company, and I would definitely NOT send out a 2000 watt rig for an outdoor event that size, unless the band was just there for background music.
 
#4
Thanks. I will answer first, read second :)

Venue details
The event is being held the Kwinana Motorplex racing complex:
Invalid Link Removed.

We will either be on the speedway oval infield, or on the dragstrip to the right "somewhere"...its yet to be determined.

So I'm not sure but it looks like "quite a lot"...if that helps. And with the prospect of an open air stage, I've been reading on TB that could mean even more juice needed!

Event
Typical twin guitar 5 piece rock cover band with e-drums. We play 70's to current Top40/Hard Rock/Rock/Pop type stuff. We've all got gig-worthy equipment with my bass pushing 200W @ 8Ohm against the guitars combined watts of 160W (a 100W Marshall and a 60W Vox). Drummer has a powered JBL speaker/monitor and also goes through the wedges and PA. We need 3 vocal mics and have used 4 wedges for all out other (indoor) gigs. I'm confident that between our gear and the monitors provided we will get a good stage mix.

Apart from us they want to use the stage/PA for house announcements and auctioning things off etc. I presume between set breaks music will be played through the PA and so far I have not heard of any DJ's being brought in etc.

Sorry for being green on the lingo but I presume subs and hi-packs are the FOH speakers? Not sure as I have no information on the PA being provided, since they're not sure what I am going to say we need ;)

Fun fun fun. If it wasn't for charity, I'd probably have pulled the pin given the organisation so far :)

And now, I will click that link and start reading. Thanks.
 
#5
2000W is not enough for this gig. Not knowing what is included, I can only guess, but consider this. If all of that 2000W is going to FOH, because monitors are coming from somewhere else, if you simply divide 2000 by 4 (assuming 2 tops and 2 subs), you'd be left with 500W per speaker. Not enough to fill a speedway infield or dragstrip with (assumed) rock music.
 
#6
I've only done smaller indoor gigs where both FOH and stage mix were powered from the same PA. I assumed this would be the same deal...only more wattage :help:

So if I'm looking at some kind of bigger production, seperate stage/FOH setup I've never played on before then me and the guys are seriously out of my depth!! (I say my depth, because I took the gig haha).

Just where I like to be in the music game LOL. Which is weird because usually, I find ankle deep to be uncomfortable enough :D

Thanks again.
 
#9
Mojo-Man said:
:cool:
Are you talking 200w tube power?
Which is much more than SS power.

Orange AB200
Sadowsky SB200
Are two head you can use for most gigs. (depending on cab)
Click to expand...
Maybe he read the first line and assumed I was on about suitable rig combinations not PA stuff.

BFunk - That link was informative so far, but I haven't found the info written the way I need to see it to recognise I'm on the right track haha. I have decided never to get into pro level sound though I thought the theory buffs here spoke in tongues !! :D :D
 
#12
Outdoor venues suck up wattage like you wouldn't believe. 2000W isn't close to enough for FOH. You could easily take 2000W just for the monitors.

And speaking of which, unless you have some slammin monitors that can handle a lot of bass, you're going to be wanting a lot more than 200 watts out of your onstage amp, too. You say you're running 200 into what I presume is a single cab (8-ohm) so if you can beg or borrow a second cabinet to get down to 4 ohms, get your wattage up and move more air that would definitely be worth the effort.
 
#13
2000 watts in a loud outdoor venue like that will generally not be anywhere near enough.

But wattage being what wattage is it doesn't really say much. There are ways that 2000 watts FOH could possibly be enough - mostly through using large amounts of very efficient equipment.

For example, horn loaded subs, say 2 a side each running 300 watts, thats 1200. 2 mains a side each running 150 watts to the mids and 50 watts biamped to highly efficient horns. It would be conceivably possible but very unlikely.
 
#16
In a word -- NO!

I've run 4000-6000W and more at our local festival for maybe 500-600 people and not had enough. Typical small-town gig -- courthouse square, arts and crafts show, downtown area relatively closed-in w/buildings on every side. 50s Rockabilly and 60s Rock/R&B. A glorified, city sanctioned street dance, albeit that it covered a couple of city blocks. But not nearly as big as a rackway infield.

I would typically run 3000W just to 4 subs, with another 1500W to 2-4 top boxes and 1000W to 2 side fills. And 1800W to monitor mixes (4 mixes total). And I never really covered the gig. Did okay, but would have liked a lot more, especially on subs. This was old-geezer Rock and Country playing to Mom and Dad. And to Grandma too, who thought it was gonna be too loud. But it never was. Even to me, and I was within 50-75 feet of the mains at all times. I was close enough to watch the Limit lights on the FOH rack, and the sub amps (QSC PLX) stayed in compression a lot of the time. Top box amps too. especially on sax and guitar solos.

I hate to say it, but for your act, you venue and your crowd, IME, you're not even close.



dcr
 
#19
I've done outdoor gigs with a PA pushing out about 2kW. That was all we owned and it was loud enough for all outdoor gigs we had (usually max 2000 people). Whether it is enough for you depends on how loud you want (and are allowed) to be, and how far you want the sound to carry. Are you the major attraction there or are you playing background music in the breaks between other events?

Sure it's great to play with 10kW power or more with a ***load of speakers and amps, but whether it is needed in practice is a different story. It might be or it might not. I guess the money is an issue as well. If you get a fat paycheck from the gig and they expect you to be as loud as Bruce Springsteen on a stadium gig, then you definitely need more than 2000 watts.
 
#20
Just thought I would resurrect this thread with a quick update on how things are travelling.

First, I begged borrowed and almost stole before managing to find a guy willing to lend me a 1x15" Hartke cab in case I needed it for extra stage volume/FOH presence.

Second, I found out they are going to leave the sides and back on the trailer, so it's more stage than open (hopefully haha).

Third, we just got word they are going to have a 10,000W PA on site for us to use, so I guess I won't need that second cab after all. It will be manned by a soundguy too. I hope he covers stage and FOH! I have no experience with PA's this size (or at all, really) and it's quite daunting as an upstart manager answering questions like "what size PA you need".

Normally, we call the soundguy and he tells us what we need!

:hiding:
 

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