Double Bass Will an XLR splitter do the trick?

[Lenbytown]

Hi. I have this never ending struggle to hear myself when I'm playing at the local jazz jams. The sound guy runs my combo amp's XLR out through the house sound system. So, my amp becomes my monitor. Still, with everyone else playing on stage I struggle to hear myself. I have both a small powered monitor and a wireless in-ear monitor system but I can't use them with only one XLR out. My question is this: can I use a simple XLR splitter cable or a splitter box to solve the problem? (see links below) I know nothing about electronics. I am using an Acoustic Image Coda R SE Combo Amplifier - Series III with a Revolution Solo pickup. Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/SEISMIC-AUDIO-Splitter-Cables-Female/dp/B00534NQHM

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[Pat Harris]

Before bringing more gear to a jazz jam, I would *think* the Coda *should* be adequate to monitor yourself. That said, if you're going through the mains, and if you haven't already, you may want to use the High Pass Filter to roll off some of the low end and then boost your stage volume to get more of the midrange which will cut through the mix. Let the PA out front handle the heavy lifting.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Try getting the Coda off the floor on to a chair or something. That should help. If it doesn't, you may want to check out other combos without the down firing woofer.

 

[Champagne]

Try what Pat and Eric suggested first. If that fails, of the two things you posted, ust the art unit as it gives an isolated out. Do not use wye cables.

 

[petesenkowski]

I play for contradances, and I've been discouraged from having either having an amp onstage or any significant bass in the wedges used by the rest of the band.

I've been using a Rolls PM55 headphone monitor and IEMs; the Rolls has a mic-through output so I pull my IEM input from the Rolls, allowing my bass's output to go to FOH via the mic-through -- no splitter necessary.

You could run your amp's output into the Rolls, then through to the house system, and pull your IEM output from the Rolls.

There's a lot of information on the use of Rolls system with IEMs in the BG live sound forum. They usually focus on the PM351 which has three inputs (mic, instrument, line level) rather than the PM55's two (mic and line level), but the basic use is the same.

 

[Mark Gollihur]

You could also use the effects loop to "tap" the sound and drive your monitor(s)... leaving the XLR output for the soundman to use. The EFX loop is of the parallel type, so you can tap into it without interrupting the signal:

Effects Loop
Acoustic Image preamps have output (“Send”) and input (“Return”) capability in each channel to allow you to use effects boxes. The send output is affected by the input volume and tone controls and can also be used as a preamp output for driving other power amplifiers. The Return input can be used to directly connect an external preamp to the unit’s power amp. The effects level control in each channel controls the volume of the returned (“wet”) signal relative to the original (“dry”) signal. Because the effects loop is a parallel type, plugging something into the send output does not interrupt the signal path. So, a tuner (or another piece of gear) can be plugged into the send output without affecting the signal going through the amp. When the effects loops are not used, the level controls should be set at zero.

 

[brianrost]

Before bringing more gear to a jazz jam, I would *think* the Coda *should* be adequate to monitor yourself.

I play plenty of loud gigs with no PA support using that same amp and have never had a problem hearing myself. I can't imagine needing an additional monitor!!!