Best Practices for live?

slinky005

slinky005

Power User
Out 1: XLR to FOH
Out 1 : 1/4" to wedge
Out 2: To Power Amp and cab

Generally I turn the Axe full up for best S/N ratio when at a gig.
Monitor I'm using is self powered but can barely turn it up to 1 without blowing my head off since my feed to FOH is same as monitor.
Just curious if there is any level difference going out of a 1/4" or XLR?
I think I will have to go into my radial direct box and engage the -15 pad before hitting my monitor.

Does this sound kosher?
 
So it seems I don't even need the pad on the DI box.
As soon as I plug the Axe 1/4" into the DI, then into the monitor the output is waaaaaay down.
Not quite sure why but this may work for me.
 
brokenvail said:
does your monitor have a line/mic switch? If so make sure it is set to line
Click to expand...

Yes it was set to line - it's 1000w, maybe not much I can do.
I am curious why going thru a DI lowers the input level so much (without the pad).
So much that I'm losing my headroom.
 
I send output 1 to FOH. I use output 2 for my powered CLR so I can change that level if I need to without messing with the FOH feed. Obviously you can run your axe anyway you want, but have you considered running your cab and wedge out of #2? There really isn't a reason to run xlr to your monitor (assuming your axe is on stage with you).
 
slinky005 said:
I am curious why going thru a DI lowers the input level so much (without the pad).
Click to expand...

A lot of DI's are designed to convert from line level to mic level. That is so line level sources can be patched into a mixer using conventional XLR connections and into the mic preamps of the mixer (vs. TRS from the stage box to a TRS input on the mixer).
 
warlockII said:
I send output 1 to FOH. I use output 2 for my powered CLR so I can change that level if I need to without messing with the FOH feed. Obviously you can run your axe anyway you want, but have you considered running your cab and wedge out of #2? There really isn't a reason to run xlr to your monitor (assuming your axe is on stage with you).
Click to expand...

No cabs on going to amp.
Cabs on going to wedge.


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hmm I use a K12 as my monitor, and foh, gets output 1 and it's usually maxing around 9'oclock, and for my k12 out 2 is maybe up to 10. I run my k12 gain at half (12 o'clock), keeps hiss down... for what it's worth.
 
If he means the level is lower, then he needs to turn the powered speaker volume up to a normal range, and increase the gain on the mixer channel, like normal.

I'm not sure if that's what he meant though.
 
No I think he meant that there is not much difference between output knob being fully clock wise and your suggestion of 9 o clock


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9 o'clock, not 3'clock. Huge difference between 9 o'clock (about 15-20%) and full (100%). Just sayin'!
 
Sorry Chris, when you said 9'oclock I read it as 3 o'clock as 9o'clock would be way to low going out.
I meant small difference from 3 o'clock to full.
Huge difference from 9 o'clock to full.
 
slinky005 said:
when you said 9'oclock I read it as 3 o'clock as 9o'clock would be way to low going out.
Click to expand...

is it really "way too low"? the Axe signal/noise ratio is so low that you don't need to crank the Out knobs. if fully up means you can barely turn up your powered speaker, that means you need to back off the Out knob.

are you saying that at 9:00 on the Axe knob, you can turn your powered speaker all the way up and it's not loud enough? (i'm not necessarily saying the speaker all the way up is ideal, just getting a gauge.)
 
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Chris@AxeFxTutorials said:
is it really "way too low"? the Axe signal/noise ratio is so low that you don't need to crank the Out knobs. if fully up means you can barely turn up your powered speaker, that means you need to back off the Out knob.

are you saying that at 9:00 on the knob, you can turn your powered speaker all the way up and it's not loud enough?
Click to expand...

No what I'm saying is the output of the Axe should be as high as possible. I could be wrong but I think I read here that full is unity gain.
Therefore putting it at max (or near max) so the FOH does not have to bring up the trims to add noise, sends an extremely high level to my wedge.
In my other band where I use IEMs I always keep my Axe at full and we have our own soundman. He never told me my levels were too loud.
This is not a do or die situation as I will work it out one way or another but I appreciate all the input that was given.
 
slinky005 said:
I could be wrong but I think I read here that full is unity gain.
Click to expand...

ahh the unity gain myth :)

Unity Gain is achieved when there are Shunts only and the knobs are turned up to full. once you put a block in there that adds volume - like an amp block which adds a TON of volume - you are no longer at Unity Gain.

i too run my axe knob all the way up for my IEM setup - but only as an easily repeatable/consistent setting and because i run the mixer. most mixers can handle this amount of input, but it really is a very high level and not typical. at all other gigs, i run my Out knob at about 9:00, and it creeps up sometimes towards 12:00 as the gig progresses. even this is much louder than most other gear sound guys are used to.

all i'm trying to share here is that you don't need to run the Out knob full up. full up with an Amp block is not Unity Gain. if you can barely turn up your powered speaker, it is "safe" to turn down the Out knob and not fear sudden noise from increasing the mixer channel gain to typical levels. more level is sometimes better, but realize that the Axe tends to send WAY more than normal, hence why you can't open up your powered speaker volume.
 
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