Best practices when setting up for a gig

alxndr

alxndr

Member
Hey guys – I'm new to Fractal and modeling in general. I've really loved playing around with my AX8. I've got a question for the Fractal pros out there: what do you typically do when setting up for a gig in a new venue? Let's say the venue is relatively small with a simple PA and the sound guy is either nonexistent or not very good. Any tips would be appreciated!
 
My recommendation is to always have your own amplification. You never know what you're going to get with a small venue like that, if the PA is so small that they don't have a sound man, chances are that they won't have any decent monitors either.
 
Richard said:
My recommendation is to always have your own amplification. You never know what you're going to get with a small venue like that, if the PA is so small that they don't have a sound man, chances are that they won't have any decent monitors either.
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This.
 
I might be worried that the PA may be so small, it is only suitable for running the vocals.

Anyway, I would bring my active wedge monitor, and if the PA is too small, I would set up the wedge such that both I and the crowd can hear it.
 
alxndr said:
Hey guys – I'm new to Fractal and modeling in general. I've really loved playing around with my AX8. I've got a question for the Fractal pros out there: what do you typically do when setting up for a gig in a new venue? Let's say the venue is relatively small with a simple PA and the sound guy is either nonexistent or not very good. Any tips would be appreciated!
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Bring a DI box. If there's no soundguy, whoever is adjusting the levels for the main vocal mic should be able to add another mic level channel. Just flatline the EQ and you're set!

-PJ
 
I see absolutely no reason to put a DI between a Fractal product and the mixing desk. The output of Ax8 is line level. The output of a DI is line level.
 
Smittefar said:
I see absolutely no reason to put a DI between a Fractal product and the mixing desk. The output of Ax8 is line level. The output of a DI is line level.
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I always bring a Radial DI that can convert from line to mic level.

The reason is, most low-end snakes / mixers can't accommodate line level XLR connections. The stage box sends and the fan at the mixer end are XLR and the cheaper mixers use TRS inputs for line inputs.

So, you are forced to use adapters at the fan end to convert your Fractal channels to TRS. A lot of venues stay permanently patched and will resist unplugging the fan to put in adapters.

I used to bring a really long XLR to TRS cable and run from the stage directly to the mixer but this didn't work for all venues, so I switched to bringing the DI.

If needed, I can send mic level to the mixer.
 
I agree a small DI box should be in your gig bag if you play different places much. there is less to argue about if the sound person doesn't have a clue, or if you plug in to a board as Barhrecords posted many boards have mic pre on all xlr inputs and most do not have pads. I have plugged my axe fx into several boards were the signal was just to hot! a powered speaker is a must also, a small place that is used to guitar and such using back line only may not have any monitors for except for the front center vocals, the pa may not be big enough to plug you in. of coarse most places around my neck of the woods have no sound except there house music system, so you have to provide the pa.
 
You have the option of both changing the output from +4 dBu to -10 dBu and reducing the output volume knob setting. I cannot remember when I last tried an interface/mixer that would overload, if you did that.

To each his own. I assume, you are talking about a radial box such as this one http://www.radialeng.com/jdi.php - it provides a 15 dB pad, which is the swame as going from +4 to -10 dBu. I guess a quality DI box does not hurt much, but I would do my best to avoid it.
 
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