Thanks for the thoughtful reply! I can understand everything you are saying and have thought the same things at one point or another. I have found that it does take time to get 'used to' a full range signal 'spraying in your face' (I like the way you put that haha)-- mostly I got used to it when I heard how much more balanced my FOH tone was. Compared to a sound 'engineer' essentially laying a mic on the floor in front of my cabs LOL, it sounds like your situ is a lot more professional.
Hey, to each their own--I get no rider, hell some of the places we play I'm lucky to not have to share a power outlet with the rest of the band!
I think all monitoring solutions, be they traditional or FRFR wedges have their respective strengths and weaknesses..
we all playing different styles of music and in different environments with different transportation capabilities or limitations..
so the principle thing is fully understanding your needs and choosing a rig that best fits it..
if I played in a pit with a theatre orchestra for example, I'd know the following:
- space in the pit is tight = small rig
- the needs of each show will be extremely different = tonal versatility [FRFR so you have access to IR cabs]
- DI would be better than mic'ing = FRFR again
- pants flapping in a hurricane of drop-C would be frowned upon
already a single or pair of active Matrix FRFR 1x12 monitors are screaming "me ! me ! ! me ! !"
contrast:
playing in a touring band, all original music, rockin' and-a rollin' [just what Clarky's do da best]
- space is no issue = big outdoor festival stages and concert halls
- the big vibe = we are rockin' and-a rollin'.. I want to sound like it, look like, I want to knock down walls and have pants flapping in the storm..
- can't take cabs on a plane = you have no idea what's going to be waiting for you down route [something that'll work, don't need top of the line, but must be ubiquitous / very easy to source]
- using your own tones throughout = this is 'my voice' so the choices are mine alone, a single cab type helps anchor my tones with some consistent voicing
- keep it simple =I speak English and Spanish [although my grandmother would issue slaps if she could hear me obliterating her mother tongue] which won't help in in Poland or Japan for example.. so.. when faced with a more traditional sound guy, how can I easily explain my needs if they're unconventional?? however.. wheel up a pair of 4x12 cabs and he'll smile and walk toward you with a pair of 57,s and some short stands.. I point at left cab and then point to the left, point at the other and point right and say 'no mono, stereo'.. which seems to work everywhere on earth..
the solution needs to be easy / trouble free / repeatable anywhere on earth..
and of course if I play in the UK, I can fit both my 1960b's in the car [funny.. "do my cabs go in this" is part of the car choosing criteria]
now the Marshall 4x12 cabs are screaming "me ! me ! ! me ! !"