You guys who are running your own sound…..

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Don’t let your expensive mistakes building your bands PA go to complete waste. save ME!!!! Lol. Anyway, I’m putting together a PA based around my Behringer x32 mixer. Im familiar with it already and already purchased it. Other than that, I have 2 well worn QSC older 10” monitors I use as wedges right now. 1 sits on my bands van and 1 I use for fill in gigs. So 2 monitors for my PA are covered. Talk to me about Mains and subs. I have in my Sweetwater cart now 2 QSC KW 152s, but Im wondering if that’s blow folks out of the room overkill? Im thinking that and a sub will put me back around 5k with covers and cables. Also considering the S16 digital snake to get me to the other side of the stage so I dont have to run cabling all over the place. Really slick, it will get me another 16 mic Pres and 8 outputs.

Really dont want to ever pay a Soundguy again for a local bar gig or stuff I can do myself. None of this looks particularly hard.

 

[warlockII]

I'm the wrong guy to ask. I have an X32 Rack running to JBL SRX 835P tops and SRX 828SP subs. You can always turn down a PA if it's too loud, but a system pushed beyond is capabilities sounds like crap.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

I'm the wrong guy to ask. I have an X32 Rack running to JBL SRX 835P tops and SRX 828SP subs. You can always turn down a PA if it's too loud, but a system pushed beyond is capabilities sounds like crap.

So……why are you the wrong guy???? Thats already helpful.

Do you feel you overspent and overbought or are you happy with what you have?

 

[warlockII]

So……why are you the wrong guy???? Thats already helpful.

Because I'll talk you into spending more money than you need to Unfortunately, in my town there are only 2 sound guys I trust and they are ALWAYS booked solid. IF I could find a quality person with good gear, I'd gladly pay them to save me from the setup/teardown as well as being able to mix from the audience as opposed to our mainly set it during the 1st song or 2 and forget it.

 

[Dave Merrill]

I'm the wrong guy to ask. I have an X32 Rack running to JBL SRX 835P tops and SRX 828SP subs. You can always turn down a PA if it's too loud, but a system pushed beyond is capabilities sounds like crap.

Out of curiosity, how many of each of those cabs?

 

[warlockII]

Out of curiosity, how many of each of those cabs?

1 top and 1 sub/side. The Subs have great casters on them and are easy to move by myself(NOT going up stairs).

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Because I'll talk you into spending more money than you need to Unfortunately, in my town there are only 2 sound guys I trust and they are ALWAYS booked solid. IF I could find a quality person with good gear, I'd gladly pay them to save me from the setup/teardown as well as being able to mix from the audience as opposed to our mainly set it during the 1st song or 2 and forget it.

I think you replied before I edited my response. Are you happy with what you bought or do you feel you have more firepower than you ever use?

 

[warlockII]

I think you replied before I edited my response. Are you happy with what you bought or do you feel you have more firepower than you ever use?

Is there such a thing I barely missed out on a used RCF setup that would have blown this one out of the water. The great thing is we can do dang big events or small ones with this setup. For a bit, we were running my Atomic CLR's over KW181's. That setup took so little room that it was great. I moved up to these because I thought there was an issue with that setup, only to realize that my bass player/singer's idea of sound setup/mixing was very different than mine. Once I became insistant on getting rid of the driverack and turning up the subs, etc. the sound instantly turned around. I had already bought the JBL's by then and am very happy with them.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Is there such a thing I barely missed out on a used RCF setup that would have blown this one out of the water. The great thing is we can do dang big events or small ones with this setup. For a bit, we were running my Atomic CLR's over KW181's. That setup took so little room that it was great. I moved up to these because I thought there was an issue with that setup, only to realize that my bass player/singer's idea of sound setup/mixing was very different than mine. Once I became insistant on getting rid of the driverack and turning up the subs, etc. the sound instantly turned around. I had already bought the JBL's by then and am very happy with them.

Here’s the thing. I want to buy the right speakers, once. I dont mind being a little over powered but dont want to waste money on gobs of power Im never going to use either. Im looking at 5k or so now on 2 mains and a sub with covers and cabling. If the right stuff is 7k, I’d rather spend that than be less than thrilled with my 5k purchase. This is where I’m at. It’s a good chunk of dough and Im short on knowledge here. These aren’t items you can really fairly test drive, either.

 

[Johan Allard]

I went with Yamaha DXR's and DXS's. I already had 2 DXR10's that I've used for my Fractal stuff for many years and then over about a year completed the rest and now have 2xDXR12's for FoH, 2xDXS15's (subs) and 4xDXR10's for monitors (1 each). I use a QSC Touchmix 16. Never felt overpowering and enough for indoor rooms up to a couple of hundred people and outdoor gigs up to a 100 people or so, plenty of compliments on sound and the rest of the band has all commented how great it sounds when we play backing tracks and similar.

 

[Randall d]

Unless I missed something, you haven't told us your application: Style of music, size of venues etc. For what it is worth, I really hate systems with 15" mids. It leaves a big hole in the sound between the woofers and the horns. You can think it will be fixed by EQ, but it really doesn't fix it. . I used to use CLRs for tops, but even two per side struggled to be enough for mid-sized bars that liked the music to be loud. Sound quality-wise I compared them side by side with a pair of QSC K10's and there was no comparison. The QSC's mids were not very good compared to the CLRs (I am being kind to the QSC's here). I would recommend RCF NX 12 SMA's for tops. One per side should be enough. They are really loud and much higher quality sound than QSC's. For classic rock or country I think 18" subs are too large. They don't punch you in the gut; they shake the floor instead which isn't what you need for classic rock or country. But if you are doing something that needs the super low frequencies, then 18" is your size. Hope that helps.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

Unless I missed something, you haven't told us your application: Style of music, size of venues etc. For what it is worth, I really hate systems with 15" mids. It leaves a big hole in the sound between the woofers and the horns. You can think it will be fixed by EQ, but it really doesn't fix it. . I used to use CLRs for tops, but even two per side struggled to be enough for mid-sized bars that liked the music to be loud. Sound quality-wise I compared them side by side with a pair of QSC K10's and there was no comparison. The QSC's mids were not very good compared to the CLRs (I am being kind to the QSC's here). I would recommend RCF NX 12 SMA's for tops. One per side should be enough. They are really loud and much higher quality sound than QSC's. For classic rock or country I think 18" subs are too large. They don't punch you in the gut; they shake the floor instead which isn't what you need for classic rock or country. But if you are doing something that needs the super low frequencies, then 18" is your size. Hope that helps.

Thank you. We use the QSC K12 for the AxefxIII in the rehearsal space we rent and the fractal really never sounded better but I understand I need to make an entire show sound good. RCF seems to universally have a great reputation. Right now I have a 6 piece band but ultimately have no idea what I’ll be doing in another year as Im moving way down south. I may be set up in my backyard playing to alligators or may be doing town gigs. Who knows. Im thinking realistically, small to medium bars when I move at least getting started. I do want a good quality system I can expand as my needs grow, too.

 

[warlockII]

The QSC KS118 subs are very impressive for their size. While I prefer the JBL and RCF tops, I've heard plenty of bands sound good through K12 tops.

 

[Bruce Sokolovic]

RCF universally has a great reputation. Ive yet to hear anything bad about that brand. For the money, they should be good because they’re not cheap. The QSC stuff we play a place holds about 100 or so and they use those K12s or maybe they’re 15s but I know we always sound good in there, too.

There’s definitely something to be said about the guy moving the faders, too. Best speakers in the world can be made to sound awful.

 

[JoKeR III]

The QSC 152s are really better than decent PA speakers IMO. They sound great and are quite portable given their size. If you're going to play at a place for an extended period, they can be hung for a pseudo line array. We use them in a room that has a maximum capacity of 200.

You don't need subs with them, but we use two 12" subs on either side of the stage. We started with the QSC's on the sub enclosures but eventually hung them which seemed to improve the sound in the room by isolating them. For a simple "budget" system, it sounds pretty darn good.

Volume never gets out of control. We are able to adapt the level without compromising sound quality depending upon the event, our events would run between 70-95 dB. Having the subs on a separate Matrix in the M32 would help tremendously at lower volumes. Using the Matrix allows you to have a separate fader to control the volume of the subs, you can get the system pumping without excessive volume.

 

[biskitboy]

I'm probably going to be the odd-ball of the group here. But I use 3xEvolve 50's and 1xEKX-15SP. It's super light weight, and the mini-line array's work incredibly well. I do not think I'll ever go back to a traditional speaker setup again. The system appears tiny, but it packs a wallop. Having 3 speaker stacks allows us to position them in unconventional ways that can fit the space better. We also run a silent stage, all IEMs.

 

[Moke]

Our setup is pretty old now, but...
Behringer XR-18, 2 JBL-618 XLF, 2 JBL 615, 3 Headrush 8" monitors. Works pretty good for good sized bars, and even some outdoor events, city parks, parking lots, back yard parties, etc... up to 1000 people max. I'm sure that the newer offerings are even better.

Advice... Multitrack record a full rehearsal and/or your first couple of shows. I use Ableton Live. Record the dry inputs of each channel. Then rent a room if you need to, and run them all through the mixer and PA via USB, so that you can really work on the mix in context. You will have to make some allowances for any stage volume that will be missing. We are all direct, even use electronic drums, but with a few live cymbals. You can solo each channel and dial in or out what you need. And tweak any onboard effects. Save that mix. Now you will start the next show there. Rinse, repeat.

Comes in handy for virtual sound checks too. And for tweaking your tones and relative levels in the mix of your actual band

Also, besides the expected comps on the usual suspects, I like to have a compressor on my guitar channels and backing track channels that are side chained to the lead vocal channel. It's setup to drop them by about a 3 dB while the singer is singing. That way during instrumental sections, the guitar and backing tracks are a bit more prominent in the mix, but out of the way when vocals are going on.