Tell me what I need for a PA

[Huber]

What specs should I look for in a PA? I'm not looking for the grand master of all PAs, but I don't want little stuff either. Rehearsals, gigs, etc... I just don't know what I'm looking for.

[Magnus55]

Get something with a good mixer, with at least 8 channels that you can use for recording.

[Huber]

I forgot to probably mention that I want to plug in at least 7 drum mics into it too.

[pitchfork]

Get around a 20 channel mixer and a mulitcore + stage box if you are micing drums but, ask yourself though, do drum's really need to be miced? If you mic drums when they don't need it you will be overamplifying an instrument and then the sound will suffer.

Look into peavey stuff, reliable and will last you forever. Also cheap for what you are getting.
If you want to go upmarket try JBL.

What am i saying, what's your budget and how many people do you need a pa for?

I'll add: if you are investing so much into a PA system make sure you know how to work it, a pa's sound is only as good as the soundman.

[Magnus55]

And don't plug any gutiars directly into the PA. You break speakers that way... :(

[pitchfork]

Rubbish, PA speakers can handle human voice, keyboards, bass, guitar and anything else you wish to throw at them, except the obvious beer.

[diesel]

Guitars plugged directly into the PA. If it's all pro or semi-pro gear (ie, not an old hifi system) the only issue I could see there is the whole PA being overdriven, thus causing distortion which the amp sends as a DC voltage to the speaker. In otherwords, it pulls your drivers apart.

As far as gear to go with, I use Mackie's active speakers. You can get some of their Super Active line, and if you go for the biggest, it will serve you all but the largest shows. A pair of SRM450's for monitors for the big shows and FOH PA for the smaller shows. As far as the console, maybe look into the Onyx 1640, it's got 16 mic-pres and 4 subgroups. Plus, when it's time to move up to recording, you just have to buy a card for the mixer, and you can stream all 16 inputs to your computer sperately. All of this gear is Mackie, so you know it's going to sound good, and last.

The other big purchase will be mics, stands, and a snake. As far as the snake goes, just look up Radial Engineering's site, even if you don't buy from them, they can give you an idea of what's out there. For mics, you can look at brands like Shure, AKG, Audix, and Sennheiser. There are many more great companies out there, but that's the stuff I use so I am able to vouch for it. You might want several Shure SM57 mics, they work great on Toms, Snare, Guitar, Vocals, and so on. SM58 or beta58 is a really good vocal mic, and also works well on horns too. The beta52 is a great kick drum or bass guitar mic.The AKG C 1000 is a good overhead and cymbal mic. As far as cable for everything? don't skimp, and buy extras.

As said above, the best sounding PA in the world will sound horrid with an unskilled engineer. Likewise, a cobbled together PA under the care of an expert engineer won't sound too bad.

[Idle Mind]

How much money do you have to spend?

[panthersfan16]

Hey Huber I have done some sound teching so I have a grasp on the basics like frequencies and stuff. I will show you all that when/if you get one, so keep that in mind

[Zae]

Alright, quick PA related question. Would anyone have any suggestions on a PA system that would work good for vocals? Also, it'd need to be under $600 ($700 max). Thanks.

[alucidinterval]

it depends how loud you need the vocals to be. you can get PA systems for under $200. If your just playing small gigs and are only running vocals through it, you might be able to get by with something like that.

[Zae]

Well, right now I'd only be playing small gigs and band practice, but I'm looking for something that I could use now and possibly use if the oppertunity comes along where I'd need something louder and better. Also, recording may be down the road, if that affects anything.

[flea_slap_god]

check out wharfedale evp powered series, really good quality and good price, means you dont need to worry about poweramps.

[Huber]

EMX5000-20 Stereo Powered Mixer
PV215 2x15" 2-Way PA Speaker Cabinet

This is what I've gathered that I'm thinking about getting. Is this good stuff, plus will I need anything else?

[isojoe420]

EMX5000-20 Stereo Powered Mixer
PV215 2x15" 2-Way PA Speaker Cabinet

This is what I've gathered that I'm thinking about getting. Is this good stuff, plus will I need anything else?
Thats the exact same setup I have, except its the EMX5000-12. Its a great setup. What will you be using it for?

[Huber]

Band's rehearsal, future gigging possibly.

[isojoe420]

What I meant was, what will you be running through it?

[MizouNut]

All of this gear is Mackie, so you know it's going to sound good, and last.


Sorry, I have to contradict you here. Mackie gear is about the cheapest, worst-sounding stuff I have ever seen/heard/played through. I've played through stadium-worthy Mackie setups, as well as two-speaker, 8-channel mixer small-venue stuff. Everytime it's been a Mackie setup, both the audience and stage mixes sound horrible (not because of the sound engineer. Different person each time), and people have actually told us that the band sounded great, but the sound quality from the gear was awful.


As for the EMX5000 and Peavey speakers setup.. Looks incredibly good. Expensive, but the specs look great. I played at a place that used either those Peavey speakers, or something almost exactly like them, and the sound quality was quite good. That setup should do well with smaller indoor gigs (bars, even small stages).

[isojoe420]

Sorry, I have to contradict you here. Mackie gear is about the cheapest, worst-sounding stuff I have ever seen/heard/played through.
HAHA! Thats funny.

If Mackie is the worst sounding stuff you've ever seen/heard/played through, then you must be someone that doesnt see alot of live sound setups. I could name much worse brands of sound equipment than Mackie. Mackie isn't that bad.

[pitchfork]

MizouNut you are an idiot, your sound men must've all been autistic if they can't get a good sound from mackie.
Even some behringer systems sound good when set up by proper sound engineers.

And the stage or audience mixes will be depicted by the sound man so it must've been bad luck or you talking ****.

[WindowLedge]

...and people have actually told us that the band sounded great, but the sound quality from the gear was awful.


You do realize that's a polite way to tell you that you sucked

[MizouNut]

HAHA! Thats funny.

If Mackie is the worst sounding stuff you've ever seen/heard/played through, then you must be someone that doesnt see alot of live sound setups. I could name much worse brands of sound equipment than Mackie. Mackie isn't that bad.

and

MizouNut you are an idiot, your sound men must've all been autistic if they can't get a good sound from mackie.
Even some behringer systems sound good when set up by proper sound engineers.

And the stage or audience mixes will be depicted by the sound man so it must've been bad luck or you talking ****.


Maybe you guys should play out more often. I've had shows with basic Yamaha, Peavey, and other PAs manned by amateur soundmen (read: people in bands who may or may not have owned parts of the equipment) sound better than professional shows armed entirely with Mackies.

Add to that the fact that no reputable sound engineering company uses Mackies because of their quality.. I think you guys should really stop reading the propaganda pamphlets at your local music store, and go see some shows.


You do realize that's a polite way to tell you that you sucked

Maybe you've gotten that from people, but it doesn't mean it's universally true.

[pitchfork]

Well i've been gigging regularly for over a year, i've played through a complete mackie system at least 10 times in a busy pub and it sounded on par with higher end systems.
Mackie does not suck, the soundman is the one who makes a pa it suck and possibly your gear.

[isojoe420]

and
Nady, Behringer, Kustom. Just to name a few.


Add to that the fact that no reputable sound engineering company uses Mackies because of their quality.. I think you guys should really stop reading the propaganda pamphlets at your local music store, and go see some shows.

I've seen many shows. I work part time as a stage hand and have seen a few big companys that use Mackie equipment. Lots of Mackie mixers that I see. A big production company not too long ago had some nice Mackie subs they used. They sounded great.

[Neamhtrocaireach]

Rubbish, PA speakers can handle human voice, keyboards, bass, guitar and anything else you wish to throw at them, except the obvious beer.



Thats wrong..... i dont care. I had JBL speakers in perfect cond. they got ****ed from guitars being directly plugged into them.
I had to buy new ones.
The only way you could have a guitar goin through a speaker would be to put a mic next to your amp.

[isojoe420]

Thats wrong..... i dont care. I had JBL speakers in perfect cond. they got ****ed from guitars being directly plugged into them.
I had to buy new ones.
The only you could have a guitar goin through a speaker would be to put a mic next to your amp.
I plug direct all the time, hasn't hurt my Peavey's at all.

[Neamhtrocaireach]

I plug direct all the time, hasn't hurt my Peavey's at all.


I dunno... I have spent too much money to chance it...
Over time man, it could get ****d up.

[diesel]

I honestly see no issue with using a DI box to send your guitar signal to the front of house mixer. Unless you have some clipping occuring somewhere in the chain, that will make it sound back, and usually cause damage to your speakers over time, but just watch your signal path and you'll be fine

[MizouNut]

Well i've been gigging regularly for over a year, i've played through a complete mackie system at least 10 times in a busy pub and it sounded on par with higher end systems.
Mackie does not suck, the soundman is the one who makes a pa it suck and possibly your gear.


Try a Mackie system in an outdoor ampitheater. It doesn't hold up nearly as well as a in a pub or small stage setting. The sound quality suffers greatly when put to big tests.

Nady, Behringer, Kustom. Just to name a few.

Oh, true that. *Remembers his drummer's Kustom PA that they practiced with once* There are worse. But it's far from desireable. As for that production company.. scary. None of the ones here will even touch Mackie for their shows (especially since they usually specialize in bigger stadiums and outdoor shows).

[pitchfork]

i wouldn't use mackie because peavey is more affordable.

[diesel]

Okay, so you see production tech companies that won't use Mackie, well, that's because Mackie isn't designed for arenas and huge outdoor festivals. That's where their sister companies EAW and EAW Commercial come in with the big guns. Mackie speaker systems are all designed for small-scale concerts. You'll never see Mackie issue a full size line-array system.

[Aes820]

I like the idea of using powered speakers for the monitoring setup. It makes it all very easy.

As for the FOH. You may wish to Biamp or Triamp. I guess it depends on how serious of a setup you are going for.
Crown poweramps and JBL drivers for the FOH. And Quest powered speakers for the foldbacks.

[MizouNut]

Okay, so you see production tech companies that won't use Mackie, well, that's because Mackie isn't designed for arenas and huge outdoor festivals. That's where their sister companies EAW and EAW Commercial come in with the big guns. Mackie speaker systems are all designed for small-scale concerts. You'll never see Mackie issue a full size line-array system.


Small scale= bars and that's it? I've seen bigger Mackies, and they don't hold the quality as well as other brands.

But whatever, we kinda lost this thread to DI-ing and biamping.. Suffice to say, I've experienced bad things with Mackie, and would prefer not to recommend them. You guys haven't.

[pitchfork]

Yeah because we recommend the well known brands.