Well, If it is just for rehearsals. Then I reckon that mixer with those powered speakers would be a pretty good setup.

Once you go for a seperate poweramp. Then you have to also start worrying about power and ohm loadings.
The powered speaker method defiantely keeps it simple for you.

Hey guys, I don't know if this belongs here but sometimes when I sing when I use the microphones, I get tiny electric shocks from the mic to my lips. It doesn't hurt much but it gets annoying. Anyone knows a reason for this or way to stop it?

Hey Aes820,
Speaking of Active speakers, which setup do u think would be louder:

1.BEHRINGER EP 2500 POWER AMP (2 x 450w 8ohm) and 2 x Quest QA350 passive 12" (350w rms @ 8ohms) , plus a suitable mixer.

or

2.Buy 2 x Quest QSA300 Active 12" plus a suitable mixer.

The Quest passive speakers have lightly higher power at 350wrms compared to the active speakers which are 300w (bi amped)... both with similar Max SPL peak of around 127db...

More importantly, would both these options, 1 and 2 be much better in terms of vocal volume than the system i have atm.. ie.
Behringer EUROPOWER PMH880S powered mixer (2 x 200w rms @ 8 ohms) with 2 x 15" PA Accusound LoudSpeakers (200w RMS @ 8ohms 400w peak, and sensitivity of 96 dB@1watt)

cheers,
steve

Tough decision there steve.

Why don't you go for option one. If the Max SPL works out about the same then i guess it doesn't really matter much.
But if you do go for the seperate poweramp, perhaps you can keep those Accusound speakers of yours and add them onto the Quest QA350 speakers in parrallel. For those bigger gigs. Where you'll then be able to get the extra power out of the poweramp if it is needed.

yeah the first option will cost only a little extra, and ive heard these power amps are very good.. from quite a few sources... apparently one of the best value for quality out there.

That last point u made is a great point.. almost forgot that.. if i do get the option 1, ie. the power amp... i do have the option of putting another set of speakers in parrallel if need to :), with active speakers, i dont have that option.

But one question regarding the power amp... now.. at parallel, means the impedance of each side would be 4ohm... and i checked the behringer amp, and it says it can do 650w @ 4ohm on each side...

If i was to add my accusound speaker (200w rms @ 8ohms) to the Quest QA350 (350w rms @8) in parrellel on each side... is it ok that the speaker are at different rms's.. i mean.. how is the power of amp distributed to both these speakers in the parrallel... im guessing id have to just be carefull with the accusound speaker.. and make sure im not overpowering them.. is that right??

And quickly.. how would know if i was infact overpowering them... distortion??? all i know is that overpowering speakers is different to clipping.

thanks for the feedback chris,
cheers,
steve

Yeah. Um, that's a good point you broguht up. I overlooked that.

When you connect up multiple speaker cabinets. The total safe power handeling of the setup will be equal to the lowest powered speaker timesed by the number of cabinets you've got.

So, that might be a bit of a problem. Seeing as those Accusound speakers are rated at 200 watts. Meaning that the total safe power handeling of the rig while in parrallel with those other speakers would be only 400 watts.
The poweramp will be pumping 650 watts.
That's a fair amount of difference there. It may not be a good idea for risk of overpowering your speakers.

When you overpower speakers. It's hard to hear. It'll be audible as 'compression'. As the speaker is pushed beyond it's limits.
But the extra heat will probably just burn out the speaker coil. Then it'll be much easier to smell ([B]![/B]) then it would be to hear.

Maybe if you sell the Accusound speakers along with your old powered mixer, you may be able to put that cash towards some more QS350 speakers for sometime in the future. When you wish to upgrade.

Either way, the points uve just raised in that last message are great bits of info.. just more info i can use with my PA choices..thanks for that chris.

Yeah, well im definately looking at selling my powered mixer, and speakers on ebay shortly... btw chris.. if know anyone who'd be interested give me a yell..

Ive only used them about 10 times in total.. had them for 3 months and if anything have helped breakin the speakers hahaha

I bought the Behringer EUROPOWER PMH880S powered mixer (2 x 200w rms @ 8 ohms/ 2 x 400w @ 4ohms)[url]http://www.behringer.com/PMH880S/index.cfm?lang[/url] for $560
12month warranty still in action
and the
2 x 15" PA Accusound LoudSpeakers (200w RMS @ 8ohms 400w peak, and sensitivity of 96 dB@1watt) [url]http://www.accusound.com.au/PA_Series.html[/url] for $360
5yr warranty still in action

total spent $920, will probably sell for $700-$800 if anyones interested.. hahaha sorry bout the advertisment.. just incase anyone in canberra or australia wants a system for a decent price. Ill probably put on ebay or canberra times.

Um one quick question chris.. or anyone else that can help.. actually 2 questions haha

1. In regards to Quest Active speakers, Would there be a big volume difference between the Quest QSA400 active 15" speakers and Quest QSA300 12" .. they both have the same biamped power, ie LF 240 Hf 60w, and the 15" has a slightly higher max peak SPL of 129db compared to 126db of the 12".. um and i guess the only difference is the 15".. will give a better bass response.. but would this mean louder???
i would use a semi-accoustic guitar as well, so maybe the 15"s would be good.. but in honesty im more concerned about loud and clear vocals being easily heard over the music.. yet with comfortable use of the amp :)


2.I mentioned before i want a mixer (unpowered) with 7 grafic equaliser in one package.. mainly wanted this to control unecessary feedback.. is this really important or not??:.. i mean. if was to get a poweramp + 2 passive speakers + 1 for monitor etc.. is an equaliser more just for the monitor speakers.. and if so... are equalisers really that important unless the the gigs/power levels used are enormous. Basically just wondering if its all that important for my usage..... cause i dont need that many inputs.. 1 or 2 mics.. and a couple of instruments atm. There are so many mixers out there.. and alot at the $60 - $200 with the number inputs i need.

talk soon,
steve

I'm going to be doing a gig at a birthday party, for about 100 people. I've never used a PA myself before and I have close to $250.

[url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=122/g=live/search/detail/base_pid/632200/?c_tid=topseller[/url]

Would this work for the gig and usual practice?

And could someone explain monitors a little better? Do they just act like another speaker that you put next to you so you can hear yourself? Do you plug it into the mixer?

What type of music do you play?


Yes, thats pretty much what monitors are for. You can plug them into a mixer. But I dont think that the mixer you've shown is set up for monitors.
You wouldn't have a monitor level knob to adjust the monitor levels only.

That mixer does have a line out that you could send to a power amp or powered monitors. You wouldn't have much control because the line out is the same as the speaker outputs but at a line level. The monitors would have the same mix as the mains. But this wouldn't be that big of a problem in a small basic setup.

All kinds of music. Mostly classic rock..

It could work if you only use it only for vocals and keep the amps turned down. Also have the drummer play at a low level.

Steve

1. The 3dB difference may seem like a fair bit louder. Especially whle up at that volume range. But given the cost of those speakers, It may not be worth it.
Also, they weigh quite a bit and are bulky.

And, really, guitar is a mid range instrumet. 12" should be fine. If you are gettng into a more serious setup where you'll be wantign to run a bass guitar through the PA. Then a 15" driver may come in handy. But you'll also then need more watts to.

2. You're right. That seperate EQ isn't completely necessary. It'll be very handy for sound checks, and yes, to eliminate feedback.
But if the main speakers are pointing away from the microphones (and you keep the monitors not pointing directally towards the open mics), then risk of feedback may be minimal anway.

But, if a mixer has got a 7 band EQ, it may also have numerous other handy features. Many of which may not be completely necessary for your use either. Um, it's up to you.
But the 4 mic input Behringer Mixer I've got suits me more than well enough. It hasn't got an EQ but does have digital FX and a few other handy features. It was only a couple of hundred bucks, I think.

Hey chris..
On point 1. yeah the Quest QSA300 12" i can get for $799+$40delivery.. which is a good price.. i just asked the same guy about the QSA400 15" and they are only $100 more, ie. $899.. considering the rrp is $1599 thats pretty good.. but again.. the size is the issue aswell.

On point 2. Whats the model u have.. i think as long as it has the necessary inputs, and FX im happy...

Cheers,
steve

1. That sounds very cheap. $900 compared to the $1600 rrp. Wow. Bit of a bargain.
Maybe it is worth it. I dont know.
I don't want to make your decisions for you. :)

2. I've got this one:
[url]http://www.behringer.com/UB1204FX/index.cfm?lang=ENG[/url]

[url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=122/g=live/s=packaged/search/detail/base_id/100465[/url]

Alright, I ended up buying this, I want to know if there's anything I shouldn't do that might be a common mistake with beginners?

[QUOTE=Starship][url]http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=122/g=live/s=packaged/search/detail/base_id/100465[/url]

Alright, I ended up buying this, I want to know if there's anything I shouldn't do that might be a common mistake with beginners?[/QUOTE]
Looks alright.
And units like that are very beginner friendly. They are easy to use and hard to set up wrong.

Just never plug the speaker outputs into anything other than it's speakers.
And try to avoid making it feedback sqeual too much. As that can prematurely ruin your speakers.

Have fun. :)

Don't run it without a speaker load.

hey Ace182....

How to mixers stop problems with phase? Do they have components in them to do somehting about it? Or are there never really any phase problems in general band use?

I'm just thinking about things like mic'ing up amps when you're running more than one at once, as seems to be the fashion for some people ATM.

If you use multiple mics on the one cabinet, depending on the placement of the mics, you can get some phase cancellation problems at the mixer.
If you've got one close mic, and one far mic. The signal being picked up by the far mic will be delayed. By about three milliseconds per meter.

This can introduce what is known as comb filtering, which can decrease the combined signal strength at the mixer, and in itself is the basis for some time based effects like Flangers and Phasers.

In reference to phase cancellation in relation to the entire band situation. This will only be a problem if both signals reproduced are exactally the same but only inversed. The chances of this is neglidgible.

neglidgible?

ok, thanks :D

[QUOTE=moaner]neglidgible?

ok, thanks :D[/QUOTE]
yeah.. It's the new way of spelling the word 'negligible'.
All the cool kids are doing it.

It's here and happening. Hey by the way, when I'm recording vocals I always try and flick the phase invert and I can't decide which sounds better on the vocal, they are both different sounds. Will a phase inverted signal risk being a problem later on when mixed with the backing track?

Hey everyone,
I've been looking for a smallish cheap mixer (about $200 - $300 AUS, new or used). I was looking for about 10 channels and built in effects would be very nice, but not essential. It's for a 5 piece band and it'd be going into my 4 track zoom digital recorder.
I was originally headed towards the behringer eurorack series, but I recently found this:
[url]http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23785&item=7333661128&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW[/url]
it seemed decent enough, very cheap and had almost everything i wanted. does anybody know if it's any good? any other suggestions?

cheers

Instead of using a PA ( our band just started ) and i was wondering waht the singer can sing throgh until we get a PA?

[QUOTE=AbInitio]Hey everyone,
I've been looking for a smallish cheap mixer (about $200 - $300 AUS, new or used). I was looking for about 10 channels and built in effects would be very nice, but not essential. It's for a 5 piece band and it'd be going into my 4 track zoom digital recorder.
I was originally headed towards the behringer eurorack series, but I recently found this:
[url]http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23785&item=7333661128&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW[/url]
it seemed decent enough, very cheap and had almost everything i wanted. does anybody know if it's any good? any other suggestions?

cheers[/QUOTE]
I had a quick look at that. It is cheap.
But it also looks very featureless.
I think a Behringer mixer, with the built in FX and all the extra little features would be a much better buy.

Thanks for that, I was just starting to head back towards the behringer anyway :D

How are subwoofers added onto a PA system? Do they need a seperate power amp, or can they be wired parallel with a speaker cab?

You need a Crossover to seperate the frequencies, then you run the bass frequencies into your sub speakers.

Where would the crossover fall into place between the mixer, EQ, and amp?

Active crossover before amp after eq, passive crossover after amp. Active is better but will cost a fortune in extra amps.