Morning all. I am posting as I need a bit of lead advice.
we gig normally sticking brass and 3x vocals through a small pa and then backline and drums are not mic'd up. But we have a gig coming up in a larger venue and I am nervous we could get lost in it. So as we have plenty of spare channels on the mixer I am thinking we would add a few mics on the drum kit and add bass, keys and guitar onto the pa.
i don't envisage a fully pro mic'd up set up, just adding these into the mix a touch to spread the sound. We would still rely predominantly on the back line and acoustic kit. We have some serious speakers so I don't think that will be an issue.
The question I have is this. Both the bass amp and the keys amp have a 1/4" line out Jack. The question is should I go for a balanced xlr connector on the other end or stick with to jack to jack? We have enough channels on the mixer to go for both.
the other question is what to go for. Having had a quick browse last night, the price seems to vary massively and as these cables are supplementary, I might go for the cheaper end of the spectrum. Stagg seem good value for money- and as I am going to have a buy a few cheap and cheerful mics too, the bill could be horrific! Recommendations very welcome
thanks all
An official Foo liked guitarist since 2024
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My Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youIf the amps have XLR outs on them, use those. The price differential between XLR and Jack is nothing.
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I tend to prefer XLR as they are easy to extend.
What I generally have is a lot of XLR cables and a few short (30-60cm) XLRF to balanced jack and XLRM to balanced jack.
I keep my XLR cables on hose reels organised by length- ie one reel with 10x 12ft XLR, another real with 10x 30ft XLR etc.
Another trick I've learned is to use different colours for cables based on use.
Black for Microphones
Green for AES/EBU
Red for Headphones/extenders
Blue for speaker cable
etc
It greatly simplifies troubleshooting.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Unless the line out on the guitar amps is really good, I'd stick with a mic on them.
I don't know how far away from me you are, but if it's just for one gig I'd be more than happy to lend you some kit. I've got tons!
My Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youOddly enough, a cheap passive transformer-based DI will often sound better for DI’ing an amp, rather than a technically better active one.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
bass and keys amp both have 1/4" Jack line out so these can do straight into the desk. @icbm - I am showing my ignorance here but what is a di box and do I need one? should I go for xlr type or Jack into the desk? The manual suggests mic into xlr and line signals in via Jack.
My marshall has a xlr output so am going to try that over the week end
noted comments on mics which also applies to stands too- cheapest shite will fall apart quick.
finally what about leads themselves? Is Amazon my friend here?
DI means 'direct injection'.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
It also lifts the ground connection - balanced cables keep it separate from the signal ground - which prevents the ground loop.
Any gigging band should have at least a couple really, they are very useful problem-solvers - they don't have to be expensive, in fact you can get a perfectly usable one for under £20.
https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Behringer-DI400P-High-Performance-Passive-DI-Box/KXO?origin=product-ads&utm_campaign=PLA+Shop+-+Behringer&utm_medium=vertical_search&network=google&adgroup=1+-+Product+Level+-+Behringer&merchant_id=1279443&product_id=27132d1&product_country=GB&product_partition_id=111956781679&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6bSEza7j4AIVirXtCh1XEA6JEAQYBCABEgJpfvD_BwE
These will be adequate for DI'ing amps, or instruments with built-in preamps. For DI'ing passive instruments - eg an acoustic guitar with a plain pickup and no on-board preamp - you need the slightly more expensive and flexible active type.
If that's something like a TSL or JVM, remember that you *must* still have the speaker cabinet connected - the output transformer needs a load on it. No idea if that applies to the way you're intending to use it or not, but I've seen a couple of amps badly damaged by people not realising that...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The tiny little Micro DI (no switches, no through, permanent ground lift) is only about £27 and the Classic DI, which is the more fully featured one, is about £35. No reason to ever buy a £30 Behringer shoddy one.
A 5m XLR-XLR mic lead would be around £17.
PM me for specific requirements.
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
I'd offer my services (I have a PA which I hire out), but I suspect you may be a little too far from me. I'm in York - where's the gig?
R.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/60602/
It's a bit of a funny gig in that for normal gigs, I am quite happy using our rig for vocals and brass only and getting a decent enough sound. All I am looking to do is supplement and spread the sound as opposed to relying on the pa for the whole thing. If it was a bigger venue, I would certainly hire in, but it was a marginal call.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
To to add to the fun, we now have 4 speakers we can use with a separate power amp for foldback and I now need a bloody van to transport it all!