Buying A PA System (UPDATE!!!)

Broth3rz

New member
So I have to put on a live event once a month now with something that came up and I wanna do it right so my budget is about $1,100. I'm kinda new to all this but willing to learn. I don't know exactly all I need.


I will need to have 4 MICs set up and would love to have 2 speakers. The first 2 MICs are for vocals (singing), one is for the acoustic guitar, and the last MIC is wireless. There will be a 88-key keyboard plugged into the mixer, the speakers, wireless MIC, and 3 other MICs. I believe that's it for now. There will be no drums or guitar amps or anything.

This is what I have chosen at the moment.

Mackie 1202VLZ4 (with this mixer can it add reverb, if so how?)
Audio-Technica AT2020 (have 3 brand new in box already for $240, can return if needed)
TONOR UHF

As for the speakers I was kinda thinking on the Rockville Dual 12. I'm not sure if I need anything else for the speakers or if these would work or even work well.

I guess apart from accessories for the MICs, the only other thing I need are the speakers. I'm not sure what to go with. It's not a HUGE event, like 50 people in a church sanctuary. But I would like to future-proof some.

I don't quite understand power and non-powered mixers and speakers and what works with what, and I know the MICs have to have Phantom power which that mixer should provide the power for all 4 XLR slots for the MICs if I ever do get another XLR.

Now after an hour of live singing I will need to play music via Bluetooth with my cell phone through the speakers also for the next hour. So it's an hour for live and hour for Bluetooth music playlist.

Am I missing anything? This is pretty simple it seems but learning the technical stuff is harder. What would you do in my situation?
 
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Some thoughts:

The mixer is small, but will do the job. It's not a bad one to start with. However, if you want reverb you will need to buy an external reverb unit and patch it in using the Aux sends and returns.

You've picked condensor mikes which I wouldn't recommend for live situations, specially if you new to this. They can be difficult to manage and you may be fighting with feedback. You can get cheap dynamic mikes that will be more stable in a live situation. Think Shure SM58. If they are too expensive, you can get cheap Behringer mikes that will do the job.

I can't comment on the bluetooth mike.

You've picked passive speakers . . . so you need an amplifier to drive them. You would connect mixer to amplifier, then amplifier to mixer.

Alternatively, you can go for a pair of powered speakers and go straight from mixer to amplifier.

Don't forget the leads and stands you will need.
 
Others will chime in, but........

- The Mackie mixer does not have reverb or other effects, otherwise a good mixer.
- Return the AT2020 mics. More suitable for live use would be dynamic mics such as Shure SM58's or similar for the vocalists.
- Putting it bluntly the Tonor UHF mic would likely be junk.
- The Rockville speakers are 'passive', they need a power amp or powered mixer to operate them. Two 'powered' PA speakers that have builtin amplification is what you would want if using a mixer like the Mackie. Some Powered speakers may have Bluetooth that could be used to play back music.
- Does the acoustic guitar have electronics so is can be plugged in. Add a magnetic pickup possibly if it has no electronics. Micing a guitar on stage would present challenges.


For inexpensive dynamic mics these are supposedly reported to be OK..... Behringer XM8500 Microphone
I have no experience with them.
 
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So find new speakers... and go with dynamic range MICs.

The budget on 3 MICs are $300, so $100 each. So I could do the Shure SM58. Would they really be that much better then the AT2020?

As for the wireless MIC, it has good reviews but I only need it for the first 30 minutes then maybe once in awhile to say something. If anything I could switch to the other main MICs and return the wireless, I wouldn't mind trying it though.

What should I do speaker wise with my mixer? Do I no matter what have to have a amplifier? I use Amazon mostly, but I can use other sites. Link me up! :)

As for the reverb, what is the actual name of a reverb unit? I just wanted some simple reverb, nothing crazy.

The guitar will not be electric acoustic, though if possible I would rather use that and may plug into the mixer if I can, but as of now it's not electric.

Thanks for the help!
 
For live work, yes, the 58s are better than the AT2020. The AT2020s are condensor mics which are much more prone to feedback. being new to sound reinforcement, you'll have a more difficult time trying to prevent that. If the 58s are too expensive, you can find alternates which will work just as good or better for a lower price.

For the bluetooth thing, I have something called a Cicada. It is a bluetooth receiver which you can plug into your mixer. I'm sure there are similar devices on Amazon.

I'm pretty sure Rockville sells powered PA speakers. With powered speakers, you don't need to think about a separate amp.

Can you visit other churches to see what they are doing for music and PA systems?

Also, be sure to scour the used market, you can get some really great deals.
 
With live sound, you get accidents. SM58s hot the deck hard and keep running. The AT's won't! Too delicate. Unless you need absolutely no wires, avoid radio mics totally. The most expensive one is nearly as good as a $10 cable. I agree with the others - something simple, a reverb built in and active speakers will do for this job. The killer for PAs is when you get bigger and you need to make bass and drums louder. at that point the smaller systems roll over and die. yesterday at a pub there was a Madness band, using their small PA for just vocals, with keys, drums, bass and guitar on their own - sounded absolutely fine.
 
Go with this Mackie mixer: Mackie ProFX8v2 8-channel Mixer with USB and Effects | Sweetwater $220.00
I agree with others in avoiding a wireless mic. A good one will cost you half your budget.

3 SM58s - $300 You're going to need stands and cables. $150. You're already at $670 and no speakers yet. Can you not rent a system nearby? How soon do you need this? Yuocan buy used from Guitar Center and have them ship to your local store.
 
Go with this Mackie mixer: Mackie ProFX8v2 8-channel Mixer with USB and Effects | Sweetwater $220.00
I agree with others in avoiding a wireless mic. A good one will cost you half your budget.

3 SM58s - $300 You're going to need stands and cables. $150. You're already at $670 and no speakers yet. Can you not rent a system nearby? How soon do you need this? Yuocan buy used from Guitar Center and have them ship to your local store.

So I will return the 3 2020's and get 3 SM58s.

Why did you chose the Mackie ProFX8v2? Since it has the effects on it? Other then that is it any better then the 1202?
What would the external reverb device be called to plug into a mixer anyways?

I need this in 1 month from now. So I really just need to get the speakers chosen and I guess I'm set apart from accessories. Then I can post my entire setup, which I can go to $1,100 if really needed.

I want and need to use all my OWN gear so I'm no liable if anything breaks. Plus I don't wanna have to rely on people for this.
 
in this price range, there's not really huge amounts of differences to compare - the Mackie has a basic but useful spec and is cheap - £165 here in the UK typically. 4 mics, graphic and reverb thrown in. Add a pair of active speakers, maybe two stands and you are away. in fact - you'll probably pay over half the cost of the mixer for 4 mic stands! So it's pretty much a bargain mixer. Speaker wise, I heard a pair of these a couple off weeks back - Turbosound Milan M12's and thought they sounded rather nice. They're not the cheapest in the 12" active market, but rather useful products that can be used as floor monitors too. still doable within your budget.
 
I've owned several pa systems. mostly stand alone pa heads with built in effects , and the power to run passive speakers. My biggest regret with all of them were the 12" speakers. The 15" speakers made a real big difference for me. Granted , church auditoriums normally have decent acoustics and 12s would do fine but at some point you might want to play different places. Outdoor performances etc... The 15's are better suited. You can also find some pretty cheap , used complete pa systems. I've even given them away. As suggested above , you could rent a system until you find what you really want. mark
 
I have rather a lot of 12" passive plastic boxes, and just two 15" ones, and while they go a bit lower, they often seem to have a little gap between the hF and LF drivers that make them a little muddy sounding. I bought EV SX300's and then later the unbranded very similar foreign ones and they all sound quite similar.
 
So I went ahead and returned the 3 AT2020's in place of the 3 Shure SM58's.

What mixer would be best for this? The budget on mixer is $300. Should I go with the Mackie 1202VLZ4 or the Mackie ProFX8v2? I did want the reverb and other effects so I'm not sure what would be best. I want something that will last. Whats the hardware called to connect to a mixer that has effects?

I'm trying to look for powered speakers now, I'm not sure what size I would really need and what size I'd wanna actually get to future proof some.
 
It's not a HUGE event, like 50 people in a church sanctuary
- At a guess, what are the dimensions of the church sanctuary (feet or meters).
- Are you in the US or elsewhere? It may help to know if suggestions are made for gear.
 
I just want to comment that I'm somewhat surprised this thread has had almost 3,000 views in one day.

I wouldn't think that buying a PA was such a hot topic for so many...but then, the "1W --> 5W" thread here has had 10,000 views in one week...though the winner has to be "Mic doesn't fit mic stand" thread, with over 14,000 views in one week.


Kinda all pretty surprising...the things that interest home rec people the most. :D
I'm guessing there must be some web bot stuff going on to generate that many views so quickly.
 
So I went ahead and returned the 3 AT2020's in place of the 3 Shure SM58's.
Good move

What mixer would be best for this? The budget on mixer is $300. Should I go with the Mackie 1202VLZ4 or the Mackie ProFX8v2? I did want the reverb and other effects so I'm not sure what would be best.

Go for the ProFX . . . it has reverb and other effects built in, as well as a little graphic EQ.

I want something that will last.
With the budget you have, you are constrained to entry-level equipment. It's cheap because it's made cheaply, and that has implications. However, it should last a while if you keep the dust out of it and don't throw it around.



Whats the hardware called to connect to a mixer that has effects?

They are effects units or reverb units. Here is an example of one:

TC Electronic M100 Stereo Multi-Effects Processor w/ Legendary TC Reverbs & Effects | Reverb / Effects - Store DJ

I'm trying to look for powered speakers now, I'm not sure what size I would really need and what size I'd wanna actually get to future proof some.

If you are on a limited budget, that constrains your choices. If you wanted to future proof you might consider EV, QSC, and similar, but they are likely to be out of your price range. The more affordable Alto, Behringer and similar will do the job in the short term, and they can be put to other uses (e.g. foldback) if you eventually can afford better ones. Don't go less than 12", but aim for 15" if you can find them.
 
So I will return the 3 2020's and get 3 SM58s.

Why did you chose the Mackie ProFX8v2? Since it has the effects on it? Other then that is it any better then the 1202?
What would the external reverb device be called to plug into a mixer anyways?

I need this in 1 month from now. So I really just need to get the speakers chosen and I guess I'm set apart from accessories. Then I can post my entire setup, which I can go to $1,100 if really needed.

I want and need to use all my OWN gear so I'm no liable if anything breaks. Plus I don't wanna have to rely on people for this.

Where are you located? Near a Guitar Center or Sam Ash?
 
Without looking at the specs, 10" should work fine as long as he is not cranking a lot of low end (bass, keys) through them. But I often have doubts on 'manufacturer refurbished'.
 
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