Ryan Teasnob
Member
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit how much I don't understand about live sound . So I'm hoping someone can clue me in a bit.
We're performing in a tavern in an upstairs (above the bar) performance space. The venue has two Peavey PV 112 speakers hanging in front of the loft from the ceiling (8 ohms with program power rating of 400 watts).
Our goal is to be able to mic a group of acoustic performers (no rock bands at this venue) in the small space such that, say, 5 musicians could all be heard above the din, WHILE also being able to hear ourselves - something we've never been able to do.
I knew the venue had a powered mixer. But I was thinking the monitor outputs on those are usually unpowered. So I bought a powered hot-spot type floor wedge (that can also fit on a mic stand if need be). HOWEVER...
It turns out the venue also has a powered mixer that I HATE. It's a Nady SPM-6300 6-Channel Powered Mixer (bipolar amplifier ” 2 x 150W RMS @ 4 ohms). There are no dedicated monitor outputs. There are 2 outputs on the back. The only way to hook up monitors is to use a switch (monitor/main) on the front that changes one of outputs on the back into the "monitor" output and the other into the "main" output. I guess you're supposed to daisy-chain the main speakers from the one output, and the same if you have more than one monitor.
When I tried to run the "monitor/main" setup and run the "monitor" output (which is one of the powered outputs on the back) into the little wedge monitor which is also powered, It was just too much. The monitor buzzed horribly even at the lowest volume setting on the monitor.
I assume this situation is because I tried running a powered signal into another powered (and very small) monitor. Correct?
The other problem was that when I ignored the monitor (thinking we couldn't use it) and switched the PA back to "Left/Right" (sends main outputs equally to both outputs in the back so you can run one to one main speaker and the other to the other speaker), we got decent sound, but could only turn it up about half way before the feedback started. The Nady has a small 5-band graphic EQ on it. And I was able to take some of the feedback down with a reduction at 250 Hz. But that only allowed us to turn things up another notch or two.
I then thought I could attach a 31-band outboard graphic EQ (Alesis). But the only Effect setup was the single Effect Send and Return on the front of the Nady. I ran that into one side of the Alesis (it's a stereo unit) and back into the Nady. But it didn't seem to have much effect. So I'm assuming I connected that incorrectly? Uggh. This is so frustrating.
What would be the cleanest, best way to connect this powered mixer to these Peavey speakers for the optimal flow of signal and power? I feel like I just don't understand enough about matching impedances, and wattages, etc. Heck, it may be that with THIS PA mixer and THESE speakers are just not ever going to work well together.
One last thing. In the past, the venue had a single studio condenser (I know!) hung about 2-3 feet out from the front of the loft and up about a foot. This year, I thought it would help to bring a stereo mount bar and hang SM 58s on it (I put 2 up there to capture a bit of a wider sweet spot for small groups) on shock mount rubber clips. But even that was not sufficient - too much distance between the performers and mics to ever get loud enough without feedback. Ultimately, I put up a single mic stand for the main performer, and with the mic aimed in between a guitarist's mouth and guitar, it worked GREAT. Suddenly the crowd could actually hear lyrics! But nobody could hear harmonies or even guitars from other performers. So I thought I'd leave the mic on a stand for the main vocal, and put two mics in a sort of X/Y formation on the bar out front (which is now about one foot out and up from the balcony railing). But that was still insufficient to amplify other performers off to the sides before terrible feedback.
I'm guessing the answer is going to come down to getting another mic stand or two and putting those up. But the space in the loft is sooo small already that I fear that will push the performers back against the wall and nobody could see them from down in the bar.
My hope is that I can find a solution that would properly amplify ALL performers (we could turn things up before the feedback starts) without having to put 3 mic stands into the small space. AND the performers would be able to hear themselves (monitor situation).
Any thoughts that might help me improve this live sound cluster &*$#!?
Thanks!
We're performing in a tavern in an upstairs (above the bar) performance space. The venue has two Peavey PV 112 speakers hanging in front of the loft from the ceiling (8 ohms with program power rating of 400 watts).
Our goal is to be able to mic a group of acoustic performers (no rock bands at this venue) in the small space such that, say, 5 musicians could all be heard above the din, WHILE also being able to hear ourselves - something we've never been able to do.
I knew the venue had a powered mixer. But I was thinking the monitor outputs on those are usually unpowered. So I bought a powered hot-spot type floor wedge (that can also fit on a mic stand if need be). HOWEVER...
It turns out the venue also has a powered mixer that I HATE. It's a Nady SPM-6300 6-Channel Powered Mixer (bipolar amplifier ” 2 x 150W RMS @ 4 ohms). There are no dedicated monitor outputs. There are 2 outputs on the back. The only way to hook up monitors is to use a switch (monitor/main) on the front that changes one of outputs on the back into the "monitor" output and the other into the "main" output. I guess you're supposed to daisy-chain the main speakers from the one output, and the same if you have more than one monitor.
When I tried to run the "monitor/main" setup and run the "monitor" output (which is one of the powered outputs on the back) into the little wedge monitor which is also powered, It was just too much. The monitor buzzed horribly even at the lowest volume setting on the monitor.
I assume this situation is because I tried running a powered signal into another powered (and very small) monitor. Correct?
The other problem was that when I ignored the monitor (thinking we couldn't use it) and switched the PA back to "Left/Right" (sends main outputs equally to both outputs in the back so you can run one to one main speaker and the other to the other speaker), we got decent sound, but could only turn it up about half way before the feedback started. The Nady has a small 5-band graphic EQ on it. And I was able to take some of the feedback down with a reduction at 250 Hz. But that only allowed us to turn things up another notch or two.
I then thought I could attach a 31-band outboard graphic EQ (Alesis). But the only Effect setup was the single Effect Send and Return on the front of the Nady. I ran that into one side of the Alesis (it's a stereo unit) and back into the Nady. But it didn't seem to have much effect. So I'm assuming I connected that incorrectly? Uggh. This is so frustrating.
What would be the cleanest, best way to connect this powered mixer to these Peavey speakers for the optimal flow of signal and power? I feel like I just don't understand enough about matching impedances, and wattages, etc. Heck, it may be that with THIS PA mixer and THESE speakers are just not ever going to work well together.
One last thing. In the past, the venue had a single studio condenser (I know!) hung about 2-3 feet out from the front of the loft and up about a foot. This year, I thought it would help to bring a stereo mount bar and hang SM 58s on it (I put 2 up there to capture a bit of a wider sweet spot for small groups) on shock mount rubber clips. But even that was not sufficient - too much distance between the performers and mics to ever get loud enough without feedback. Ultimately, I put up a single mic stand for the main performer, and with the mic aimed in between a guitarist's mouth and guitar, it worked GREAT. Suddenly the crowd could actually hear lyrics! But nobody could hear harmonies or even guitars from other performers. So I thought I'd leave the mic on a stand for the main vocal, and put two mics in a sort of X/Y formation on the bar out front (which is now about one foot out and up from the balcony railing). But that was still insufficient to amplify other performers off to the sides before terrible feedback.
I'm guessing the answer is going to come down to getting another mic stand or two and putting those up. But the space in the loft is sooo small already that I fear that will push the performers back against the wall and nobody could see them from down in the bar.
My hope is that I can find a solution that would properly amplify ALL performers (we could turn things up before the feedback starts) without having to put 3 mic stands into the small space. AND the performers would be able to hear themselves (monitor situation).
Any thoughts that might help me improve this live sound cluster &*$#!?
Thanks!
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