Need advice: live show using laptop for effects?

[skim]

I'm looking for options to process my vocals through some effects during a live show. Most of the set, I'll be sending a dry signal to the house board, but on one or two of the songs I need a processed sound (delay, etc.).

I was wondering if any of you had experience with using a laptop in live settings. I have a WinXP laptop and a ProTools 6.4/Mbox that I'm thinking of using to run my vocals through. I am the lead singer.

I'm a little nervous about this, and have several questions/thoughts:

1. If the laptop/setup crashes, my vocals are cut. Mbox will not run as a stand-alone mixer, so the input doesn't get carried out out to the output unless it's being powered by a functioning ProTools 6.4 software instance.

2. The output from the Mbox is a quarter inch. Are there any disadvantages of having to run vocals through a direct box versus a traditional XLR into the board? (sound quality, etc.)

3. Any considerations about how an effect sounds live in a club versus alone in my home studio? I find that settings I use on my guitar sound chain often need adjustment when I crank it up in a club, for example.

4. Any other options for what I'm trying to accomplish? I know I can buy some hardware like a T.C. elctronics M300 but the laptop thing, if it's reliable, seems so much more versatile (and cheap since I already own it).

I'd appreciate any insight in general - thank you.

Steven

 

[RawDepth]

I would not go to that extent just for effects. There are too many cheap and second hand effects processors out there that are designed for use in live PA's. Many of them sound plenty good enough too. Your live sound will rarely be scrutinized for quality like studio recorded music would. I know you still want it to sound impressive. All I am saying is, you can get away with choosing cheaper brands in general than you would for studio use. Ambient stage sound, PA noise, bar noise, and audience noise will mostly burry those subtle nuances that we've all come to love so much. Remember, you are in a noisy nightclub playing to intoxicated slobs, most of whom couldn't recognize good sound quality even if it fell on their heads from a ten story building.

You are correct about the risk of crashing as well as other problems like latency and connection limitations. A rack processor will overcome those troubles and will not crash on you like a computer can. In addition, your computer, (even a laptop) draws air through the machine for cooling and cigarette smoke from a nightclub is the last thing you want in there.

Using 1/4" cables are fine as long as your cables are shielded and the runs are short. XLR was designed to make very long cable runs possible, like 100 feet or more. Some will argue over the sound quality of 1/4" connectors but here again, they are really splitting hairs.

 

[skim]

I'm totally with you on the sound quality thing. With the little research I did, I ran into the t.c. electronics M300, which is $200. Of course the Guitar Center guys couldn't suggest anything cheaper.

Can you suggest something? Specifically, I'm looking for a delay effect for my vocals. Smaller & easier, the better.

Thanks for the response -
Steven

 

[lumbago]

Roland have a number of digital delay pedals which could be harnessed as outboard effects, and are pretty clean.

Failing that, the Alesis midiverb is a small package suited to reverb on a budget.

Lexicon MPX series is compact and studio quality - the MPX-100 or MPX 200 might fall in your price range.

You might pick up a cheap Yamaha R-1000 reverb or else a Roland SDE-1000 DDL - again both second hand but serviceable.

 

[MOFO Pro]

I agree that using a computer for any live effects is flirting with disaster...

If you want to keep it cheap, I would suggest a used Lexicon MPX-100 for vocal reverb, these are dirt cheap and are everywhere. But only if you'll be inserting it on an effects loop of your desk... the I/O is unbalanced so it won't tolerate long cable runs.

Personally... I'd spend the extra ... and get something you can take back to the project studio... but great bang for the buck for the MPX-100, though I wouldn't consider any of the Lexicons under the MPX-550 studio quality.