just got back from rehearsal.
amazing sound!! i was very surprised. thank you!
i wonder if i should bring the dmp3 to live gigs at a real venue. probably not.
Well Mustardeer, that's your call. But you need to understand this- Almost all mics put out a "mic level" output, which is way lower than "line" level. Most mics of the last 30 years or so are looking for a low impedence input, today's standard mic input, and use a 3 pin XLR connector. Some really old mics, and a few oddballs, such as the Green Bullet harmonica mic, are meant to plug into a high impedence instrument (AKA high-Z) input, such as a guitar amp. There is also such a thing as a "line level" mic, that has a built in preamp, and puts out a line level signal, such as Shure SM82. That is *very* unusual.
A power amp, like your Samson. is intended to take a line level signal and provide a far more powerful signal designed to drive speakers. All (normal) mics need a preamplifier to raise the mic signal to line level. A mixer is just a bunch of preamps (usually cheap ones), with a bunch of routing options, so you can send various signals, or combinations of signals (sub groups) to various locations. Some mixers are "powered"- in other words, they have a power amp built in. Some speakers are "powered" or "active", meaning that they have a power amp built in. Some active speakers also have mic inputs, meaning that they have a preamp and a power amp built in.
Any time you use a mic to make live sound, you have to have a mic, a preamp, a power amp, and a speaker, in some combination. So you can use the DMP-3 for gigs, or a mixer, a power amp and a speaker, or a powered mixer and a speaker, or an unpowered mixer and an active speaker, or a powered speaker with a mic input. It doesn't matter *where* the components are, as long as you have them all, the components match, and you don't duplicate any of the components. In other words, plugging your power amp into a powered speaker would be *very* bad.
One other thing worth noting- Not all line levels were created equal. First, there is -10dBV. Think of this as "consumer" line level. That's what most home stereos use, and is usually transmitted by RCA jacks. This is what you would get from the "tape out" jacks on a mixer. Then there is +4dBu. Think of this as "professional" line level. This is what your Samson is looking for, as well as most PA components. You could plug a -10 line level signal into your Samson, but it would be noisy, and require you to crank the Samson a good deal more. You'll notice your DMP-3 has a Hi/Lo switch. Essentially this changes the line out from -10 to +4, so it should work better to use the Hi setting, and turn the DMP3 down a bit. Should you bring the DMP-3 to gigs? It depends on what other preamps you have available. You have to have one somewhere in your signal chain. Hope this helps-Richie