A PA Makeover

I mentioned in a recent post how frustrating it is to mix live sound with my band, The Drop Daddies. After helping a buddy’s band with their recent ballroom sound check and being stunned by how good their sound was- I became very motivated to research and assemble a new PA for our live rig.   Well, the results are in. and the difference is astonishing! 

Prior to the new setup, we had been using an old powered Mackie 808s mixer, driving a pair of enormous passive Cerwin Vega 3-way 18” speaker cabinets.  We didn’t mic the guitar cabs effectively, so we had to blast the amps on stage to be heard in the back.  The result was a mushy mix, very prone to feedback because of high stage volume and lack of gates on the mic’s.  And it was a chore to adjust the mix, with the mixer installed at the back of the stage.  The mixer was underpowered to drive the speaker cabs, and the cabs were so heavy that we couldn’t get them up on stands, so the sound was directed at people’s knees.

What a mess!  We could never get a well-balanced mix- vocals were easily buried in the mix; you could rarely hear the harmonica loud enough;  the rhythm guitar was usually lost in the mix; and my lead guitar struggled to reach the whole room.  We bought a Feedback Destroyer last year to try to reduce feedback in the monitors, which certainly helped a bit, but was really just a bandaid.

I am thrilled to introduce our new PA setup:

• Mackie DL1608 iPad mixer with Apple AirPort Express Wi-Fi
• A QSC GX7 power amp
• A pair of passive Yamaha S115V 2-way 15” speakers
• A pair of Musician’s Gear speaker stands
• Sennheiser e609 mic’s on the guitar cabinets
• TC-Helicon Mic Mechanics on the vocal mics
• A bunch of new cables from monoprice

We bought the DL1608, AirPort and power amp used – and saved a bunch.  Nevertheless, it was a bit of an investment- but we spend so much energy working on our music, it’s an epic fail to play at a gig through a crap audio system.

With this new PA, mixing the band is a dream.  We can take an iPad or iPhone out in front of the house while doing sound check, and easily tune the sound.  The QSC GX7 power amp is a good match for the S115V’s – 725W per channel into 8 ohms – with the speakers’ power rating of 500w program, 1000w peak.  And at 65 pounds each, we can easily get the speakers up on stands at ear-height.   The per-channel EQ, gate and compressor in the DL1608 reduce feedback, and smooth out levels.   Also, the adaptive EQ in the Mic Mechanics help brighten up the vocals on our SM58’s, and a little touch of the pitch correction never hurts.  Mic’ing the guitar amps with the e609’s means we can run the amps quieter, reducing stage volume, saving our ears, reducing feedback, and allowing us to hear the monitors better.

Furthermore, the DL1608 lets us run separate mixes to each monitor, making it much easier for each of us to hear what we need to hear on stage.  And while we haven’t done this yet- each person can control their own monitor mix from their own iPhone/iPad, and we can even set up a trusted friend in the audience with an iPhone to tweak the mix during the set if necessary.

We recently played our first gig with the new PA, and we were just blown away by the difference.  Night and day!  Very clear sound with no feedback issues.  All of our instruments were clearly audible (even the harmonica), and the vocals were very present in the mix.  It was unequivocally the best we’ve ever sounded.   And the Feedback Destroyer hardly had any work to do- it didn’t deploy any filters during our set.

We recorded the set with our Sony HDR-MV1 video camera, and a GoPro.  Here’s a clip: