It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:42 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: New configuration
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 7:29 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
Last night I provided sound for a hybrid DJ/dance band. Two performers. One plays fiddle (really well, by the way) with an acoustic pickup. The other plays keyboard synth and works a MacBook Pro running Ableton Live software linked in with two Akai APC40 interfaces set like book ends to an Akai APC20 interface. Lots of pretty buttons that light up and knobs to turn in order to layer samples.

They have a reputation for being picky about their trademark sound, so I tried to talk with them ahead of time about the setup. They claimed familiarity with the Mackey SRM 150 monitors, but said they had insufficient bass for their taste (which I honestly think is an unfair evaluation -- perhaps they haven't discovered the EQ controls?). Also, the fiddler walks around a lot, so the highly directional monitor is probably not a good idea. So, I got creative.

I put my 400 watt subwoofer in the back corner of the room, aimed diagonally so that it floods both the band area and the dance floor with plenty of woof. I plugged it into the Fender Passport 500 Pro with speakers on stands behind the band. So, the band is sitting in 900 watts of their music, with 500 watts dedicated to midrange and treble, and 400 watts just for the bass.

Bands don't like to have the caller in their monitor mix, so I put the caller into my Fender Passport 300 and put the speakers in front of the band. So, the caller has fewer watts, but the speakers are closer to the dancers. The sound of the 300 is very crisp, especially for vocals. It works well with the EV vocal mic I use.

I then put a pair of Mackey SRM 150s in front of the band to enhance the treble (humans hear treble better from the front than from behind) with the 1/8" stereo out feeding into the RCA stereo input for one SRM 150, and an XLR daisy-chained to the second SRM 150. The caller didn't need a monitor, which is good because I didn't have an extension cord to get power that far away from the Passports. I'll fix that next time. I have a third SRM 150 and I could feed it signal, but not power, since the black lights and all the band's power needs grabbed all the AC outlets and adapters on that side of the room. The fire marshall would not have been happy.

We started out with EQ flat. The signal they sent me was not very hot, so I had to max out the controls on the Passport 500 to bring the level LEDs into the amber. I asked them to give me more volume, saying that I can turn things down, but I can't turn them up past what they are right now. They informed me that they did not have their volume turned all the way up and ignored my request that they actually turn up their volume.

In general, they controlled the sound. They gave me two XLR inputs (left and right for stereo), which I ran through adapters to 1/4" TS and fed into one stereo channel of the 500. Their mix was okay, though I could have improved it if they'd given me access to their three sources of sound instead of premixing it before giving it to me.

They complained that the bass wasn't loud enough, so I cranked the sub-woofer's volume all the way up, set its crossover to the middle of its range and cranked up the "Low" EQ on the input channel of the 500. They stopped complaining. They had bass.

They were aware that the keyboard EQ was excessively bassy, but were dealing with enough other technical problems that they didn't get to that until after the break. Also, listening and walking around, I decided to lower the crossover frequency on the subwoofer. The sound got cleaner.

I know that the Passport already has a built-in crossover, so in theory, I should be setting the crossover frequency to its max on the subwoofer and letting the Passport handle crossover, but in practice, this Genesis subwoofer overemphasizes the upper end of the signal its sent, and the sound gets cleaner if I lower the crossover frequency. This is especially true for one PC laptop that I sometimes get for a sound source. It has a cheap sound card that distorts the range just above its extreme low end. This sub woofer adjustment cleans that up. It was less of a problem last night with this band, but the sound was still improved with the subwoofer focused on the "thump" more than the rumble at the higher part of its frequency range.

Out in the hall, the bass was stronger than the treble, so I used a 1/8" stereo splitter on the 1/8" stereo output from the Passport 500 and fed one leg to the SRMs for monitors and the other leg went into the Passport 300 to mix it in with the caller. That brought out the crisp sounds to balance the bass. The sound was sweet.

Back in the band area, the sound was a bit loud and a bit bassy, but still clear. I couldn't get close enough to the musicians to tell anything about the added treble they might be getting from the SRMs. They were not especially communicative and even seemed annoyed that I would dare to approach them between dances when they were not performing even once to ask them if the sound was to their liking.

They said they liked it. The crowd liked it. I've got another, similar 2-person band to do in a couple weeks in the same hall. This band does less DJ stuff and more sampling. Yesterday's band runs all their stuff through one board. The upcoming band basically has two musicians, each wrapped in a mini-recording-studeo. One plays midi-guitar and digiridoo and foot percussion at the same time, while the other plays electronic fiddle (piezoelectric fiddle run through lots of swishy stereo chorus effects and lots of samples so he plays harmony and rhythm with his own loops).

In general, the Passports kick $@!. I so much prefer the quality of the sound and the simplicity of the controls over anything else I've seen, and I'm enjoying the creative versatility of the two units I have. I think that I can do more with these two systems together than I could with any one system that would be larger, cost more and have more complexity in its controls.

I love the Passports. Thank you, Fender, for coming up with these beautiful systems. I haul my whole PA in a Honda Fit (subcompact), including the two Passports, four speaker stands, mic stands, cables, three SRM 150 monitors, sometimes my wife's keyboard and monitor, and my wife. Nothing else packs as small, sounds as good and is as well engineered for the up-to-a-basketball-court sized venues that I do sound for.

In my 50s, I love tossing the 15 pound speakers up to light, inexpensive speaker stands overhead, contrasting to the other system owned by the local dance community with its 60 pound speakers I struggle to mount on stands at waist height, then grunt to ratchet up to overhead on the most expensive, heavy speaker stands I've ever seen, especially since my resulting sound is better, and in several of the venues I set up for, four speakers give better treble dispersion and less feedback than far more expensive two-speaker setups.

A Passport system is great. Two of them are wonderful used together. Your equipment makes me able to do what I do as well as I do it. I don't think I'd be enjoying this nearly as much with anything else.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: New configuration
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:36 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 5:06 pm
Posts: 46
Location: Just north of Calgary Alberta
I feel the same way as you about the Passport, but i would of never thought you can fill a basket ball size hall with it, pretty amazing.The 1st time i came across the Passport 500 was at out 60th high school reunion. They asked me to go sing a couple, so i did with a 800 series Taylor, and when i started singing, right away i though " what the heck is my voice going through cause i don't sound this good" So right there and then i was sold on the Passport and this xmas i got one from the family. And now that you straightened out my USB problem it's even better.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: