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Post subject: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 11:10 am
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Hi. I know there has been posts about connecting a monitor to the Pro 300 and one answer that came up was especially helpful regarding the use of the Mackie SRM-150. The problem with most monitors is that their input is usually mono and the output on the Passport is stereo so the Mackie is a good choice because of its RCA inputs. I wanted to know if anyone has any info on the new Mackie FreePlay which is a similar speaker with more wattage and bigger speakers. It appears to be able to accept a stereo input but I'm not sure. I was hoping that someone had some knowledge about this they wanted to pass along. Thanks for the help.


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:06 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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The Fender Passport 300 Pro, the Mackie FreePlay, and the Mackie SRM150 are all variations on the same idea: Small PA systems. Of these, the Passport has twice the RMS wattage (so it's roughly twice as loud) as the FreePlay, which is 50% louder than the SRM150. The RMS wattage of the three units is 300 watts, 150 watts, and 100 watts, respectively.

If you want to use one of the Mackies for a monitor for the Passport, either one will work (with the right patch cord). The FreePlay is louder, bigger, heavier and costs more, and it's got a lot of features that are useless as a monitor. You don't want reverb on your monitor, for instance. The feedback killer might be nice, assuming it works well.

You'll probably be happy with either one. And if you are playing at a rather small venue with no more than two input channels needed, you could use either of them instead of the Passport, though you'll definitely want the Passport if you need more than two inputs, or if you need the superior volume of the Passport.

There is no wrong choice; only differences in what you are compromising. Everything relating to sound reinforcement (and most things in life) involve compromise.

I hope this helps you make your choice.


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:51 pm
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Thanks for the input, it was very helpful. I'm leaning toward the srm150 as it will be just right for my needs at this point. I'm also thinking that when I play in a duo, we can daisy chain two if needs be (and if my partner wants to spring for his own!)
Thanks for getting back so quickly, too.


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:21 am
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:idea: :arrow: and you can always pick up a good used Fender Passport for use as a monitor system for less than either Mackie option. http://www.guitarcenter.com/search?Ns=r&Ntt=used+fender+passport#pageName=search&Ntt=used+fender+passport&N=0&Nao=0&recsPerPage=20&v=g&Ns=r&postalCode=Zip&radius=100&profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 5:38 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Thanks for the flashback. I bought my first Fender Passport because my wife plays in bands for dances that often don't have people who know how to run the sound system and they consistently expected ME to figure out how to do it. After spending half an hour stressfully searching for speaker wires at a venue, I went to a dealer seeking a Passport 500 Pro. They had just sold their last one, but they had a Passport 300 Pro. In the long run, I wanted more input channels, but I had a gig coming up before they could get the 500 in, so they offered to sell me the 300, then when the 500 came in, they'd swap them and charge me the difference. I went for it.

So, before the 500 came in, we did a dance where the guy who owned the sound system had just died. A friend showed up with the old sound system, determined to use it and not my Passport, despite the fact that the only person who knew exactly how to set it up was dead. We couldn't figure out how to get the monitors to work, since the Monitor Out was line level and the monitors were passive.

So, we used my Passport 300 Pro for monitors. They worked great.

We later figured out that the original setup hacked monitors by daisy chaining the mains from the left channel out and daisy chained the monitors from the right channel out. Not pretty. We were better off with the Passport acting as monitors.

When the 500 came in, I bought it and kept the 300, figuring that I'd have a lot of versatility, since I could use the 500 for the mains and use the 300 either for monitors or for additional speakers, which is particularly effective in "live" (echoing, feedback-prone) halls, since having more speakers at lower volumes means that nobody is very far from a speaker, so the volume can be low enough to avoid setting off the room acoustics.

In better halls, I still used four speakers because of the improved treble distribution. I could walk around the hall and the sound doesn't shift so much depending on where I'm standing.

Anyway, for you, consider either this excellent proposal of getting a used Passport as a monitor, or even upgrade to a bigger Passport, keeping your current one for monitors.


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2015 5:58 am
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Hello again. Thanks for the info. Just one thing: regarding using another Passport as monitor, if I'm only using one speaker at a gig I assume I could use the other one as a monitor using the stereo out input with the correct cord? Also, are there any other wedge type monitors that would work? And if so, what wattage should I look for?


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:13 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Rethink this.

Microphones have "mic level" signals. Each mic is a "mono" signal source.

When you plug a microphone cable into an XLR port on the Passport, it goes into a "mic pre-amp" that amplifies that signal, making it a "line level" signal, maybe 20 times louder. The 1/4" input plugs effectively skip the preamp, because Fender assumes that sound sources that use 1/4" plugs are sending line level signals and they don't need a pre-amp. This signal is roughly loud enough to run headphones. It's the signal strength level used in the mixer.

This mono, line level signal gets copied to a "Left" bus and a "Right" bus to make "stereo". This line level, stereo signal is sent to the "Stereo Out" port, and it is sent to the "Left" power amplifier for the left speaker and the "Right" power amplifier for the right speaker. The power amplifiers take this line level (headphone appropriate) signal and amplifies it hundreds of times to power your main speakers.

If you plug one of those speakers into the "Stereo Out" port, you have two problems:

1. The "Stereo Out" signal is stereo. The speaker is mono. Stereo is three wires. Mono is two wires. Bad things happen to that third wire. You don't want to plug a mono speaker into a stereo port. This is a bad idea.

2. The "Stereo Out" signal is a line level signal, less than a watt. A lot less than a watt. The speaker on a Passport 300 is expecting up to 150 watts. Less than a watt is not going to power the speaker. On a Passport 500, the speaker expects a signal up to 250 watts.

You could just put one speaker in front of you to use as a monitor and put the other one pointed to the crowd, but that would make either a really loud monitor or a really quiet main speaker for the crowd, since the volume is going to be the same for the two speakers.

Fender intended for you to put the speakers on speaker stands behind and above you, so that you can hear yourself in the main speakers, though they are not aimed straight at you, so you don't hear them as loudly as the crowd does. They did not really design this system to have monitors, but they did give you a Stereo Out port, which you can use for monitors if you have a smaller system designed to take line level, stereo input and play that through speakers that are of appropriate power to act as monitors.

If you have a Fender Passport 500 and a Fender Passport 300, you can link the two by using a 1/8"TRS patch cord between the 500's Stereo Out port and one of your two stereo input channels on the 300. You can then use the 300's speakers as monitors. That's because the last two input channels on the 300 have a 1/8" TRS input made specifically for line-level stereo input, just like the signal coming out of the "Stereo Out" port on the 500.

Is this making sense?


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:24 am
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Yes it does. In fact right after I posted that question, I thought about it and knew it wouldn't work. I do have speaker stands and the rig works great. As you can tell, I am somewhat technically challenged in this area but usually manage to figure things out on the fly having handled some puzzling PA setups in bars but still getting it to work. Thanks again, your expertise is much appreciated.


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Post subject: Re: Monitor for Passport Pro 300
Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 5:36 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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If you are feeling technically challenged, the Passport is a great choice. There is simply nothing else out there as simple to use, yet versatile, with great sound quality.

It was perfect for me when I was starting out. My needs have outgrown it a bit, but I'd never have developed the ear that I have or the ability to control more complex setups without this as a start.


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