Sound in FOH

Lyle Bradford · Post by **Lyle Bradford** » 18 Jan 2012 1:22 pm

We spend a lot of money for speakers and fx. When we are going thru a mixer to the FOH what are you favorite speakers to use out front so that the sound we taylor is not lost?

Bill Moran · Post by **Bill Moran** » 18 Jan 2012 3:03 pm

Thats a big question ! The amount of money your willing to spend will answer that question. Speakers is not the only factor on sound. Everything in the chain makes a difference.

Lyle Bradford · Post by **Lyle Bradford** » 18 Jan 2012 3:14 pm

I thlnk you are right Bill. I am talking on a smaller scale of 100 people etc. I was just wondering what system to buy that would maintain the steel without losing our coveted sound.

Ken Metcalf · Post by **Ken Metcalf** » 18 Jan 2012 3:26 pm

I am a fan of JBLs
I use Mackie and JBL with no problems in a compact sys.
I often just use my monitors as mains..

James Collett · Post by **James Collett** » 18 Jan 2012 7:07 pm

Ideally, the goal of a sound system is to duplicate and amplify its inputs in the most accurate way feasible (without taking into account EQ and effects on individual channels). So it's not so much how nice the gear is, but can it get a "flat" and natural sound in the room (although it may take some equalization to counteract resonance or unpleasant frequencies). If it's set up properly, and your setup is mic'd/DI'd properly, a sound rig should do a decent job outputting anything from a steel to a drumset to vocals.

Lyle Bradford · Post by **Lyle Bradford** » 18 Jan 2012 7:33 pm

Thanks guys for the info. What about using powered JBL,s or is it better to use them with a power amp seperate?

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 18 Jan 2012 9:36 pm

I lean towards unpowered speakers with separate amps.More cabling,but more flexibility.JBL is a good brand,but there are others.My personal favorite has been Peavey;they're well made,sturdy,reasonably priced,and sound good.

I'd also think about subwoofers and bi-amping,or even tri-amping.100 people isn't a huge crowd,but you want the FOH to be as clear and transparent as you can get it.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 18 Jan 2012 11:45 pm

Best piece of gear for FOH: a sound man without his head up his a**. One club I play I KNOW I'm way down in the mix, playing my heart out, but aware that hardly any of it can be heard (they're line dancers, they couldn't care less anyway).

Walter Killam · Post by **Walter Killam** » 19 Jan 2012 6:40 am

I upgraded to JBL PRX series powered cabs last year and they are great. Nice clean sound reproduction with plenty of power (the rig is rated ~4000 watts) and even with the Amps built in the individual components only weigh ~70lbs or less.

A large plus for my band is reduced set up & tear down time also, we can have the entire stage set up & broken down & in the trailer in less than an hour each way. The Clubs that we play like this particular aspect ALOT.

Walter Killam · Post by **Walter Killam** » 19 Jan 2012 6:43 am

oops.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 19 Jan 2012 9:27 am

As noted before, the entire signal chain and the operator in control of it make or break the sound.

Yamaha "Club" series monitor speakers - the SM12V in particular - are hands down the best bang for the buck on the market today. The cabinets can be used as floor wedges or placed on a stand or pole, used with subwoofers or without, and the driver components aer the same as are used in all the Meyer Sound rigs, top of the line all the way and up to 300 watts (8 ohms) no problem. Response is nearly flat with a small hot spot at 4kHz and another at 8kHz, and bottom end that out-performs many larger and more expensive boxes.

You will need to get a decent power amp, I prefer QSC in the low-cost arena, and REAL EQ, effects and mixer - the dbx 2231 (dual EQ with limiting), TC M-One (dual effects) and Soundcraft GB2 (rack mount mixer) would be my choice for a small reasonably priced setup. Add some decent microphones and a couple hundred dollars of cables and cords and you're golden

Johnny Thomasson · Post by **Johnny Thomasson** » 20 Jan 2012 1:22 pm

A band I played with for a long time used a high end Peavey mixing console for several years, and I always thought it was just fine. I was amazed at the improvement in our sound when we upgraded to an Allen & Heath Mixwizard. I really would not have thought that a mixer would make that much difference in sound. It just had a clarity and sparkle that wasn't there with the Peavey. Of course, it cost quite a bit more than the Peavey.

As someone already said, everything in the signal chain matters, and the mixing console is no exception. Oh, and +1 on the Yamaha Club Series monitors. I love JBL speakers, but I've compared JBL monitors with the Yamaha Club series, and it's Yamaha hands down.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 20 Jan 2012 2:53 pm

The difference between the Soundcraft GB2 and the A&H Mix Wizard is similarly notable, Johnny, as is the difference in the next step upwards between the Soundcraft and the Midas Venice - there is a real reason to spend the money on the better gear, if you have the money to spend. Buy the cheap stuff and you will enevitably end up spending even more money on the better stuff later anyway...

The same logic applies to other components, especially EQ and dynamics, as a cheap EQ or compressor will cloud up the signal while doing very little to address your audio needs and a very good one will do a better job while remaining practically transparent.

Keith Davidson · Post by **Keith Davidson** » 28 Feb 2012 12:49 pm

Lyle,

here's what we use. awesome sound, lots of power and crystal clear.

Two of these:
Yorkville
NX55P - 550 Watt 12inch Speaker

And one of these:
Yorkville PSA1S - Compact 1400-Watt Active Subwoofer

Jerry Kippola · Post by **Jerry Kippola** » 28 Feb 2012 2:23 pm

EAW JFL210, RCF also has a great new line array--

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 28 Feb 2012 3:41 pm

FOH is out of my control. I don't own any PA gear and don't plan to anytime soon. I don't worry about that. All I can do is eq my stuff where it sounds good to me where I sit and ask the boys to run it flat and as close to my stage sound as possible. It's out of my hands after that.

Inevitably there has to be some sound coloring due to the characteristics of the FOH stuff.

Bud Angelotti · Post by **Bud Angelotti** » 28 Feb 2012 5:09 pm

Jerry just nailed it. I used to do alot of solo singer/songwriter stuff. Me and a acoustic guitar. Most of the time the sound would be terrible and they had nice equiptment! Go figure. I took to bringing my own little mixer, set me own eq's & levels, plug it in to THEIR amp in their aux input so it has NO EQing going on except what I have dialed in. Took the "soundman" out of the loop.

Tim Sergent · Post by **Tim Sergent** » 28 Feb 2012 10:35 pm

You're only gonna sound like what the sound man wants you to sound like. He has knobs for days out there. If he has no idea what a steel guitar is supposed to sound like then you're probably in trouble. Most seem to think it's really thin and "twangy" as a lot of them will call it.

We have had 3 different sound men since I have been with Dierks and with each one I have had them come up on stage and stand in front of my amps so that they might have some sort of idea what to shoot for.

Don't worry much about it. Set your amps the way you like them and sit back and enjoy playing. It's out of your hands at that point anyway.

Good luck!

Tim

Jerry Kippola · Post by **Jerry Kippola** » 29 Feb 2012 6:56 am

There is more to the mix sound than most think. The steel sound has to fit the mix, just as anything does. The sound we like onstage isn't what always/generally works out front. And it depends on the venue size, it's artifacts, and the dynamics . Outdoors the sound can be more realistic, indoors the wraparound sound can be very different. The low end I like out of my amp onstage is not what I want to hear out front.

Olli Haavisto · Post by **Olli Haavisto** » 29 Feb 2012 7:45 am

Play good CD you are familiar with without eq through the system to test different speakers. When the music sounds balanced and natural you`ve found the right speakers.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 29 Feb 2012 11:03 am

A bad operator with the best speakers will sound far worse than will a good sound man with mediocre gear. Unless you are planning on purchasing an entire sound system AND hiring the person who will be operating it take Tim's advice and concentrate on what you CAN do, which is to play the best you can and enjoy yourself. A technically great performance delivered with a scowl will not move an audience nearly as much as utter audio mayhem committed with an authentic smile!

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Sound in FOH

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