help on picking backup system

[TR2K Productions]

Hi Everyonne,

Hope you are all well.

ok i need a little advice :)

my other half has recently become the singer in a new band. currently they have no PA.

The lead guitarist has an amp, (nice fender one)
The bass guitarist has an amp (looks pretty standard)
The drummer has his drums....

between them they own 1 powered monitor speaker.

so for the past few weeks i have been letting them use my main playout system (well just the mixer & speaker's) and to be perfectly honest, it sounds really good. Both guitarists through a channel each on my mixer, singer through a channel & drums mic'ed up through 4 channels.

Now i dont have much experiance with doing sound for bands, but i have a rough idea of what im doing.


my question is, im thinking of buying a spare system as a back up for me, and also so that the missus can use it when they have gig's. i have been looking at this one from djkit - http://www.djkit.com/package.php?id=PKG-4381-6430

i have had a studiomaster mixer in the past and as far as i can remember it was an excellent piece of kit.

would this kit be ok for the band for venues of around 150 - 200 people.

and has anybody used DJkit before?

cheers guys

[TONYTIGER]

Right i will try to help,i do a lot of PA work for bands

Can you give some details of the set up you have been using for the band up until now as you said you were putting the back line through the mixer you have.
Do you mean you are just miking up or are you using di boxes

Looking at the system you are thinking of buying its rather cheap and cheerful i would think the speakers are the weak link you need to find out what ohms the cabs are as the mixer amp only puts out 300 watts per channel if you hang 8 ohms on each channel the speakers need to be 4 ohms each to get the 500 watts per side that is available.Even that is really not enough for 200 people as these are floor mounted speakers and will struggle to cut through that number of people.
You would be better off with a pair of cabs you can put on stands but they will lack bottom end which the drums will need.
Also mixer/amps mean all your eggs are in one basket if any thing goes wrong.
Have a think about having a amp then a separate mixer and then go and listen to some speakers before buying.
Yamaha do some nice mixers at very good prices.

[TR2K Productions]

ok at the minute the set up is.

im using my dynacord powermate 1000, with 2 JBL Tops and 2 unbranded bass bins, these are connected speakon from the main outputs of the mixeramp.

the powered monitor that the band is using is being sent from the mixer to aux 3, (with just the vocals coming out of it)(apparently this is what the band wants.

the lead guitar is running to his Amp, then out from the back of his amp via XLR balanced to the 2nd channel on my mixer.

Same with the bass guitar, to the 3rd channel

Vocal is sent to the First channel & i set the levels independantly to match & sound better with the drums.

also i thought the mixer was 500 watts per channel & the speakers being 600w each, (or its just me being stupid)

thanks for the advice though, and any tips/help you have to offer at all would be greatly welcomed

[Excalibur]

James, I'm not really up on band PA, but I agree with Tony. Some of the Intimidation cabs are very very poor,Others are OK, but I can't remember which.

A powered mixer is a simple and often effective arrangement, but if it's the only amp, well as Tony says, it's eggs in one basket time. An unpowered mixer and external amp and cabs offers more options.

As to the advert and power output, well it's a tad misleading, but not untrue. It's advertising the best possible outputs of the individual kit, but not what it will deliver together.

[yourdj]

I use tapco thumps.

for 12kg and bags of power they are great!! You have a separate EQ and being active easy to chuck up in a rush. Also mackie thump - same thing.

i have used them recent in small venues and had no issues considering the price and weight of these things.

great deals on Ebay :)

http://de.virtualdj.com/image/6466/9957/preview.jpg

[TONYTIGER]

ok at the minute the set up is.

im using my dynacord powermate 1000, with 2 JBL Tops and 2 unbranded bass bins, these are connected speakon from the main outputs of the mixeramp.

the powered monitor that the band is using is being sent from the mixer to aux 3, (with just the vocals coming out of it)(apparently this is what the band wants.

the lead guitar is running to his Amp, then out from the back of his amp via XLR balanced to the 2nd channel on my mixer.

Same with the bass guitar, to the 3rd channel

Vocal is sent to the First channel & i set the levels independantly to match & sound better with the drums.

also i thought the mixer was 500 watts per channel & the speakers being 600w each, (or its just me being stupid)

thanks for the advice though, and any tips/help you have to offer at all would be greatly welcomed

Firstly you need to find out what ohms the speaker cabs are you will only get the full output if they are 4 ohms the mixer /amp will then give 500w to each if they are 8 ohms then they will only get about 250 w each.
The speakers in this package are only £ 220 the pair so i would think not very good and will not be a patch on what you have.
The Dynacord is one of the best mixer/amp combos around so again you may be dissapointed with the Studiomaster.
I am surprised that you put the guitars direct into your mixer as you should be using Di boxes but that might be a trait of the Dynacord to allow you to do this.
To sum up i think you can do better by buying separate items.

[funkymook]

so for the past few weeks i have been letting them use my main playout system (well just the mixer & speaker's) and to be perfectly honest, it sounds really good.


Obvious question I know, and I'm sure you've thought of it, but I'll ask anyway

If your main playout speakers work well, why not another pair? (even 2nd hand to keep cost down). Then your backup speakers will be the same as your main ones, easier just to swap one over if need be, if you need to use them all for a bigger gig there's no problems with different output - and you know they work for the band etc. :)

[TONYTIGER]

I use tapco thumps.

for 12kg and bags of power they are great!! You have a separate EQ and being active easy to chuck up in a rush. Also mackie thump - same thing.

i have used them recent in small venues and had no issues considering the price and weight of these things.

great deals on Ebay :)

http://de.virtualdj.com/image/6466/9957/preview.jpg

Just to correct you the tapco thumps are not quite the same as the Mackie Thumps which have new electrics and uprated amp.Tapco version is no longer made.
They would not be suitable for the application mentioned in the original post.

[Corabar Entertainment]

I use tapco thumps.
Whoop-te-do for you, Toby - but quite what relevance that has to this thread is anyone's guess! :bang:

[Excalibur]

Whoop-te-do for you, Toby - but quite what relevance that has to this thread is anyone's guess! :bang:

Angela, I have recently noticed more and more strictures being placed upon us. If we're now being asked only to post relevant observations, I shall henceforth have to keep it :zip: , cos I can't do relevant. :o :o :( :(

[StarZSoundS]

Whoop-te-do for you! :bang:

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Goes to check the Urban Directory.......:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:


You're using OUR Smilie again ....Honey!!!:rose: :heart2: :rose: :heart2:

[Excalibur]

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: Goes to check the Urban Directory.......:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:


You're using OUR Smilie again ....Honey!!!:rose: :heart2: :rose: :heart2:

And I though I lived dangerously at times. ;) :D :D

[Corabar Entertainment]

Angela, I have recently noticed more and more strictures being placed upon us. If we're now being asked only to post relevant observations, I shall henceforth have to keep it :zip: , cos I can't do relevant. :o :o :( :(
You do either relevant or off-topic, Peter and not much in-between :lol:

Completely random (like Toby's post) is not something you usually do :rose:

[Qwerty]

hello, guys :)

I am new here, nice to meet you and sorry to bother, but can anyone please please tell me wtf "bags of power" are? English is not my native tongue and I always ask google before asking a stupid question but this time it didnt help. I really need to translate it, so I thought maybe some good soul could help me?