Pa advice

[jezzaboy]

I play in an ACDC covers band. About half the gigs we do the pa is already there but for smaller gigs I have a basic pa set up.

 

2 x Yamaha DBR 12`s going through a Behringer desk, 2 x  Marshall backline, Fender Rumble 500, acoustic drum kit, lead vocals and 2 backing. At the moment I put the kit which has a fancy Yamaha thing that picks up the whole kit and a bit of my bass through the DBR`s along with the vocals, no guitar as the fe*kers are loud enough already! I intend to keep the desk as I`m used to it and I can set it up easily and quickly.

 

I was thinking of going down the smaller tops and a 12 sub such as the Alto Ts12s but for storage, money, transporting and weight reasons I would be less keen on this.

 

I also own a RCF 715 that I used to use as FRFR with various pre amps. I could get another one of these and use one of the DBR`s for bass monitoring as the drummer likes to follow the bass and let the RCF`s do the heavy lifting for the bass out front with some of the kit in them also. This would be the easiest and cheapest option for me.

 

But would using the RCF`s like this bugger up the vocal mix from them? Any advice would be welcomed.

 

 

[Dan Dare]

The only way to find out is to try the RCF in that role. Wouldn't the cheapest option that wouldn't add much to your transport/storage issues be to go back to using the RCF for bass and add a sub' to the Yamahas (which are hardly behemoths)?

[Phil Starr]

I'm not clear whether by "smaller tops" you mean using the DBR12's with subs or replacing the DBR's with something else and buying a sub. Using the DBR's with a sub would give you some extra headroom and a solid bass but the yamaha's are decent speakers so I'm not sure a 12" Alto will give you that much more. I'm curious as to what you think the shortcomings of your DBR's are in a small venue.

 

I think you are basically asking whether a couple of 12's + sub or a couple of RCF 715's would be 'best'. Honestly I don't think the difference in sound quality or volume would be that great in practice, both solutions would have pro's and con's. properly placed and set up subs can add a lot to small speakers. In practice when you only have 45mins to set up for a gig I wonder how often they will be set up well.  A second RCF715 might well give you what you want and if it is the simple and cheaper option there is no reason not to go that route. No reason why they shouldn't sound great and equally no reason why the DBR's with a sub would't sound great either.

 

Perhaps if you tell us what exacly you are trying to fix with the current set up or what you hope to achieve we could give a clearer steer