TonyP
Oct-26-2008, 1:09am
Well after the numerous threads on small PA's, monitors, small amps etc., I've decided I will tilt at this windmill too. I found myself at loose ends in our little GC lite/mini store. I was looking to maybe try what Steve had done and get some some nearfield studio monitors. And see if I could make them into monitors(in places where like we're outside, or quiet indoors) or maybe for mains in really small venues.
They had a ton of m-audio M-5's around, so I asked about them. The guy behind the counter which really knows his stuff, said they had a pile of dead ones in the back. Not a good sign. So I fessed up that I was really trying to get something going with a small monitor and he suggested the TC electronics, but they had just blown them all out, as they were last years models, and had no more. And looking over the other options, I decided the next step was see what was in the big GC in Fresno. They had a TC, but it was trashed, and the only other thing they had was the Mackie SRM 150, and the Roland Cube. I demo'd the two being supplied signal from a laptop. I didn't like the Cube at all, but messin' with the 150, and especially getting away from it, it seemed useful. It was particularly confusing to me that it sounded way too "boxy" up close, as it's billed as a hot spot type thing to be put on a mic stand. I was afraid it would sound good up close, and not as you got away from it. My experience was the opposite, so it seemed what I was looking for. I ended up getting the floor demo, and a packaged one, as that's all they had. Seemed to me like they cut me a good enough deal to make me jump. It also helped I had 30 days to make up my mind, money back, no questions asked.
To GC's credit, I unpacked the "new" one, and as I pulled it out of the box, I heard a clunk of something hitting the speaker on the inside. No bueno, thought I. Got it home, and sure enough, a deader. Got hold of the local GC, and they took my dead one and drop shipped a new one from another store right to my house 3 days later. And it's goodun'.
The SRM150 has 3 channels per speaker, with universal input plugs that will take 1/4" balanced, or unbalanced or xlr on ch. #1 + 2. #3 ch has RCA plugs so you can plug an ipod or something else in for background or music during break. Preamp vol. on all 3ch's, switch so you can plug like a guitar into #1 and phantom power. Global treble, mid, and bass adjustment, and the big volume knob. Pretty simple, but comprehensive. The back has the universal plugs again, and can be daisy chained to another, or slave your mix to another. Also mic/line switch. Also has a plug in the bottom side of unit, with an adapter to put it on a mic stand at a tilt, and another place on top to screw in a mic boom or something. It has a single 5.5" speaker, with a 100w rms built in amp. The whole back side of the unit is a big ol' aluminum heat sink.
I guess the thing that really sold me on these are they are far more road worthy than the nearfields I was looking at, and even the Cube. Don't know about the Galaxy's, or HotSpot, or TC's, they didn't have any. And the pic's you see don't show you how small the 150's really are. But the big surprise for me was putting one on a mic stand outside and hooking up my 4033, and Oktava 012 and playing and talking through it. I only had one hooked up, and my SRM450's were sitting next to them, and everybody thought the sound was coming from the 450's. Pointing out into the yard, I could really crank them before feedback. I'm thinking the pair of these for small gigs, and especially where we just want to go in lite with just a couple of mics, are the ticket.
The next experiment, and the main reason I got them though was to make something akin to what we play through every year at a little local festival. That's on a grander scale of course, but the idea is the same. Right inside the mains, head height, and angled in at the band, just enough monitor to get a realtime presence for us of the house mix. I think these just might be the thing I've been looking for. I spent the evening modifying the program in the DriveRack 260 to have the feedback buster in the chain for the monitors, as before it was set up for IEM's, and there's no need for the FB in that signal chain. The other nut I'm trying to crack is mounts. I don't want to have to carry extra stands when using them for monitors, so I'm going to fab up something that will enable me to attach the 150 to the side of 450, so they can share the same stand. Or, that's the idea anyway.
For the next practice, I'm going to set the whole system up and see if I can get it to crank, not feedback, and everybody be able to hear ok. Should be interesting.
Oh, and NFI.
They had a ton of m-audio M-5's around, so I asked about them. The guy behind the counter which really knows his stuff, said they had a pile of dead ones in the back. Not a good sign. So I fessed up that I was really trying to get something going with a small monitor and he suggested the TC electronics, but they had just blown them all out, as they were last years models, and had no more. And looking over the other options, I decided the next step was see what was in the big GC in Fresno. They had a TC, but it was trashed, and the only other thing they had was the Mackie SRM 150, and the Roland Cube. I demo'd the two being supplied signal from a laptop. I didn't like the Cube at all, but messin' with the 150, and especially getting away from it, it seemed useful. It was particularly confusing to me that it sounded way too "boxy" up close, as it's billed as a hot spot type thing to be put on a mic stand. I was afraid it would sound good up close, and not as you got away from it. My experience was the opposite, so it seemed what I was looking for. I ended up getting the floor demo, and a packaged one, as that's all they had. Seemed to me like they cut me a good enough deal to make me jump. It also helped I had 30 days to make up my mind, money back, no questions asked.
To GC's credit, I unpacked the "new" one, and as I pulled it out of the box, I heard a clunk of something hitting the speaker on the inside. No bueno, thought I. Got it home, and sure enough, a deader. Got hold of the local GC, and they took my dead one and drop shipped a new one from another store right to my house 3 days later. And it's goodun'.
The SRM150 has 3 channels per speaker, with universal input plugs that will take 1/4" balanced, or unbalanced or xlr on ch. #1 + 2. #3 ch has RCA plugs so you can plug an ipod or something else in for background or music during break. Preamp vol. on all 3ch's, switch so you can plug like a guitar into #1 and phantom power. Global treble, mid, and bass adjustment, and the big volume knob. Pretty simple, but comprehensive. The back has the universal plugs again, and can be daisy chained to another, or slave your mix to another. Also mic/line switch. Also has a plug in the bottom side of unit, with an adapter to put it on a mic stand at a tilt, and another place on top to screw in a mic boom or something. It has a single 5.5" speaker, with a 100w rms built in amp. The whole back side of the unit is a big ol' aluminum heat sink.
I guess the thing that really sold me on these are they are far more road worthy than the nearfields I was looking at, and even the Cube. Don't know about the Galaxy's, or HotSpot, or TC's, they didn't have any. And the pic's you see don't show you how small the 150's really are. But the big surprise for me was putting one on a mic stand outside and hooking up my 4033, and Oktava 012 and playing and talking through it. I only had one hooked up, and my SRM450's were sitting next to them, and everybody thought the sound was coming from the 450's. Pointing out into the yard, I could really crank them before feedback. I'm thinking the pair of these for small gigs, and especially where we just want to go in lite with just a couple of mics, are the ticket.
The next experiment, and the main reason I got them though was to make something akin to what we play through every year at a little local festival. That's on a grander scale of course, but the idea is the same. Right inside the mains, head height, and angled in at the band, just enough monitor to get a realtime presence for us of the house mix. I think these just might be the thing I've been looking for. I spent the evening modifying the program in the DriveRack 260 to have the feedback buster in the chain for the monitors, as before it was set up for IEM's, and there's no need for the FB in that signal chain. The other nut I'm trying to crack is mounts. I don't want to have to carry extra stands when using them for monitors, so I'm going to fab up something that will enable me to attach the 150 to the side of 450, so they can share the same stand. Or, that's the idea anyway.
For the next practice, I'm going to set the whole system up and see if I can get it to crank, not feedback, and everybody be able to hear ok. Should be interesting.
Oh, and NFI.