So school me on pa systems

PolarityMan

Danny1969 said:

Yeah your right it's all gone a bit OT

Sorry my fault! 

close2u

I hear you ... If it was just down to me

close2u

remove

close2u

remove

close2u

Doh!
These last posts should have been in my other help me pa thread

close2u

Still unsure, and in need of schooling on some of these (lots of these lol)

close2u said:

close2u said:

I don't understand :
The technical vocabulary, 
The compatability issues, 
The good from the bad,
The electronic considerations,
The dos and don'ts

vocabulary

4u, 2u etc?

Crossover?

electronics

8 ohms, 4 ohms etc?

In addition ... Peak Power? RMS?

viz

4u 2u is just the size of the thing. Rack mounted units (including some desks) are a certain height. So you need a rack to hold them in. The number of 1u items you can slot in. I had a 6u rack with an angled top for the desk.

ICBM

close2u said:

Still unsure, and in need of schooling on some of these (lots of these lol)

close2u said:

close2u said:

I don't understand :
The technical vocabulary, 
The compatability issues, 
The good from the bad,
The electronic considerations,
The dos and don'ts

vocabulary

4u, 2u etc?

Crossover?

electronics

8 ohms, 4 ohms etc?

In addition ... Peak Power? RMS?

Seriously… I'm not at all saying don't learn, but if you're really asking *all* this sort of thing, don't buy anything complicated yet, and that means don't get anything which involves working out how differently-specced kit goes together. If you find out the answers by rote but don't understand what you're doing, you will then be in major trouble - and could even cause expensive damage - when something goes wrong at a gig or you connect something wrongly.

Start small, get a simple system which will do you for small gigs with most of the instrument volume coming from the backline - if you play bigger gigs you need assistance anyway really, from a soundman who knows what he's doing anyway.

The simplest system is a mixer and all powered cabs - either full-range or a set of tops and subs, plus monitors. That way you don't need to worry about impedance, different types of cables etc, and if you connect something wrongly it will simply not work, and it should be fairly obvious what you've done.

Simplest of all is to get a system from a single manufacturer that is designed to be compatible - Peavey, Yamaha, Mackie and maybe a few others all do full systems that will do what you want and are good enough quality that it won't be likely to break down.

1KW in total for the PA, up to 2K if it's including subs, and a couple of hundred watts for monitors should be enough for any pub or small venue. Once you have a feel for how to use this sort of system and understand how it works you will be much better placed to ask the right questions if you find something isn't quite cutting it later on.

And make sure all your cables - including mains and extensions - are good quality, regularly checked and you have spares of all of them, since they're the weak link in any system.

Honest advice.

I would also probably buy new, from a bricks-and-mortar shop with staff who know what they're talking about, with a warranty.

maltingsaudio

@close2u this site is run by a mate of mine (competitor!) may be of some use http://www.astralsound.com/basics.htm

close2u

@maltingsaudio Thanks

@ICBM

I understand your concern ... n00b in freak pa accident!!

We only intend putting vocals through to start and will be running it in the same way as we do the pa in our rehearsal room ... I'm just trying to educate myself so that I can eventually have greater understanding and do more re: the pa. 

At all, we just got 2x RCS Art 310-a speakers and Yamaha 412cx mixer.

ICBM

close2u said:

@maltingsaudio Thanks

@ICBM

I understand your concern ... n00b in freak pa accident!!

We only intend putting vocals through to start and will be running it in the same way as we do the pa in our rehearsal room ... I'm just trying to educate myself so that I can eventually have greater understanding and do more re: the pa. 

At all, we just got 2x RCS Art 310-a speakers and Yamaha 412cx mixer.

Totally agree that you should be educating yourself - just concerned that you were going to jump in at the seriously deep end without a clue! I've come across a few bands that do this, with a complex system that has to be set up in a rigid, written-down way - because they don't actually know *how* it works - the first time there's a problem at a gig the result is a total panic rather than being able to use that complexity to get them out of trouble, then occasionally something gets connected wrong to 'make it work' and smoke happens...

Sounds like you've got yourself a simple starting rig which can be built on later. The RCFs will make good tops in a system with subs. Still make sure you have top-quality cables, and spares - at least one each of every type of cable you need, preferably more. You can never have too many really.

close2u

typo - should have read RCF in previous post

close2u

Further questions ... maybe a slight tangent, but still pa related.

What would be a sign of good quality cables?

For vocal mics (XLR type).

And for connecting speakers etc to desk?

Also, what would be optimal lengths in different situations?

The shortest you can get away with to reach?

Pub gigs & small venues - say 5m?

ICBM

close2u said:

What would be a sign of good quality cables?

For vocal mics (XLR type).

And for connecting speakers etc to desk?

Genuine Neutrik plugs (only), decent thickness cable preferably with a brand name on it, and assembled by someone in the UK who cares about doing a good job, rather than factory-made imported ones.

close2u said:

Also, what would be optimal lengths in different situations?

The shortest you can get away with to reach?

Pub gigs & small venues - say 5m?

Length is not that critical for balanced signal cables from a signal degradation viewpoint, so get longer than you need. 5-6m would be sensible. Much longer than that, and a proper snake and stage box is a better solution. Remember that you can daisy-chain XLR cables if you need to for a situation which needs an unusually long cable (eg if you have to route one round an obstruction like a doorway), so more rather than less spares is also useful for that.

Danny1969

One side of the band will always be closer to the desk \ mixer head than the other so most guys use 5 and 10M lengths to suit the distance. Yeah you can join em together but then you need more leads. 

The biggest distance is normally from desk to furthest away active speaker .... can need 15 metres sometimes for that

thomasross20

I must read this thread...!