Sound systems for concerts and studios?

Question

does anyone know of some good mics, amplification systems, sound systems, sound mixers, good wires ect. i need some reeeaally good equipment for a live music and some good equipment for the music studio. Any suggestions? Ten point to the most high quality equipment and to the most possibilities.

Answer 1

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/B...

If thats not your style, check out JBL speakers (Love them, own them).I run them with a Peavy power amp. Mics, most bands start out using Shure's, but I like AKG's alot (more expensive, look at all of this on musiciansfriend.com) As for the cables, you get what you pay for , so dont get the cheaper ones.

Answer 2

You dont mention for what size of a venue.  If its just for a small act, couple of acoustics and singing, a 6-8 channel Powered Mixer, Soundcraft, Mackie, or Yamaha in the 400-600 watt range would do fine. Couple of JBL 15' speakers with horns, Shure SM 58's for vocals, (industry standard, and good price..99 a pop).. youve got all you need right there for a very small act.  Most of the powered mixers on the market today have built in effects, such as reverbs, delays, as well as graphic equalizers.  

   Now... if your venue is a medium to larger size club,  doesnt hurt to make the investment now, as it can help when bigger gigs arrive to have the equipment.  Its very possible for a 3-5 piece band to use 20+ channels, so at least a 24 -32 channel mixing console (non powered)  with at least 4 auxillary sends and returns is a wise investment.  Drums alone, 1 channel each for Kick Drum, Snare, mounted toms, floor toms. ... theres 5-6 channels right there.  Add 1-2 channels for bass, as besides a direct feed to the console, some techs will mic the bass cabinet as well.  2 guitar players.... 2-4 more channels, depending on if they use 1 or 2 amps each. Add a keyboard player, 2 channels, plus all your vocals. If the P.A. is set up in Stereo, the keyboard player will use one stereo channel per keyboard.  So.. you can see where 24 channels can get used up pretty quick.  My 3 piece band used a 24 channel board, every channel used on it!

    Besides the mixer, you will need for these larger size venues power amps, subwoofers..... Double 18's per side of the stage minimum, plus..... mid frequency speakers, usually 12-15's... and a high frequency 3-4 inch driver.  The most recent 3 piece i was in had this type of a set up.. and we ran Q.S.C. power amps.  5000 watts to the low end.... 1500 a side to the high end.  (we ran in stereo)  Decent and proven reliable brands of mixers are Allen-Heath, Soundcraft, Yamaha, Mackie.  Crown and Q.S.C. power amps are also very reliable.  Check out JBL, Electro-Voice, and Yamaha Speakers.

   You will also need crossovers, a device that splits one signal (low and high frequencies) to separate destinations.  Low frequencies to the sub woofers, high frequencies to midrange and drivers.  Its always good as well to have a separate amp for stage monitors, and for these speakers, the above brands mentioned are very good. (Speakers and Power amps to stay away from in setting up a PROFESSIONAL SOUND REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM: Behringer, Peavey, Nady, Samson, Kustom,  Bose "tower systems".. these are toys... if your doing a coffee house.. there passable, barely)

  So.. lets get into the rest of the system.  Reverbs, Delays, (Lexicon, Yamaha, Alesis is passable) (Front of House graphic equalizer, as well as a parametric doesnt hurt neither.  You will want compression(dbx is the way to go.. they invented compressors!)  Oh.. and mics.  Shure SM58's are very good vocal mics, and reliable. For guitars, a Shure SM 57 is also a good mic. Audix makes some good drum mics, and the price is usually better if you buy in a drum mic package.

That covers the stage.. pretty much....oh.. forgot cables. Dont skimp on those.  Buy cables with Neutrik connectors.  What these cables allow.. is if theres a problem, the cable can be quickly spliced, and the ends put back on. Whether it be a mic cable, instrument cable, speaker cable,.... they have set-screws built into the connectors to allow for quick removal.  And talking about cables.. some kind of cable cop... a device that you plug the cable in that will let you know if the cable is working, and if not.. where the short or bad connection is in the cable. (Lets not forget road cases for the mixer, amps, effects, totes for all the cables,Plus.. EXTRA CABLES.. eventually, during a song. something will break! 100' stage snake, some stage lights and stands, plus.. a trailer or 2 good size vans just for the gear!)

Studio gear can be similar to stage, but a lot of differences is in the mics, and preamps, or front -end of the studio.  Looking for a good studio mixer and have some cash to spend? Look for the Digi-Design D Control 48 fader automated mixer... 48,000. Thats without options such as pro-tools and expansion boards to get the most out of this board.  Condensor mics are common place in the studio, and require phantom power, a continous current of 48 volts running though them at all times. So.. look for a mixer with phantom power.(Neuman, Rode, Beyer-Dynamic, Blue, all good brands of condensor mics... 200 bucks to about 10,000 each... yes.. the pros use these!)  A decent channel strip or "front end"... tube pre-amp, compressor, and parametric eq can be purchased from 500-800, and is a staple in most studios. Pre-Sonus, A.R.T., Drawmer, and Focusrite are brands to look into.  So.. hope ive been of some help. In reality, this is a very short list! Research "Setting up a home recording studio" on google and see what you come up with.  Also, Sweetwater Sound out of Indiana has a good website on here, and there sales staff is some of the most knowledgable in the business.  Two books that are also noteworthy:  The Mixing Engineers Handbook, $34.95.... and.. Sound Reinforcement Handbook, same price.  Sweetwater has these available, and are very valuble books to have for stage and studio applications.