2 man acoustic rig: live and recording

[jsmehaffy]

I am looking to spend between $1500 and $2000 (US) to put together a decent live PA system and home recording setup. The system will be used for a two acoustic guitar, 3-4 vocals setup in small to medium venues (churches, coffee houses, maybe a couple of smallish backyard gigs) I also want to record mostly for demo's, but potentially for small scale distribution. Would prefer to mix tracks on PC (have a 1.8G Dell and an EMAC)

My menial list of pathetic gear to date;
Fender Strat
Martin SPD16T (no electronics)
Ovation Legend LX
Marshal AS50R
SM57 Mic
Behringer B2Pro large diaphragm
Tube Ultragain Mic100 preamp
And a TASCAM Portastudio 424MkII

Somethings I have considered
An ONYX 1620 and two SRM450's for live setup, and using the mackie to send tracks to the pc through the firewire for home. (a little pricey (~2700)

A 2x300 Yamaha powered mixer and 2 , 12inch Yamaha Cabs for live and a Mackie 400F for preamps and firewire to PC

The same packaged Yamaha setup above, but with a TASCAM DP01 FX for recording and mixing (with USB to send tracks to PC)

An A&H PA 12CP couple of JRX115's and a cheap USB or firewire PC interface

Any suggestions? I suspect there are additional questions I have yet to answer before you can give me meaningful advice, but I am sure even the questions will help me in my considerations.

Thank you wise ones.

[kenm]

I use a Mackie 1402 VLZpro and a pair of powered Mackie Speakers on stands for live shows like this. Add some kind of sound card to the 1402 and you have a decent recording set up. I suggest the M-Audio Quattro, which is USB, 4in/out, simple and solid. Also, they are pretty cheap used. For live mics for acoustic, SM57 is cheap and solid, SM58 for vocals. Sm57 can also sound great for recording acoustics, but you may want to use your LDC instead. You would use the LDC for vocals as well when recording.

I like the mixer/powered speaker solution since it is a minimal amount of gear, and if you need more channels, you can upgrade the mixer.

Ken

[guitarmonkey]

i'd avoid a "powered mixer" personally, because it is a one purpose unit. i don't think i've ever seen a powered mixer with channel direct outs.

an unpowered mixer (with direct outs) can be used either in the studio or live and have several uses no matter what...

i've used the mackie sm450's and like them a lot. great for a small PA. now they're makiing a smaller version, the 350's that use a 10" speaker instead of a 12" which might be worth looking into.

2 cents...
g

[feyshay]

I had a pair of SRM 350's and took them back because of tweeter buzz in both of them (with electric guitar high frequencies). This was not noticeable with acoustic guitar because I like my acoustic guitar booming with bass. Probably wouldn't be a problem with just acoustic guitar and voice too. They sounded pretty good.
Since I figured I would not need to be traveling with them (like you will need to), I decided to go with some good monitors (Event ASP 8's) and get just as much sound out of them (volume) for the room requirements--with much better quality of sound. Good monitors would be better for home recording. You might want to start with that and see how much volume you get out of them for a larger environment.
Then if you needed more power go for the 450's.

[Frost]

I like the mackies better too, but the JBL's arent bad and they will fit this budget a lot better. You could get a small rack with a cheap yamaha board, 3 channels of DBX EQ, and 3 JBL eons for about your price. If you have a bit more, or you can get a deal, then a soundcraft M series with direct outputs on every channel would be nice. The Eons are going for $349 at banjo center these days.

Frost

[jsmehaffy]

I am going to go out tomorrow and grab a Mackie Onyx 1220 and a single SRM450. If things work out, I may grab a second SRM 450 (in 6 months or so), but I think one is all need for the venues I plan on playing in 4 now. My Marshall AS50 has a DI out I can use if I want to free up on of the 4 preamps on the mackie 1220. While the 1220 wont leave me much room to grow, I dont want to lug a big mixer around. I may change my mind to a 1402 VLZ PRO when I get to the music store, but Im leaning onyx.

I considered heavily an EV SXA100 but the Mackie has a little more power and is a little higher volume product so it will be easier to get my hands on another one, or off load the one I have if need be. The SXA360 and Yorkville EF500P are a bit pricey for me right now. I'd rather sink the extra money into some good cables and cases.

Thanks for all your input and suggestion, both in this thread and out.


If there are any other comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

[AlphaDingo]

www.sawstudio.com also http://lonbronson.com/livecd.html recorded live with saw studio on 2 laptops. http://www.sawstudiouser.net/forums/...live+recording this thread is the details about the recording.

[jsmehaffy]

Picked up the Mackie ONYX (1220) And SRM 450'S today.

Sound is far far better than anything I have heard or played through. While it is true that this is in no small part due to my inexperience, I have to say that the system sounds fantastic. My wife, who can't tell the difference between my KEF Q65's and the Jensen 6x9's I had in my 1972 Chevelle, couldnt believe how great it sounded.

I am happy.

Justin

[Remoteness]

I hear you... The SR450s are pretty cool for the price range...