Yet another school sound system proposal

[gotty]

Thanks for all the thoughts.

 

I've also discussed the options with a couple of other schools now, and I've come up with a first-draft shopping list.

 

The core system will be 2x Behringer B215XL speakers mounted either side of the prosc, fed from Behringer EPQ2000 amp (plus FBQ1502 EQ and FBQ2946 feedback eliminator) housed in a 19" lockable wheeled cabinet (with storage drawer) which will normally be positioned in the stage wings, but brought to the mixing point for productions. This core system will cost around £1000

 

Two speaker stands (with cables) will be provided to allow the speakers to be dismounted and relocated to the hall itself for in-hall productions. Optionally, a second set of B215XL speakers may be bought.

 

This will be fed, for everyday use, by the simple Behinger Xenix 502 mixer and a Trantec s4.4 Ch70 handheld (with leads for plugging in a CD player, PC etc), adding about £250 to the core system cost.

 

For productions, an additional two (or three) Trantec s4.4 Ch70 beltpack/headset mics will be bought, along with two wired SM58. Any additional radio mics will be hired in.

 

For the main mixer, I've chosen the Allen&Heath Zed 12FX. It's something they used recently and the guy who does the audio found it very easy to use. This, with the mics, brings the (very rough) total for the production stuff to £1000.

 

And leaving about £250 for cables, mic stands etc.

 

I have a couple of concerns.

 

The first is that the system is likely to be over-powered (250W/1000Wpeak per channel) but I don't think that's a bad thing.

 

The second is the choice of Ch70 radio mics (hired-in mics would be Ch38 of course). I've done this to avoid the need for the school to get a licence, but I wonder just how practical it is to use 3 (or even 4) Ch70 mics simultaneously. At least it's a rural location and external Ch70 interference shouldn't be an issue.

[benweblight]

Worth noting that if you are going with the option of buying radio sets and hiring extra when needed then it's worth looking at what sets you can actually hire locally as not all brands of kit will place nicely together

[gotty]

Worth noting that if you are going with the option of buying radio sets and hiring extra when needed then it's worth looking at what sets you can actually hire locally as not all brands of kit will place nicely together

 

That's a good thought. It's one reason why I chose to go for Ch70 for the in-house kit, and hire-in Ch38, thereby keeping them apart.

 

I was also considering the Sennheiser Freeport instead instead of the Trantec, as I've been talking to someone who is very impressed with them, but I don't see a head-worn version so would have to buy a separate head-mic.

 

As an aside, when hiring mics, who is responsible for the licence? Does the school have to get one on a per-occasion basis, or is the licence taken care of in the hire agreement?

[Shez]

As an aside, when hiring mics, who is responsible for the licence?

 

The hire firm should give you a SAP 3 form which allows you to use the hired kit on their licence.

[Solstace]

Interesting, Shez. Never seen one of those in more than 10 years in/around the industry. This a new thing?

[cameroncoats]

For speakers I would reccomend HK Pro 12's.

You can get wall mounting brackets for them, they have a 300w parallel output, and you can use them just about anywhere.

My last school recently had a pair of these wall mounted, with an allen and heath ZED 12fx mixer.