novice singer

[metroman810]

hi guys , and thanx in advance . Im looking into breaking into the pub/club singing game , strictly small time at first . Im looking at equipment an ive done some research and I think I need a pa system with about 150 amp speakers x2 a decent amp , mike , now the thing im wonderin about is a mixer and how will I play my backing tracks to sing to , how will I make my voice sound good enough through the mixer . bear in mind im a total novice . Ive been looking at a pa system on e/bay 2 speakers /amp/mike/leads but im unsure about mixer / etc

[GridGirl]

Moderation: Welcome to the Blue Room. I'm going to shift this topic to the Sound forum as that is where it really belongs. Also, please note that we're big on spelling and grammar here - your post doesn't contain a single capital letter. It's readable (just!) but please, in future, remember this! Anna (mods)

[paulears]

My favourite small mixer with built in amps are without doubt the Soundcraft Powerstation series, although you can buy plenty of other brands that are much cheaper and very similar.

 

There are some to avoid like the plague, of course - but if you tell us some of the things you're considering, we can advise - as you don't mention money. A really good friend of mine started singing in pubs and hotels, and 2 speakers, 2 stands, a powered mixer, and an SM58 worked fine for her for a year or two before she outgrew them. As for your tracks, what are they on at the moment. USB stick/SD card players are popular, and at a push if you have a decent sounding laptop, you could use that. I still like MDs, but they're old technology now. CDs work, but always get scratched and jump sometimes. They're also just a bit annoying having to burn them, and then remember what song track 3 actually is. MD and solid state memory systems have a nice song title in the window - which is always handy.

 

Give us a bit more info.

[Jivemaster]

Go to your local muso shop and HIRE something they suggest. Try it and select to your liking from that experience. The LAST thing you need is a choice of PA systems thay you don't like but you own and cannot sell filling all the spaces at home not earning their keep.

 

Once you have chosen a setup you really like, THEN you can buy kit. And by then your local shop could even suggest items from their used and ex-demo range for an effective but economy setup.

 

For the first few gigs you could even take a sound engineer and THEIR PA out for a price.

[Andrew C]

One of the real challenges you're going to have is listening to the kit. What we almost always say is that you need to demo several systems with the stuff you'll be putting through it and choose one you like. As the singer, this is going to be hard. Take along someone with good ears who knows your style and let them tell you what sounds good!

[metroman810]

Phonic powerpod 620 with 6 channel inputs and 2 120wat output per channel /selective /

Pair of meridian speakers ABS10RMS 150 wat with leads to amp

Pair of matching mics pro sound

These are the items im bidding on , and to be honest it all sounds like a foreign lan ** laughs out loud ** .

The lady is asking 200 pounds for this equipment .

I,ve no idea if this is a good deal or not .

Thank you to the people who have answered my post , to be honest the idea of hiring stuff

sounds very expensive to me as im on quiet a limited budget .

I got told off for not using capital letters or proper punctuation , for this im deeply sorry .

[mkfs9]

I think you will be dissapointed with those items very low end budget gear. You need to aim a little higher. Peavey make robust mixer amps and are reasonable, as well there midrange cabs are ok hisys 1,s or hisys 2's are ok. or the equivalent yamaha range is ok. As for the mic get a good one, sure beta 58 is a good allround one and you will not outgrow it. I would say around 250 to 300 watts a side for PA at least.

[TonyMitchell]

Pair of meridian speakers ABS10RMS 150 wat with leads to amp

Pair of matching mics pro sound

 

Avoid "Prosound" gear, it is not "pro". As a singer, a decent microphone is where it all starts and as such the most important piece of equipment. The industy standard Shure SM58 won't break the bank and will last you for years.

 

 

Peavey make robust mixer amps and are reasonable, as well there midrange cabs are ok hisys 1,s or hisys 2's are ok. or the equivalent yamaha range is ok.

 

Agreed, Peavey do have their place in the foodchain, alternatively a pair of entry level Yamaha cabs, or perhaps EV SX boxes, would be very nice for a startup, and you can pick them up secondhand quite cheaply.

 

 

I would say around 250 to 300 watts a side for PA at least.

 

Find your speakers first, then buy an amplifier to power them. When matching an amplifier, if the speakers are 8 ohms impedance, make sure you check the 8 ohm output of the amplifiers you look at. Buy an amplifier that will give 1.5 to 2.0 times the RMS rating of the speakers.

 

When choosing your speakers, the important factors include weight, mounting options, horizontal dispertion and sensitivity/max SPL (in decibels). Watts are irrelevant - you can't hear watts - and there are plenty of 500/800/etc watt speakers won't play half as loud as other 200 watt speakers, because they are not as efficient.

 

Come back with some speaker and amplifier suggestions if you want more help in this area.

[paulears]

We need to keep this one simple, the OP isn't (I suspect) very technical and is going to get confused.

 

metroman - the specification might well sound great, but what is certain is that many of us would think this system will sound simply dreadful - so much so, that we'd never use it ourselves. However, you could think it sounds wonderful? Have you ever been to one of those wedding 'discos' where they play a little system quite quietly while you chat, and it's ok as background music, but then when they turn it up, it gets horrible, harsh and sometimes painful? That's the problem with cheaper kit, it really doesn't sound very good.

 

In value for money terms, what this lady is selling is good value. That doesn't mean it's good to listen to? The problem is that as makes go, Phonic is not a brand that is known for quality of sound. They're reliable, and not bad - just the very cheap end. £150's worth. A pair of plastic 10" speakers? another £150ish - and 10" speakers won't have much in the way of bass for your tracks. The microphones are rubbish, horrible dull and VERY karaoke - yuk!

 

Put a decent mic with this kit would be £400ish brand new with a full guarantee. £200 sounds too much, to me.

 

We hear the hire thing all the time - but if you hired a system, form maybe £50 - just to try, you might discover it sounds pretty good - and if you want repeat bookings, a horrible PA is not going to help, is it?

 

Also - you say you're just starting off. what happens if you don't enjoy it (or worse still, then punters don't?) Wasted money!

 

I know a band locally who had a really good PA system, but had real problems getting decent engineers to mix for them. When it needed replacing, they didn't bother, hiring in a PA and op for each gig. Sure - 25% of their income gets wiped out, but they don't need transport, don't need to pay an engineer and don't have depreciation, storage and repairs. That's why we often suggest hire.

 

It's obviously up to you - but many of us simply walk out when we hear low quality sound, so you can't blame us for not wishing to inflict it on you!

 

Best of luck

Paul

[Bobbsy]

+1 on most of what Paulears said but with one addition. Some of the earlier Phonic mixer offerings were NOT ever reliable, suffering from some pretty serious power supply issues. At best, this made them prone to failure and, at worst, some I've taken apart were downright unsafe. I haven't had the displeasure of opening up any of their newer mixers but hear they've improved a bit.

 

Renting a few times before a purchase is a good idea. You'll soon start to hear the differences between brands if you try a number of different rigs and work out what sound good for your voice and style.

 

Finally, as has been said, don't skimp on the microphones. Prosound will give an ample demonstration of the "garbage in, garbage out" principle. Something by Shure or Sennheiser is a much safer bet and should serve you for many years to come.

 

Bob

[MarkBarl]

One of the things that you don't mention is a budget. I would second the notion that you need to have a good microphone to start with. Any chance of making it sound good with budget gear needs a good input. The SM58 as mentioned should be fine for this. For the other parts, you can either go the mixer amp/passive speakers route or mixer and powered speakers (The amplifier is in the speaker rather than the mixer) Also, think about what else you might need such as foldback speaker, mic stand & speaker stands.

[TonyMitchell]

@metroman810 - on the subject of SM58s, beware of buying one from online auction sites, there are a huge amount of fakes out there. In my book, anyone selling new 58s for less than ~£70 ex vat has some explaining to do, as they can't be making any money in the process. Also beware of secondhand ones too, as some of the counterfeiters are now advertising their wares as "secondhand & boxed, in excellent condition", to help justify their low price.

[Chris Beesley]

What is your location? If you can update this we may be able to provide some information on suggested sources close to you where you can demo the gear first.

[metroman810]

Firstly, thank you all very much for your vast wisdom . At least now I have an idea of what mike to buy .

In answer to some of your questions I live in the west mids / black country area.

My budget will prob be around 500 to start , and then add to my equipment along the way .

To be honest everyone that hears me sing a Neil Diamond track has always said WOW , I,m

not a natural perfomer so it makes me embarrassed to say this ** laughs out loud **.

To hire some equipment would be acceptable in theory , but as I said earlier there is no way

I would even contimplate trying to get a booking without being 100% sure of my sound and what I was doing .

I can understand how easily it would be to make myself look like a total a$$ .

I thought to myself , get some decent gear , have a practice, sort my backing tracks out , go look for the odd pub booking .

I was of the notion I might drop onto a singer giving up the idea and grab his equipment .

What do you guys think.

[ChazHS]

Have you considered going down the active speaker route? Makes everything much easier.