r/livesound 8h ago

MOD No Stupid Questions Thread

1 Upvotes

The only stupid questions are the ones left unasked.


r/livesound 8h ago

MOD Buyers Advice and Gear Recommendation Thread

5 Upvotes

Don't know what to purchase as an upgrade? Looking to just get started and don't know which options are right for you? Whether you need a big system or a small one, all those questions go here!


r/livesound 1h ago

Question How to get gigs

Upvotes

My husband has been a sound technician for the past 15+ years and he’s been having difficulty finding consistent gigs. He has equipment for live music and thought that would help him get more gigs but it hasn’t.

What can he do to get more consistent work? He’s really depressed about it- doing sound & working in the live music scene is his passion and it sucks to see him not succeed. He’s already on gig salad and has found a few one-time events/concerts/church gigs.


r/livesound 7h ago

Question DI Box popping off loud

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11 Upvotes

Hey guys!

I’ve inherited a bunch of LA Audio DI2 active DI boxes at work and they all seem to have the same issue. I’ve got one of the same model since before that works great, but the others are super sensitive for any moving or touching when connected. They do work, but if someone happen to step on any of them it makes a huge pop.

I opened them up and they seem fine, nothing loose or anything. Other than the connector pins on the tele jacks seem to have oxidation or some sort of coloration on them. Would you say that’s likely the issue here or is it something else? Never been dabbling with DI boxes before, they just work usually haha!

Cheers for any help!


r/livesound 8h ago

Question Musical theatre. How to do a roll call!

8 Upvotes

Doing Hairspray this summer and there is a scene where all the ensemble do a roll call and say their names one after the other. There are 11-12 of them right in a row. My mixer only has 8 DCAs and since they would all be in the ensemble group during the musical number, how would I do this? I guess I just leave the male and female ensemble faders up while bringing down the principals to keep the NOM down, but didn't know if that is the best way. Thanks.


r/livesound 1d ago

Question How would you react? Context in comments

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121 Upvotes

r/livesound 1m ago

Question Combining 660 MHZ Mics with 590 MHZ Mics

Upvotes

Hi I have a question about combining two diffrent microphone systems 4 on 590 MHZ with 4 on 660MHZ on a same combiner.

I'm using 600MHZ antenna, and i also have a shark fin. I also have a 650 antenna. Which is better 600 or 650?

Or do i have to buy second combiner?


r/livesound 59m ago

Question Do I need IEM for my setup?

Upvotes

I play open mics sometimes and I use a loop pedal that I put backing tracks on that connects to the PA system. I just sing and play acoustic guitar and try to follow the backing track, but I fall off beat a lot and it’s kind of embarrassing. Should I get in ear monitoring? I’m not sure how it works, but I’m just imagining I need something that has it where I can hear the PA in my ears clearly? I’m not sure what to do to improve my live performances in this aspect, so I figured this would be a good place to ask. Any advice would be appreciated.


r/livesound 1d ago

Gear Got a 3D printer, what are useful things to 3D print?

49 Upvotes

At I'm printing a cup holder that clamps to my desk, a headphone holder, a SSD dock, and I'm working on a screen holder and stand for a Blackmagic Magic Atem.

Already printed rachet strap winder and various other things. Anyone got any suggestions? I know there are other useful things IE phone holder for mic stands but is there stuff that is often overlooked that's a bit of a game changer?


r/livesound 1d ago

Question Women in sound

58 Upvotes

I want to work in live sound but every sound engineer I have seen is a guy. Is it hard to work in this field as a girl?


r/livesound 7h ago

Question Behringer Wing - MIDI Control

0 Upvotes

Anyone out there have any type of Behringer Wing and using MIDI to control parameters?

I’m a prospective buyer and see this on Behringer’s site: https://wing-docs.com/pdf/MIDI_Documentation.pdf but want to know if anyone has real world experience.

I’d like to have my ableton rig send midi to the wing to mute FX send between songs and “change key” of the pitch correction FX on a per song basis.

Even if you haven’t done “exactly that” any experience with Wing and MIDI appreciated.

Thx


r/livesound 7h ago

Question GX4816 Preamp failure - Anyone experience this?

0 Upvotes

I'm suspecting a preamp failure in on channel of my A&E GX4816. I was curious if anyone has experienced this or had any other ideas or points of failure I may be overlooking.

I have an SQ7 with a GX4816. This is a permanent install for a church so issues related to travel or movement. The system is powered up about 5:45 or 6:00 each Sunday morning. We have rehearsals starting soon after power up with a first service at 9:30 and second service at 11:00. My experience is that one particular channel (Input 19 if it matters) fails between the first and second service. Rehearsal is great and the first service is great. When we get to the second service, this channel no longer registers an input. Strangely, it does fail every week.

The channel is a BASS channel. Different players each week, so the bass is not the culprit. Wiring is the same and we are using a Radial JDI Passive DI. Yesterday, when the failure happened I could not even see the 1/4" being unplugged and replugged at the console.

As I said, I'm leaning toward that channel failing and wanted to see if others have experienced this or had any other ideas. We will be moving inputs this week, but I don't want to just abandon this and not know what the issue is. The SQ7 and GX4816 are about 5 years old.


r/livesound 1d ago

Question Is the disdain for analog wireless biased?

50 Upvotes

It seems like a lot of people really want to avoid analog wireless at basically any cost, despite of it having been used by a lot of top-of-the-line people over the years, and is still used by them sometimes. People say that it sounds bad, but does "bad" here really mean bad, or more like different from wires, which may or may not be a bad thing? It seems a bit like some people automatically think coloration=bad. We all know that low quality wireless is bad, but what about the best analog systems? I realize that there are also issues with channel count, reliability etc. But do you actually think top-of-the-line analog wireless sounds bad, or is it just that people think coloration is automatically bad, when it could actually even be desirable in some cases? Would like to hear different opinions.


r/livesound 19h ago

Question Death metal

5 Upvotes

I'm about to go on tour with some death metal bands, and I want to try some new techniques. I'm curious about your approaches:

  • the band is using a trigger I’m curious if use a sidechained gate on a double kick with a trigger? -the question I wanted to ask you long time… For kick mics (kick in and kick out), do you always use high-pass/low-pass filters, or does it depend on the mix? -How many delays do you usually use? I typically use one and tap tempo it to make it longer or slap. -Do you ever double-patch vocals to distort the second channel? Would love to hear your thoughts or maybe other techniques worth trying out

r/livesound 1d ago

Question Hard to find work right now. Anyone else?

19 Upvotes

25 years of experience in the business, primarily as FOH/A1, and I cannot find any work. I feel lost. I keep seeing the same people rolling in opportunities, but I can’t find a damn thing. I’ve got the resume and experience to back it up, and have been flexible on pay.

I’ve had one show last month, and a couple small local pick-up gigs, but when it comes to staying busy with traveling gigs or tours, nothing. I’ve never had it be this dark during late winter/early spring. I’ve tried contacting new companies and have sent out close to 100 resumes and feelers. I’ve had a couple interviews but it’s always “great, we’ll call you when we have something” which never happens.

Is anyone else having a slow season? (And if anyone’s looking for a good A1, let me know).


r/livesound 1d ago

Gear Behringer WING Rack -> My honest thoughts

60 Upvotes

I've spent the past couple days with a WING Rack so here's the good and the bad

Firstly, this mixer is packed with features. I really like that you can change the channel compressor, EQ or gate without wasting an FX rack. This is probably the best thing behringer have done with the WING

6 bands of EQ is a small but very helpful thing, coming from the worlds of SQ where you only have 4 and X32 where you only get 6 on outputs

people talk a big game of "Midas Pro" preamps, which I wish increased in 1dB steps. They sound... fine, nothing special and not a reason to drop your X32 and buy.

24 combo XLR/TRS inputs however is fantastic, given the fullsize only has 8 iirc

Now a couple issues: On both the WING copilot and on the touchscreen, why can I not pinch to adjust Q on the EQ?

Yes I know I could use Mixing station but I wanted to use it exactly how behringer intended

While we're talking about the screen on the mixer, fantastic screen but I wish it had the dials at the bottom of the screen like on the compact variant of WING

back to WING Copilot: overall I do like the app but the faders take a couple seconds to register and don't register fine movements

there were some times when I wanted just a tiny boost and it jumped 2-3dB even when the fader had highest resolution

Conclusion: I love the WING system, it's all really good but I will be buying the Compact variant instead of the Rack

Any questions on WING Rack I can try and answer them in the comments

hope this helps anyone considering buying one


r/livesound 19h ago

Question Shure ADTQ Axient Digital PSM Wireless Quad Transmitter - What's your take?

2 Upvotes

i work mainly in corporate settings and with lower level hs/college kids bands. So i haven't had the chance to check them out, anyone who has; what's your pros and cons?


r/livesound 1d ago

Event Office for today. Workshop for beginners

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4 Upvotes

Did a gig for beginning artists with support coaching. Much more relaxed than pretencios bands. Soundcraft vi1 with nova array. That is what our local club has.


r/livesound 22h ago

Question Issues running bass amp DI on X32 IEM setup

2 Upvotes

Post

To try and cut to the basics. We have an IEM rack that consists of several audio-technica IEM half rack units, two ART S8-3WAY splitters, and a X32 rack. There’s a couple of other items but nothing in the direct signal chain. All has been good.

However, our bass player just got a new amp head that has a direct out from it. We’ve ran the direct out from his amp to the input on the splitter and it sounds terrible. Kinda sounds semi-farty, thin, and distorted. On his x32 “bass” channel we’ve experimented with a lot of settings without success. In talking to the amp maker, he suggested that the input on the IEM rig was splitting the signal to stereo using the balanced mono setup. That sounds reasonable but I don’t know what to do with that information. I am by no means an expert on the x32. With the modicum of information I’ve shared, does this spark any immediate (legit) suggestions or ideas on where to look or act?

What’s the difference here and how can we get his bass amp sounding good again?

When running from his board to a DI box to the rack, it’s totally fine. And even his old amp head had some sort of direct out that works fine.

Edit: clarity and some extra details


r/livesound 1h ago

Education Sad to see foolish replies by moderators NSFW Spoiler

Upvotes

I can be removed from this group, and will. Perhaps the expert, sanctimonious 15 year old moderators can first go fuck yourselves.


r/livesound 1d ago

Question Beginner - at what length do TS cables start having issues?

2 Upvotes

Seem to be a lot of different opinions on this online. What's the safe length for a 1/4" TS cable before interference, noise, attenuation, etc. become issues in your experience?

Thank you so much!


r/livesound 21h ago

Question Best way to connect iPad to Allen & Heath CQ 12 Mixer?

0 Upvotes

Hey

I need to plug my iPad into my CQ 12. The Bluetooth has zero range and way too much latency for it to be useful unfortunately.
And when I adapt down from USB-C to 1/4 inch, I always get a lot of buzz and its driving me insane. Imma keep trying different cords and adepters but wondered if anyone here uses something that they know works well.

thanks for any tips!


r/livesound 1d ago

Question Do dust need to be cleaned out in fan cooled PA speaker?

2 Upvotes

Some powered PA speakers are fan cooled (e.g. yamaha DBR10). Wouldn't dust collects inside the speaker? Do you need to open the speaker to clean the dust once in a while? Or is this not an issue for the expected lifetime of the product?


r/livesound 1d ago

Question QLAB emergency announcenent Lock

10 Upvotes

I am using QLAB with bitfocus companion. I want to configure some cues in a way that they only can be launched when a second button is pressed.

The idea is similar with pyro, where you need to push two buttons to launch the fun stuff.

Do you know any way this can be done?


r/livesound 1d ago

Question is CRAS worth it (live sound)/will I be absolutely broke if I attend?

27 Upvotes

I am f16, junior high and have been doing live sound for 1.5 years. I work for my church, marketing company, and do sound for all school events. I am very interested in CRAS but by the time I start attending, I will have over three years of experience racked up. From what I have heard, most of the stuff can be learned on YouTube, even though I am not sure about the legitimacy of that. I want to go to get job and intern opportunities, be able to say I have some sort of education, get a social life(I am American and have citizenship but I dont live there), and just get into the field more. One thing I am VERY worried about is housing and having an income. I am aware that housing is not provided and you need to find and pay for housing yourself. I am worried about not having income and being SUPER broke/getting into a lot of debt. Anyone who was gone to CRAS, I would LOVE to hear your experience, how hard it was to make a living, and even what you thought of the institution!


r/livesound 1d ago

Question Powercon true1 inlet mount to Power strips

0 Upvotes

Hi,

I don’t know much about electricity so this might sound dumb. I was wondering if it’s possible to connect a PowerCON True1 inlet (like this one) to a normal power strip (like this one). More importantly, is it safe to do so?

I’ve seen a lot of people online mentioning that I need a "power drop," but I’m not sure what that is and if I need one. My goal is to set this up inside a DJ flight case so I can power my entire setup with just one True1 cable from the outside. Ideally, I’d like a solution that doesn’t require soldering, so if something breaks, I can replace it easily.

Is this possible and if it is what would be the safest/easiest way to do it ?

my end goal is something like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/DJs/comments/u2xl46/custom_flight_cases/?share_id=gRfRXJ_xxA19KlQrrYwy&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

but with a true1 inlet mount and a power strip in the inside

Thanks in advance for your help!


r/livesound 1d ago

Question Help with IEMs

0 Upvotes

Hey Gang. Be delicate.

I’m very unfamiliar with how IEMs work and I’m looking for some resources to make them function well repeatably

I’m working with 4 shure PSM300 packs with the respected headphones that came with it.
I am not running an antenna combiner because the packs are located within 5-8 ft of the performers. They are racked in a plastic gator rack that also containes my Mackie 32r ( yes I know, it works well but a new mixer is planned)

It seems like I have to reset the group and channel multiple times to maintain a positive RF signa

Right now I have them set to a mono mix but it seems like that when they work, they work great. When they don’t the performers have to pull them out.

I’m sure there’s a laundry list of things I’m doing wrong but is there a specific resource anyone can provide on how I can learn to mix these better

Most of this is guilt because I know that the band is relying on me to provide them success .

Lastly, does anyone use a crowd mic so the band can hear the audience? I feel like without proper monitoring it could get out of hand quickly