Al Krow

Thanks for that. What's your current band line up and I'd be very interested what you're using for the rest of the PA in terms of speakers and IEM kit (transmitters / receivers and earpieces).

It's a good question - I was going for something around the RCF M18 ballpark at the outset, but fine with paying a bit more if the functionality / usability makes it worthwhile. I guess ideally <£600 for a desk. Just offloaded my little A&H Zed 10FX on fleabay within a couple of days of listing it (and before I'd got around to even listing it on BC!) so I'm actually under a bit of pressure now to come off the fence and make a decision. Current front runner for my 4-piece band is probably still the Zoom Livetrack L8, which looks neat, has a good feature set and is pretty affordable.

But has a pretty hefty price tag, ooof! Once you start taking tablets and routers into the mix that does increase effective size / eliminates the convenience of a one-stop desk but agreed the RCF M18 is definitely an alternative option to think about here.

And for less than half the price of the PreSonus and Studiomaster mixers, this from Behringer also looks like it ticks a lot of boxes not least in terms of value for money:

Much more modest for me at £50 used: my little Zoom B1-4. 45 bespoke patches (with 5 "clean" tones in between for transition) which have been a lot of fun to put together and tweak plus led lit tuner provides me with a perfectly adequate standalone gigging board which can slip into my gig bag. Drum machine and headphone amp for home practice is perfect. (There's also a looper, but I find it a bit limited so tend not to use it).

Just come across the PreSonus StudioLive 16.0.2 desk. This also looks really good. It's in the same price bracket as the StudioMaster Digilive 16, but with greater direct controls. Effectively the same number of aux outputs as on the Studiomaster unit (i.e. 6) but configured as 2 monitor plus 4 aux. Dunno if any folk are using PreSonus kit with their bands?

Haha, sorry! I meant my post was on the wrong thread and I've since reposted it on the right one. But yeah - be good if we can keep the focus of discussion on here to compact mixer desks 😄

Another superb performance @doc40hz! And such a lot of talent in the same family!

Yeah for sure - it got enough "likes" didn't it? Haha! Also added @AdrianP's @Tim2291's @briansbrew's and @matski's BBs to the wall of shame whilst I was at it.

Fixed 😊 And that just goes to prove that we all have different tastes - wouldn't the world be a boring place if we didn't? 😁

Same here - I tried hard over two separate attempts to bond with a BB735A but it just didn't click tonally for me, despite being a fantastic piece of kit on paper and actually the same, in the end, with a BB NE2. The passive BBs I've had, have all been great. Obviously it's a personal thing but, for me, in order of preference would be my BB P35 (a little too heavy for me unfortunately), followed by a BB 1025 (loved this bass!) and a BB 425, which had a serious kick-ass punch. Having said that, I've ended up with an active BB 2005 as one of just two "keeper" regular gigging basses - the other one being my Elrick Evo5 which I know it's heresy on this thread to say, would be my first choice but it's a lot more ££ than the BB 2005 so I'd kinda hope that it would be a step up. it would be gone from my herd if it wasn't! The BB 2005 is a great piece of kit and just a delight to "wear": I've not come across such a beautifully balanced bass with literally zero neck dive. Its weak point is its preamp, but I've plans to upgrade that (maybe to John East?) and I suspect at which point it will then be giving my Elrick a run for its money!

What proportion of pro bands are using IEM set ups these days? Was at a Level 42 concert on Friday and thet were using an "old fashioned" stage monitor set up, so it got me thinking about this question.

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Bass Gallery - heat treatment? Maybe worth giving them a call.

It does look good! But is there any noticeable latency on a digital mixer vs an analogue one?

Haha! I'll take it that it wasn't entirely (or even a little bit) positive then 😁 Stereo IEMs came up a little while back on this thread. Given that FoH is not going to be stereo, why would you typically want to be hearing the band setup in stereo rather than getting either a tailored or full band mono mix?

What do you think is the main source of difference in sound quality between rehearsal and gig?

@Phil Starr just seen your post on the IEM Bible thread and going for something decent that doesn't break the bank for bandmates is very much a quest I'm on too. Guess that shouldn't surprise given our RCF 310A shared history, haha! Just pulling you onto here, in case the Xvive U4s prove to be a decent compromise solution with the ability to upgrade down the line. Seem to be getting pretty good feedback from users so far.

Is that your current favourite on board pre? Prefer it over something like a John East Uni-Pre?

My Elrick Evo5, which I bought off @Sibobof this parish 18 months back, has been quite a revelation for me: it's pretty much blown away several other basses I never thought I would move on and has become my first choice gigging bass. So a "budget" Cort Elrick has definitely got my interest and @haimesyexperience with his, suggests it could be quite a treat. If one comes up used (in white, please, haha) I'll be at the head of the queue! Just also seen the Basstheworld review of the Cort A5 Ultra Ash with Fishman Fluence pups - damn that's a tasty neck-through! Cort seem to be seriously upping their game and parking their tanks squarely on the lawns of the likes of Ibanez and, dare I say, Yamaha?

@EBS_freak@Phil Starr with something like the Zoom L8, as the outputs are headphone-out rather than aux out, would I be correct in thinking the band could dispense with something like a Behringer P2 for wired IEM amplification?

Thanks Dave - what UHF set up did Dawn previously have and what was the hassle factor she was experiencing with them?

Interested in getting your experience of the Xvive U4 system as the transmitter/receiver for a wireless IEM set up. Seem to be mostly very positive comments online including low latency, although some have had interference issues given that it's operating at the congested 2.4 Ghz frequency. The latter could be an issue for us given that both singers are now also using wireless mics. The attractions for me are compact footprint and not outrageously expensive plus ability to have multiple receivers per transmitter combined with up to 6 channels. So should be relatively straightforward to have one transmitter --> several receivers for full band mix and then, if needed, other individual transmitters --> vocal heavy mix or bass heavy mix etc. Anyone using them and able to recommend? Anyone had them and were disappointed and have swapped them out for another system?

Just come across this - StudioMaster Digilive 16. Does look good, if a bit more spendy. Combines many of the benefits of the RCF M18 without needing a separate tablet to control. Going to be more than what my 4-piece crew currently will need, but may be of interest to others on the forum.