FuNkShUi

Think thats from the "i bought it so you better believe im using it" school of thought

[quote name='roceci' timestamp='1469711652' post='3100546'] this guy's eyeballs bulging out as he did the Pickfords shuffle out to the van XD [/quote]

Ooooofff not much margin for error there Andy!! Good luck

No doubt it took a little fiddling to get it sounding good Bassjim, but i'm glad i put the time in. Not needing to take a bigger PA at all. Just the normal PA that we use every gig. Even before i had IEMs. And we all always help with loading in and packing down of it, as we all benefit from having it. (is that different for other band?? or is that another can of worms?) I agree with you about hanging onto the amp though, i'm still going to have one hanging around

Thats what i'm saying. 17 years and our PA's have never failed us. And we have had some far dodgier ones than the one we currently use!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1469632054' post='3099908'] Experimentation is key - get to grasps with what you have got before spending anything [/quote] Planning on setting up and having a good few hours to hone in a good sound as possible this weekend

Ah that's fair enough. Can understand where you're coming from.

Yup, that's the one. Cheers Russ

[quote name='roceci' timestamp='1469688623' post='3100259'] Having recently flipped over to using an X18, our biggest fear is forgetting to bring the iPad. That really would be a show stopper! [/quote] That would be a nightmare. Similar to forgetting the iPad charger because that app chews through charge. One thing though, incase you didn't know, it will still run if the app is off. Aslong as you don't have to make any changes, it'll still go. We set up for a practice, soundchecked, then left the ipad aside somewhere. 3 hours later, end of practice comes and we realise the ipad has lost charge and turned off! At what point i don't know, but it didn't stop it working.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1469688764' post='3100261'] We take a spare marquee and electricity generator to every gig including a fully stocked bar, tables and chairs etc, we set up two stages and take duplicate instruments for each tent plus a spare PA for each tent, come on you are being paid guys! [/quote] Fair enough. Time to up our game. Next investment will be an Articulated Lorry to carry all our extra gear.

We've got active monitors so that is what we would do. But we don't take a spare mixing desk So if the mixing desk goes, what then? We don't take spare P.A because like has been said, it's just too impractical. You say "you get paid to do a job"...yes and we do that job to the best of our ability. Our PA with lights and all the extra bits takes up the space in a transit van as it is. So whether we wanted to take more or not we couldn't, there's no room. Unless you think we should do two trips? Like i said, I've been gigging 17 years, and we've not ever had an issue where we couldn't finish the gig because the PA has completely blown up. Snapped strings and other minor issues- yes. But we can deal with them. If for some reason something did happen where we couldn't finish the gig, we wouldn't expect to be paid.

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1469645998' post='3100057'] Oh I'm not poo pooing IEM at all really. And the no amp thing looking pants was more tongue in cheek lol. I just think why not take both. Ok if a pa goes down it might be an issue where you still have a channel you could use it for vocals, again a backline depending on what size gig etc etc could get you through. Or maybe you can run the vocals through an instrument amp. Or if a smaller pub gig you may get away with no pa for vocals and go acoustic but the bass will still need an amp. And you can always do an instrumental or get the crowd to sing along etc. Can't just pack up because there's no singer. I know there all what ifs and with today's electrics less likely to happen but it still could. [/quote] I think the difference here is you're talking all ifs and buts. If the PA goes down I could have my amp, but what am I going to power if the PA has gone down anyway? Bottom line for me is this, we are primarily a wedding band, we've got good kit, and have to rely on that. Can't be finishing a set with no singer or asking the crowd to sing along instead. Doesn't work like that. Not for us anyway. We do our utmost to look after our kit, and if something does happen to blow up, there ain't a lot that can be done. My plan is eventually go straight into the desk and I'll take a DI pedal in my bag. Muzz how is it not practical for some situations? Do you use different PAs depending on the gig size? We have got our PA that we use in all our gigs. Might be overkill for some, but it looks the part, and that's what a volume slider is for right

Hahaha I was going to ask why he didn't just mix guitars in ears as well. Joe- you can get both types, wired and wireless. Wired is far cheaper to get a good working solution. I'm by no means an authority on this though. Check out the thread that's about 17 pages long titled "in ear monitors, help needed..." Or something along those lines. Plenty of good info and options in there! Like I said though, I'll bring them up next time

Yeh makes sense bud. I'm probably going to DI off my amp anyway until i can become more familiar with the Behringer X18. Its the UE900s, recommended by EBS_Freak. He's the man to speak to for info on in-ears, but i'll bring mine up next time for you to have a bash at them

I'll always keep one spare amp in the house too incase i dep for a friend or whatever, but IEMs are definitely the future for me

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1469633666' post='3099930'] Yeah the first bit is obvious. The second bit is not always a fact there's loads of great sounding bands that have plenty of on stage volume. I understand the concept but it just seems wrong. I know things are pretty reliable but what if something goes wrong, what if you find you monitoring goes down, what if the pa goes down and your in a situation where a backline could of got you through a gig? Etc etc I just think its a back up and as equipment is getting lighter its not so much of a pain. And you can always turn your backline down if its messing with the sound out front. So imo yeah you don't need an amp at all but might you need one maybe and bands with nothing on the stage look so boring lol. [/quote] Yeh EBS_Freak has pretty much said what i was going to say. I understand your "what ifs" , but to the same point i could say what if my amp broke or my speaker popped etc Might happen but cant take spares for everything. If the PA blew mid gig it'd be no vocals so pretty crap anyway! As for other bands having loads of onstage volume, thats fine too. I don't want to be one of them, i quite enjoy hearing things! The amount of times i've gone home after gigging with ringing in my ears is starting to get more frequent, and the thing with hearing is once it's gone it don't come back! And it definitely helps us with mixing out front too. Looks a bit pants? Fair enough. I doubt many people in the general audience at the weddings i play at would even notice there was no backline for the bass. And the ones who did notice would probably be clued in to what was happening. Are you playing in a band or jamming or anything? I advise you to give them a go. Really an eye opening experience to play with IEMs. This coming from someone who had previously never used them in 17 years of gigging.

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1469631219' post='3099898'] And just to add, I think this is a brilliant idea, it's got my rusty old cogs going like the clappers. The biggest inter-band moan we get is stage/backline volume. [/quote] Same here Lew. Which is what got my ass into motion in the first place. Welcome to come and try the In-Ears i have. An absolute revelation! Can't believe i hadn't tried them before. I'm slowly converting the rest of the band too. Eventually - no onstage volume!

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1469630905' post='3099896'] It'll be fine, all Hi-Z means is high impedance, like the input on a guitar/bass amp is, so if you plug a guitar/bass into it you'll get a stronger signal. Plugging guitars / Basses into line level inputs (which is what the other inputs are) just results in a quieter signal requiring more gain... [/quote] Gotcha, cheers Lew