EBS_freak

Top post for me.

OK, from just being a player point of view, go self employed. You'll have to pay class 2 NIC and obviously be taxed on the earnings. The plus side is that you get tax relief on tools and expenses - e.g. mileage, basses, amps, mobile phone costs, insurance, etc... etc... Paying tax can be good because it gives you tax relief on your whole income if you start buying stuff - you can end up with a rebate at the end of the year. But remember... selling stuff also has an implication... With regards to being a business, you could have one person that runs the band as the business and pays the others as contractors... There is a disadvantage to this.... so.... OR you could all form a business with you as directors. Advantage of this is that you can pay yourself dividends which is more tax efficient. HOWEVER, make sure you draw up a a shareholders agreement that stipulates that if a member of the band no longer plays in the band, they have to relinquish the shares. Nobody likes a squatter expecting dividends. I'm not sure of how much money you are expected to earn but you may want to be wary of the VAT threshold. You may want to deliberately stay beneath that. There's ways around this but I'm not qualified to advise on this. In short, get yourself an accountant - they may seem expensive but they will save you far more than you will pay them. Hope this helps. Oh - and do your books as you go along. Much easier than trying to do it at the end of the year...

Going a little OT but in short, I can't see 2.4 causing you any problem... And given the fact that people are generally shifting to the 5ghz spectrum to utilise the high speed advantages that offers, I suspect the problem is, let's say, not going to get worse than it already is.

Agreed - routers should be configured on channels 1, 6 or 11 as they are the only channels that have no overlap frequency wise. Ideally you should be avoiding any frequency crossover by choosing a free channel but assuming your transmitter and receiver in close proximity, your signal power between the two devices *should* be more powerful than the ambient RF so your connection will hold over the other RF. Yes, the risk is there but in my experience, it's not really a problem. I've run ch38, 70 and 2.4ghz channels concurrently for years and 38 has never failed me, 70 has the odd issue (mostly due to venue microphones so a little co-ordination with yourself and the venue is required) and 2.4Ghz once as described at the TV studio. As an aside, high end wireless units also use encryption not only to safeguard the transmission payload, but the presence of an encryption key on the transmission ensures any rogue RF is rejected by the receiver (as the keys won't match). Of course, these units tend to be on Ch38 or other regulated channels though.

And here's me thinking that vanderklay is everybody's new beau.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1431379072' post='2770785'] Thanks! So the mic as well as the wireless part is good? Time to break out the CC again... [/quote] Yes. It's a comparable to your standard dynamic mic you'd get. It's no Heil PR35 capsule but then again, most wireless mic capsules aren't.

This wifi talk is true but given that bigredx has been using his Sony unit at gigs without problems, it stands to reason that the mic will be similarly without problem. Conversely, the Sony build is better built than mics in the competing pricerange. I think that the stories of wifi interference within hotels etc are greatly exaggerated. Over 500 gigs in hotels and function venues in the last 3 years alone - I've only had problems once - in a TV studio that was running 8 wifi access points and over 50 channels of wireless. RF tastic!

Even though the scribble strips on digital desks are cool, the masking tape solution is far quicker! But yeah, the A&H scribble strips, I love them. As long as you don't require to change them every gig!

Spent last night listening on headphones. Sublime.

BBNE2 - dammit, shouldn't have sold it.

For me, his approach to bass lines is very much like McCartney, a melody in themselves. Every time I listen to Abba, its like being given a lesson in pop perfection, as a group, including the peripheral musicians involved, they have to be in my top 3 songwriters ever.

The man behind those wonderful ABBA lines :-( http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article20762692.ab

Sony is great at the price, the only other digital mic I would recommend without going into silly money is the Sennheiser D1 - but you'd be able to get 2 Sonys for the price of that.

Dood - have you new 64s landed yet?

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1430518997' post='2762351'] The Behringer x-air range is about to be solidly thumped by the Soundcraft Ui range,sonically and financially. Got mine waiting to be picked up. Will report later! [/quote] Its roots of the UI were in the SM Pro uMix (SM Pro were bought out - probably because Soundcraft needed a competing rack mixer quick!!) so I'm sceptical as to how much Soundcraft is actually in there...

Midas M32 <> Behringer X32.

Here you go. Cheap as chips. http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/products/15079-solwise-poe-epe1212 And for a switch with 4x PoE ports, http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/products/15335-tp-link-tl-sg1008p/

Ps why don't you plug your AKG into the back of your ME1 so you can go wireless?

Never played with the AKG - it's onboard DSP intrigues me though. As for cabling the ME1, first thing to do is get a PoE injector to get rid of the PSU so you can have a single Ethernet cable. If you are running multiple ME1s it may be worthwhile investing in a PoE capable switch... OR maybe but a simple hub and an injector for each ME1 and power them using a daisy chain between each injector. Certainly save a lot of clutter around your ME1s. To me, the ME1 kinda became obsolete in a band situation when a&h opened up multiple iPad support to auxes when all the competition was doing it. I think the ME1 really comes into its own when you are daisy chaining them for a mega large monitor count - for say an orchestra - because obviously you haven't got enough auxes to cater to that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvzEVazR4Uo

No worries - the SE215s will do the job... when you get some new multi driver customs, prepare for your socks to be blown off! No amp on stage = win.

[quote name='intime-nick' timestamp='1430308769' post='2760069'] that certainly sways things a bit !!! cheers for the link - my credit card is getting nervous.... [/quote] No problem - just do it. You'll never want to play without them again. With a DL32R, an EW300 and I presume some decent in-ears, you'll be enjoying a fabulous mix. Even the IE4s which I believe are included are not too bad - if you don't need them, you'll probably get a few quid on eBay for them!

[quote name='intime-nick' timestamp='1430308426' post='2760063'] thanks very much for the info - greatly appreciated. i'll look further at the EW300 as we won't be using some of the features on the PSM900 but i do like the replaceable pack antenna on the Shure....swings and roundabouts as you say. we're still getting used to the DL32R but so good so far - it's certainly a step up from our old analogue desk !! cheers [/quote] I used to be concerned about the antennas on the Sennheiser... but having had 5 packs in action for some time, (alongside the Shure packs) - the antenna not being replaceable no longer bothers me. They are a lot more flexible than the Shure offerings. You couldn't snap them or bend them - unless you were really intentionally trying. Having looked at the replacement - it's a case of taking the unit apart and unsoldering two tags and soldering on a new aerial. Not that difficult... but certainly not as easy as the Shure pack... but then again, the likelihood of it happening I think is very, very minimal!

Just done a quick google, my friends at mercury - [url="http://www.mercury-av.com/sales/sennheiser-ew300-iem-g3-complete-system-654-0.html"]http://www.mercury-a...stem-654-0.html[/url] - £675!! Maybe the price drop is to do with getting in competition with the PSM300? I have to say the RF section of the Sennheiser is superior to Shure PSM300 - in that its got discrete tuning instead of being fixed to groups and channels. But then again, unless you are running a load of RF, would you be bothered by this. Anyway, I digress. In short, the EW300 is pro and the PSM300 is prosumer. The cost PSM900 is currently just under a grand. When I bought my PSM900s I think I paid just under 800 - they were near enough damn it the same price as the EW300s... but given Mercury's price... well, I'm not sure I would plump the PSM900s now! In short, if you go with the PSM900s or the EW300s, you'll be over the moon with either of them.