Speakers For Live Music

I play folk music live (i.e. no big bass sound). I hate lugging my big speaker cabinets around. I was considering using home theater speakers instead, something like the bose 301s.

Can anyone shed some light on whether this would be a good idea or not? My amplifier puts out only 200 watts.
Thanks, Dan. Can you recommend any 8-inch models?

Jack - I would not recommend it but you could try it. You will need to be careful because your PA amp can blow your nice Bose speakers pretty easily. PA speakers are made to put up with abuse - home speakers are not made for that.

A good option would be to get some smaller, lighter PA speakers. They make some great, small PA speakers these days:

http://www.zzounds.com/cat--10-Inch-Main -PA-Speakers--2734

Here is the only 8 inch PA speaker I could find although I am sure there are others:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ELVZX190

2009-08-04 07:38:52 by Jack P

Directed by Derek Pike. Music off #39;Live From The Tape Deck#39; in stores now on Duck Down Music: bit.ly

I have a new computer with two soundcards. One is High-definition Audio integrated on the ASUS motherboard and the second is Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit PCI card. I use the SoundBlaster for a digitial audio input from my set-top box which allows me to hear audio from my TV, e.g. hear music broadcasted on MTV Hits channel. However, the music does not play on all of my speakers, it only plays stereo (left and right speaker, but no center, no subwoofer, no surround speakers). Music that is not played through the subwoofers lacks very much. Also all of my MP3 music is stereo only and Windows Media Player of Winamp play it on left & right speakers only. I have installed the latest driver from Creative Labs and I see I have Audio Console in my Control Panel. I switched the CMSS 3D on, but the music still does not get through the subwoofer. How do I enable bass redirection in Windows Vista for my SoundBlaster?

I may be wrong in this but I believe the SB Live is not fully supported in Vista. If I were you, I would just grab a newer and better card that will do what you want with much better sound. Get an X-Fi.

Otherwise, I would visit Creative Labs forums and ask around there about the Live card and Vista surround sound support.

2007-11-02 10:28:54 by Arhus

Price: $149.00

DJ parties of all sizes with your compatible iPad, iPod, or iPhone
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Perfect for beginners and seasoned pros alike

I am on a tight budget for my wedding and I was wondering how tacky it would be to set up speakers at our reception instead of having a dj or live band? We are already paying for musicians at the ceremony and we really can't afford a band for the reception. Also, if you have any other creative ideas for reception music I would love to hear them!

Not tacky at all.

We're doing the same for our July wedding. Hiring a DJ was going to cost an upwards of $800! We're renting all the equipment (speakers, amp, mics, etc) for $100! We'll then hook it up to our pre-mixed iPod (with a varitey of hundreds of songs, pre-loaded just for the wedding).

Cheap, exactly what we need, a great system, and no annoying DJ!

Just make sure that if you have specific songs you need played, that someone can do that for you. We'll be designating a family member to man the iPod for a few songs. The rest of the night it'll be on shuffle.

Good luck!

2009-04-07 15:13:08 by gobettygo

I am trying to record our live devotional music sessions each week using Audacity on a PC laptop. Our setup is pretty simple: we use a Behringer Xenyx 2442FX, 4 vocal mics (2 are used for instruments like harmonium and tabla), and 2 speakers.

I'm not quite sure how to connect my laptop to the mixer, and then use Audacity to record the live session. Could you please help me with this?

It is easy...just get a standard 3.5mm (headphone) to RCA cable:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produc t.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id =1021804&p_id=665&seq=1&form at=2

You can get these cables at Walmart or Radio Shack.

Connect the RCA ends to the mixer's "tape output" and the 3.5mm end to the soundcard line input (blue connector).

The sound may not be the best because many sound cards are not that great. You may want to invest in a USB audio interface if you want great recordings. This is the one I have and it works great:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--LEXALPHA

It comes with software and has professional 1/4 inch inputs like your mixer.

I have that same mixer - great mixer!

If you need any more help, my e-mail is in my profile - just click on "Daniel K"

2009-04-16 10:09:42 by Swaminathan V

I need to know what the difference is between the 2 types of technology when it comes to live sound band music. I had found a GLI Pro PVX9000 10,000 watt power amp DJ rack amp, thought this what we wanted to be able to support the sound wattage and improve the sound quality when we perform live in bars our type of music is old school rock, metal & heavy metal, but after talking to a bar owner who runs sound himself stated DJ equipment is unable to be used, why?

Angel - DJ and live sound equipment are not much different. I am a DJ and live sound guy and I use the same equipment for both. DJ amps and speakers can be used for live sound. A DJ mixer cannot be used for live sound (not enough mic inputs). The bar owner is partly right.

I would NOT recommend the GLI Pro amp though. There is a lot of cheaply made sound equipment that is marketed to DJ's that is pure junk. If you need a cheap power amp that is really well made:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHEP4000
I own three of these and they are super reliable and the sound is great!