new HD rig day

[mortega76]

How does it sound with FW 11.00? Do you still need to do all the crazy PEQ blocking stuff? I, for one really like 11.00... much bigger sounding...

 

[stratotone]

I gigged several times with the same sort of rig - Axe FX Standard into a QSC HPR powered 500 watt speaker. Went one out to my powered speaker, other to FOH direct. Few things to consider...

1) If you can, put the powered speaker in front of you like a monitor. You won't need to run as much volume, your stage volume will be less and your soundguy can make you sound better. the QSC was shaped so it was like a monitor wedge when laid down.

2) At soundcheck, get FOH and hear what it sounds like through the PA. Even though you are sending the sound guy a great tone, he may butcher it with EQ/post fx.

3) I hope you aren't the type who likes to tweak settings on the amp at a gig like I am, because you will be in HELL stuck to the same general settings all night. It's too hard to really alter a patch/settings on a Axe FX live - be sure you have it set where you want it.

Pete

 

[Spaceboy]

I think most people that are using the Mackie HD1531s are going for them for the same reasons I've been looking into it, because we don't always play venues with decent PAs. Most small 'alternative' (metal, hardcore, blah blah, etc) bands get booked at crappy venues, house shows, etc, where we would need a FRFR monitor that can fill a room the way a traditional cabinet could, instead of behaving as a personal monitor and relying on the resident PA. The Mackie HD1531s seem like the most affordable solution for a 3-way 15" speaker that can push out enough power to be used independently from the FOH PA, in cases where you need the versatility. I reckon it could be places on it's side and used as a floor monitor for larger stages. but I'm not really sure about the angle. I'm not meaning to speak for noon_pwn here though, maybe his reasons are different, but that's the impression I get from the recent popularity of these monitors.

 

[noob_pwn]

I think most people that are using the Mackie HD1531s are going for them for the same reasons I've been looking into it, because we don't always play venues with decent PAs. Most small 'alternative' (metal, hardcore, blah blah, etc) bands get booked at crappy venues, house shows, etc, where we would need a FRFR monitor that can fill a room the way a traditional cabinet could, instead of behaving as a personal monitor and relying on the resident PA. The Mackie HD1531s seem like the most affordable solution for a 3-way 15" speaker that can push out enough power to be used independently from the FOH PA, in cases where you need the versatility. I reckon it could be places on it's side and used as a floor monitor for larger stages. but I'm not really sure about the angle. I'm not meaning to speak for noon_pwn here though, maybe his reasons are different, but that's the impression I get from the recent popularity of these monitors.

Well the HD1531 also gives you the benefit of feeling like you have a stack behind you which makes some people much more comfortable. Not so much me, I prefer to rely on foldbacks but it helps. It's also perfect for band rehersals and is great for dialing in tones because it's so transparent and thumps like a real cab. It's also beneficial for the reason mentioned of playing shitty venues and will fill the room with a replica of what comes through (or is supposed to come through) the PA which is much more desirable from the standpoint of separation and a band's live mix.
Now onto larger stages, I do play them from time to time and I've tried having the 1531 on the floor, I've also tried having my own wedge. Because my band moves around a lot on stage this screws with how well everyone else can hear themselves (and how well i can hear everyone else) through what you could call the foldback mix. So this option didn't really work for us but may work well for some people who sort of stay at their one "station" for the whole show

 

[noob_pwn]

How does it sound with FW 11.00? Do you still need to do all the crazy PEQ blocking stuff? I, for one really like 11.00... much bigger sounding...

I got rid of almost all my PEQ and filtering with 11.00, sounds much more natural and sits better in the mix with less work

 

[noob_pwn]

I gigged several times with the same sort of rig - Axe FX Standard into a QSC HPR powered 500 watt speaker. Went one out to my powered speaker, other to FOH direct. Few things to consider...

1) If you can, put the powered speaker in front of you like a monitor. You won't need to run as much volume, your stage volume will be less and your soundguy can make you sound better. the QSC was shaped so it was like a monitor wedge when laid down.

2) At soundcheck, get FOH and hear what it sounds like through the PA. Even though you are sending the sound guy a great tone, he may butcher it with EQ/post fx.

3) I hope you aren't the type who likes to tweak settings on the amp at a gig like I am, because you will be in HELL stuck to the same general settings all night. It's too hard to really alter a patch/settings on a Axe FX live - be sure you have it set where you want it.

Pete

1) see my post above
2) agreed! and I have experienced this. This is why I don't put any PEQ on my DI signal. I try to give the sound guy what he is used to getting
3) I'm not like that at all. I play a pretty much fixed setlist. I have 2 banks of 4 tones, each with CC's for things like delays. We play in 2 tunings so I have a bank tweaked for each tuning. The most I'll do is adjust the low or high end response on the mackie to suit the stage and leave it at that.

 

[noob_pwn]

cool.... bet it sounds cool, how do you mic it up for a live show though ? or do you just the mackie has a stage monitor and go direct to the pa ?

Just realised i didn't answer this question, I run 2 signals, one from each of the XLR outputs on the axefx. One goes to the desk, the other to the mackie. No mics required

 

[The Hoff]

Looks good man. Why not go Axe if you're touring. The consistency and reliability is just unbeatable.

Like your music too btw

 

[noob_pwn]

Very nice! If I were you I would change the heavy "hard" rack with a light rackbag. You would save some weight and you could even carry it easily with a single arm.

I've thought about it and it would get totally destroyed in our trailer

 

[thiswaythatway]

So you're not getting a stale artificial sound in any way without the tubes pushing your tone? It's just hard to accept that it can sound better now without the 2/90/2

Just my opinion here but after playing the Axe-2 in a FRFR setup, i really didn't like it, at least compared to a real good tube halfstack. Just sounded thin, no balls.

 

[stratotone]

I'm not meaning to speak for noon_pwn here though, maybe his reasons are different, but that's the impression I get from the recent popularity of these monitors.

The main reason people use these types of powered monitors vs a tube power amp and cab is because you can utilize the cab emulations better - a FR is a blank canvas, or at least a neutral one compared to a tube power amp and a 4x12.

Pete

 

[Spaceboy]

I'm not meaning to speak for noon_pwn here though, maybe his reasons are different, but that's the impression I get from the recent popularity of these monitors.

The main reason people use these types of powered monitors vs a tube power amp and cab is because you can utilize the cab emulations better - a FR is a blank canvas, or at least a neutral one compared to a tube power amp and a 4x12.

Pete

I meant that to be an explanation behind the reason someone might choose the Mackie over floor monitors that were suggested.

 

[skoora]

What I'm mostly shocked by is that there's live music in Sydney

How do you get loud enough to drown out the gamblers?

 

[noob_pwn]

So you're not getting a stale artificial sound in any way without the tubes pushing your tone? It's just hard to accept that it can sound better now without the 2/90/2

Just my opinion here but after playing the Axe-2 in a FRFR setup, i really didn't like it, at least compared to a real good tube halfstack. Just sounded thin, no balls.

The mackie sounds massive and in all honesty, from my experience has more warmth that the 2/90/2 had because the 2/90/2 gives such little colouration and sounds stiff (albeit very big and rounded). It makes the most use of the axefx and for that reason in my opinion gets the best results. I haven't had good experiences with smaller monitors, they usually sound tinny and whenever I have to do a fly-in show i experience this with the house monitors.

Keep in mind I'm using this for metal, I have 2 high gain tones, one low gain heavily effected clean and a crunch with lots of reverb that I barely use.

I'll have a bit of free time in a few weeks so I may be able to throw together some demos then.

 

[noob_pwn]

I'm not meaning to speak for noon_pwn here though, maybe his reasons are different, but that's the impression I get from the recent popularity of these monitors.

The main reason people use these types of powered monitors vs a tube power amp and cab is because you can utilize the cab emulations better - a FR is a blank canvas, or at least a neutral one compared to a tube power amp and a 4x12.

Pete

true this, not have to worry about micing was one of my biggest motivations. I've used red boxes in the past and they sounded like crap. The really good cab emulators on the market for live use were too expensive and I already had great sounding IR's in my axefx.