Yuh, getting paid to play would make me pretty happy. Not as happy as Shania in my hot tub, but happy all the same.
I couldn't agree more on the price/value issue...you could spend four times as much for your mixer, but would it sound four times better? Last four times longer? Sell for four times as much in a few years?
And keeping your good git'rs at home? Good call.
The computer metaphor is right on. You buy the best you can afford at the time, without worrying that there's better/faster/whatever stuff out there.
Just a follow up note on this thread. I did get the Behringer SX3242FX 32 channel mixer and a QSC-GX5 power amp. I could not be happier at this point. We just played a venue this past weekend which was twice as big as any other venue we have played. I brought on a soundman to run the new mixer for us for this gig. Anyway, the new QSC-GX5 amp is really great. I used it in the bi-amp mode where channel one drives the subwoofers and channel two drives the mains. The GX5 has a built in crossover in the amp itself - sweet! At half power we were loud. Later in the night I bumped it up to about 7/10 on the scale and we were crazy loud. Still, nice and clean sound. Really was good.
The mixer was great. Although we were crazy loud for the venue out front, on stage, we were really quiet. We had a pretty good mix for monitors on stage, and we kept our stage amps relatively low and just sent the sound out front in the mains. We don't want to go deaf, so it was really nice for us on stage. The soundman I hired is a friend of ours and he also gets up and plays the trombone for us on a few songs. Rock and Roll trombone! Anyway, it was the first time he had ever run a sound board but he did a great job. We practiced in my home studio before we hit the gig and I think that made a big difference in his ability to run the board at the show.
I could not be more pleased with the Behringer SX3242FX. It really is a great board. If it holds up for a few years on the road, I'll be happy. By the way, I did buy an ATA 32 channel mixer board case to transport it in. That cost $$$$. Too bad Behringer does not make ATA cases at reasonable prices, I'd buy that from them too.
One last note. I also bought a 100 foot 24/8 (24 input, 8 return) XLR snake. I had considered buying a 50 foot snake, but I am glad I spent the extra $$$ and got the 100 foot snake. This first gig out, we used about 90 feet of the snake. You really can't get a cord stretcher if you need extra length, but you can always coil up the extra snake in the box if you don't need it. I bought my snake from http://www.seismicaudiospeakers.com/ at about half the price of snakes sold at MF, etc... Don't know if it is half the value of the more expensive snakes, but it worked great for us the first night out. Check out the company for other good deals. I also bought a 12 space rack case from them for about half the price of cases at MF. So I am pretty happy with that company, too.
Yo 'taus...congrats on the new rig - and the great gig.
For all you other guys....I'd buy a Behr mixer in a heartbeat...I have a 16-ch for my home studio and while i'm not a pro or playing for Shania, I think it's a terrific unit. And, of course, I have the 2031a's and an XM8500 mic...I just think they make perfectly decent gear at really good value prices.
I guess if I was a pro and someone was paying for my gear, I'd go top o' the line everything. But for me and my feeble hobby-driven efforts, Behr is great.
I also highly recommend seismic audio to you guys...I have bass cabs from them and love 'em, and they were waaaay less than name brand stuff.
Comments
I couldn't agree more on the price/value issue...you could spend four times as much for your mixer, but would it sound four times better? Last four times longer? Sell for four times as much in a few years?
And keeping your good git'rs at home? Good call.
The computer metaphor is right on. You buy the best you can afford at the time, without worrying that there's better/faster/whatever stuff out there.
The mixer was great. Although we were crazy loud for the venue out front, on stage, we were really quiet. We had a pretty good mix for monitors on stage, and we kept our stage amps relatively low and just sent the sound out front in the mains. We don't want to go deaf, so it was really nice for us on stage. The soundman I hired is a friend of ours and he also gets up and plays the trombone for us on a few songs. Rock and Roll trombone! Anyway, it was the first time he had ever run a sound board but he did a great job. We practiced in my home studio before we hit the gig and I think that made a big difference in his ability to run the board at the show.
I could not be more pleased with the Behringer SX3242FX. It really is a great board. If it holds up for a few years on the road, I'll be happy. By the way, I did buy an ATA 32 channel mixer board case to transport it in. That cost $$$$. Too bad Behringer does not make ATA cases at reasonable prices, I'd buy that from them too.
One last note. I also bought a 100 foot 24/8 (24 input, 8 return) XLR snake. I had considered buying a 50 foot snake, but I am glad I spent the extra $$$ and got the 100 foot snake. This first gig out, we used about 90 feet of the snake. You really can't get a cord stretcher if you need extra length, but you can always coil up the extra snake in the box if you don't need it. I bought my snake from http://www.seismicaudiospeakers.com/ at about half the price of snakes sold at MF, etc... Don't know if it is half the value of the more expensive snakes, but it worked great for us the first night out. Check out the company for other good deals. I also bought a 12 space rack case from them for about half the price of cases at MF. So I am pretty happy with that company, too.
Take care.
For all you other guys....I'd buy a Behr mixer in a heartbeat...I have a 16-ch for my home studio and while i'm not a pro or playing for Shania, I think it's a terrific unit. And, of course, I have the 2031a's and an XM8500 mic...I just think they make perfectly decent gear at really good value prices.
I guess if I was a pro and someone was paying for my gear, I'd go top o' the line everything. But for me and my feeble hobby-driven efforts, Behr is great.
I also highly recommend seismic audio to you guys...I have bass cabs from them and love 'em, and they were waaaay less than name brand stuff.