Semi-silent band practice? Gear-head advice needed.[views:3780][posts:15]_______________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 8:11am - MetalThursday ""] So I'm trying to make a few additions to my small home studio so Despoilment can rehearse semi-silently at my house. We have a Behringer V-amp and a Line 6 POD for the bass & guitar. Backing tracks with programmed drums will be run off an iPod. We'll have 3 mics set up for vocals. I am thinking I need to upgrade to a mixer that has at least 3 mic pre-amp inputs and pick up a headphone amp so the three of us can hear the entire mix through headphones. The goal is for the only real noise in the room to be our voices, unamplified. I know it's pretty much love/hate with Behringer products, but I'm only wondering if adding these two items below is all I will need to have a somewhat decent-sounding "headphones-only band practice." Am I forgetting anything? Planning on going to Guitar Center on my lunch break today, any advice is appreciated. http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-Xenyx-1202FX-103845061-i1153503.gc http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-MINI...dphone-Amplifier-182040-i1125160.gc |
| ___________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 8:25am - Slag NLI ""] http://jamhub.com/ check this out. |
| ___________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 8:27am - Slag NLI ""] http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/produ...-Silent-Rehearsal-Studio?sku=620796 $299 at musicians friend. |
| ________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 10:11am - MetalThursday ""] That thing is pretty nice, and would do exactly what I need. Due to me needing this stuff ASAP, the $150 price difference, and not being too concerned with the mixer/headphone amp combo being more cumbersome, would you say that I'd be able to accomplish what I'm going for with the Behringer gear? |
| _______________________________ [Mar 23,2010 10:32am - Yeti ""] PLAY AT FULL VOLUME OR THOU ART A PUSSY! |
| _________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 10:38am - josh_hates_you ""] yeah you can definitely acheive said results witht he gear you selected. i think it will be weird to have drums, guitars, and bass and vocals in the mix thru the headphones only to actually have 3 dudes in a room doing gutteral vocals. |
| ________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 10:52am - MetalThursday ""] I would love to play at full volume. I live in a townhouse with shared walls. We can jam at a reasonable volume in my basement, no problem, but I don't have a PA for vox. Plus, 3-way guttural vox added to the noise would exponentially increase the neighbor annoyance potential. Our first practice with vox is going to be Saturday, and I'm trying for a solution that will work for rehearsal now and also be practical for when I have a newborn baby in the house come July. Name of the game is convenience and affordability. |
| _________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 11:03am - josh_hates_you ""] you can always add cheap powered speakers later on and turn up the volume in the basement a little bit. DM lullabies in july ftw. |
| ________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 11:11am - MetalThursday ""] That's a good idea too... thanks man. Gonna head over to GC in a bit. |
| ________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 11:11am - MetalThursday ""] That's a good idea too... thanks man. Gonna head over to GC in a bit. |
| ________________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 11:13am - MetalThursday ""] the fuck is up with the double posting? |
| ____________________________________ [Mar 23,2010 11:28am - Slag NLI ""] josh_hates_you said:yeah you can definitely acheive said results witht he gear you selected. i think it will be weird to have drums, guitars, and bass and vocals in the mix thru the headphones only to actually have 3 dudes in a room doing gutteral vocals. What he said. Make sure you have two line cables from mixer L/R output to headphone amp input. |
| _______________________________________ [Mar 28,2010 5:41pm - MetalThursday ""] This setup worked out beautifully for rehearsal yesterday. The mic pre-amps & effects on the Xenyx made the vox sound amazing and we got a clear mix of all the instruments too. Went from headphone output on the mixer to headphone amp input (got the Live Wire headphone amp instead - steel > plastic) with a balanced 1/4" cable and it sounded great. That's what the guy at Guitar Center had suggested so I gave it a try. Would there really be a difference if I had gone from control room output on the mixer (L/R 1/4" outputs) to a splitter and into the headphone amp instead? |
| ________________________________________ [Mar 28,2010 5:55pm - josh_hates_you ""] MetalThursday said:Would there really be a difference if I had gone from control room output on the mixer (L/R 1/4" outputs) to a splitter and into the headphone amp instead? Nope. The headphone output you are using is stereo as long as you use balanced (trs) cables. Might as well use the contol outs to pa speakers or something later and use the main outs into some sort of recording program and record practice to listen back later. |
| _______________________________________ [Mar 28,2010 6:07pm - MetalThursday ""] Cool. I will pick up some powered speakers sometime in the future & hook em up to the control room outs. I used the RCA outputs from the mixer to go direct to my sound card for recording. Exactly how I've been recording demos for years, except I used to use a Tascam Portastudio 4-track as a mixer until making this much overdue upgrade. Speaking of which, anyone wanna buy a Tascam Portastudio 4-track recorder? Haha... |
| _________________________________ [Mar 28,2010 6:15pm - sxealex ""] tape these performances with no sound for lulz |