Karaoke Forums

I have a very good sounding basic setup that I am thrilled with. I am looking at what I could do to round it out and make it sound better/give me more flexibility. My system is housed in a big Odyssey case with plenty of space and I have a rack mount PC in there also for a source.

Quick inventory:

Mixer: Yamaha MG 124CX
Amp: QSC RMX 2450
Mains: Yamaha C115V
Monitor: Mackie SRM150

This setup sounds very good in it's current environment, but I do want a bit more thump and I am sure the customers would like it. I am happy with the powered monitor because of the level of control is gives me to send sound to the singer without disturbing the main mix( some of the folks want their vocals to completely overpower the music). I'm actually surprised by how many compliments I get on sound quality so I'm not sure what would really improve things.

Here are the items I am pondering for upgrades:

Subwoofer: I'd like to add one. I am not opposed to adding another amp to run them or getting a self powered sub. I'm keen to hear what pros/cons there are for powered/passive and what you use/prefer.

Equalizer: I'm not a sound engineer and I'm not quite sure how much this will help. Ideally it's something smart enough to do a majority of the work for me, has a crossover to help with use of the sub. Now that might be a pipe dream but I'm all for entertaining options.

Any ghoughts on these itesm or suggestions on things I might have missed?

I don't know what the "current environment " is so I'm not sure what your priorities are. Size, Thump, Portability, Cost, Convenience? You have a good foundation to your system so you are correct, adding a sub would be the next logical step.

I prefer powered subs these days for convenience and they are designed to work as a unit. My sub of choice is the Yorkville LS800P, 1500 watt self powered. (I have two of these although for most applications one is enough, quite often more than enough). If you are trying to match the performance of your Yamaha/QSC combination the Yorkville would be a good choice. The HPR118i series subs from QSC would be another option. Those are the only two powered subs I would consider in their price range.
http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?t ... t=2&id=213
http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speake ... pr181i.htm

So you want a magic EQ, actually the DBX DriverackPA would fit into that category as it is a total system management device. Includes "Auto Eq with RTA, used to dial in a room, A totally configurable Crossover that can be setup anywhere between single channel mono to six way stereo and anything in between. Has many other features also so I will just include a link so you can get all the facts. I do use one of these myself.
http://www.dbxpro.com/PA/PA.htm

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

The driverack looks exactly what I was looking for: a magic EQ. I'm surprised that it's a manageable price for it's functionality, is it really as easy to use as the sales literature says? Any gotchas you know of?

As for the subs I see the Yorkville mentioned here frequently but not the QSC. I'm personally very happy with the QSC amp I have and wonder if the sub will bring the same level of satisfaction. One issues of worry is 700w of the QSC vs. 1500w on the Yorkville or is that all marketing speak?

I have stayed away from self powered units primarily because I've noted all the self powered units I've used and heard have had a noticeable hiss or hum when there is no signal to them. This was why I went with the setup I have now and have been very happy with the clarity of the system. I admit I never had a new set of self powered anythings so the equipment could have been a bit old and not sounding perfect but it's always stuck with me as a potential issue.

No, no "gotchas" that I can think of. The manual isn't written particularly well, but as you scroll through the menu's it does become somewhat intuitive. I had very little problem learning it. It will walk you through the setup procedure so that part is a breeze. You can also experiment with different aspects to learn your way around it and as long as you don't hit the "save" button you will be fine. There are twenty-five slots to store your own rooms or configurations, so setting up experimental setups isn't a problem. I've been using one for many years now and consider it probably my favorite single piece of gear.

They are both nice subs, but no it's not a marketing ploy by Yorkville, I A/B'd these two subs together and although the QSC HPR118i is very nice, (my second favorite in a four sub test) it couldn't keep up with the Yorkville LS800P. The LS800P was shaking dust out of the rafters of the warehouse where we were running the test.

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye