WHO really understands RACK systems

Gary Steele · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

I have a Peavey 1400X, A stereo Steel preAmp, A Lexicon LXP-1 and a Boss SE-50 and two D-130 JBL's. I cant get it to sound very good when i play out. I'm finding out i really dont totally understand all the controls on the stereo steel. Certain acoustics seem to throw me. Can someone explain to me what the Warmth, The Frequency, presence, Treble, bass, and mids. I think thats it. The building i just played in seemed kinda boomy plus i set next to a big stack of speakers and that seems to make a difference. I talked to one of the heavy weights recently and they told me they get about the same sound out of these pre's as the Evans pre. But the other preAmp kinda does something at high volumes that they dont really like all that well. They never made much of an issue tho. I think maybe i would like something a little less in features. Can you guys tell me what preAmp you like best out of all you've tried. If you dont want to say publicly you can e-mail me direct to gnsteele@hotmail.com If you think you may have an answer please comment. Its a terrible and embarrassing time to play in front of lots of people and you amp sounds like ?????? Can some of you guys tell me where you run your Stereo Steel settings at? I know all steel's are different but maybe it will help.
Thanks for all input.
Gary

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

GD Walker explains the Stereo Steel controls very well in the manual that accompanies his equipment. If you didn't get one, send him an email at gdwalker@mei.ws. It will probably be a few days before he gets home from the Dallas show.

Having said that, I have his combo preamp/amp and almost always run all my controls straight up at 12:00, and get many compliments on my tone.

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

I suspect that a lot of the problem was the speaker stack you set up near, "washed out" your sound. Also anytime you play in a room that has different acoustics than the one you are used to practicing in, which is probably all of them, or when you are outdoors, your set up is going to sound different. I had one where we were playing on an outdoor stage that was enclosed on three sides, I was concerned about not being loud enough so I brought an amp that, under normal circumstances, would have been a little too bright for the kind of music we were doing. Turns out that it didn't have enough highs and I had to crank the top end to the point that I thought it must be broken. When I took it back home, there was nothing wrong with it. We had a hard floor and walls, high ceiling and open front, curtain in back. The amp responded exactly the opposite that I would have expected so sometimes it's acoustic voodoo.

James Quackenbush · From: Pomona, New York, USA

Gary,
The acoustics of a room have a lot to do with how your sound comes across using ANY amp setup..You can sit in your living room, and crank up the bass and it sounds wonderful and very full sounding...If you are in a larger setting and you crank up the bass with a lot more power applied, your tone may very well turn to mud !!...If you have the luxury of having a monitor system to hear yourself with the rest of the band, it is a way of hearing exactly what you sound like, and you would be able to adjust your tone from there...Here's a tip I was told years ago...When you're playing in a large area, you can turn your tone controls down...Mid point (12:00 o'clock) is a good starting point for most systems..You can also have a friend go to the back of a room and see how the mix sounds,and tell you about it..You can have signs to either turn up the bass or the treble or the volume or all of the above if you don't have a monitoring system..
Some rooms (like gyms ) are tough all the way around with your sound bouncing all over the place.If you have a sound man, he should be able to also adjust your tone if he/she's sitting in the audience...Sometimes when you sit on top of your own amp, it may not sound good to you, but in the grand scheme of things, and in the mix with the other members of the band, it might sound great !!...Another reason for a good monitoring system...A good monitoring system improves the sound of ANY band 100% YMMV....Good Luck...Sincerely, Jim

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Open air will rob highs like all get out. but bass is less directional so it just rolls on. The rush of an airplane taking off will fade out long before the big rumble does.

But in a room you have bass coupling with the standing waves of the room, Everyroom is different. That's why a fully featured Eq is important.
I've played bass for decades and I know a room sucks before anyone else in the band.
This applies to PSG too, because it is a very wide band instrument. I have done live sound mixing in all types of venues for 40+ years. Outdoors really pushes your high frequency amps 50-80% harder minimum

Pre amps... ah well I will go esoteric here.

Avalon VT-737SP Mono MicPre/Compressor/EQ
Features:
Tube pre-amp
Opto-compressor
Sweep equalizer
Output level control
VU metering
Balanced mic input
front-panel instrument DI
balanced line inputs
High-gain switch
High-pass filter
Hardwire relay bypass

Sale Price: $1,999.99
At musicians friend. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/search/src=00631/g=live/detail/base_id/51869

I seriously doubt you will find a better preamp for anything, especialy digital recording. If you don't sound awesome through this; change poweramp and speakers or go practice
Yeah I know it's the price of a used Lagrande 6 and 4... but you won't find better IMHO.

PS the opto-compressor can do wonderful "sustainment" tricks too.

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 10 March 2003 at 04:02 PM.]

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