Hello everyone, I am very glad to now be part of this great community, I hope to learn and share amap! I know this is not strictly diy but I really need some advice.
So I am a singing guitarist on a budget and I've got a cheap mic and a small cheap unpowered mixer and I'm looking for a powered speaker. I need it mostly for practice by my self in my bedroom but I think I also want it to practice with a band and for small gigs.
I am currently pluging the mic and guitar into the mixer and that goes into my cheap 30 watt guitar amp. I get a lot of feedback, but I don’t know if it’s because it’s 2 signals going in, or if the acoustics of the room (singing right behind a wall cause I want to be as far as possible from the amp) or if its because I use a 1/8th audio jack sony microphone with a 1/4 adapter, or because I don’t use a speaker? I also tried using my home stereo as PA with the guitar going to the amp but it didn’t sound right and I got a lot of feedback.
Is a speaker recomended to complete my singing gear, at least for practice, and/or will it deal with feedback, and what size?
So my options are:
*Keep using the amp and/or home stereo as PA and wait until I have a band before investing in a proper PA.
*Get a 200 watt Proel powered speaker at $360 for practice alone that can also be used with bands and as part of a future band’s PA.
Sound Systems
*Or get a 50 watt DB powered speaker at $240 for practice but that probably won’t be usable for practice with a future band or live gigs, and wait until I have a band to invest in a PA.
dB TECHNOLOGIES: Active Speakers K-Series K 70
thanks all!
So I am a singing guitarist on a budget and I've got a cheap mic and a small cheap unpowered mixer and I'm looking for a powered speaker. I need it mostly for practice by my self in my bedroom but I think I also want it to practice with a band and for small gigs.
I am currently pluging the mic and guitar into the mixer and that goes into my cheap 30 watt guitar amp. I get a lot of feedback, but I don’t know if it’s because it’s 2 signals going in, or if the acoustics of the room (singing right behind a wall cause I want to be as far as possible from the amp) or if its because I use a 1/8th audio jack sony microphone with a 1/4 adapter, or because I don’t use a speaker? I also tried using my home stereo as PA with the guitar going to the amp but it didn’t sound right and I got a lot of feedback.
Is a speaker recomended to complete my singing gear, at least for practice, and/or will it deal with feedback, and what size?
So my options are:
*Keep using the amp and/or home stereo as PA and wait until I have a band before investing in a proper PA.
*Get a 200 watt Proel powered speaker at $360 for practice alone that can also be used with bands and as part of a future band’s PA.
Sound Systems
*Or get a 50 watt DB powered speaker at $240 for practice but that probably won’t be usable for practice with a future band or live gigs, and wait until I have a band to invest in a PA.
dB TECHNOLOGIES: Active Speakers K-Series K 70
thanks all!
You might borrow a fellow musician's microphone to see if the feedback problem changes. A decent mic might help with gain before feedback.
If the mixer has any eq capability, try to notch out the feedback. Most if not all powered speakers have a flat input. I've used a home stereo's aux. input for such things and the stereo's tone adjustments were enough to clean it up.
Then there's always headphones...
If the mixer has any eq capability, try to notch out the feedback. Most if not all powered speakers have a flat input. I've used a home stereo's aux. input for such things and the stereo's tone adjustments were enough to clean it up.
Then there's always headphones...
A more directional mic like a cardioid should help. I don't think you can go wrong with a Shure SM58; somebody torture tested one of those and it survived being used to hammer nails and being buried in the ground for months If singing through a mic is your thing, becoming comfortable with an industry standard seems like a good idea.
I'm sure there's other good vocal mics; that EV 676 that I picked up at a flea market turns out to be a model that Jim Morrison liked.
I suspect that a small (8" to 12" + horn mid/tweeter) powered speaker on a stand would do the job. Maybe you can rent one or try it out in the store before spending real money. Or make a note of what you see other performers using that you like the sound of. A small mixer might be helpful; if you play an acoustic guitar, you could adjust tone for the vocals and guitar separately (assuming your guitar amp doesn't do that). It should also give you headphone output for monitoring, and be useful for home recording (plug it into a computer's line level audio input). Behringer has the very cheap Xenyx 502 which may be good enough, or there's the Mackie 402.
I'm sure there's other good vocal mics; that EV 676 that I picked up at a flea market turns out to be a model that Jim Morrison liked.
I suspect that a small (8" to 12" + horn mid/tweeter) powered speaker on a stand would do the job. Maybe you can rent one or try it out in the store before spending real money. Or make a note of what you see other performers using that you like the sound of. A small mixer might be helpful; if you play an acoustic guitar, you could adjust tone for the vocals and guitar separately (assuming your guitar amp doesn't do that). It should also give you headphone output for monitoring, and be useful for home recording (plug it into a computer's line level audio input). Behringer has the very cheap Xenyx 502 which may be good enough, or there's the Mackie 402.
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