"Live" studio PA setup?

[jamison162]

Is anyone using their studio interface and laptop for live sound? My tracks sound sooooo good using the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (live and playback). Through both my studio monitors and the mains I'm trying out.

I can set up a session and tracks, add eq, comp, reverb, adjust levels, pan...actually mix using the laptop. Why buy an outboard mixer when I've yet to hear one sound this good.

Anyone else using their studio for "live" gigs?

[el_kabong]

Jamison - not quite yet, but working towards it. I think your observation, though, is spot on. Assuming you can overcome any critical latency and other hardware issues within a reasonable budget, the digital realm has become rather compelling.

The best quality and most affordable (read: free) looper I know of is digital. The best quality electric guitar amp I've played at any price under $1800 is digital. And aside from weight/space issues, there's no way I could afford analog versions of even 1/10th of the digital effects that came with my DAW.

I do need a better laptop and a better/faster interface. I'm looking at a number of Focusrite models, as it happens, but may be holding out for an even better RME, just haven't decided yet. Lots of these issues, though, are disappearing quickly. Welcome to the future

[Luke W]

Originally Posted by jamison162

Why buy an outboard mixer when I've yet to hear one sound this good.

Reliability, practicality, and latency would be my reasons.

[DoryDavis]

I'm moving towards this. Latency with most systems seems to be less and less a problem.
While I play in various groups, I imagine the day when I play some solo gigs, maybe with backing tracks (I know that is polarizing on this board ha), with my sound coming through my laptop/interface/DAW

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by jamison162

…I can set up a session and tracks, add eq, comp, reverb, adjust levels, pan...actually mix using the laptop. Why buy an outboard mixer when I've yet to hear one sound this good.

Hi jamison...

I'm not questioning if it can be done, it can. I've done it and seen it done. It did not take too many gigs and I reverted to gear designed for live use. This is to explain why I moved away from it.

Off the top of my head…

• Adjustments on the fly (mid song) when I'm both player and sound tech
• Durability (fragility of my costly studio gear)
• Where to put the equipment - I'd have to haul a table on stage (or off stage) to house my computer and interface so they are safe. The computer has to be in close proximity to the interfaces/preamps, and then it has to be interfaced with the sound gear.
• Interfacing with other sound systems than my own (I play lots of different places where my PA would be inadequate)
• I record with very expensive condenser microphones and a quality tube preamp which do not go to live gigs unless I'm recording.
• I didn't see (hear) the improvements I hoped for and the audience didn't care whether I had improved sound.
• The complexity of the system was greater than I anticipated even though I rack mounted part of the gear.

High Quality live sound is a HUGE consideration…an important one for me.
It's why play live with a pickup/internal mic and blender combination, and use inexpensive cardioid mics for vocals. I didn't find any strong advantage to hauling studio gear to gigs, and in fact lost about 40% output volume.

My prosumer mixer sounds great live, and I the only use of effects is sometimes reverb. And I'm not running stereo PA systems (tried it and ended up with phase cancelation issues which affected female voices and acoustic guitars in the mix).

Compared to what setups in the studio take compared to live setups, my live rig goes into a building and is setup and running in under 10 minutes (guitars, vocals and PA). There is no way I ever managed to construct my studio rig in under 30 minutes.

If you do it with success I'd love to see pictures. It sure makes recording live performances a snap.

[jamison162]

I have some experimenting to do. I'm sure there's some software available for live mixing applications other than actual DAW programs.

[PWS]

I have a Motu Track16 that I am just figuring out how to use. I'm a computer guy by trade and this sound amplification stuff has me doing the spins I tell you!

I got it after seeing James Nash's bit in an excellent youtube video from Acoustic Guitar Magazine:



Cheers, Peter

[el_kabong]

Originally Posted by PWS

I have a Motu Track16 that I am just figuring out how to use. I'm a computer guy by trade and this sound amplification stuff has me doing the spins I tell you!

I got it after seeing James Nash's bit in an excellent youtube video from Acoustic Guitar Magazine:

Cheers, Peter

Peter - I've seen that one too...good reference on the subject actually.

[Doug Young]

I've got a UAD Apollo+Macbook setup. With a Mac Air, it's a 1-U rack, and the Mac fits in the zip pocket, so pretty compact. It sounds really good, nothing like having a Lexicon reverb at your fingertips, as well as any number of other goodies.

I haven't really used it much, tho. For starters, I've been lucky to mostly be able to use a mic at most gigs these days. But I've also found it to be a bit awkward to be using a computer with a small screen and a track pad on stage, trying to adjust little dials. The setup also has so much power, ideally, you'd be fine tuning it from out front where you hear what the audience hears. It also looks odd onstage, like I'm reading my email during the gig... I think a tablet interface would be more conducive, but it's not currently possible with the UAD.

Sure sounds nice, tho! Maybe someday I'll get it dialed in and to the point that I feel comfortable with it.

[PWS]

With the Track 16, you can use a Mac or an iPad to control the mixing capabilities of the device (as opposed to using the dials and buttons on the unit) and/or you can record at the same time (to a Mac with enough disk space). The idea of having the ability to notch out feedback from your mic and replace it by bumping up the same range from the pickup is what got me—around the 5 minute mark of the video above.

[MikeBmusic]

The concern I would have are glitches/crashes in using a computer onstage.

[PWS]

I think the biggest issue is the latency involved going from mixer to computer, transforming the signal and then out again to your speakers. This is where there is bound to be some lag time.

The thing that I liked about the Motu product was that you can use the computer to control the interface but you don't have to actually import the signal unless you want to. This of course means you can't use the effects that your computer software might have and you have to rely on the built-in effects on the Motu.

[jamison162]

I've seen that Nash video before. Awesome!!

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

The concern I would have are glitches/crashes in using a computer onstage.

Definitely a concern, tho, at least with UAD unit, once the computer is up and has loaded in any patches, you could even unplug the computer and still function. You have basic stuff like volume, mute and so on on hardware knobs. Of course you can't make any changes to effects, like in the James Nash video, without the computer, but it's not like you'd suddenly die mid-song with no sound. I imagine the other units people are reporting using here are similar.