EV30M with 5 Sources... am I nuts?

[SoggyBottomBoy]

My group has an indoor semi-noisy bar gig to 50 people on Sunday where we'll need to run 3 (or ideally even 4, but I don't see how it's possible) mics and two guitars into an EV30M + QSC K8.2 system. I don't currently have a standalone mixer.

I also have:
-Mics: SE v7, Senn E835 and GLS random mic
-Preamps: RedEye, Behringer AD1
-Guitar Pickups/Guitars: My dread w/ K&K, buddy's dread w/ Baggs soundhole

My plan was to:

• Run the 3 mics into channels 1, 2 and 3.
  
• Run my buddy's dread with the Baggs > AD1 > channel 4 (although I'm not sure how much gain will be needed because the AD1 has variable gain)
  
• Run my dread with the K&K > Fireye > Channel 5
  
• Use the BT Channel for breaks with ipad music
  
• Use the EV30M as FOH and use the QSC K8 as monitor.

I've set this all up in the living room and it seems to work, but am I doing something wrong here? I'm concerned the Channel 5 is a BS channel and I shouldn't really be using it for something. I definitely don't think it'd work with a mic, right?

[ezellohar]

from a quick reading of the ev30m manual, you should first enter the dsp editor and SET CHANNELS 5-6 TO MONO MODE. Otherwise, you're gonna have the guitar on just one channel (left).

Done that, I'd use channels 5-6 for the guitar, leaving channel 4 open for another mic just in case you're gonna need it. Controls on c. 5-6 are more limited, but enough for the guitars.

(just my 2 cents, if it were me, I'd use the ev30m as monitor for the band and the qscs on stands as PA, but it's just that I love QSC as PA, and column systems are good for small bands monitoring... but of course you can have your own preference)

[Murphy Slaw]

It's Friday.

Go buy a mixer.

You know you need one....

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Thank you both!

Hah -- the challenge with the mixer is that I think I'd need a legitimate 6 pre-amp channel mixer and then... ugh so much stuff!

[L20A]

If you can demo a mixer at a local guitar store, you will see just what will work for you.
I purchased a Yamaha mixer to use with my Bose S1.
It gives me 5 channels that will accept either guitar or vocal inputs.
It has enough effects and it works like a pre-amp so each channel can be dialed in as needed.

If you need more than 5 channels, you will need to go the the larger mixer.
Don't be confused with mixer as far as how many channels they are.
My 10 channel mixer only has 4 usable channels for mics and guitars. The other channels have different uses.

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Right -- this is SO SO true. Unless it has a combo jack (XLR + 1/4") and a real pre-amp, it's not a channel as far as I'm concerned.

[rmp]

there's always the accordion, then you don't need anything,

on the other hand... you wont be getting out much either..

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by rmp

there's always the accordion, then you don't need anything,

on the other hand... you wont be getting out much either..

Don't tell that to Wayne Toups !

[willymartin]

I'd have to second grabbing a mixer. The bigger the band equals more stuff. When it's game time and you have a lot of musicians to mix on the fly...you'll be happy to quickly turn a knob rather than fiddle through the app. Owned a 50m for a bit...the more musicians to eq with the app, higher the stress during a gig. Just my opinion from when I'm our sound guy. My bass player is the sound guy for full band gigs and mixes everyone with his tablet...doesn't seem to bother him....so...different strokes

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Epilogue:

Sources > EV30M (FOH) / QSC K8.2 (shared monitor)


Ch 1 > SeV7 > EV
Ch 2 > Senn 835 > EV
Ch 3 > GLS Mic > EV
Ch 4 > LR Baggs Soundhole > Behringer AI Pre > EV
Ch 5/6 > K&K > LR Baggs Venue > EV

All mixed via EV30M app

Overall, I thought the gig was a huge success. I spent waaaaaaay too much time worrying about the tones and this and that. We ended up playing at a loud volume in an echo-y bar with a loud and joyous audience.

My biggest frustrations/issues that I want to figure out in the future were as follows:

1) The Ch 5/6 was pretty lousy for my guitar (and I play lead). I had the mixer channel turned up probably ~70%ish, the main at +0db and most other stuff was quite a bit lower. I felt like I was fighting feedback all night, but I never heard a howl. I'm just not sure the guitar sounded as great as I'd like -- maybe this was in my head more than anything.

2) I ran the monitor (K8.2) using the MAIN OUT because I felt that managing a separate mix (AUX OUT) was way too complex. My issue here was that the EV30M was "loud enough" and the QSC wasn't that loud. I tried to fix this by turning up the amp on the QSC to about 2-3 o'clock -- I believe this is because the QSC is just plain louder than the EV30M and I needed to offset it.

Anyway, short of buying a mixer and multiple point setup, I think this was fine and I would do it again although I suspect if I could work out those two issues, it'd be nice.

Lastly, at the volume we played, I'm not sure there was that big of a difference in tone between the guitars -- Venue vs Behringer.

[Teleplucker]

CH 5 and 6 are line level inputs. Pick up one of those EAE stomp mix boxes and use it for Channels 5 and 6. That will give you more inputs overall and better utilization of channels 5 and 6. They are cheap and don't take up much space.

[leew3]

Good that it worked out well for you. I'm with you about worrying way too much about tone, etc. Your joyous and appreciative audience members obviously had a great time and could care less about the stuff we geeks ruminate about!