Dr88s

I have a stage 2 EX (73) but I’m GASsing for a Numa Piano X for it’s action, portability, and USB audio interface to bring in iPad apps etc. (I’m in Canada too, if you ever do decide to sell FYI).

I could foresee having much more control over the sound engineers if this was a regular touring band, but I’m for the most part a hobbyist. Most of my gigs out are one offs for various fundraisers. I’m getting known in my community as a guy who can join bands being cobbled together for a single show here and there and get the job done. Thus, it’s a different sound crew each time with no consistency from gig to gig. As you said, I can’t really understand how things possibly change once the monitoring mix is already set to a satisfactory level.

it varies, of course. Sometimes they are in restaurants/bars in which case there are bare bones systems, other times in much larger venues where many professional acts will perform when they come to town. In the latter type of place, there is actually a completely separate monitoring board and tech sitting sidestage, whereas the FOH main mixing desk is way out where the crowd sits. I would presume that having a dedicated monitoring tech would deal with all of these issues, but, wouldn’t you know it, same types of problems, even in the professional venues.

This is entirely possible!

So this is EXACTLY what I’m doing, just with a Shure pack instead of the rolls. The issue is the sound engineers for some reason don’t just “set and forget”. First five songs are great. But then suddenly the electric guitar disappears from the mix altogether with the others heard just fine. I guess the difference is that you are getting the feed intended for the main PA and not a specialized stage mix.

I just want to hear what I’m playing and where we are in the song. The rest is bonus. Currently I sum my KL out outputs with a Y-cable and I’m sure I’m giving myself all sorts of phasing issues. It doesn’t bother me. If I can hear my notes and I can hear vocals bass and guitar enough to make sure that the song is proceeding as intended I’m happy enough. Bandmates always complain about their wedge mixes too but at least when I’m getting a decent monitor feed I have no complaints. The in-ears are awesome and a game changer… when they work.

I have these for practices. I should throw them on stage just in case I need them.

I’d like to achieve minimal SPL that will work. Other band members don’t seem to have a problem with the levels put out by the wedges but I find them uncomfortably loud and don’t want to compromise my long term hearing. I’ve seen some bands on Sufism media post and their drummers are on e-drums and their sound is pristine. The drummer sets the volume of the room in my experience.

Great if you have that opportunity. I can ask but I doubt it’s available. Last night’s was a show at a place that doesn’t usually host live music. The sound engineers had a lower end analog mixer. Individual control would be a nonstarter.

My bad. The other P4HW *input*. There are two inputs with a thumb wheel that sets the relative balance between inputs. I’ll try edit the post for clarity. As for the rest, yes, I’m 99.999% the issues are solely on the mix/monitor engineers. I can fix that as these aren’t my people. I’m just looking for ways to work around what seem like inevitable mistakes.

@Dave KeysI never would have thought of using a Zoom recorder as a mixer with built in mics. Cool idea. Maybe I should just buy a condenser mic to add to my mix that I could turn up if things from the FOH monitor feed go south.

Last year I tried using IEMs on a live gig and swore to myself I’d never go back to wedges. Wedges never gave me a fraction of the clarity I could hear in-ears. The issue is, I play a lot of one-off shows with different bands, none of whom have a dedicated ‘sound guy’. The bands either hire the venue’s guy or a third party, who somehow can’t seem to keep something or other from messing up over the course of the show. They all seem comfortable in providing me a feed over XLR to go into my Shure P4HW wired bodypack just as they’d connect one to a wedge. The other P4HW XLR input is fed from a monitor send of my Key Largo giving me control of how much ‘me’ I hear. When it functions, it’s truly incredible. But so far, at some point every single show, their monitor feed either cuts out completely to me (my local feed stays intact indicating it’s not the bodypack), individual instruments drop out of the mix, etc. If that was to happen using a wedge, I could still rely on some stage noise to follow along, but with my good fitting and well isolating ear monitors, the stage noise is largely gone and I’m dead in the water playing without hearing the rest of the band or at least some of my bandmates. So far I’m 0/3 going a full show without something going very wrong. Last night the ears cut out completely 2/3 of the way through the show and the sound guys had no idea why. I ended up playing without ears right next to the punishingly loud cymbals. At a show in December, my electric guitarist disappeared entirely from the mix and I completely missed the predetermined cues as to when he was finished his improvised solo. I don’t want to go back to a wedge but IEMs aren’t working either. Any advice short of bringing my own sound people (not an option)? Buy a set of monitors with an ambient port I can open in an ‘emergency’ to get back some stage noise? Have any of you ever faced this before?

This is above my pay grade! I’m curious if this would only manifest as occasional dropped midi notes without any other noticeable effect.

No brick on mine. Just a figure-8 connector to wall. I presume the brick was internalized. I’m not sure if that could cause interference. It’s otherwise fine.

I would presume so.

I spoke a bit too soon. There are still some dropped notes here and there but far far far fewer than previously, leading me to believe that it is certainly a USB cable issue. I will try all the ones that I have on hand.

All I can say is that I freakin’ LOVE you great folks here at KC. After frantically rummaging around my storage areas, I found my camera connection kit and a brand new robust looking USB cable and voilà! No more dropped MIDI notes. @John H Carter @Adam Burgess @stoken6 @Reezekeys @D. Gauss I can’t thank you enough. You really did help me troubleshoot and fix this.

Nope. I can’t imagine there would be enough juice. The Numa is plugged into the mains. The unit I bought second hand has an internalized power supply so there’s just an IEC connector rather than a wall wart.

I have a genuine Apple CCK but in the jumble of my music room have misplaced it and ordered a USB – B to lightning cable. Maybe that is the culprit. It does, however, work flawlessly with the MODX.

Yes, with dropped notes, but perfectly with the MODX. One cable, no CCK needed.

Mini 5th generation. I don’t use a hub because I liked the ease of the one-cable for simultaneous transmission of MIDI and audio. The 5th generation still had a lightning port.

I guess investing in another USB to lightning cable can’t hurt.

I’m hoping you fine helpful and informed folks can help me troubleshoot an issue. I have a low-stakes, for-fun gig coming up. My issue is that parking can be quite far from the rehearsal space and the gig will only require a few bread and butter sounds so I thought this would be a very good time to experiment with using my iPad as a sound source which would allow be to bring along a light controller or even using the ancient keyboard that lives in the practice space. The goal is to travel as light as possible. I wanted to use my Studiologic Numa Compact 2X because it is light, has 88 keys, and most importantly has a built-in audio interface with two-way communication so there would be no need to bring extra equipment. I got it set up with Camelot pro on the iPad and it functions, but constantly drops an unacceptable number of MIDI notes and is unusable for band use. The first step in the troubleshooting process was to try a different keyboard. My MODX also has a built-in-interface and in fact with the Yamaha it works flawlessly, so the issue is the Numa. Obviously bringing the Yamaha would defeat the purpose as the MODX8 is quite heavy and cumbersome to transport in its case. Can anyone with any knowledge of the Numa guide me to perhaps isolate and fix the issue, or suggest me a MIDI controller with a built-in audio interface to try if I decide I want to go to the iPad route in the future?

Thanks for bringing that to my attention! I hadn’t read that thread, but yes, that’s exactly the discussion.

absolutely. The organization is very clearly meant to demo the keyboard to prospective buyers. It’s just chaos for those who actually buy it…