Personal Monitor -Hot Spot?

[raffkey]

Does anyone have any experience with a personal monitor ala Hot Spot or Mackie, etc?

 

I've gone through two amp.s (my beloved Peavey 300 of 15 years) and a Behringer(I know-you get what you pay for) and now am lugging my 16 channel mixer and 15" wedge around..seems like overkill.... to my back as well..

 

Any recommendations?

[Stokely]

I thought about it...our bass player/sound guy recommended I stay with a 12" or more. I'd certainly look into a lighter powered speaker just for ease of use compared to your current setup. As far as which one--I've been using a cheap "factory direct ebay special" that supposedly compares soundwise to the Mackie srm450s. Most people seem to recommend a step up from that quality to EV, Yamaha, QSC among other brands, and I'd be curious myself to see what the difference might be. There's certainly a larger premium especially when going stereo (which you don't seem to be)!

 

However I went more radical-- just made the jump to in-ears due to excessive overall stage volume making my ears ring (can't sleep after gigs)...should get them next week!

 

Edit:

in-ears aside, Jim Alfredson had a review of the newer Yamahas that had me interested. For one thing, it had a pass-through so you could just send the FOH a feed from the monitor and the monitor controls would not affect it. It also acts as a submixer--I currently use a small Rolls mixer when I use multiple keyboards and the Yamaha would make it unnecessary.

[podmed]

I have been using the Mackie SRM 150 for most gigs. I find it works great - until I have to crank it up. It tends to clip at high levels. I like it because it's lightweight. If I have a gig that I need lots of dB of monitor for me, I use my Traynor or QSC 10's.

Bottom line - tread carefully with high volumes and the small monitors.

[raffkey]

Thanks Stokely..At this point I'm not a fan of in-ears-the biggest reason being I like to actually hear my sound mix with the surrounding atmosphere and FEEL the presence of it all(?)

 

I know you can mix in a live audience feed to the in-ears or do the 'one in ear/one out' thing, but I just don't like them..can you say 'old school'?

 

Anyway, I'm sure your bass player is right, I'm just looking for a smaller (and cheaper) alternative to what I'm using that probably doesn't exist..

 

For reference on this subject, I have two keyboard setups that need a solution. I have my rock band setup (usually perform in smaller venues) consisting of a KorgMicro Sampler, Roland DI, Roland VR 700 (with Ventilator).

 

I also have a praise/church band for 100-200 person setting consisting of on-ordered Casio PX350 (or current Yamaha 105), Roland VR 09(which is replacing my Kurzweil PC361)..

 

Thanks for all inputs...

[raffkey]

Yes podmed, the Mackie SRM150 is one I'm considering.

 

I do have to compete with a guitar player's amp (next to me most nights) and of course other noise, but I'd like to think the Mackie would work. We bill ourselves as a quieter band -or at least more not as loud as other bands, so perhaps..?

[wd8dky]

I've used the SRM-150 for my Church gigs for years. I'm not fighting with a guitarist cranked up to 11, so it works perfectly in that environment.

[Stokely]

I think if your band is truly lower volume (it's all relative!) then it opens up more options for sure. Ours is not the loudest band I've been in, but quite often I have a crash cymbal hanging over the corner of my top keyboard and a guitar amp close enough to nudge with my foot. Combine that with the fact that I'm in the back corner, where in many places the sound just bounces around back there, and it can be a sonic mess that only brute force can overcome (ie large loud monitors).

 

I'm a bit worried myself about the "isolation factor" of in-ears. Also I'm hoping I can still hear enough bass so I won't need to put it in the monitors as I have single-driver phones. But my hearing loss has gotten worse so I need to try something.

 

I've balked at the more expensive monitors like the QSC k10 but I'd say try them out and see if it's night and day vs the cheaper options. My cheapies struggle with piano especially. I've heard pretty good things about the Alto speakers.

[Michael Wright]

But my hearing loss has gotten worse so I need to try something.

http://www.hearos.com/images/hearos-00211.jpg

I never go any job without some sort of earplug in my gig bag.

[theGman]

I use the Mackie SRM 150 also. I have it on a weighted mike stand (circular base); with that small base, I can place it directly alongside my left shoulder, just next to the keyboards. Even though in a rock band with the lead guitarist next to me, playing through his amp which is also right next to me, this placement enables me to hear better than my K10, with this loaf of bread size amp.

 

I used to use my K10 for personal monitor, but when I did that I had to have it behind me a few feet, and even though on a low stand nicely angled up, the volume overall had to be much higher, which as expected intimidated ? the lead guitarist, so he would keep turning HIS volume up, etc. Must be in their genetic code!

[stoken6]

I'm a bit worried myself about the "isolation factor" of in-ears.

That will take a bit of getting used to. You have to remind yourself to allow time to acclimatise to in-ears, and "meet them halfway".

 

I've discovered Etymotic Ety-5 kids' earphones - the earbuds themselves are "kid-sized", so make a slightly imperfect seal against my ear and let just a smidgen of ambient noise through. Sound quality isn't bad for a single-driver design imho.

 

Also I'm hoping I can still hear enough bass so I won't need to put it in the monitors as I have single-driver phones. But my hearing loss has gotten worse so I need to try something.

That won't be a problem. Your in-ears will almost certainly attenuate less bass than other frequencies, so that will still get through. You probably won't need to run bass into your in-ears.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Bill H.]

For my praise band, I use two double 5" custom made hot spots - one on either side of me. They are all I need for this application. The band isn't all that loud (guitarist plays mostly an acoustic-electric), drummer is on a small kit, and I can hear bleed from the room.

 

When I'm playing loud clubs I want a real monitor, and I own several to choose from - all the way from modest M-Audios to face peeling JBL SRXs.

 

So it all depends on the situation.

[Mr. Nightime]

I'll use my Mackie SRM 150 for vocals only.

 

I'm old school, and like hearing my sound come from behind me, so I put the K10 on a tripod stand pointing at my head. I can adjust the placement so I hear it well, without overpowering the other guys or the audience.

 

As far as in-ears, I wear hearing aids that sit behind my ears and feed with a tube into my ears. That is as close to in ears as I will get. Ear buds are painful to me. If I need the sound that close and quiet, I'll use over the ear headphones.