Road Tests

I have field-tested and written about many audio amplifiers, and a common thread in all those reviews is power versus weight. Every sound guy wants as much horsepower per pound as they can get in their amps. Of course it goes without saying that the power must be colorless and transparent. So that brings us to the Peavey IPR 1600 stereo power amplifier.

I would be lying if I said I am not a fan of Ashly. Their gear has always been reasonably priced, and I have never had a big problem with gear functionality, as well as advancing the shows that I do with my personal gear, which are, on average, around "B" level nationals.

Whether you're an engineer or an artist, what is it that we're looking for from personal monitors? I've narrowed that question down to a few things that are important to me. I want to have brilliant (but not painful) highs, super-punchy mids to make the vocal cut through and low end that stimulates the shaking of my nether regions. A hard feat to accomplish, and very few PM manufacturers can say that they can accomplish this.

Midas PRO6, what can I say about you? You are one classy dame. You have all the right pieces in all the right places. The first time I laid eyes on you I had that feeling you get as a freshman when you see the hot senior walk past you in the hall. I was scared.

Most know Blue to be a manufacturer of high quality studio microphones. Their creative, intuitive and distinctive designs have caught attention from many engineers over the years. I remember a couple of years ago thinking to myself "I wish they would come out with a live microphone, I bet it would be awesome." So needless to say, when I found out I was going to be reviewing two of these mics, I was a happy guy!

It's kind of funny that this review is running in the same issue as the Midas PRO6 because, while they could not seem more different on the surface, they share a common thread. Both are very apt demonstrations of the relentless march towards digital in our little live event audio world.

OMG!!!!!! Heil drum mics are my new BFF!!!!! Now that I've made myself sound like a Valley Girl, I'll try to compose myself and act like the audio professional that I am. (Hah!)

It has been more than 10 years since dbx introduced the first DriveRack. To say that the DriveRack has been a success is a huge understatement. This product line has changed how many sound technicians set up and manage their sound systems. Not to mention how so many installations are designed with DriveRacks as part of the system.

In the Road Test you are about to read, I am combining a review of the PreSonus StudioLive 16.4.2 digital mixing console with the PreSonus Studio One Pro software. Either one of these products warrants its own review, but I had the opportunity to use them together. So, here goes.

Once upon a time the pastor of my church asked me, "What can be done so that I can hear the choir?" My response was, "With a rock band on the stage, the choir has no chance unless we put them in another room and give them a TV to watch the service."

All right, kids, the topic of today's story is powered wedges. I'll preface this with a small story. This test is a continuation of a small shootout that we did here at the shop a while back. The original shootout was between L-Acoustics, Turbosound, JBL VP and DAS powered wedges.

With all the new amplifiers coming out these days with all the bells and whistles, it just seems like something is missing on the market.  Half of the people who use these super lightweight amps with gobs of processing wind up using external processors anyway.  That is why we are going to check out the new “CC” series of amplifiers from Crest Audio.  These are just good rock solid amps that do just what they are supposed to, and at a very economical price point.