Buyer’s Guides

To download a PDF of the November 2009 FOH Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE.

If it’s not one thing…  When it came time for the annual digital console buyers’ guide we figured that there were now so many systems out there under the $50K mark that we could never fit them into print.

To download a PDF of the October 2009 FOH Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE.

Line arrays—in the right hands and set up properly—provide almost unprecedented pattern control. But what if the room you are working in (say a church or a small-ish theatre) needs that kind of control but a big concert array is just too much in terms of space, SPL and money?

For a PDF of the September 2009 FOH Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE.

The days of hauling tons of copper around to get the audio signal from the stage to the console are rapidly fading. This short chart will give you an idea of what is out there that will let you carry a good reel of Cat5 cable instead of a giant multi-core snake.

For a PDF of the July 2009 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE . Your intrepid FOH’ers have covered personal monitors (also known as “speakers in your… Read More »Wireless Personal Monitor Systems

For a PDF of the June 2009 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE .

When the first packaged kits containing a complement of microphones for miking a drum kit first appeared, they were really seen as either a way for mic makers to make a few extra bucks by selling several mics at once or a way for the inexperienced to get a package of mics that would all work together properly.

For a PDF of the April 2009 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE. Cheap DSP has meant many changes in the pro audio world, and most of… Read More »System Controllers

For a PDF of the March 2009 Buyers Guide, CLICK HERE 

Concert quality subs with drivers of at least 18 inches are already beasts. So, what the hell, we might as well put the power in the box, too. Truth is, we decided to do a Buyers Guide on powered subs and realized that unless we were prepared to publish it in book form we would need a way to further limit submissions.

For a PDF of the Feb. 2009 FOH Buyers Guide. CLICK HERE . 

Mid-line live production digital audio consoles. Remember just a few years ago when such a thing just didn’t exist? You either had $100K+ to spend or you could get toy from an MI mfg and pretend. (Hey, I actually did GIGS with one of those. OK I did ONE gig. One.) 

As prices fell and consoles got smaller and more powerful, about a year ago we did one of our Buyers Guides and put in a price limit of, I think, $60K and set off a firestorm of protest from the folks who didn’t make anything for less than $60K. So this time around we have raised the limit a bit to be a bit more inclusive.

To download a PDF of the Jan. 2009 FOH Buyers Guide chart, CLICK HERE

OK, you’re not going to do a Madonna show with one of these. In fact, you will be hard pressed—given the channel count on most of them—to do anything bigger than a five piece. But that is not the point. The point is that these small boards allow you to easily mix the show and record it without any extra gear. Some of them actually will work well in a small studio, which means you can use it to record during the week and pack it up on the weekend for gigs—and record the gigs as well with just the console and a laptop.