Two AT 4033 mic setup

[docdobro]

I am new to the forum and look forward to being a member. I play bluegrass and use Two AT 4033 mics with a Sabine feedback exterminator thru a Peavey sound system. I have been told I should add a mic-pre amp, compressor or some type of exciter to make the sound even better. Any thoughts on what would be the best or should I just take the money and get a new Mackie board? Thanks for your help.

[AcousticPro]

With your primary focus being live sound I wouldn't recommend getting into a super high end mic pre. You probably would gain significant things that you wouldn't even be able to hear through your present system. Get a new board? That would help things a lot. A better EQ, Pre and something with full 100MM faders sounds like it would help you quite a bit in terms of controlling and shaping your sound. Mackie makes a good board, the pres are great, but the EQ is widely a point of contention for a lot of users. A small Soundcraft board would cost a little more, but suit your needs better from the sounds of it. If you have further questions please feel free to let me know.

Jeff Spencer
Sales Engineer
Sweetwater

[blacko3788]

I owned two of these boards and know they really pack a punch. They have two onboard effects per channel and parametric eq on every channel along with the master stereo. You can also put like many different settings of compression on each of the 16 channels. Compression and ducking and limiting and gates. This board really is the best bang for the buck for live.

[Jayfior]

Your Peavey board is probably the problem. I've been using a Mackie console thru crown power amps into JBL SR Series cabinets. I even bought a $1600 Klark-Teknik 30 band Graphic eq in case the Mackie wasn't good enough. Guess what! I don't even need the EQ. Sounds like a concert when I do sound for these local bands. Get a Mackie.

[Ryan]

I agree on not needing a mic pre. I do have alot of live bluegrass mixing experience (Thomas Point Beach Festival, Brunswick, Maine). A mixer AND an EQ is necessary in my mind. Granted KTs are great, but you can get a quality stereo unit at under half the cost. Rane's MOJO, dbx, and for around a grand, Ashly can't be beat.

[MichaelK]

Good questions, and I will respond in order of what I feel will make the most difference.

Another vote for Mackie here. Their preamps are a huge leap up from what you're using now and will most certainly make an immediate, discernable difference. This is your most important step.

I use compression in my live rig. I have a PreSonus Blue Max in my keyboard rack just to keep things on an even keel, and I use a PreSonus ACP88 for vocals and any strange guests like horns, percussionists, whatever. Compression keeps the audience from being annoyed with you if you lean too close to the mic or suddenly belt out a line, and that's always a good thing. If you have no one running the faders for you while you play, it's a must IMO.

I'm still a big fan of the Aphex Aural Exciter in a live rig. I feel it does wonders. I'll be darned if I understand exactly how it does what it does, even though I've seen it explained a hundred times. All I know is when you turn it on, every individual sound suddenly seems like it's in its own "space" while your EQ remains unchanged. The difference is dramatic but very easy on the ears. Of all the units out there that claim to do this, I prefer the Aphex. This may be the least important step to take, but all I know is we sound much better with it than without it. Good is good but better is better, as they say...

[Geoff Bowers]

Hi, I'm certainly excited aver the Apex myself and will be looking into that! I can echo the Yamaha 01v comment as I have the original O1 and it's so full of high quality goodies. Powered faders that "remember "settings for instant recall as well as all those listed above. This is most valuable for use with different acts as well as diferent settings from number to number. The preamps are top-flight recording quality and so, even if they are wasted on live stuff, (and I don't know for sure that they are.) it's very nice to know that there's the best in there to get the best possible out.

By the way...I put top flight US Bluegrass bands on here in the UK too!

Best' Geoff.