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Re: Quick and Dirty Bar Rig 2014 Edition

Thanks for all the comments, here's what I'm thinking:

1. There are a lot of good $2-3K digital mixers out there now, but I think the most flexible and most future oriented right now is the X32. The compact is more manageable for one or two guys to haul around, while being expandable to the same capabilities of its larger brother. I don't like losing the screen and scribble strips just to get rack mounting in the Producer version, nothing else in this system now needs to be rack mounted so there is no advantage to it. The personal monitor mixing, AES50 expansion, and easy connection for computer recording are killer features in my opinion. We'll see if I was right in a few years.
2. Everyone has their favorite mains right now, but these Presonus are mine. They get plenty loud, and sound exceptional. They are also significantly smaller and easier to haul around than the usual 12" or 15" 2 or 3 way candidates.
3. If Evan says the JBL PRX718s-XLF is the best in the market, I think he's probably right - better to spend 40% more on a sub that actually puts out as in my experience most of that product category is underwhelming.
4. The Yamaha monitors seem to be the real deal. They add significantly to cost versus the SRM450v2 used before, but may actually stand a chance of keeping up.
5. Overall, speakers now represent 47% of the package cost, whereas before they were 38%. This is in line with my belief that speakers are the most important thing in the world. :twisted:
6. All EWI prices have been updated, and cabling has been upgraded to their premium series with Neutrik ends. The drum drop also has returns on it now for monitor sends.
7. Power section has been fleshed out much better, and almost represents a usable solution. Honestly if I were doing it I'd buy bulk cable and build my own drops, but I can't put that in this spreadsheet. As a result the price of power has tripled. If anyone has a better source for combo cables let me know, unfortunately all this stuff takes IEC which makes life difficult.
8. I switched vocal mics from Sennheiser e835 to AKG D5 because I like them more. At $100 a mic though you can buy lots of decent stuff, so no need to fight over your favorite.

Attached is a new Q&D Bar Rig spreadsheet. In all the price has gone up about 15%, partly due to increasing prices and partly due to some new and more expensive parts. I removed a few items and slimmed down others to what I felt were more realistic quantities. I feel the overall quality of the system has significantly increased, and certainly the capabilities of the speakers themselves have improved. If I were going to get back into doing club gigs this would be the PA I would likely get.