Monitors

[Mainer]

I understand that the PM-3 won't cut it in the real world, it is just for practice. When playing out at a club, would I use the Mackie for the audience and the PM-3 for my monitoring? I guess what I am asking is do I run both at once?

[rudi-mint]

Acually it all depends on the size of the club you are playing, ie volume. Most of us run the vdrums through the main pa and have our own monitors. If you can send your drums through the main pa (if it can handle it that is) and you are not playing at huge volumes, the pm3 will work fine as a monitor. If you are deciding which to buy I would buy the mackie. Check out the discussion under products, a question about vcustoms for more on this.

Kurt

[Oz DrumR]

P = Personal & M = Monitor.

If you're after a monitor, whether it be for stage use, rehearsal or home use, the PM-3 should do it. I say should 'cause some bands have their stage volume so high that they practically need a second PA for monitoring purposes.

As I've mentioned in other posts, the PM-3 can crank up to the same volume as an acoustic kit (probably louder). So unless when playing acoustics you needed to mic your drums for MONITORING purposes - the PM-3 should meet be more than adequate for your monitoring needs.

Then yes you'd use the PM-3 for monitoring and N.E.Other (Mackies seem quite a popular choice ) PA set-up for audience.

I think some users claim that they have Mackies for monitoring, where in actual fact they're used as the sole V-Drum speaker(s), I may stand corrected. There's nothing wrong with this approach - each to their own. As a monitoring system, the PM-3 is excellent. As a PA system it is not.

Andy. (A proud PM-3 owner - can you guess?!)

[Multilin]

The PM3 is not as loud as my acoustic kit.
And when it starts to approach near acoustic kit volume the mid-range coils burn up out of the 50 watt satelites. NOT FUN.
Although the PM3 sounds awesome it has a low SPL, don't push it for too long or it will fail. The Mackie is LOUD and can be pushed REAL HARD but low end is weak, you must use a sub if you want a "full" sounding kit.. hence PM3.
Running both the PM3 and Mackie together would probably sound pretty good at low to med volumes because of the sub but would still be limited because the Mackie has way more SPL than the sub and would soon drown the sub out of the mix. Match the Mackie with a high powered sub of any decent brand and you have a killer e-drum sound system.


[This message has been edited by Multilin (edited March 21, 2001).]

[drmoze]

I concur: the PM3 can't be pushed very loud, and is not useful for anything but personal monitoring. Given that for the same price (roughly) you can pick up a Mackie SRM450 or Eon G2, why go with a PM3??? The other 2 are much more powerful, and can be used as PAs/speakers as well as stage monitors. They both have multiple inputs (the G2 is great for keyboards and very good for vocals) and a nice cabinet design that lets you tilt them on the bottom or side in a real stage monitor configuration. Plus, you can always get a 2nd Mackie or EON later, and have nice stereo speakers (with L/R separation!) powerful enough for playing out in smaller venues.

[MPCman]

I'd take one or two Mackie SMR450's if I were you. If you play on a big stage with a good sound system you van use both SRM's for you own stereo monitor mix. And when you're playing somewhere without a sound system, use one for your monitor mix and the other one for the audience.

greetings,

Pieter

[Spides]

I have a single Mackie SRM450 as a monitor and it blows the guys away on stage. Awesome. Only problem with the Mackie sub is that it weights a ton.......

[BtnkBndt]

What the idea is behind the pm-3 is V-monitoring for the V-drums. They are not meant to be the loudest on the block just the most realistic. With the satelite speakers mounted facing the player and the sub beneath the floors. With proper panning you can come close to emulating the sounds you would actually hear from an acoustic kit. A run around the kit and the sound will seem to follow. This system is never meant to be faced away from the player. From my horsing with them at the local music retailer I find the concept pretty cool. You cannot do this with a single cabinet. But if its sheer volume you want go with the Mackie's or JBL's.

[Multilin]

Ive heard the Mackie 450's and 1500 sub combo and believe me if you can afford this quality of a system get it and haul that sub everywhere. Once you hear the two together you won't want to play anywhere without that sub. What is especially nice about a system like this is that you can crank it and shake the hell out of the building or turn it way down but still make the walls rumble and creak. It's awsome.

[This message has been edited by Multilin (edited March 21, 2001).]

[RHendriks]

Originally posted by Multilin:
The PM3 is not as loud as my acoustic kit.
And when it starts to approach near acoustic kit volume the mid-range coils burn up out of the 50 watt satelites. NOT FUN.

[This message has been edited by Multilin (edited March 21, 2001).]

Hi there Multilin,

I just got two new satelites from Roland. Both of them had damaged speakers.
Do you think this is a result of a too high volume? Can I blew up the speakers by setting the volume too high!?

[MPCman]

Dat zou best eens kunnen

[Oz DrumR]

I asked Roland about this. Their story is that you should hear sound distortion some way before you damage the speakers. They advised that if and when the sound becomes a little distorted, turn back a notch - thus avoiding said damage to the speakers.

Of cours it is wise to use usual precautionary measures - i.e. ensure that all volumes are turned to 0 when you power up etc.

[Multilin]

I found out real quick that if I tried to "stay in the mix" even at rehearsals I often found that I was pushing the limits of the PM3. To make the cymbals as loud as acoustic cymbals required pushing the little satelites to their extremes. If you really consider how loud an acoustic crash can be it becomes obvious that a higher powered, more efficient speaker is required for anything more than personal practise and/or very small rooms.

[MattSDP]

Hey since, everyone really likes the Mackies, does anyone want to share how they are wiring thiers up to the thier e-drums.

I have a Alesis 12ch rack mixer and a BBE 482, and a Lexicon MX100.

[sglitsos]

mattDSP,

how do you like the alesis 12r rack mixer?

i am looking for a rackmount replacement to my mackie ms1202 and that seems plausible.

is it clean? is it noisey? do the channels crosstalk?

that kind of stuff!

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