Road Tests

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.

When you have been doing this music thing for as long as I have — as both a musician/bandleader and sound guy — you see a whole bunch of gear and countless numbers, types and brand of loudspeakers. Which makes it kind of nice to see one of the brands that defined live sound for a long time reclaim that pedigree after some time wandering in the wilderness.

The wireless thing has been an issue for a couple of years, and it has still not totally shaken out legally, but the live event audio world can count on a couple of things. A) When it comes to competing with the likes of Microsoft and Google we are going to lose, and, B) it will probably get worse before it gets better. 

This month we look at Mackie’s latest generation of powered loudspeakers, the HD series. Specifically, the HD1531 (there is also a HD1521). Mackie has been producing powered loudspeakers for more than a decade now. So I would expect these new speakers to be an improvement over past models, or less expensive, or both.

(Editor’s Note: This Road Test is in a little different format than what we usually run, but it is not your typical Road Test either. We got this because one of our FOH/PAS loyalists knew the guys on tour with the band Saliva and they were using the board and he got a chance to play with it in a real gig situation. Forcing it into our “standard” format just seemed to suck the life out of it. Open your mind… Oh and if you want to HEAR it, Mical has posted a video of a song from a Saliva show on ProAudioSpace.com.)