Can I use a home studio monitor when performing live?

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:20 am

Hi all,
I am about to purchase a pair of monitors mainly for ensuring my home studio mixes sound good.

However I also play live and was wondering if these home monitors can also be used when live (As I understand it you put the monitor between the crowd and your microphone? I must admit though I am a complete beginner who has only ever played live once and that was without a monitor.

If I can use a home studio monitor live would it be best to get a powered one or one I need an amp for?

Thanks!
AM.

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:31 am

Most control room studio speakers aren't designed to travel much. Sure, you can utilize a compact control room monitor either passive or powered as a monitor. But monitor systems by and large are designed for brutal punishment and so can generally withstand "loud" mistakes better than control room monitor's. Not to mention the ability to prevent holes from being poked through your Rather exposed control room drivers, which generally don't have heavy cloth & metal protecting them. In fact, most decent control room monitors don't have any physical damage, driver protection. You might even consider dropping them once in awhile? Something control room monitors generally wouldn't live through.

So you have to ask yourself? Do I feel lucky today? Well do you punk?
Dirty Remy Ann David

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:40 am

Thanks Remy,
Good point!

So I guess its a control room monitor for home and a seperate monitor for playing live.

Jees this stuff gets expensive!

AM.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:43 pm

"you put the monitor between the crowd and your microphone?"

Think about that. I will...but I'm getting nowhere. That's where I put the PA speakers - between the microphones for the band/speaker and the audience. A pair of home monitors are NOT gonna go that loud.

Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:11 am

Codemonkey wrote:

"you put the monitor between the crowd and your microphone?"

Think about that. I will...but I'm getting nowhere. That's where I put the PA speakers - between the microphones for the band/speaker and the audience. A pair of home monitors are NOT gonna go that loud.

No, that makes perfect sense. If you were to stand on stage and look out you would see

1. microphone
2. monitor
3. crowd (if your lucky)

Therefore the monitor is between the crowd and the microphone.

Yes, they will go loud enough. I've had to do it once in a pinch ( yes it was a last minute, thrown together, not enough gear, live worship thing) and it was only a 50 watt, 8" monitor. Ideal, absolutely not! But it can work.

I actually arrived on the scene of a gig about 20years ago where they they had HOME STEREO speakers set up as the mains! No, that didn't work since they were trying to cover about 400 people, and I was using 600 watts with 2x15's, 1x18, and 2x10's for bass, and both guitar players had 100 watt 2x12 combo's. They didn't stand a chance Twisted Evil

(yes, it was another one of those church gigs Crying or Very sad

)

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:02 pm

OH
I spend too long offstage to think from a stage perspective. I was thinking you were trying to put them as mains.

At least you got your monitors to work. Last non-home gig we did I tried to use the host church's monitor they use for the choir. Just wouldn't work for me at all :S but I won't go into that. 7 P's come to mind...

Home stereo...oh wow. That's got to be a new low.
Which reminds me, a guy in our church asserted to me that the PA boxes we have (400W, 12" woofers, 1" compression driver, solid but cheapo Wharfedale things) were "the wrong type" and that the sound from the old system was better.
Current system: has the speakers mounted on the inside of the pillars that line the side aisles. Not ideal but the best of a bad situation. The previous system had two wooden boxes about 3' by 1' mounted OUTSIDE of the pillars, on the side walls, leaving deadzones wherever the pillars blocked the speaker.
^^ This is why churches have problems with sound. As for the acoustics, well...

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:46 pm

Easy answer to the OP's question:

No.

For FOH you need something on the order of the following (priced low to high / low (coffeehouse) power to arena fill):

A Fender Passport system.
A pair of old Sunn Cabinets and head amp(s) to push them.
A few JBL EON15's.
A pair of Mackie Self Powered cabs easily obtained via Guitar Center.
A couple of Meyer CQ-1's or 2's and 700HP's.
8 or so L-Acoustics ARCS, SB218's, and a few LA48A amps.
A VDOSC rig and a bunch of LA48A amps.

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