Amplification on the cheap...

I've been given a go-ahead to throw together an amplification setup and need some assistance.
I've got mics, I've got some cables and mounts - that's all the easy stuff.  The electronics are what always confuses me.

The school has a powered mixer but it's one of those blockier ones and I don't think it has the number of inputs I need.  I was thinking of trying to find an unpowered mixer with proper inputs.  I'd run the pit mics into that and run that into the powered mixer into the speakers.

Would something like that work?

(Yeah, I know it's not perfect, but I'm doing this on the cheap and quick.)
1 Comment

I hear you on some of that: we have a Mackie powered mixer and while it's a good product, the bulkiness of it makes it incredibly impractical for the rigors of marching band. I've been looking at purchasing a Yamaha unpowered mixer: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-MG166C-16-Channel-Mixer-With-Compression?sku=630256

They make a USB version for an extra $100 but don't know that I'd ever get that serious with it.

As far as powered/unpowered, I don't know if the powered speakers would do the trick or not. Someone smarter than me will definitely know the answer. All I know is we had a band dad donate a ton of DJ equipment a few years ago and we've been able to scavenge amps and subs out of it.

Heck, we got two fog machines out of the deal and countless strobe lights! Geez, you should see our junior high band dances now. They're a cross between a rave and a UFC fight...
Login to post a comment