My $.02 on the state of drum corps after Murfreesboro

[Jeff Ream]

and if you want the good seats by the judges you have to be with Friends of DCI or with sponsors.

[Tez]

I guess it's my opinion is that it's not a really well thought out hodgepodge. Or at least, that's my impression. I don't think Mad World fits at all with Full Metal Jacket. It's like ketchup on bananas. They may have a lot of quantity of thought into it, I am just not sure it's quality of thought. But hey, who the hell am I...just some dude on the Internets.

Maybe that is exactly how the Cavaliers show is supposed to feel.

[atlvalet]

And for the record, our mics, cables, speakers, amps and mixers are all excellent. We have three professional sound engineers on staff. In a controlled environment, the quality of the sound is also excellent. But every venue is different, and we don't get to do sound checks. Maybe that's an argument against using the equipment at all. But we and the other corps are getting this figured out, and improving quickly.

Dave

Dave, based upon the sound I heard, it's anything but excellent. I don't know how many people on DCP have ever listened to a high-end audiophile system, but the sound coming out of the speakers at the Murfreesboro show (regardless of corps) was anything but good. You may think what you have is excellent, but it's like someone who thinks their Chevy Malibu "teh awesomeness," even though they have never experienced a Porsche or Ferrari.

Like I said, audiophiles spend thousands, oftentimes tens of thousands of dollars, on high-end audio equipment to reproduce LIVE sound accurately. Here we have DCI corps take LIVE sound, and put it through lesser outputs. Peavy and Yamaha are not exactly the benchmark of high-end speakers. I think it's kind of backwards myself to put great live sound through mediocre speakers/amps, but hey, that's just me.

Edited August 4, 2010 by atlvalet

[SCV Biker]

atlvalet: please hit the check box marked "Enable Signature" on your next reply to turn off your signature so it doesn't show up multiple times, especially since it's so big! Thanks!

Edited August 4, 2010 by SCV Biker

[Tez]

Dave, based upon the sound I heard, it's anything but excellent. I don't know how many people on DCP have ever listened to a high-end audiophile system, but the sound coming out of the speakers at the Murfreesboro show (regardless of corps) was anything but good. You may think what you have is excellent, but it's like someone who thinks their Chevy Malibu "teh awesomeness," even though they have never experienced a Porsche or Ferrari.

Like I said, audiophiles spend thousands, oftentimes tens of thousands of dollars, on high-end audio equipment to reproduce LIVE sound accurately. Here we have DCI corps take LIVE sound, and put it through lesser outputs. Peavy and Yamaha are not exactly the benchmark of high-end speakers. I think it's kind of backwards myself to put great live sound through mediocre speakers/amps, but hey, that's just me.

I think the best speakers and equipment in the world would not sound good to some people in this kind of environment. Besides, when talking about quality of sound and amplifying live instruments..... the quality of microphone matters like 1000 more than speakers or mixing board.

Honestly, the best sounding front ensemble as far as speaker sound quality and amp blend I have ever heard was Teal Sound. I wonder what equipment they're using.

[Kamarag]

Like I said, audiophiles spend thousands, oftentimes tens of thousands of dollars, on high-end audio equipment to reproduce LIVE sound accurately. Here we have DCI corps take LIVE sound, and put it through lesser outputs. Peavy and Yamaha are not exactly the benchmark of high-end speakers. I think it's kind of backwards myself to put great live sound through mediocre speakers/amps, but hey, that's just me.

AH, ok, now I understand where you're coming from.

There is a tremendous difference between the audiophile home theater market and commercial live sound support. Very few companies are in both markets, as the gear and equipment is completely different in design and implementation.

Peavy and Yamaha make perfectly serviceable live sound equipment. I tend to prefer Mackie, QSC and JBL (and a few others), but we all have our preferences. None of those companies (except maybe JBL, owned by Harmon International) are even in the audiophile home market. The reverse is also true. Good luck finding a Krell tube amp designed for a touring concert rig.

Set-up and maintenance of each kind of system is totally different as well. Audiophiles strive for 100% control of the acoustical environment that gear will be used in. Live sound support assumes little to no control. Additionally, live support systems are designed to work in very, very large venues. Audiophile gear isn't.

I haven't looked at the Cavaiers sound system up close, but when we see them again in a day or two I'll take a look. I highly doubt they are using much (if anything) that is sub-standard. I have seen some very questionable set ups this summer, but I highly doubt Cavies are one of them, based strictly on the sound output I've heard at a number of shows.

[Kamarag]

Honestly, the best sounding front ensemble as far as speaker sound quality and amp blend I have ever heard was Teal Sound. I wonder what equipment they're using.

I'm boarding the bus to the Erie show here in a few minutes, but I'd be happy to post later tonight or tomorrow with a list of our gear and how we set it up.

[Legolaus]

Dave, based upon the sound I heard, it's anything but excellent. I don't know how many people on DCP have ever listened to a high-end audiophile system, but the sound coming out of the speakers at the Murfreesboro show (regardless of corps) was anything but good. You may think what you have is excellent, but it's like someone who thinks their Chevy Malibu "teh awesomeness," even though they have never experienced a Porsche or Ferrari.

Like I said, audiophiles spend thousands, oftentimes tens of thousands of dollars, on high-end audio equipment to reproduce LIVE sound accurately. Here we have DCI corps take LIVE sound, and put it through lesser outputs. Peavy and Yamaha are not exactly the benchmark of high-end speakers. I think it's kind of backwards myself to put great live sound through mediocre speakers/amps, but hey, that's just me.

Yup!

[saxfreq1128]

THanks for that.

I don't need something to be linear. I understood Memento (or at least I think I did) for crying out loud :)

I will say that I saw a YouTube video of a recent Cavies rehearsal, and from higher up towards the box (I was just 12 rows up in Murfreesboro) it flows a lot better. My takeaway from this is that:

A) Amplification must really bother me and

B) During a live performance, it is beyond distracting to hear the pre-recorded messages/sounds through horrible speakers against a backdrop of acoustical instruments.

It's the only explanation that I can come up with on why live I found the show to be just a mess of different things but recorded it seemed to work better. Maybe someone else can figure out a better explanation, but that is what I can come up with.

But Memento is linear. Just backwards.

[atlvalet]

AH, ok, now I understand where you're coming from.

There is a tremendous difference between the audiophile home theater market and commercial live sound support. Very few companies are in both markets, as the gear and equipment is completely different in design and implementation.

Peavy and Yamaha make perfectly serviceable live sound equipment. I tend to prefer Mackie, QSC and JBL (and a few others), but we all have our preferences. None of those companies (except maybe JBL, owned by Harmon International) are even in the audiophile home market. The reverse is also true. Good luck finding a Krell tube amp designed for a touring concert rig.

Set-up and maintenance of each kind of system is totally different as well. Audiophiles strive for 100% control of the acoustical environment that gear will be used in. Live sound support assumes little to no control. Additionally, live support systems are designed to work in very, very large venues. Audiophile gear isn't.

I haven't looked at the Cavaiers sound system up close, but when we see them again in a day or two I'll take a look. I highly doubt they are using much (if anything) that is sub-standard. I have seen some very questionable set ups this summer, but I highly doubt Cavies are one of them, based strictly on the sound output I've heard at a number of shows.

Everything you said may be true, and I understand that a live, concert-like environment is different, but I thought the sound through the speakers (not just Cavies) was less than good and sounded thin in comparison to the acoustical instruments. Cavies were using Yamaha speakers.

And just glancing on the Internet at the price of Peavy speakers, they're relatively cheap, which I don't find surprising at all based upon what I heard.

Edited August 4, 2010 by atlvalet