IPad Air 2 Does the Trick with MF 3.X. In My Perception

[Sir Krang]

Acoustic instruments in their own monitors?  Generally stupid.  I've heard of drummers needing themselves in the monitors.  Gotta ask yourself why?   I like the thought of sending the drums back to the drum monitor with some delay to discourage that stupidity.

28 years in the live music industry, and well over 1000+ gigs, and every drummer wanted themselves in the monitor.

Normal. Well at least in my part of the world/live music industry. Never a problem

[pytchley]

I glad Wyndd doesn't do our sound, wouldn't be a popular man.

[sam.spoons]

A drummer who needs drums in his monitor wedge (apart from, maybe, a little kick) is a total anachronism dating back to the days of three story guitar amplifiers. I can't think of a situation these days where a drummer needs drums in his wedge. For many of the gigs the DL1608 is aimed at the problem is keeping the drums from being too loud acoustically and they often don't need to be in the FOH, never mind the monitors, drums are LOUD. If the drummers needs drums in his wedge THE GUITARS ARE TOO LOUD! 

Now acoustic guitars are another matter, I'd always put them in them wedges, even for a solo singer/guitarist

[pytchley]

Actually as a drummer I have as little as possible in my monitor but on a big festival stage sometimes you need some snare or you're going to hurt your wrist. Always nice to have some kick...

[sam.spoons]

Accepted, sometimes on huge stage, but that's not exactly the DL1608's natural habitit (and the guitars are still too loud ). I remain to be convinced about the snare though, if my drummer's snare can register 100dB at the mix position I dread to think what it is when it reaches his ears.

[Wynnd]

If you have to be loud to sound good,  you probably aren't very good.  If you are good, you should sound good at jukebox levels too.

[pytchley]

Here in France festival means more than one band outside so not so grand but often on big stages in town centre car parks. In that situation everybody is going to need monitors and the drummer's going to need a little bit of snare. Also I don't know what parallel universe some of you guys live in but the majority of electric guitarists have always played too loud on stage in the one I live in and getting them to turn down always seems to provoke a fit of the sulks and they just turn back up again anyway. I'm mostly involved in acoustic stuff these days thankfully and mostly play with brushes myself so no 100db snares from me. In the two years I've been using the DL I've done a lot of big shows and there's not a lot of bands that won't fit onto 16 channels. I think I only got the big desk and multicore out three times last year!

[Wynnd]

The snare is less than 4 feet away from the drummers head.  How on earth can they not hear that?  (Without running it through the PA.)   Large stages with the band spread out?  Yea, they will need monitors, but the drummer should have an easier time hearing himself with everyone else pulled away.  On the other hand, it's always been recommended that if the band is normally packed tight when playing, they should also pack tight especially on a large stage so what they hear is closer to normal. 

At one outdoor gig where I was playing keys, the drummer's monitor was aimed my direction and the kick was so loud (outdoors) at 12 feet, that I asked the monitor engineer to do something.  It was totally drowning out my monitor that was a mere 5 feet from my head. (And no, I didn't want my monitor turned up.  It was really loud enough and the drummer normally played without a monitor.  It was all the engineers fault.  There was no call for that much monitor from any point onstage.)

[pytchley]

Of course I don't mean silly loud but that's not possible anyway with say a violin with a condenser mic but he's still going to need to hear himself. It's amazing how little you can hear sometimes on stage outdoors especially with city noise and of course the hundreds of thousands of adoring spectators screaming By my calculations a drummer would need to be around 12 feet tall to get 4 feet away from his snare so I wouldn't pick a fight with him.

[Wynnd]

No normal traffic noise will prevent a violinist from hearing his instrument.  A stupid loud guitar, drums, or horns aimed at their ears will.  Currently playing bass for a musical with flute, violin viola cello guitar drums, piano.  In the orchestra pit, there are some minor hearing issues across, but we've been rehearsing without any PA support.  (I've been bringing a small bass amp.  The other bassist has been bringing a 1000 watt ampeg, but he's been playing at reasonable levels.  Volume controls go two ways for a reason.)

[James91104]

And so, back at the ranch. Who might trading up for a spiffy newer iPad Air 2 based on the OP initial post experiences ?

[Sir Krang]

And so, back at the ranch. Who might trading up for a spiffy newer iPad Air 2 based on the OP initial post experiences ?

I recently upgraded my ageing iPad 3 which had done constant 10 hour days since new which was a cuppla weeks after release.
It was time for an upgrade anyway and I had the cash burning a hole in my pocket so iPad Air 2 it is.

Awesome fast bit of kit. Love it!!

[Wynnd]

I'll probably update, but might just wait until the next generation is out.  The EQ lag doesn't seem bad enough for me to worry about. 

[RoadRanger]

Acoustic guitar is completely inaudible against a drummer and bass in a folk/rock band - definitely needs to be in the monitor of the player! In my fairly tame R&B band the sax players can't hear their instruments either. Even a trumpet player who you probably don't need in the PA needs to be in his monitor. In any case most horn players want reverb in their monitors - and even if the dry signal isn't in the PA the reverb needs to be there also. Sure wish the DL's allowed per-channel selection of pre/post on the 'verb sends .

[Wynnd]

OK, I will admit that Acoustic guitar gets smothered pretty easily.  (Pity, I really like the sound.)  Now if you only fed the few instruments that really needed to be in the monitors and backed them all off, feedback would probably vanish.   (And the bands would quit chasing people out of the club.  And the FOH engineer would have a much easier time.)

Played a club with their own PA and engineer.  Overall stage volume dropped 10 db and a fan that always came with the band said it was like hearing the band for the very first time and he could hear people talking two tables away.  It was the best I've ever heard someone else run a board.  (Stu at Q's pub in Lakewood.)