Hey there, DAW artist getting ready to go live with a hardware based setup for the first time. I am excited and pleased with my setup so far, however I am running into a slight paranoia about my output signal.
Having spent such a long time making music and looking at the db meters in Logic, I could always see when I was getting into the yellow/red on my outputs. Now that I am going live, I have realized I don’t have much of a way to see if my signal and gain staging of my setup is clipping by the time it goes to the output.
For context, I’m playing synth and guitar into my HX Stomp where I do have compressors set up, then I was planning to bring my Scarlett 2i2 along so that I could send my audio through that. As of now the 2i2 would be my “end of chain” and yes, I can at least see if the inputs there are clipping as they change color on the front. However, I’m still wanting to see my meters in a more visual way. (One concern is if the stereo L/R are properly balanced as the 2i2 input knobs are extremely sensitive and hard to know if they’re aligned.
I’ve been searching to see if there are any kind of pedals or end of chain devices that can just show your volume levels. I know…this is a “mixer”. I don’t have a mixer and I don’t really want to spend on one if I don’t need to. The jam I’m playing at is pretty small I may be plugging directly into the PA system without a mixer.
I’ve seen the TC Clarity device but its expensive as well. Anybody have other ideas? Would it be worth obtaining an Analog Heat and using that instead of the Scarlett? Or an OTO Boum? Am I being crazy and I don’t need anything?
You may or may not have your reasons to be paranoid.
But to consider getting an analog heat or whatever to avoid getting a mixer? Talk about cutting your nose to spite your face.
And guess what, a mixer will have faders with much more accuracy than your scarlet, you can operate, mute them etc in the dark if you have to, which when you are playing live is kind of a big deal.
There are much more experienced live performers here than I, but here’s a take: once your signal leaves your digital mixer or interface and is headed to the PA, the concepts of clipping become different, since it’s analog.
Some PAs like at a club will have a ton of headroom and it will be hard to distort them. Others, like at a backyard barbecue, will have not a lot of headroom and you may need to turn down.
If you’re not looking to compress your mix as an effect, but more as a practical measure, then really what you want is an “end of chain” master volume knob of some kind. If it has gain that can also help.
Run your setup very low so there is no chance of clipping your digital gear and you can focus on performing. Then when you get there and sound check, just use your master volume to either boost your signal to where the PA needs it, or cut it to where the PA needs it.
Obviously there are cool things you can do with end of chain processing as well, but it’s really easy to make things worse, especially if you are unsure what the PA is going to be like.
Will you be playing with a laptop and then running into the Scarlett 2i2? If someone is running the sound, you could have the backing for the laptop and HXStomp split to let them mix out front and set up a monitor mix. Many PAs I have played through are mono, so the backing could be further split into mono drums and then everything else. All rooms can be different so having someone that normally runs the sounds can be a big help and help set levels.
It’s worth checking with the venue what their setup is and then working out the set up from there.
Mixer is the answer. The 1010 Bluebox is compact and really capable, has a built in graphical EQ per track, and the built in compressor is great once you get the settings dialled in. I highly recommend it, but I understand the touch screen and 3.5mm connectors aren’t for everyone.
So the only instruments you have for the live rig are one synth and a guitar both going into the HX Stomp? Nothing else? Is it a dual mono configuration in the stomp, i.e., with two independent signal paths?
My first thought was devices like the HX Stomp usually have balanced/DI outputs that are suitable for going straight into a mixer or PA. It looks like it does, you just need to use TRS to XLR/TRS (depending on PA inputs) cables and make a call on whether the HX Stomp needs to output a line or instrument level signal (depending on where it’s going).
If the HX Stomp is dual mono, then you will be setting up the L/R and volume balance of your synth and guitar per each of your song presets yeah? In this case you shouldn’t need to adjust them while playing, and you might be plugging into a mono sound system anyway.
If there’s no one doing sound for you, then you might need to make some EQ tweaks of the synth and guitar based on the room you’re in. At this point you either want to have a small mixer within reach or the PA controls. But if someone else is doing sound, then they should do that for you if needed.
It also looks like the HX Stomp has a screen that will show you if its inputs or outputs are clipping. You should be able to test all your song presets before hand to see if this is the case and make adjustments. Basically either your analog signal on the way in is too loud for the Stomp’s analog to digital converter, or the digital signal on the way out is too loud for its digital to analog converter. If you get this sorted you should be fine going straight from the Stomp to the PA or FOH mixer.
Lastly, I don’t think you need to take the Scarlett at all. All it will do is upset the L/R balance you already set inside the Stomp, and it’s clipping indicators will just show you if your signal is too loud for its preamps, which may have no bearing whatsoever on whether the signal out of the Stomp is too loud for the PA inputs.
Thanks for this fantastic advice!
Yes I am running a synth in stereo into the HX Stomp and then an acoustic electric into it mono, and I will just change between two different custom presets that I’ll set up for each instrument in the stomp.
I think I will be handling the sound/mixer alone as this is an unconventional live event (I am doing ambient dungeon synth for a wargaming tournament).
Based on your advice I will do some testing and probably ditch the 2i2. I might pick up a Yamaha MG06X if I feel its necessary.
Interested to find the screen in the HX Stomp that displays levels/clipping as I haven’t messed with the menus enough to see that before.
Thanks again.
Edit: also this thread and other research I’ve done is making me question if its even worth trying to use stereo for a gig
No problem, I meant to add a caveat in the last post that it’s not based on much live experience, just how I would break down the problem based on having gone down way too many GAS rabbit holes and read way too many manuals for what if scenarios.
That actually sounds like a really cool event, but if it’s a temporary PA setup in a large room then yeah, maybe stereo won’t translate very well anyway?
For this scenario, the most important thing will be getting to the venue and setting up and sound-checking with plenty of time to figure out where all the levels should be.
(in fact, that’s pretty much always the most important thing)
Based off the info you’ve given about your setup, I don’t think it matters much either way, it’s mainly more for drums. Mono sounds good because it comes out the same regardless of where the listener is in the room, you’re not relying on the positioning of the listener between two speakers for the sound to translate properly. I think the thing with stereo is that a lot of spatial effects/panning gets lost on a live PA and can mess things up with phasing etc. This is obviously bad for drums, but won’t really matter two much for just a guitar and synth. My live set up was entirely stereo but that was because I was playing back stems.
See if you can organise a sound check with the organiser, so you can spend 15 or so minutes with the sound tech before doors open and make sure things sound good. In my experience, if it sounds good coming out of your master output then you’ve done the best you can do. If the gig is more DIY and doesn’t have a sound tech then don’t stress, you’ve only got two instruments to mix. If one is too loud, turn it down.
Something to be aware of if you’re not already is that in the global settings you can switch all of the inputs and outputs of the HX Stomp between instrument level (since some people are running it into a guitar amp) or line level. There’s also an impedance setting you can change on the preset’s input block.
So you’re going to want to have the input you’re using for guitar set to instrument level, the synth set to line, and the outputs set to line level. If you accidentally had the outputs set to instrument you might have issues.
Other than that, I don’t think there should be any problems. If the HX Stomp isn’t clipping at home, then the line out shouldn’t be clipping any PA imo.
Sum your mix to mono, then stand 6 feet back from your monitors so your listening position is suboptimal, and you can make your own decision.
You may need to change the shape of the mix to compensate for the loss of width. I’d listen to it as loud as you’re able without ruining your living situation (or your speakers). UNLESS it’s a super low volume gig and then don’t.
Legend. That’s really bad ass and I hope it goes very well!
This is super bottom grade advice so you have probably already done this but just thought I would throw it out there.
