My situation is that up to now I have been relying on other peoples speakers and it’s not really working out. a lot of times the act right before me will be a band with really big amps and a drum set. No matter what my sounds it’s flimsy in comparison using the equipment at the venue.
So right now I’m considering getting an amp or PA or anything like that and I don’t know where to start. If anyone can recommend what I should look at that would be great.
This is a really complicated subject…for one, you are either going to really make the sound guy who is already there extremely happy or extremely mad.
If you know what you are doing and you can do it all 100% yourself (I would never kid myself that I could do this) with ZERO complaints, then they’ll be happy.
As soon as you have a problem though, their gonna say see is why we have a dedicated sound guy. Your extra setup time could be problematic for any of the other acts too - not to mention if your sound is actually better but nobody else is able to use it.
There are other ways to think about it though - for example just bringing some support. Have you considered bringing just your own subwoofer? That has worked for me before and I’ve seen others do the same thing. This way you don’t fight the in house PA for power, and it can likely handle the highs / mids just fine.
I also know electronic guys that actually bring their own amps, maybe more for a monitor or just to add that extra personality to their stuff.
A good soundsystem is not something to skimp on, and the one I rented last night is about a $2k setup and really where I would suggest aiming for (Yorkville).
However that brings up another option - renting - I think it was $50-75 for the system so no big deal at all.
I’m not saying to go out and spend a ton of money on a soundsystem, just pointing out that this is a pretty big rabbit hole to crawl down into.
In the end its going to come down to each event having different requirements. Simplest option, and what I do, is just avoid the places with bad sound.
I love my sound guys. Which is another great option - make good friends with the sound guy beforehand and he’ll likely hook you up.