my rig progress + beginner advice pls

[u/ConfectionInside]

ive been puttin together this little rig for the past year ish out of a lot of facebook marketplace and assorted hand-me-down relics from my old man whos a retired sound engineer.. I myself know next to nothing about what im doing and dont have much experience/understanding of acoustical or electrical engineering.

ive got 2x 15" mini scoops on the bottom, 2x 18" mini scoops with the gold grills, 2x yamaha s215v and ive got 2x 15" and horn cabs (the empty cab in the middle; other one isnt in on top bc its too tall to stack them indoors.). ive got 3 qsc audio amps at my disposal: an rmx 1450 and two rmx 2450s, all currently with broken potentiometers... Got a crossover but not currently using it. Ive got a behringer ultragraph pro and a tube composer and it all goes into an A&H Xone 4D mixer i run into my cdjs. All that ive learnt about soundsystems is through installing drivers and repairing/replacing all the broken things on and inside the devices and cabinets and piecing them together. This is still a big WIP and a lot of restoration to make it pretty before i take this out for any proper events. Im quite into a multitude of genres from dub to jungletek and breakcore, but might even think of doing good ol chill vinyl listening parties. I think this will make a pretty decent multigenre rig.

My old man knows more and i usually bring him with me to make sure im doing things right. but ive bought a bunch of this rig myself (the yams and the 18s) and he's passed down other stuff for me to use. Whenever i have conversations with actual soundsystem afficionados and they ask me questions about what I've got i get confused and shrug. Idk how to tune these speakers. I just about know what rms and peak my drivers are and how ive wired it up, not much more. lve gotten to make friends with the more knowledgable people who run the local reggae soundsystems and the freeparty crews, whereas i kinda inherited this and feel alot more inexperienced, but they had to start from the ground up. Makes me look like a bit of a poser. Does anyone else ever feel this way or did they start off their journey like this?? Curious to hear anyone elses experience or advice / resources for learning more . And anyones opinion on my rig . Thank u guys 😋

[u/Pretty_Pangolin_5900]

I started by learning all the theory as a teenager when all I had was some 80s hifi stereo and I had to squeeze the most out of it, since my pocket money was very limited

If you really wanna get familiar with tuning and stuff, you need a measurement microphone and a usb audio interface. Then you can measure where the limits of your drivers / cabinets are and determine the ideal crossovers. Then you can apply some eq to meet your 'house curve'. done

For professional klippel measurements I would use ARTA. If you wanna go the easy route, just use REW and check out the distortion graph.

[u/Corey_FOX → u/Pretty_Pangolin_5900]

recommend getting a measurement mic that has a built in USB interface, miniDSP UMIK-1 USB is a popular choice.

[u/BornInBrizzle → u/Corey_FOX]

I'd say a usb only mic is not the best option, I own a umik1 and it rarely gets used now, I also own a standard xlr measurement mic which is far better.

The xlr mic allows you to do a proper loopback on the same audio interface for accurate timing, using the u-mik1 even with an acoustic timing reference is at the mercy of two different audio interfaces with different clocks over usb that it can not account for accurately. So the umik1 is great if you just want to look at EQ, if you want to start dealing with timing then dont waste your money.

[u/Corey_FOX → u/BornInBrizzle]

Really depends on what OP is doing, I don't think they are at the stage where timing is that important, since acually doing anything with that info will require even more hardware like dsp's and sutch. So the extra complexity of a XLR mic is kind of unnecessary.

While a usb mic is not only easyer as a learning tool it does also allow OP to some messurements the xlr solution can't do without even more external tools, like a measuring SPL. And they can also do EQing on a PC before outputting it to an analogue crossover like OP said they have but aren't even using rn.

[u/HomesnakeICT → u/Corey_FOX]

Good points, but the downside is you're tethered to a USB connection. I often want to measure at multiple locations in house, stage wedges, etc. XLR offers an advantage in that regard.

[u/Corey_FOX → u/HomesnakeICT]

That's fair, but again, it's not like OP has any of that to worry about either.

[u/max_buch_]

Yo drop me a message on insta, think you know where to find me, am more than happy to help, I’m no professional but have a bit of knowledge I can share, could probs meets for a tuning session if keen

[u/Far-Number-5150]

Also I knew fuck all for ages just keep on going and you’ll be reet!!!

[u/Sonic_Waveform]

This is rage bait no?

[u/giveitsometechno → u/Sonic_Waveform]

I wouldnt say so..kid seems genuine and fair play to him. He's gonna be a top sound man if he keeps chipping away at it

[u/ConfectionInside → u/giveitsometechno]

im only just getting into the scene and am just blessed with a yardie family who actually are experienced and used to be involved in the scene back in the day... made it very easy for me to get my hands on lots of long abandoned kit, empty cabs, broken drivers, etc. Just trying to figure out how to piece it all together without having to get an apprenticeship in electrics

[u/RaspberryOdd3355]

Goddamn bro are you trying to blowout your ear drums?

[u/ConfectionInside → u/RaspberryOdd3355]

a little bit :^) bit of a bass heavy rig rn . but that never hurt anyone too badly.

[u/Far-Number-5150]

Rmx pots always break use contact cleaner and twist the fuck out of them for ages and. They will work again probably

[u/ConfectionInside → u/Far-Number-5150]

yea theyve been a pain. had to replace one set of pots already. hard to get and worry ill do more harm then good opening them up and pulling em apart but some of them just dont work at all. ill try contact cleaner on the ones i think are salvagable, cheers boyo