What I thought wouldn't make a difference...

[wretchedspawn]

We use two monitors that sit just behind our drummer. They used to be powered by our PA's monitor outs but I changed our setup a bit. I sent the cab mics and the PA main out(not the powered one) to a mixer. I panned the mics 100% left and right and the vocals from the PA stayed straight down the center(Our PA doesnt pan btw, which sucked when we used it to power the monitors.). I then sent the left and right outs of the mixer to a stereo power amp which powered the two monitors. I don't why this changed things so drastically since it was just the two monitors behind the drummer but no matter where you stand in the room everything sounds so much more clear now.

Can anyone tell me why this happened?

 

[Popsyche]

Garret, I can't get a clear idea of what you are using here. Could you give me some model numbers of what is going exactly into what? Do you have a powered mixer? Is that what you are calling your PA? These monitors behind the drums are your only monitors or are they for the drummer? What are they?

 

[eleven59]

So, the main thing you changed was that you panned the guitars hard left and right, leaving the vocals down the center? And you're wondering why it sounds clearer with more separation despite the speakers being really close together?

Simple. The guitars each have their own speaker to play through, instead of competing for both, so they're not physically interfering with each other. When budda was over and we were jamming through my 4x12, I accidentally had it set to mono so we were both coming through all 4 speakers (probably not a good thing, but apparently did no damage ) until I switched it to stereo so we each had 2 speakers to ourself, and everything came out a lot clearer.

Basically, it's like having two guitarists playing through one amp vs. two separate amps.

 

[wretchedspawn]

Bill, hear is a better(hopefully) description of what we have going on.

Both myself and the other guitarist have our cabs miced. Both cabinet mics and the master output from the powered mixer(Phonic Powerpod 620), which is only used to power speakers for vocals at the time being, are sent to one of my old ass mixers(Mackie Microseries 1202). The left and right outputs from the mixer are then sent to the left and right fx returns of my bass amp(SWR Mo'Bass) The SWR has a left and right power section and the fx loops are assigned correspondingly. Each power section powers one monitor.

Yes, I was calling the powered mixer a PA. And yes, the two monitors behind the drummer are the only ones in use. And as previously mentioned they were built buy a friend of my fathers.

I hope that clears it up for you.