Live audio from Reaper into PA system

DThompson55 · 06-19-2022, 09:58 AM

I've been asked to perform Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me for a service. They have an excellent sound system at this church, I've performed there live before but just with vocal mics and DI boxes. This song really requires a full band.

My plan is to pre-record bass, drums, and keyboards in Reaper, and then play that through their sound system from Reaper, going out a FocusRite 2i2, which has lineouts for left and right. Then I'll have to add guitar and vocals.

Normally, I might send guitar and vocals as separate DI and Mic inputs to their mixer except that as nice as these folks are, they are amatuer mixers at best, and 9 times out of 10 they get levels wrong, so I'm better off just giving them my mix.

That said, my plan is to send guitar and vocals directly into the 2i2 and just go out its zero latency monitor feature. That would only let me control volume on those inputs using the 2i2's gain controls, which could be a problem? Unless, is there some benefit to processing those in Reaper, and still getting near zero latency? So that's one question.

2nd question, is there a difference between lineout levels compared to mic and DI output levels? Will I just need to compensate on their mixing board's gain settings? Or is there something that will prevent this from working as expected? What else should I watch for?

Aeolian · 06-19-2022, 10:35 AM

A couple of thoughts:

I usually like to have any backing on its own output, same with guitar, same with Vox.

You really do need to able to adjust these different levels, at any time.

The sound onstage isn't the best place for hearing the room mix, and it's hard to mix and adjust levels, mid performance, whilst you are playing and singing.

It might be better to give the foh 3 seperate lines, and trust them

If the room sound goes tits-up, they'll be in a much better position to help you out.

Use line level for the interface outputs.
Some venues have stageboxes that only have mic level inputs on xlr, for this I use bunch of dbx Dj-di (line-to-mic, stereo, passive) boxes.

Good Luck!

06-19-2022, 09:58 AM	#1
DThompson55 Human being with feelings Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Central Connecticut Posts: 347	Live audio from Reaper into PA system I've been asked to perform Marvin Gaye's Mercy Mercy Me for a service. They have an excellent sound system at this church, I've performed there live before but just with vocal mics and DI boxes. This song really requires a full band. My plan is to pre-record bass, drums, and keyboards in Reaper, and then play that through their sound system from Reaper, going out a FocusRite 2i2, which has lineouts for left and right. Then I'll have to add guitar and vocals. Normally, I might send guitar and vocals as separate DI and Mic inputs to their mixer except that as nice as these folks are, they are amatuer mixers at best, and 9 times out of 10 they get levels wrong, so I'm better off just giving them my mix. That said, my plan is to send guitar and vocals directly into the 2i2 and just go out its zero latency monitor feature. That would only let me control volume on those inputs using the 2i2's gain controls, which could be a problem? Unless, is there some benefit to processing those in Reaper, and still getting near zero latency? So that's one question. 2nd question, is there a difference between lineout levels compared to mic and DI output levels? Will I just need to compensate on their mixing board's gain settings? Or is there something that will prevent this from working as expected? What else should I watch for? __________________ It's like learning to paint with your ears.

06-19-2022, 10:35 AM	#2
Aeolian Human being with feelings Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Somewhere PRO Posts: 1,049	A couple of thoughts: I usually like to have any backing on its own output, same with guitar, same with Vox. You really do need to able to adjust these different levels, at any time. The sound onstage isn't the best place for hearing the room mix, and it's hard to mix and adjust levels, mid performance, whilst you are playing and singing. It might be better to give the foh 3 seperate lines, and trust them If the room sound goes tits-up, they'll be in a much better position to help you out. Use line level for the interface outputs. Some venues have stageboxes that only have mic level inputs on xlr, for this I use bunch of dbx Dj-di (line-to-mic, stereo, passive) boxes. Good Luck! __________________ "REAPER... You're simply the best" - Tina Turner

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