Actually I'm old enough to remember when the PA's weren't actually powered mixers, and there were three parts; the mixer, and the Amp/Speakers (which we refer to as the PA around here). Most gigs I would bring the mixer and Barry brought the PA (amp&speakers). Maybe it's a local thing. I guess most assume there is a mixer, since it is needed.
I remember the old cheap PA's that had an XLR connected to a single amp too, and was not meant for line level signals, just a mic. There are a few different configs I can recall and I don't remember Danny mentioning a mixer even though others here did. He kept saying 'directly to the PA', and having to crank it to point of distortion. No mention of mixer settings.
Seeing it's a Yamaha, I should have thought 'powered mixer' right away but I didn't.

Or maybe I did, and then threw that idea out, since Yamaha powered mixers are nice, and I would think even a laptop could get enough gain from one. They are not real noisy and have decent preamps in my experience.

Last edited by rharv; 08/23/11 10:07 AM.
Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome