Ok, to start off I'm in band that has trouble with the PA system. My question here would be what equipment would you need in order to be able to have a working PA system for band practice.

We have a PA Monitor (old Peavey 260 Vintage ), That you can't put the thing past 2, and can't be heard over the guitars. We play in a MetalCore band, so we need the vocalist to be loud, and heard over others. We have two big speakers, (2 speakers in each cab), and they seem like really good speakers. We have mics that are hooked up to a big mixing board.

On top of what equipment you need to make a mic work through speakers, Im curious about a PA loop? is you can call it that or a series. Like what would the mic go through etc.

We're looking to upgrade equipment, and are wondering what the basic setup would be for a PA system for vocals would be.

Thanks.

Two things to consider to get your PA above your instruments:

1.) The sound coming out of the speakers can not exceed the amount of db in SBL's going into the microphone. This means, the amount of volume out of the speakers can't be more than the thing it is your miking (I'm guessing voice,) furthermore the sound of the other instruments in the room, can't be louder than the thing your miking, (the drums and guitars can't be louder at the mic's than the voice.) If your voice is singing in the microphone at 90db and the speakers are pumping out 91 db at the microphone, you'll get feedback and you won't be able to get any more juice. If the instruments are louder than your voice at the mic's, than your instruments will be louder than your voice coming out of the speakers. To solve this first problem you can increase the distance of the speakers from the microphones (move the speakers further from the mics or move the mic's further from the speakers,) or decrease the distance of your voice from the microphones, (move your mouth closer to the mic.) The other option is to increase the amount of volume going into the microphone, (get louder) or decrease the surrounding instrument levels, (other instruments play quieter.)

2.) Clean power. If it is impossible to solve this problem with placement and the system is simply incapable with competing with a band, you need more clean power. Getting bigger speakers or a louder PA won't work. You need both. Unless of coarse it's just one of your pieces that are inadequate. 500W Speakers with proper power should be more than enough to practice with although the other thing to consider is sensitivity, (Watts is a deceiving term since it refers to amount of power it's using not amount of sound it's creating.)

If the problem is, you can't turn the volume up past '2' than here's what I'd do. Move the speakers away from the mics. Don't move the mics near a wall since the sound from the speakers and sound in general builds up near hard reflective surfaces. You can turn the gain down from the input volumes and maybe push more out of your speakers, (instead of running you mic volumes at 11 and your PA at 2, try your mic volumes at 8-9 and see how loud you can get your PA after that. Maybe you can get your speakers to 4 or 5 or more.) If your using cardioid mics, this will decrease the proximity effect, making them less sensitive to the sound from the other instruments and speakers. Get closer to the mic if you can when you do this. If none of this works. Get some money and these:

http://www.qscaudio.com/products/speakers/k_series/

1000W of d_class power. Should be enough to blast over your metal band. If that doesn't work, get a new room. If that doesn't work, ask someone else. Gotta go get drinks now.

Balls.