Wedgehorn 10 Review

[sstillwell]

FWIW, I've always loved the SM15V (and IV, and III before them), but they are big, they are heavy, and they are awkward. They get louder than h*ll and cut through a mix, though, for as (relatively) inexpensive as they are.

I have like seven of them at this point...they're not perfect, but by the time I'm ready to buy something better, I'll either go in-ear or buy something like a Radian/EAW microwedge. Monitors are peculiar beasts.

Yamaha doesn't publish a response graph that I recall, but they DO publish recommended EQ settings for them...might be worth googling that up to get the most out of them...maybe that would let you get away with carrying fewer of them. I wind up using one wedge per person more often than not, though.

Scott

[SirNickity]

Ah, yeah. There it is. A job for every tool. Thanks!

[Bruce Weldy]

Monitors are peculiar beasts.

Ain't that the truth.......

[Benj Ross]

Hey All,

Might be here, but I have had a sort of mixed bag with the W10s.

I did a five piece bluegrass band using two Wh10s and a pair of Peavey impulse 12d ($900 retail) as monitors. The band was almost fighting over who got to use the WH10s. Very live room, no feedback issues to speak of. I did a bit of ringing out and it was fine all night.

Later, I did the county fair here. Outdoor stage with a tent, 4 Wh10s as soon as we checked the first mic it started Feeding. I ended up inverting the WH10s response curve and it was great and people were very happy with the monitors. I am still totally confused about why this was, especially with the outdoor stage.

To the OP, I have to imagine that there is some strange variable with your setup that is causing you this greif, but you can only for so long. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get it worked out someday.

One thing that has been consistent is that the WH10s are super clear and crisp. The PVs sound dull next to them, and the PVs sound pretty damn good.

Benj

[Haysus]

Hey Bruce out of curiosity, do any of the vocalist where a cowboy hat?
I have read that hats create reflections in HF area from monitors to the mic. High sensitivity speakers like the WH10 would most certainly need heeps of EQ to tame that scenario.
Unfortunately the WH10 is not a set it and forget like the Yamaha's but that is always a trade.

Good news for your garage PA. That should make your work shop a happy place. Good luck.

[Bruce Weldy]

The WH10s have been in the trailer since the middle of August. We play this Saturday at the County Fair, but it will be through JBL line array boxes and some Radian-filled monitors provided by the sound company.

At some point, I'll get 'em back in the garage and start over with the EQ to see if I can make some sense out of 'em.

And yes, sometimes there are cowboy hats involved

And baseball caps......

[LiefStevens]

Hey Bruce,
I recently bought a pair of WH10's. I'm using one for the guitar player and one as a drum monitor. I do find they are very slightly more prone to feedback that my Mackies or my Yamaha monitors but I am able to ring them out fairly easily. I think the trick to these (and most of Bill's designs) is that that need to be setup with DPS and a RTA. I basically just used the DPS EQ to smooth out the frequency response and brought the mids down just a little. For the DPS I'm using and XTI 1000 power amp. I have the full band going through the monitors (5 vocals, bass, keys, sax, guitar, and edrums) using a variety of mics including 2 condensers. For ringing out the system I'm using a couple Behringer FBQ2496s. I really like using the FBQ2496 over a 31 band EQ as I find it give a much narrower cut leaving more head room and it makes setup faster. Over all I like the WH10 and am planing on building some WH8's or WH6's for everything but the drum monitor.

[TheCesar]

Bruce Weldy,
Were you ever able to get these W10 working for you? I’m still working on 2 of these for me and I’m just trying to plan ahead. I’m planning on using the Behringer ULTRAGRAPH PRO 31 band EQ Feedback Detection System. The w10 are mainly going to be for Vocals and Key boards, Guitar and bass have their own amps.

I just hope I don’t run in to too much trouble.

we are currently using one Mackie sr 1530 for the entire 6 piece band and we are looking forward to the upgrade, if they work out and the band likes them ill build some more.

[Bruce Weldy]

No, I never did. We were monitoring the entire band through 'em and I was not ever able to get 'em right. So, I just bought two more of the Yamahas that I was using before......I do miss the lighter weight of the WH10s.

Mine were sold to forum member Haysus in St. Louis. I believe that he was more successful in getting them EQed properly and is using them regularly.

I doubt you'll have any problem with them with what you plan to use them for.

[TheCesar]

I doubt you'll have any problem with them with what you plan to use them for.

[miramadar]

I would love to see a post-mortem on this issue, as I'm thinking of a WHx build for my band.

I'm no professional sound man by any stretch, but I've been playing live and loud for the better part of 2 decades. My 2cents, FWIW, is that too many instruments were being fed to the monitors. With monitors, being the peculiar beasts they are, I always held to the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). We always run vocals-only in the monitors, but we have our own amps for stage volume. Trying to get the full FOH sound from your monitors, in my opinion, is dicey business and would require some heavy-weight setup. Meaning no disrespect at all, but I can't see why drums would ever be needed in the monitors, unless the stage was 50 yards wide or something. Drums are plenty loud enough in my opinion and need no extra sound support...unless it's some sort very light jazz drumming. But, again, I'm no pro.

Also, unidirectional vocal mics might have helped. SM58's are feedback machines, even with a pared down monitor mix. I would have gone with a 57, Beta 57, or something similar.

I can certainly appreciate the desire to hear your sound as the audience hears it. But I'm not sure that's achievable in a "working man's" PA system. Not meaning to sound sarcastic at all, but do you think you might have been asking a little too much from these monitors?

Nonetheless, this a very interesting thread and a good, educational read. Thanks for posting.

[Grant Bunter]

Hey miramadar,
My WH8's go great, once I got EQing sorted. Bill himself uses WH6's. I'm thinking of adding a pair of WH10's soon, for drums and keys only.
All power to you and your band if all you need to put through monitors is vocals and control the rest by consensus. No sarcasm there in that comment.
Lots of people end up trying to put everything through foldback to attempt to end the vicious circle of controlling on stage volume.
As a drummer who doesn't try to play hard, but has a loud pro kit, if I can't hear my kit over the guitar, bass and keys and can only sing my backups by hearing myself in the FOH, this is exactly where I tried to take my band; add monitors and sends for everyone.
All good for the first 10 minutes, then the "turn me up" merry go round begins again.

So, what with monitors being peculiar beasts, and bands being bands, these WHxx's perform admirably.
If you guys only use vocals in FB, you only need WH8's or 6's...

[Bruce Weldy]

I can't see why drums would ever be needed in the monitors,

If you are running sound off the stage and you want to have any clue whatsoever what it sounds like out front - a full-band monitor mix is the only way to accomplish both.

I've been running like this for about 15 years in three different bands with both acoustic and electronic drums. It's not really hard, and I know that we sound better than any other band out there running without FOH mixing.

The trick is to get the stage volume down as much as possible - don't face the amps forward, face 'em in or even backward. Or, run direct. Then you have a decent chance to get a good balance out front without battling the stage volume. But, I have to have everything in the monitor to achieve that balance. I can give the other guys whatever they want - I have to have it all since my fingers are on the faders.