I'm going to be providing the sound for a small local outdoor event. They are expecting 450-500 people per day over a weekend in July. The idea is ambient chill-out house music during the day with some demonstrations on the stage they'll be providing. I'll be playing out into what is effectively a small football pitch sized open space from the "halfway line"  (I'm awaiting maps from the client), with the main building behind me. My position will be slightly elevated from the main area.

Rig will be as follows:

FOH

4x Logic Systems LS215

2 x Logic Systems LS152 (horn will be rotated for horizontal coverage)

Last year they literally had a pair of active speakers so I'm sure what I have will be fine. 

What I don't want is to have this rig screaming to reach the back of the festival. 

In fill is an option, it may be slight overkill but any advice from you gurus would be great!

TIA

The subs most certainly will do for the party,

For the demonstrations (I guess a host speaching) if you need to reach the whole area, get the tops up high enough.

I think I should be able to get a decent amount of height, the venue have been kind enough to allow a test set up day next month when the weather picks up, I'll let you know how it goes!

And the mic I've ordered is a Sennheiser XSW 1-ME3 in the UK bandwidth.

You will want to get some more powerful EQ than that. Pick up a cheap graphic EQ of ebay and insert it on the channel with the ME3. Being totally honest the ME3’s aren't my favourite headsets and can be quite lively.

Youtube how to ring out lav’s you will want to notch out all the problem frequency's. 

As above, the secret of getting a headset mic to work is feedback prevention. Ring the mic out in situ at a soundcheck before the event starts.

A graphic (or, better, a 4 or 5 way parametric) EQ inserted in the channel should allow you to take out the first 4 or 5 feedback frequencies and get plenty of level. Do this *after* EQing the mic on the desk for preferred sound.

This sent me down a rabbit hole and a half! Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely going to look into a different mic, I've got time to return this one and pick something more appropriate

I've been having a look at the CQ12T vs X32 rack. Looking at the features I think the A&H will do just what I need going forward, I'm not planning on getting into any band mixing for the time being. Will mostly be DJ's, host's and spoken demonstrations for the foreseeable.

Sloooooooooow Down..... Before you do anything wait for the SQ-Rack to come out. That thing is going to be a game changer in that small format mixing console market.

I plan on selling my X32 racks once the SQ racks come out.

The CQ12t doesn't have a built-in hotspot so you will need your own, have to step up to the 18t to get that. Of course these have onboard control but wireless control is super convenient, once you have used it you won't want to go without. The hotspot in this series performs better than other similar models too making adding an external access point more of an option instead of a necessity. 

The direct competition for these is the Behringer XR series, these offer great value but it's an older product now, the built-in hotspot is known to be weak, and the one important function they don't have is feedbck control.

I tried to buy an new x32 rack late last fall when I was in the market but had to "settle" for the A&H because of supply issues, there were none available at the time and they couldn't say when there would be stock... that was the distributor not the retailer. That is the one thing about Music Tribe you have to understand, support is almost non existent before or after a purchase. They now have the Wing series with even more functionality and that includes a Rack version as well. 

As ever things haven't turned out as planned. The good news is that the area I have to play to has been reduced significantly and stage performances will literally be myself DJing so no need for any serious microphone management.

The interesting news is that they now have 5 tents surrounding me that need power and small audio setups 

Luckily it's all for basic low level background music and one tent will need a microphone which one of my lads can handle without issue.

The interesting bit is that they require power for each tent but didn't want a big generator and cables everywhere. As a solution I have found a company that can provide 5 2.5kwh batteries which should power a pair of small active speakers for about 30 hours!

I have a final site meeting with the client this Saturday so I'm hoping nothing else changes. Will get some photos once all is up and running next weekend

So keep your groups clean and if you also do lighting always take Some extra floodlights and a fourbar for that forgotten small stage and bar in the dark.. and a genset to save the day ;)

Have fun!

To put a long story short they had absolutely no idea how to run an event, let alone small festival.

Once I arrived onsite ready to rock and roll, the MainStage was nowhere near where it was supposed to be, the 5 tents turned into 2 marquees (with no sides) and the maintenance staff (who were actually amazing) had run power to everywhere it was needed.

I had to refuse delivery of the battery packs, tuck myself behind the stage under a gazebo and only ended up putting 1 sub and 1 top out to cover the field. On top of that it hammered down with rain the whole weekend so not a great deal of action was seen.

However, looking at the positives I learnt ALOT about what my capabilities are both mentally and technically:

The ability to adapt without hesitation and stay positive

There's no such thing as being over prepared

1 top and 1 bin can cover a small field 

Always carry a gazebo

It's ok to delegate work

I also have been confirmed for the end of summer BBQ in September and next years festival, and also gained a number of private bookings with the kind of clientele I'm looking for.

Hopefully the BBQ will be a little more fun and I'll be able to get some decent pictures. 

Thanks for all the advice!