Jade reviews the new Posse Personal Monitor System
I had my first opportunity to use the new Posse Personal On-Stage Sound Environment this last weekend and was pleasantly surprised at its flexibility. As a musician I am always searching for the best way to get what I need from a monitor system and as most of us know, most venues have a rudimentary monitor system at best which can be frustrating and gig ruining. When In-Ear monitors first hit the market, I was convinced that they were maybe the most important live performance tool since guitar amplifiers were brought to the masses. The only caveat was that they required a complicated monitor system in order to use them properly, so unless you were playing at a major club or out with a touring rig, they really could not be used to their full potential. Next came Aviom which provides a very flexible monitoring solution, but again requires a more complicated setup and is not really suited for the average gigging musician, but more for an installed rig. I think Posse has finally bridged the personal monitoring gap with an excellent entry into this category.
I would first like to point out that the Posse system comes as an “everything you need” package and includes: Carrying case, Power supply, Belt box, Mic Stand box with vocal mic cable, a very nice gooseneck Condenser Instrument mic, 6′ HDMI interface cable, Decent ear buds, 10′ DIN(MIDI) interface cable, Main Floor box and a 3′ instrument cable. In most circumstances you are ready to go right away and you get all this for less than most wireless in-ear systems!
For the review I decided to use the Posse during our annual 4th of July party. I figured it would be a good choice since the set list has a huge variety of musical styles coupled with the fact that the covered porch we would be playing under has less than desirable acoustics to say the least. I found setting up the Posse system very straightforward: you essentially plug your mic and instrument into the Posse system and the system routes the signal to the mic stand box which gives you control of the signal and also splits it to the Main box which acts like a DI box and sends it to the snake with zero coloration of signal. I am just going to review this as a live monitoring system but there is a huge variety of ways you can use and set up this system, go to their website and check out all the different configurations for yourself! http://www.mystagecafe.com/posse-monitor-system/posseapplications/
My set up for the night was a Marshall half stack and an acoustic guitar. For monitoring the Marshall I just used the built in stereo ambience mics on the Posse Mic Stand box. It gives you control of the amount of the stage that you want to hear. The results? In a rock set up this worked fantastic! It allowed me to blend my mic with the rest of the instruments perfectly so I was not left with the “isolated” feeling usually associated with using in-ear monitors. I was surprised how good this worked… several times I forgot I had earbuds in!!! As a side note, if we had used a monitor console I would have been able to send that into the Posse and control it via the AUX input and also blend the stage into that creating the ultimate mix.
As far as the acoustic goes I ran it directly into the Posse system. This is where the system really shines. For an acoustic act, the Posse is a God send! You can link systems together to create a custom mix for everyone in the group. The EQs seem perfectly sculpted for this application with both the vocal and the acoustic crisp and easily definable. Add to that, the built-in tuner on top of the Mic Stand Box really makes this a perfect tool for the acoustic musician. I cannot stress enough how well it worked with the acoustic set up….almost magical!
All in all, this is a great system for any level of musician given its flexibility and low price.
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