The Yamaha EAD-10 has become an integral part of my live kit. The audio input allows me to connect a monitor feed from our mixer to use in my ear buds. I can control the volume of my drums and the mix quickly with two physical knobs: one for the master volume, and one for the input volume.
My full live setup looks something like this:
- The band is plugged into our Behringer XR-18, a very nice mixer that’s controlled entirely via its own Wi-Fi network. We run our sound using a iPad so we can walk around the venue during soundcheck.
- For larger venues and/or when we use our subwoofer, I’ll plugin in a Shure Beta 52A mic for my bass drum.
- The EAD-10 does have stereo outputs that could be connected to the mixer for the rest of my drums. However, there’s a major design flaw (in my opinion) with the EAD-10 software: there are no controls for what is sent through the EAD-10 stereo outputs. This includes any audio that is being passed through the line-in—meaning my monitor mix gets sent back to the mixer, and eventually causes feedback and other issues.
- I run an XLR-to-⅛” cable from the mixer to the line-in on the EAD-10.
- My phone is connected to my hi-hat, and I use the Mixing Station app to wirelessly control my monitor mix from the XR-18.
With this setup, once I have my monitor mix tuned, I can control the overall monitor volume — and my own drum volume, via the EAD-10 hardware knobs. These physical knobs are ten-times easier to adjust in the middle of a song than a trying to drag a digital slider on a tiny phone touchscreen.
And, since I’m running all my audio to my noise-isolating IEM’s (in-ear monitors, fancy way of saying ear buds) I’m able to play at a comfortable volume and I don’t struggle to hear myself. This setup, fine tuned over the last 6 years, has helped me level up my live performances.
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