Some great points here! I think I’ll make a follow up video to this one with your comment in mind- but for now I’ll say there’s a time and place for everything. Like your cinema/5.1 example, having that dedicated LFE is fantastic for having full control of what’s happening with your subs and what’s going to them. It can absolutely be useful in live sound; especially in the context of touring, having the ability to adapt your low end to the changes in the room filling up it’s a great way to address it- but it’s just one way out of many! Appreciate the thoughts!

I second this. Not to mention, depending on the architecture, being able to tune and throttle your low end due to variables - and keeping the harmonic content of things OUT of that sub from things you might be running some lower high passes on. The title of this video actually made me mad.

Subs on a Matrix can absolutely be great! I personally run them in situations where I do need that control because of issues like poor room acoustics, a PA that wasn't tuned well and needs quick adjustments, or even the ability to just turn the low-end down for certain moments such as when people are coming to the front of the stage for prayer. Having that ability to have that fader or graphic EQ in front of me to make changes can absolutely be beneficial- but you gotta understand how that's going to affect everything else you're doing before it and after it. Now to be clear, I'm saying Aux because Aux implies the idea that you're only sending certain channels of audio to it such as kick drum or bass guitar- this I have a problem with because this completely kills the chance of any information (including harmonics) from other instruments that could actually benefit from the subs from ever being heard/felt. I much prefer Matrix outputs as it's still the sum of the mix, but I can tailor the low end with how I use my HPFs and EQ on individual sources + any graphical EQ adjustments I make to that Matrix (which I do while referencing my analyzer data, a must). For those starting out or in their beginning stages of learning mixing, which is who this course of videos is for, it's too much control and can cause so many headaches and confusion as to why it may sound great one weekend and terrible another- but if you're confident in your skills and knowledge absolutely give it a go!

@@littlechurchbigsound You might be able to get away with running the sub with the mains in church or a live music event, but it will not fly in the caproate world. Set up a Shure 418/412, and the moment the presenter eats the mic the plosives are going to rock the subs. you can filter out everything below 500, and that capsule is still going to pound the subs. And then the client is going to start yelling at you to fix the problem, and all you can do is run up front and kill the power for the subs. You're argument is not invalid, but neither is running subs on an aux. It's a time and place situation. Perhaps you might retitle the video "Why Subs on an Aux is a Bad Idea Sometimes".

@POLYFUSIABAND time and place is EVERYTHING! Context and situation is key, just like how this video is from a training course for mixing sound in church. 😉 Your corporate example is bang on though, and I absolutely agree that is a PERFECT time to do such a thing. In that context, I tend to think of subs more for effect almost like a LFE channel. Not a single reason I can give to send a 418 to a sub. Ain’t nobody gonna be happy with that one!

Great questions! It sounds like you may be doubling up your crossover, and thus creating more problems than solving them in the process. With active speakers with built-in crossover points such as the QSC line, I find it best to set their crossovers ONLY on their built-in system processors and NOT on the mixer. That will ensure the relationship or hand-off of frequencies between your top boxes and subs is only happening once, and at what the boxes were designed best for (at least according to QSC). From there, you have the option of either ditching running your subs on a separate Aux/Matrix like I suggest in the video- OR you can continue to run them separately so you have the option to ride the sub fader when needed. A step further, if you want to really dial your system in for your room, is to use an Audio Analyzer tool such as Smaart or OpenSoundMeter to get a visual picture of what's really happening and make adjustments using a graphic EQ to ensure you're not loosing or building up any frequencies. At the end of the day, the goal is to design your system to sound even and consistent- that way you can focus on mixing your sources and less on tweaking the PA throughout your event.