Improving our live sound with our current PA

Hello
We're a 80s band that have been playing together for some years. Back in the days we purchased a big PA (for us atleast) to be able to play in larger avenues after recommendations from different people that works with live sound.
 
Our PA:
2x Martin Audio W8
2x Martin Audio W8S
2x Tannoy TDX1 Digital System Controller
2x Crown CTs 3000
1x LAB.GRUPPEN LAB4000
1x LAB.GRUPPEN FP7000
 
Monitors:
1x LAB.GRUPPEN LAB2000c
4x Marin Audio LE-350A
 
Mixer:
Soundcraft Si Expression 3
 
We haven't been tinkering too much with the PA, the adjustments we've done to the sound has been to the indidual instruments using the 3-band EQ on the mixer.
 
After using the PA for some years, these are the issues we currently have:
1. Our synth sounds hard (especially the piano sounds). We have a Roland Jupiter 80, but just this month we bought two VSTs (Omnisphere and Hans Zimmer piano) and they have the same tendencies.
2. Some lack in the lows (If we want that punch from the bass-drum I feel we need to boost it a lot so we often opt to a middle way).
3. Lack of crispiness in the highs.
 
Our experience with live sound:
 
At home we have 2x Munro Acoustics sE Electronics The Medium EGG 150 System which we used when we decided to buy the VSTs. The VSTs sounded great with the EGGs compared to the sounds from our Jupiter-80 (even though the EGGs are lacking some lows), so we will with time build a computer and only use the synths as midi controllers for to use the VSTs from a computer. Also we've been to concerts where the bands sound amazing (playing for 500-30.000 people), but most of them are national or international artists (so I guess they have access to great gear and great sound engineers).
 
In the later years we've worked with 5-6 sound engineers, but we've always ended up doing the sounds ourselves as they have been below par.For instance we ended up giving our two guitarists each a Voodoo Lab Amp switcher. Usually the output from the guitar goes into the switcher and you have four selectors to send the guitar signal to one of four different connected amps. Instead, we connect the guitar to the amp, and take the DI-signal from the preamp of the amps and feed it into the Amp Switcher, and then run four jacks into four different tracks in the mixer where each track is panned (to the sides or center) and volumes adjusted differently. This is so that when one guitar switches from comp (panned to one side) to solo (center with higher volume), the other one switches from comp (panned to other side) to a stereo panned track with higher volume to compensate for the other guitar dissapering from the comp and keep the balance. Audiences and some semi-professionals have taken note of our well-balanced live sound.
 
Maybe we are a bit perfectionistic, but we know the sound we want is possible (as we've heard great bands with great sound live before), though we don't know if it's possible with our current PA. We are new to the idea of configuring a PA and that's why I come to you. Can our issues be solved? The problem here is that we don't know what we don't know so it's hard to look for information about our issues.
 
Please keep you answers simplistic enough so we understand, we haven't learned all the jargon/slang yet.

Currently we think our PA sounds a bit hard so I'm guessing it might be somewhere in the mid area. People from other forums have pointed out that it could be wrong settings on our Tannoys creating a crossover. Our reference is that with our EGGs the VSTs sound big, clear and crispy, but on our PA they sound a bit hard making our ears tire quickly.

Nheme`
Currently we think our PA sounds a bit hard

How do you know? Is someone going out front and listening to the rest of the band, are you relying on what other people say, are you basing your opinion on what the foldback sounds like?

I'm wondering how you hear what's coming out of your PA at all.....

Nheme
so I'm guessing it might be somewhere in the mid area. People from other forums have pointed out that it could be wrong settings on our Tannoys creating a crossover. Our reference is that with our EGGs the VSTs sound big, clear and crispy, but on our PA they sound a bit hard making our ears tire quickly.

As Jeff says, it might well be an eq issue. Even inexpensive PA gear can sound pretty good these days but every room is different - and it's different empty to when it's full of people - and while there are settings that can be the ones that are always "pretty close" they'll still need adjusting some. Putting a graphic or parametric eq after the mixer and before the PA amps can help quite a lot because you can change the eq of the whole FOH system very quickly and accurately without touching the mixer channel eqs at all.

A test setup using a white noise CD, a measurement microphone and an meter and equaliser that can be used to flatten the PA eq response based on that can be useful.

Chasing perfection in mobile PA use rather than working in just one venue (or outdoors where there's no room reverb or rooms acoustics to get in the way) can be an endless task doomed never to succeed though. It's one of those things where "good enough" is often the best that can be achieved and throwing money at the problem may or may not help depending on what the problem is and how it's best addressed, if it needs addressing at all.

Thank you for your inputs, much appretiated.
 
When we do sound checks, most of us are in front of the PA (at the area with our FOH) as we are most concerned with our audience giving them the best sound we can.
 
Jeff
Thank you for explaining thoroughly what the FOH engineer does. This week we tried sending our VST (Omnisphere) directly from the computer through an Audio Interface and into the EGGs (avoiding the mixer), and then switched out the EGGs, sending it to our Tannoys (leading through the W8/W8S). We experienced the sound from our PA to be hard, and suggestions from other forums, I accessed the EQ settings on our Tannoys and can see that there are absolutely nothing done with the EQ settings. I understand that Martin Audio has some general advices on the EQ settings on the DSPs which might correct some of our issues, but I'm struggling where to find exactly which frequencies and crossover settings they are recommending.

DBX (Harmon Professional) has Drive Racks that do Auto EQ.  This provides a GREAT! starting point.  As Jeff mentioned, nothing is better than a reference CD to get the best sound, but the Drive Racks definitely get you in the ball park
 

+1 for feedback destroyer as well as the DEQ unit. I used the FBD to recreate the Bose 901 EQ curve and then tweak that to get fairly flat response to match to other monitors. mixing on Bose - bad; checking on Bose - good :-)

For some reason I forgot the link to the drive rack...The new version of the PA2 has PC/MAC control.
 
http://dbxpro.com/en/product_families/driverack

I have heard many times a FOH PA sounding too bass heavy.  And yes the vocals get too bass heavy as a result. Everything else gets a little bass heavy.  The ref track will still reveal it.  It will have all this extra bottom end that does not need to be there.  The lower subby stuff can be pulled right back in balance with the rest of the music.  Those subs should be heard now and then for a low note.  Once you get the bottom end sorted like this the vocal sound will be more natural and less likely to boom.  The vocals in the ref CD shine and stand out effortlessly when the bottom end of the music is set under control.
 
There needs to be a controlled amount of deeper low end that needs to be let into the room.  The points where a high pass filter can be set in will start to take effect too.  Some FOH graphic EQ's have a HPF built in.  At some point when the deeper sounds are under control, the mids will start to shine through and the top end with it too.  Our ears don't have to defend against too much bottom end.  Those parts of the spectrum can be turned up a little to bring back some gain.  The ref now sounds perfect in the bottom end with no unnecessary sub things hanging under.  The subs almost disappear until a note comes along that reminds you that they are there.  A good PA can sound extraordinary under these circumstances. 
 
Getting back to the OP, at this point the mids of the reference might even sound a little forward but some slight mid range eq adjustments over a wider bandwidth with the FOH EQ can set that back into a warmer flatter sound. Remembering how the mids sound in the ref in a great studio monitoring situation is the key.