Thanks for all your encouragement, Mike. It makes a big difference. And Danny is giving me guidance on the mix. I'm very grateful.

http://youtu.be/YyrKrDALLdc
 
A video where you can see how the band was set up. You can see my screen for a moment.
 
At the beginning of this one you can see the Tascam... I was holding the camera (not a video camera).
http://youtu.be/iKRWwHHMtYM

 

So, we ran the whole band off a single wall jack. I know my gear alone was probably pulling 6 amps. The Tascam is 2 and so is the laptop. I don't know the RME UCX. The Quad Mic Pre pulls almost nothing.
 
All the bands gear including the PA Tower thing, bass amp, guitar amps, and vocal monitors were powered off the same wall outlet with 2 standard jacks.
 
How bad of an idea was that?

It's great way to keep ground issues from happening. You may have some voltage sag, but the modern stuff that doesn't like that has voltage regulators to help with the sag.
 
I use one wall jack, as you did, until there's a need to bring in a power distro box and tap straight into the mains panel.
 
Using a single outlet is a good, practical compromise. Most of the time you try to use 2 sources of power you will end up with a ground loop noise. The irony is that the bigger, small shows, where you think you may be running low on power... are the ones where you have the system gain running hot and so the quieter noises become problematic. If you are doing a quiet coffee shop sing and strum you might not notice a ground buzz as much as you did if you had stacks of drivers pumping out a loud signal.
 
So, we elect to keep using the single source until we just can't. 
 
 
best regards,
mike

Thanks Mike! "Just can't" is defined by triggering the circuit breaker? Equipment failures? Not sure. Show comes to a quick halt?

We try to predict when it's definitely going to break the circuit.
 
As you have noticed the amperage ratings on the equipment has some overhead built in. Experience will lead you to understand that adding up the rated current draw gives you some idea of what you need... but you also have some wiggle room.
 
Yes, getting a feel for that wiggle room sometimes involves having the circuit breaker pop. :-)
 
From a practical point of view... make sure you have all 15 or 20 amps on that circuit. Don't share with any lighting or beer coolers. Bring good quality extension cords and you can stage a loud bar band with out too much trouble.
 
I don't recommend lifting a ground... but you can sometimes lift ground and use a 2nd circuit without adding noise.
 
Sometimes you can use a 2nd power circuit because some devices are separated from the system. For example; Mic'd guitar amps that don't have a direct wired connection to the P.A. can be on a 2nd circuit. 
 
best regards,
mike 
 
 

Excellent! I always carry one of those ground lift plugs to gigs. I appreciate your feedback!