Board can only handle two inputs at a time?

[Sydny]

Hey,

Not much of a sound person so I don’t know a lot of technical terms. But I have four mics (only two of which will patch at a time) and the ST3 aux out that I want to use to play music through the board. Ideally, all five of these things would be able to work at once. I can get two mics to work at once, but when I try to patch in a third, it removes one of the previously patched mics. Ex:
In I/O under Outputs > IP Direct Outputs > SLink, I have Handheld (HH) 1 and 2 patched, but if I try to patch in HH3, I get signal through the board but no actual audio. It seems the only patch slots I can use for the handhelds are columns one and two, as the other columns don’t allow audio to pass through.

If anyone has any insight to what the problem might be or can explain in simple terms I would greatly appreciate it. This board and entire sound system has been through it, so I don’t know how common this issue is.

Thanks in advance!

[Brian]

I don’t think using IP Direct Outs is the correct method for what you are trying to do.

IP Direct Outs are a way to pick off individual sources prior to the processing chain being completed to send out to an external destination for some reason. When you use IP Direct Outs, you are sending things as individual sources, not “mixed” outputs, so it’s normal that you can only assign one source to one output. They are used for a variety of reasons like sending sources out for multitrack recording, or external FX processing, or a stand alone monitoring solution (Avioms, etc), etc, etc, etc. They are not used to output the normal “mixing” functionality of the console.

It’s likely that you just want to take the output of a buss (usually the Main L/R mix, but it could also be a different buss/aux if needed) and route it to your PA. This allows you to “mix” your input sources on the console like normal and then take the combined output of that mix and send it to specific destinations. You can also send the buss output (Main L/R mix for example) to multiple destinations (ie multiple SLink ports if you have multiple speakers you are trying to connect to the same source).

So look at the output routing, but use the SLink tab as your output and assign the correct “mix” busses (again most likely Main L/R) to whatever SLink outputs you want to use.

[Sydny]

All of the mics are already routed through the Main L/R mix, which I guess is why I’m so confused. The blue light underneath “LR mix select” shines when I tap on HH3, but I can’t get sound. How are they routed through the same pathway as the other two mics but I don’t get any audio out unless I switch the patch?

[Brian]

You are confusing the “audio path” through the desk with the actual “I/O routing” you have set up. The fact that you have the channels going through to the Main L/R mix doesn’t mean anything if you don’t connect the output of the Main L/R Mix buss to the physical analog output (locally or in a stage box) that you have your speakers connected to.

As you already found out, you can only have one “thing” routed to an analog output at a time. If you routed your Direct IP Out to a specific DX box output, that would have removed any previous routing that was assigned to that specific output. You’ll need to go back in and “reroute” the Main L/R Buss to the correct analog outputs where your speakers are connected.

You might need to post a screenshot of your current I/O routing matrix page so we can point out the exact issue. But it’s clearly an output routing issue that needs to be corrected.

[Sydny]

Here is my I/O routing matrix currently:

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Brian]

Looking that that picture, you are still on the “IP Direct Outs” tab instead of using the “Mix Out” tab which is found directly under the “IP Direct Outputs” tab. Once you switch tabs, you’ll find the “Main L/R” buss output listed. (Only the individual channels are showing up on the “IP Direct Outputs” tab that you are currently on). You’ll still want to choose the SLink tab on top to route the Main L/R output to whatever analog output(s) on the stagebox your PA is connected to.

[Sydny]

I see what you mean. I went to outputs > mix out > SLink, then under Main L/R, I patched them to a bunch of different columns. I only got responses from patching them to columns 1 and 2, but instead of music, I get loud feedback. Once I’ve patched them there, it also unpatched the mics that were previously working.

[Brian]

It sounds like you are a little over your head with setting this console up. We are here to help anyway we can, but at this point, I would suggest that you start by reading the reference guide for the SQ console. You can download it from https://www.allen-heath.com/hardware/sq/sq-5/resources/

I think you have your Main L/R outputs routed correctly to the PA. At this point, most issues are likely going to be with the internal channel setup and processing.

PS – I would recommend that you remove every “IP Direct Output” route that you have set up. You shouldn’t need them, and it increases the chances that you could create a feedback look if you something else routed incorrectly (which seems like a high likelihood). The “IP Direct Output” routing page is NOT where you assign your sources/inputs to their respective channels just in case you thought that was what you were doing on that page.

[SQuser]

@Sydny
In your situation, it might also be helpful to reset the console (see pic).
This would eliminate all patching errors and you would have the Standard settings again.
This would allow you to connect your microphones and ST3 and try it out without having to try patching.
If you need the current state again, you can save it as a show before resetting.
And by the way, ST3 is a stereo input and not an aux out.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[Author]

Posts