Can I use ME's With SQLink I/O Card on the SQ's Card Slot

[Nudgy]

Hello All!

Still kind of new to SQ. We just bought an SQ6 with 2x AB168 Snakes and 4x ME1’s. I plan to use the built-in SLink part on the mixer to connect our two-stage boxes. But because of our stage and flexibility. We don’t want to connect our ME’s to the end of those snakes. We want a separate cat5 run from the board. I included a Slink card in the purchase to use to give data to our ME’s. The only problem is I kind of didn’t really research it and assumed it would work. Now it’s 1:30am and I am spinning in circles trying to figure out if that card will support ours ME’s. I think yes because it’s an Slink port.

BUT HERE IS MY MAIN QUESTION: I noticed the I/O Patch has a “ME” Tab but at the same time, It also has a “I/O Port” Slot.

Which tab would I use to configure the ME’s?

How does the “ME” tab know where the ME’s are plugged into if that makes any sense.

Thanks! (I also included a very simple image of the setup)

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[Showtime]

Have you tried to connect the me-1 to the built in slink and the ab168 to the card?

I think that me data is default send the the first dsnake connection.

Richard

[KeithJ A&H]

Hi @Nudgy,

From the reference guide:
“ME-U, ME-1 and ME-500 units use the dSnake protocol, so can either be connected directly, or connected to the monitor or expander ports of an AR2412 or AB168.
The ME patching is applied to any SLink port that is running the dSnake protocol, which could be the SLink port, an SLink option card, or both at the same time.
The ‘SLink’ and/or‘I/O Port’ text on the ‘ME’ tab are displayed in white when patching is active on either port.”

Another useful thing to check out is the SLink connections document here (https://www.allen-heath.com/media/SLinkConnections_V1_5_0.pdf).

But in short, the setup should definitely work, and you only need to patch any signals you want to use on the ME system using the ME tab.
If you’re still running into issues though, you can always contact us directly using support.allen-heath.com.

Cheers!
Keith.

[Nudgy]

Thanks Guys!

I’ll let you know of any updates once our gear arrives and we get it all plugged in!

Cheers!

[Lozion]

Bumping this thread as I’m researching the ME-1 for our MD.
We have an SQ6 and 1x DX168 on stage.
Did I read correctly that the ME-1 cannot be connected to the 2nd DX168 port?
Txs.

[Andre S]

Hi Lozion,

that is sadly correct. The ME units work at 48kHz and your DX168 is a 96kHz device. Cheapest solution: IIRC, You could purchase an optional SLINK Card and connect your ME-1 to it. More expansive: AB168, AR2412 and the GX4816 (which is also 96kHz, but has a dedicated ME output) are the stageboxes that can be directly connected to ME units.

Cheers
André

[Lozion]

Hi Andre. Txs for the reply. That is a major oversight imo..

[Jonathan]

Apologies for waking the dead!

I’ve got an SQ7 at monitors, and I would like to order another SLink card to run ME1’s from it.

A couple questions:

– Do you need to switch the card to 48kHz?
– Will names automatically transfer?
– Will it work with a PoE switch? That’s what we currently do with our dLive.

Thanks!

[Author]

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