Connecting 3x SQ

[ErpeeParticipant]

Hi all,

Is it possible to connect 3 SQ’s together with S-Link expansion cards? Setup like SQ6 as FoH, SQ6 for monitors and SQ6 for live streaming. With on stage AR2412 + AR168.
In the past we used the 2x SQ setup with suc6… off course, but is the connection with a third SQ also possible?

Gr33tz

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

@erpee – Sure!

You can daisy chain as many SQ’s as you like actually (ok, there will be a theoretical maximum, but it’s more than 3).
Just make sure you’re syncing the clock of two of them through to the other one.
I’d probably suggest something like the following (with clock sources in brackets):

AB168 <-> AR2412 <-> SQ Mons built-in SLink port <-> SQ Mons (Internal) <-> SQ Mons SLink option card <-> SQ FOH built-in SLink port <-> SQ FOH (SLink) <-> SQ FOH SLink option card <-> SQ Broadcast built-in SLink port <-> SQ Broadcast (SLink)

Note that it doesn’t really matter which SLink port is used, I’ve just picked one to try and make the clock syncing easier to follow.

Then you can Tie Line away to your hearts content 🙂

Cheers,
Keith.

[ErpeeParticipant]

Hi Keith,

Thnks a lot! We will go for that!

Grtz Ron

[ErpeeParticipant]

Hi anyone!

Is it also possible than to connect via unique ssid with every SQ in the chain (3x) 8 SQ4YOU devices?
Then I can get at least my 12x iem’s working via 12x SQ4YOU app/devices!?

[TerryParticipant]

The connection limit is per console. In order to do that you would have to have some of the IEMs mixes built on the FOH or Broadcast console, which kind of defeats the idea of having a Monitor desk . . .

[nottooloudParticipant]

@keithjah Who would you suggest controls the head amps? We don’t have gain sharing, do we?

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

@nottooloud

For all local preamps and A&H protocol expanders, preamp control is from the system that either has the preamps built-in or the expander connected.
Or you could say preamp control is only within the system.
So if you took an SQ-5 with a DX168 connected, that’s one system. You could connect that system to a second system, let’s say an SQ-7 with no expanders.
The SQ-5 cannot control the SQ-7’s preamps, and the SQ-7 cannot control the SQ-5’s preamps nor the preamps in the DX168.

What you do have is trim control as part of the input channel processing (or Mix Ext In). Because it’s per digital channel (unlike the preamp which is analogue and exists at the socket) this can be changed on separate systems, or even separate channels without affecting others.

I should also mention that Dante/DT expanders work differently – Multiple consoles and the A&H DT Preamp Control app can see and control the same preamp at the same time.

Cheers,
Keith.

[nottooloudParticipant]

So if the monitor tech needs to change gains on stage, it affects my mix out front, regardless of whether it’s S-Link or Dante?

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

@nottooloud

Correct – when you adjust preamp gain, you are adjusting a pre-ADC analogue preamp. There is one of these per (XLR) socket in the system, so any change to it will change the level of the signal wherever it is being routed. As preamp gain is designed to ‘match’ the input to the convertor, there should be no reason to adjust it once it’s been set, unless it’s been set incorrectly – in which case it would also have been set incorrectly for anywhere it’s been routed e.g. if it’s peaking at the preamp, then the signal could be distorting and the gain should be lowered, which goes for any channel or mixer receiving that signal.
Some of our larger consoles use gain sharing to make this adjustment more invisible to the FOH engineer – so in the example with a signal that’s too hot, an reduction to preamp gain by the monitor engineer would automatically increase the trim level at FOH, so the level would remain much the same, but the clipping/distortion would disappear.
As Jack talks about here – https://youtu.be/ASr9ZGz4zPw
With SQ there is no messaging shared between the consoles when connected digitally, just audio, so it’s not possible to do the same.
The way some people work with this setup is to set the gain slightly low and then turn ‘preamp on surface’ OFF on the monitor console. As above, this is because the trim control is part of the channel processing, so if the monitor engineer wants more or less level to work with, they can adjust trim without affecting the analogue preamp gain or the FOH console. Similarly, the FOH engineer has trim which only affects the FOH console.

Where Dante is different is because the ‘one system’ that I described before (e.g. SQ + DX168) does not apply. A DT expander could actually be thought of as more like a separate system itself, as it can receive preamp control messaging and send/receive audio all over the Dante network, with no mixer at all if you want!
When connecting multiple mixers to a DT expander, there is still only one digitally controlled analogue preamp (so all the trim stuff still applies), but the preamp gain can be seen and adjusted by multiple devices on the network.
In that same MON/FOH setup, both consoles would be able to adjust the pre-ADC analogue gain, and those changes would show up on both mixers and affect the level on both mixers.

So in short, preamp settings (48V, PAD, Gain) affect everyone, Trim is independent.

Cheers,
Keith.

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