DX16/8 outputs

[goodnoisefella]

Hello all, SQ noob here….lol

Ive just had my new SQ5 and 2 x DX16/8s delivered and am trying to set it all up.
I have 6 band members on IEMs and need 6 stereo auxes + L/R to run the show. A total of 14 outputs. no problem, I thought.
The two DX stage boxes should give me 32 in and 16 returns, but I can’t get outputs 9-16 enabled on the routing page.
What do I have to do to enable the second DX box in the chain to see the outputs ?

Firmware up to 1.5.10, DX boxes 1 & 2 both switched to cascade.
I can see 32 inputs, but only 8 outputs…….
what’s the workaround ?
Tearing (what’s left of) my hair out here lol…
Cheers
Tim

[Søren Steinmetz]

Outputs on the second DX168 are 17-24.

If you look closely on the output page, you can see 4 small dots on the “S-link” tab,

[SQuser]

Sorry if I completely misunderstood something!

> Outputs on the second DX168 are 17-24
I dont understand what you mean.
I would think, the 1st DX168 should be 1-8 and the 2nd 9-16.

> If you look closely on the output page, you can see 4 small dots on the “S-link” tab
But on the first page in the SLink I/O there are outputs 1-32.

> but I can’t get outputs 9-16 enabled on the routing page.
You said you want to use 6 stereo auxes and on the first routing page you will probably see even 8 aux channels – also stereo if you have it set up that way in the Mixer Config – Mix Stereo.

[SQuser]

>> Outputs on the second DX168 are 17-24
> I would think, the 1st DX168 should be 1-8 and the 2nd 9-16.

But of course I could be wrong, because I don’t have 2 x 168 in a row and maybe it’s actually like Søren says.
But that would only affect patching and not the routing.

[SteffenR]

What do I have to do to enable the second DX box in the chain to see the outputs ?

Use output sockets 17-24 on the second DX.

[Brian]

DX devices are set up in blocks of 16 or 32 channels. While it is common to assume that because a DX168 only has 8 outputs, the second DX168 would use outputs 9-16 but that is incorrect. A second DX168 unit will use the second “block” of channels which means inputs 17-32 and outputs 17-24. This is true for both inputs and outputs. For example, if you had a DX012 and daisy chained a DX168 to it, the DX168 would still use inputs 17-32 and outputs 17-24 (not inputs 1-16).

It’s actually more intuitive and consistent this way. It doesn’t matter how many I/O channels a particular DX device has (or doesn’t have), it will always account for a block of 16/32 I/O channels. This means the routing of a second box is always the same (17-32) regardless of the type of DX box the second box is connected to. If the system filled in the I/O using the “next available” number, it would be a cluster fuck. Using that method, one day your second box might be using inputs 17-24 and the next day your second box might be using inputs 1-16 based sole on what type of DX box it was plugged into. That method has no consistency and will change with every variation of box used, leading to a cluster fuck.

[SQuser]

Ah, then I learned something new too.
And now I think the topic starter didn’t mean the routing page, but the I/O page.
Sorry for my wrong thoughts!

[Zach]

Ah, this thread answers my question. I was confused about the wording in the documentation here: https://support.allen-heath.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4403666880913-General-Connecting-to-the-SLink-port

With two DX168s connected directly, outputs 9-16 are unavailable and the outputs for the second unit are 17-24

Based on the docs, I was worried only 8 total outputs were supported with 2 DX168’s, but glad that’s not the case.

[Author]

Posts