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2020/12/07 at 10:18 pm #97040
Installing an SQ7
I have to install an SQ7 mixer in a school this Thursday. I just got booked for this about an hour ago.
When the SQ6 first came out this same sound company asked me to evaluate one for them that they had, I had it for a few months. But I haven’t touched an SQ mixer since I helped set that one up in install a little over 2 years ago. I am told they have one of the 48k stage boxes for this install and will also be using the onboard inputs using an existing analog snake. Are there any words of caution when dealing with that? Is there a quick start guide or video that anyone would recommend to get me back up to speed on the SQ mixer?
I have used so many different analog and digital mixers I have gotten to the point that I may know I can do something with a certain digital mixer but if I haven’t used that particular model for long enough I Find sometimes it is a challenge to find where that function is.
I am told we are initially just replacing an analog mixer with the SQ7 and hooking it up to the existing speaker processor for now.
2020/12/07 at 11:39 pm #97042Hi TheMAXX,
there are a lot of SQ videos on Youtube.
There are the official videos by Keith Johnson:
ALLEN&HEATH Mixer videos by ALLEN&HEATHAnd I have made some 30 videos on the SQ mixer, too:
Video Tutorials for the ALLEN&HEATH SQ MIXERThe most important thing is a plan: How many monitors do you need? How many Groups do you want to use?
If your clear about that, you can set up the board to those specifications. It´s a global setup and it stays for all scenes.The important thing is the I/O setup. Save their I/O setup in the I/O Library, so if anybody screws up the patching you can quickly load your “Standard I/O Patch”.
My video From TechRider to Scene – How to setup your SQ describes the process in more detail.
Hope that helps a bit.
Cheers,
André2020/12/08 at 12:48 am #97044What about after installation training, do they a dedicated sound operator or two?
Some schools it’s kind of who ever is available at any given time to run sound for an event.
Depending on their operators that’s a lot board coming from an analog mixer.
I would back up the default reset scene on a USB or two.Operator passwords!!!!
2020/12/08 at 5:06 am #97065Thank you for the replies. This is a direct replacement at the moment for what presently exists. I just need to figure out what feeds what right now and make the SQ7 do that. There is supposed to be a time of training in the future. I have been tasked with this because I know a lot more than the sound company about most digital mixers. I am a freelance Audio Eng. and I have installed and or worked on digital mixers since the first ones that Yamaha made. I know that each one usually have some unique way of accomplishing things. It is the simple but sometimes not obvious ones that I am looking for information about. The SQ6 that we installed in another venue in August of 2018 has been in use without any changes since the install.
I assume that the firmware has changed and a little over 2 years and it is long enough to forget the idiosyncrasies. I already downloaded the latest firmware to my computer in case this one isn’t up to date. I think the stage box is an AR2412 (I know it is a 48k unit) does it need to have a firmware update to work with the SQ7? I couldn’t find any firmware updates for it on the A&H website.
I am basically going into this job blind. And that is not unusual for me. Sometimes I am involved in system design for this company and sometimes I am just thrown to the wolves. And I assume that if it is anything like any of the other schools around here they won’t even be using this for anything till the fall of 2021 at the earliest due to the Covid-19 restrictions. So if they had anyone last school year that knew anything about sound it will probably be completely different people by the time this gets used. I think some schools just need to spend their budgeted money now before they lose it.
I understand that you don’t know my level of expertise and I don’t know yours. I appreciate your input and I will try to check out some of the videos that Andre linked to.
Do the SQ mixer now have operator passwords like the Yamaha? That can come in handy. Also do you still need to format the USB thumb drive in the SQ mixer before you can use it? I just checked and I think one of the ones I normally carry with me was originally formatted on the SQ6 back in January of 2018.
2020/12/08 at 6:59 am #97066Download the current manual and SQ-Mixpad. Read the manual and also the release notes to get an overview of the functionality of the current firmware. You can also get, more or less, familiar with the SQ-Mixpad. Then you can answer your question yourself, I think.
Also double check whether some of the addon plugins may be worth to be used by the school.And, last but not least, try to get some hour with the SQ to get familiar with it and the current firmware.
2020/12/08 at 10:28 am #97079I purchased a SQ7 a few months ago as a drop in replacement for a LS9-32.
It was a similar situation with 32 x 16 analog snake in place from mix position to the stage already. In fact, this was the main thing that made me decide on the SQ7 over other consoles as it was essentially identical IO.I just patched the inputs and outputs from the snake to the back of the SQ 1 to 1 and that was pretty much it. All sorted in a few minutes. The only things I changed were the output patching for the main FOH which needed to be on 15/16 not 11/12 which it is by default*, setting the auxes to mono (I can override this on a show by show basis if stereo IEMs are required) and changing the number of Auxes to 12 as having a large amount of monitor feeds is required but groups are not generally needed.
After that it was just configuring a default show/scene so sound checks would be as quick as possible. I also spent some time reconfiguring the external crossover and setting the SQ7’s GEQs on the Auxes for wedges by using the built in RTA, signal generator and a reference mic – but these are all standard install jobs and not specific to the SQ.
2020/12/08 at 11:57 am #97081I’d download SQ Mixpad to your PC/Mac. Most if not all of what you need for setting up the desk is on there to “play” with, and generally in the same place as on the desk itself. You could even create setup(s) to transfer directly to the desk if you can put you computer next to it on the day.
Things I find most difficult when going to an unfamiliar make of desk* are I/O patching & the way scenes work, as these tend to be less “standard”.
*Or even the one that I owned & used for about 5 years before the Qu came out.
2020/12/08 at 12:06 pm #97082Do the SQ mixer now have operator passwords like the Yamaha? That can come in handy. Also do you still need to format the USB thumb drive in the SQ mixer before you can use it? I just checked and I think one of the ones I normally carry with me was originally formatted on the SQ6 back in January of 2018.
They do have operator passwords with levels operation permitted.
The USB needs to be formatted on the mixer, for standard use the Kingston Data Traveler series work well.
2020/12/08 at 4:28 pm #97088Thank you everyone for your help and recommendations.
I already had SQ Mixpad 1.5 on my PC and I have the SQ7 1.5 firmware to load if it isn’t already loaded in the mixer.
I am not very good at just reading a manual without having the mixer in front of me. I look at manuals as more of a reference document that I can use to figure put how to do something specific. It is titled SQ Reference Guide.
2020/12/15 at 4:33 pm #97313I try not to be one of those people that post something and then never update with the results.
But the install got put off because of something happening (last minute change) in the auditorium the night of our scheduled install. I got a call from the sound company late in the afternoon the day before we were supposed to do the install canceling us. I thought that nothing has or would be going on in this auditorium due to Covid-19 restrictions and was very surprised.
So we are now scheduled to work this Thursday but the weather forecast for Wednesday night into Thursday is for a snow storm to hit us hard. At least hard for this area, Northeast USA near NYC. So we will see what happens this week. I won’t be surprised if it is postponed again.
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