Two consoles options..

[JohnHParticipant]

Hello, everyone. This is my first post here because myself and my company are deeply ingrained in the Behringer and Midas world. I have 4 or 5 consoles, probably over 10 different stage boxes that all work rather well for the events that we undertake. However…

I have a band of my own and we’re looking to make a move to 96K. We are currently using two Midas M32C single space surfaces, one for FOH and the other for our in-ear monitor rig. Both M32C’s are hooked up to a single DL231 stagebox which technically has two sets of preamps for all of the 24 inputs. We thought having dual preamps was going to be an absolutely necessity, but in reality, our input gains rarely do, and if they do, they only move a db or two. That said, we could totally get away with one set of preamps. My question is..

Is there there a way to purchase a single GX4816, use an SQ6 at FOH as the master, and then pass through the SQ6 to an SQ5 for our onstage in-ear rig?? Yes, I know I could buy an analog split and do it that way, but it’s 2024 and I’m really hoping there’s an easier/better way.

Thank you in advance!

-JH

[AdamsFlysParticipant]

You can put an SLink card in your FOH console and use tie lines in the SQ6 to passthrough audio out the SLink card to your SQ5.

This would give preamp control to your FOH console, and your monitor console can use digital trim to make adjustments as necessary. You could also flip the arrangement, and run the SLink card in the SQ5 for monitors, and run your monitor console at the stage, and use it as the passthrough for the GX4816.

There’s not a way to do it without additional option cards unfortunately, but this is definitely my preferred way of doing it over a digital split.

Doing it this way also gives you the ability to drop a waves card in the FOH desk if you want.

You could also use Dante or Madi cards in both consoles and use that as your link to share inputs, but then you’d need an option card in each desk, as opposed to just one.

[JohnHParticipant]

Thank you, Adam. Does the first option require running two Ethercon cables to FOH? I would prefer to run only one, but running two is a small price to pay should my FOH guy demand that he set the gain in the FOH SQ6 as opposed to me setting in the SQ5 on stage.

Also, how much digital trim is available? I would imagine it’s +/- 10db, possibly even 15db. Whatever the case, it’s probably more than enough for a band that’s rarely going to adjust much from show to show.

Thank you for your help!

[AdamsFlysParticipant]

Yes, using the FOH console as the split would require two ethercon cables being ran from the stage to FOH if you plan on having the monitor console somewhere on stage/side stage. As far as trim goes, you’ll get +/- 24 dB, which should be plenty for either console, as long as you’re not clipping your preamps in the analog stage.

If you have a dedicated monitor person, I would recommend running gains from the monitor console, so that your FOH guy never has to worry about changing the volume going to your IEM’s by mistake if he adjusts it in the wrong place.

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