[AnaParticipant]

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[AnaParticipant]

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Despite not being perfect as discussed – The highest level or some complicated form of weighted averaging of metering data for channels assigned to a DCA strip is still exceptionally useful.

As an engineer, we of course need to understand the caveats and potential differences that this type of metering would be showing us. But, we already consider metering a ‘guide’ only and balance should inevitably come from the ‘ears.’ So, if it’s incorrect due to the way in which the audio in these channels may be summing/canceling it’s no big deal. How much does channel metering inform your fader position? For me, it’s more about having a visual indication of the channel operating correctly anyway. A meter clearly shows the presence of a signal and extraneous noise.

After moving away from using an A@H surface and using a computer-based mixing station setup – this is one of the many advantages this software presents and it implements this feature very nicely.

For me in musical theatre, this metering is invaluable and has made certain things quicker and easier:

– It shows me the presence of a signal for assigned actors
– It allows for the quick identification of extraneous noise from cast microphones (even when grouped, you can hit the spill button and find the channel quickly)
– It can help much more quickly identify cast members who may be too loud or out of balance (even when grouped, this at least helps narrow down which group this cast member might be a part of and can then again be accessed by the spill function)
– Helps develop a generalised overview of ensemble group strength and how this might change throughout a show as groupings change.
– Gives accurate metering when only a single channel is assigned to a DCA (direct copy of the channel meter itself)

In this case, the metering is Prefader – fine by me.

In the console world, this is becoming a sought-after feature. I liken it to the presence of RTA’s on the EQ page we now routinely have access to on digital mixers but was met with friction by some when they were first implemented on lower-end consoles. Perhaps a similar evolution.

Throw it in and have a button to disable it for those who don’t want to use it.

[AnaParticipant]

Yes, this is a pain – I have lost preamp settings after soundcheck forgetting about this issue many times.

You can assign a DX32 loaded with input cards in director to get around it – BUT – I have found I still have lost the settings from my show file setup in some circumstances. IE – maybe loading the show file without the DX racks connected or something.

There needs to be an option here to make at least the global safes ALWAYS present and optionable wether or not an expansion rack is present.

[AnaParticipant]

I have heard from the TheatreMix creator – a dLive version is on its way!

[AnaParticipant]

Hey RS, this seems like a good solution – although obviously convoluted as all of the options are at the moment. But if it works – Bravo!

There is another option if they were to make a version for dlive – https://theatremix.com/overview

It doesn’t quite have the features we are discussing – but there is certainly scope for someone to write a basic piece of software to assign actors channels to DCAs based on roles in the manner we are discussing. (Everything controlled by midi).

Also, a great piece of software to make the SQ series (and many others) far more usable for Theatre.

[AnaParticipant]

You should be able to use the ‘roles’ feature to achieve what you are after.

Then you can use scenes (Rather than the whole show file) to recall settings as needed on either surface and each surface will only be able to adjust its allowed portion of the processing. There is even a default multisurface setup you could start with.

check out this https://www.allen-heath.com/media/Understanding-Multi-Surface-ISS1.pdf

[AnaParticipant]

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[AnaParticipant]

use scenes to essentially create sets of layers and assign the scene recalls to softkeys. You can even set a single softkey to ‘toggle’ between different sets of layers with a bit of an understanding of how the scene handling works on these consoles.

Dca spills may be a viable option as well, although sometimes a bit messy.

[AnaParticipant]

I had this occur on the weekend and needed to restart the mix rack for the surface to reconnect (Ie multiple reboots for the surface did not work). Noticed that lagginess in scene changes and monitoring in the lead-up to the issue.

The change that I had made was to add two laptops running custom control and upload a custom control layout to the mix rack using the new version 1.3 – but this was 4 hours before the freeze occurred.

Audio continued to pass through the surface, even after rebooting the surface.

Have set up the exact same system at home and run it for a week and submitted logs in the hope it will reveal the issue.

Ben

[AnaParticipant]

Hi Dave – you might be onto something! thankyou!. This process could be in place for lead roles rather than everyone so that the vocal channel count isn’t doubled.

And you are right about accessing actor processing – I routinely use spills for this and it is a great way to check who is in ensemble sections for example.

I will have to check the following:
Will virtual sound check still function when direct outs are set to the end of the channel strip?

Will investigate…

[AnaParticipant]

Hi Scott, thanks again for the reply.

I am well aware, but as stated above, in theatrical mixing we want the actor’s processing (preamp settings, filter, eq, exp, compressor, ins, delay) to remain with them as their radio system is patched to a new input channel that is programmed for the show for a different role. We do not want to retain the processing that is already in the channel as this is intended for the original actor that now has COVID and is missing from the show 😛

I am not sure you quite understand the issue…

Essentially, I am searching for any tricks that people have come up with to help with the process but I think I have exhausted all options and will have to copy and paste.

Digico T software was designed for this exact issue – just now the issue is more pertinent to theatre shows that do not have the budget for a console of this cost and where dLive is a much more cost-effective option.

[AnaParticipant]

Hey Scott, thanks for the reply.

Yes, I have considered this but the main goal is to easily maintain the actor’s processing settings – which just using ABCD won’t help with. I can swap the replacement actor’s radio into the original actor’s channel strip using ABCD – but I then need to save the original actor’s settings and copy in the new actor’s settings to this channel also.

In other words, I don’t want to maintain the processing of the channel – but instead, maintain the processing of the actor that is using that channel. In Theatre – the input channels are assigned to DCAs as required throughout the show to bring them in and out.

With Digico – there is another layer. Actors are assigned to characters or roles that are in turn assigned to DCAs. So you can map actors to roles quickly and easily if they shift around and the console takes care of the rest. So if somebody is missing – you can simply reassign actors to roles and it essentially automatically ‘reassigns’ DCA assignment across the entire show (usually 100’s of scenes or snapshots).

It’s not so bad on dlive having to copy settings around as I have stated above, but it is impossible to handle a scenario where a role usually played by a single actor is covered by multiple other actors whilst maintaining their processing.

[AnaParticipant]

After removing the gateway IP address from both the mix rack and surface – i have not experienced a loss of connection.

[AnaParticipant]

Hi, Sorry to bump an old thread – but i recently got 2 unmanaged POE switches to run ME units with POE. The units plugged into the daisy chained switch indicate they have audio being received and output (Metering), however, do not out put any audio.

Is this normal or is there an easy fix?

Thanks

Ben

[AnaParticipant]

The networked is simple point to point with fixed IP address’s – and redundant. The only other device attached to the network is a laptop receiving midi data.

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