[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Yep– what I did was loop a track I knew really well and was pretty quiet so I could hear any artifacts or drop outs easily and sent that in on ST3 which I then patched L and R to all the SQ USB channels and left it for a few hours recording.
Worked perfectly for me.

I prefer the idea of a music track to pink noise just because it might be easier to hear issues- especially things like tracks getting out of time with each other? (If that could even happen).
Just a thought though.

All best
Andy

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thanks all for above.

I just about get the general concept of Parallel compression I think..
– When we sum two identical tracks that are in phase – all other things being equal, we get a gain increase from the sum (6db- I believe).
– If I sum a heavily compressed version of the track with an uncompressed version I still get the summing of the uncompressed program but there is less to sum in the compressed louder parts.
In effect what you end up with is an upwards expansion of the softer material..

So the peak level is still defined by the peak of the uncompressed signal but the dynamic range is still reduced because everything else has come up to meet it
So if I now set an acceptable level for those peaks they won’t seem disproportionality loud because everything else has been brought up closer to that peak now..(including spill of course)
I think that’s the general idea.
Please correct me if I have not got this right in my head.

What I’m struggling to understand is what settings to use as a start point:

-Wet vs Dry levels (-3db and -3db seem a good start?)

Compressor
– Threshold– so that you see what.. a > 6db gain reduction on the compressed channel?
– Make up gain- 0db?
– Attack ?
– Release?
– Ratio: 20:1..?
– Peak or RMS?
– Knee: Hard or Soft?

I do appreciate that one size does not fit all but it’s a very new concept to me and any thoughts about how people use in practice would be greatly appreciated.
What should I be listening for.. how do these parameters interact when we have the dry?
Many thanks Thanks

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Hi IraBob,
No you don’t need the connector..
Use the USB port on the top of the desk next to the headphone jack when using SQDrive.. (use the square port on the back when connecting to your PC over USB)
That caught me out too at one point

Andy

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Hi IraBob,
Yep– it’s easy to go down rabbit holes with this stuff. I do that all the time 🙂

Mixing other people’s live tracks IS fun– no loud noise, no band stress, no doors open deadline, no paying audience: If it stops – or I cock up.. all good 🙂 And I noticed / learned a lot quite quickly 🙂

The telefunken source files are prob quite a bit better than my raw material / sound capture on most gigs mind you 🙂
(nice sounding mics)

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

IraBob,
Your purpose in loading these tracks via SQDrive may have been specific and getting to grips with that is clearly useful but for others wanting to use these libraries for mix practice and for exploring the desk what I found was really, really good was to load the tracks straight into my DAW (Reaper as it happens) and simply play them back raw via USB B input.

In terms of workflow this was very easy to set up and had the advantage that you could do things like loop a section or solo instruments in the DAW really easily to focus on some aspect or other.

I can totally recommend having a play.
These tracks are SUCH an amazing resource for getting to grips with the desk – thanks IraBob for pointing them out.

Love my SQ5 🙂

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Yes– I know the band well.. and I have QU16 saved scenes I can go to pre-configure the desk.
QU to SQ seems a fairly natural transition and I am spending time getting familiar so should be ok provided I don’t go too crazy indulging myself in all the new features.

The interesting thing though is that although the SQ is more “complex” ie. has more features and options, the SQ’s separation of the key concerns of Input socket assignment vs patching vs surface layout and the (relative) ease of these things makes the whole desk so much more logical.

Where it is easy to get confused for a noob is FX routing when using groups–and handling inputs and outputs on the same patching screen makes it a bit counterintuitive to me- always makes me scratch my head somewhat- hard to do these things at speed on the fly if you are still unfamilar I would say.

But it’s an awesome piece of industrial design – I’m a software systems analyst of 30yrs by trade and the SQ blows me away

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thanks guys..
Yeh good points 🙂
[Thanks Dave– much appreciated. Hope you are going well man?]

No I’ve not bought any of the optional plugins..

Doubt I will get rehearsal with the band.. I’ll be extremely lucky if I a get a soundcheck with all the main players 🙂 There are 13 of them
– 5 Vox (who all take leads) [including singing drummer/band lead]
– Acoustic Gat (sometimes)
– 2 EGat
– E Bass
– 2 Keys
– Percussion (including cowbell and triangle 🙂
– Full Acoustic drums plus Roland Pads
– Congas
– 3 brass: trumpet and saxes usually

6 monitor sends (uses all my old RCF speakers)
FOH KV2 Audio with EX12 tops and EX 2.5 sub

Small hall – reasonably sized stage
200 people ish
Me
(Every time it’s a bit of a mission for me actually 🙂

I previously submixed some channels from a MixWiz 14:4:2 but now will hook my QU16 to SQ5 over SLink (that’s pretty straight forward).

I think that the SQ will make things quite a bit easier if I don’t completely lose the plot 🙂

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

xyz
Lol – Jezz no.. please 🙂

Ah- yes– the mythical “updated stage plot”.. where DO they all go?

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thanks Mark– “special guests” are a nightmare.. I’ve had lots of that..even though you ask who is up you still get the “You DO know about the African Drummers right?” Good idea to leave a free channel(s) on a layer already patched in.. yep. Thanks for that.

And Mike I could imagine that it is (theoretically) possible to forget to, say, turn a monitor DCA back up 🙂

I’m a bit worried that my first gig with the SQ5 (i’ve been using Qu16 for years) is my most complex band .. but hell I’ve got 2 weeks to get really familiar with desk at home… what could POSSIBLY go wrong 🙂

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Ah– so you duplicate a lot..(I worry that I might get a bit lost to know where to go to find something if I duplicate too much but maybe being consistent about location of common elements– far right say would help – ) as you say personal preference- great ideas though
Really good ideas to have a DCA for all the FX returns and all monitors mix DCA

Thanks Mike

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thanks Mike,
Yes thats a really good point about un-assigning the fx return from the Main LR mix and taking into the LR via the Group fader- else as you say – if you don’t, then when you pull down the Group fader you still have a heaps of wet FX in the main mix.

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thanks Mike,
I will have a play tonight.. 🙂

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thanks so much guys..
(This desk is making me feel like a noob..)

Ok — I see now that the Groups are not separate mixes / busses from LR they are part of LR
That makes more sense.. 🙂

FX with groups is still confusing me a bit though ….
Let’s say I set up Fx1 with a reverb and I return that Fx1’s output to my Main LR mix via the Fx1Rtn.
Then I dial in Vox on Ip1 to send to to Fx1. It’s a post fader send- if I pull down Ip1’s main mix fader nothing is sent to the Fx1 slot.
All good.

But say now I unassign Ip1 from Main LR but add it to GP1.
Now if I pull down Ip1 nothing is sent to the FX as before (of course) but if I keep the Ip1 up but pull down the GP1 fader I lose the dry signal but I still hear the wet… so setting up my FX like this ends up Pre-fader in the main mix with respect to the Gp1 master.

Don’t want that really…

So…. does this mean that if I use a group, and I want a post fader effect like a reverb, then either I must
a) Insert that FX on (each) input in the group I want it on OR
b) Assign the Group’s output to the FX input and not assign any of the input channels specifically to the FX input- the latter approach meaning of course that all members of the group get the same fx and same level of fx (but it is post fader)?

Is there another (better) way to do this ?

Thank you
Your support is much appreciated

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Hi Andre,
Thanks for those tips about the Direct Out trim and settings.. thank you

Hi Mike,
Thanks .. i’m not sure yet what the video team will want- have asked..
I suspect just a basic LR (during shoot) and then I will do at least an initial mix afterwards and give them that either as stems or a mix down – not sure yet but looking like I will do the final mix as well …

[WaihekeSoundieParticipant]

Thank you guys,
Much appreciated.

I have no optional i/o card sadly 🙁

I use Reaper for recording– would this be considered CPU friendly ? (On an older (USB 2) Macbook). I will look into Waves TrackLive as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

The job I have coming up is a 5 piece band recording for a video- kinda “live on location” outside at a very fancy venue with an audience ie not in a studio..
Not the most complex sound job in the world but slightly stressful because of the video and for me that recording is the focus which is a bit unusual for me.

In terms of workflow.. I certainly won’t be overdubbing and prob won’t even do many takes…
Am not sure therefore which is better or safer: SQ Drive or USB-B..or which would offer me the best workflow?

I do notice that playback track loading can take a while to initiate with SQ Drive.. but maybe that doesn’t matter too much in this case… and that the SQ-Drive does not seem to have as many issues as USB-B..
Is there a quick way to repatch the local inputs to replay the recording from the SQ Drive?

For the DAW option I like that I can see the files building in my DAW and watch levels and I can save on the fly and playback really quickly (at least a dry mix from the DAW).. those are all good aspects and the extra kit is not much.
Perhaps it is better if I can convince myself that I can record cleanly.

What do you reckon?

I really, really appreciate the help you experienced folks give and hope to pay it forward in the future..
Many thanks

Andy

[Author]

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