[Jackson HarrisParticipant]

Hey GGWO AV,

I think you’ll need the DT168 for Dante. As far as I know, the DX168 only works with A&H’s systems like dLive DX Link or Slink, but someone could correct me on that.

As for how you’re doing monitors via the Avioms, have you considered just getting a Dante headphone unit and patching an Aux to each one? Then each person can use the SQ4You app to mix their own full mix with the Aux directly. That’s at least how I’ve been doing it lately and it makes it really easy for my stage members to use; they just select the channels they need and mix what they want to hear with that. Then it keeps the stage a tad clearer with the one ethernet to headphone unit on the floor than having an Aviom unit up on a stand near them. It makes it completely clear if you’re using wireless monitors like we’ve started adding.

There might be other options out there, but here’s a link to the headphone amp we’ve been using.

Virgil Dante Headphone Amplifier

[Jackson HarrisParticipant]

Hi, I’m new to the forums so I’m not sure if this is the best place to put this, but I have a few questions as well, mostly on the same topic around Dante configurations.

We’ve been working on a whole new AV system and have started with the SQ7 with Dante as well as a DT168 on Stage. We really like the flexibility of Dante firstly being able to plug in anywhere on our network to access Dante as well as being able to effectively duplicate channels for full independent channel eq/fx/compression/etc since we’re mixing the show in several different environments (Large acoustically reflective room, a much smaller room, outside across a huge field, and online for a live stream). However, while we already knew we’d want a second mixer even without this consideration since we would still effectively have 4 guys mixing each area, being limited to 48 channels per board means we can only duplicate so many times before running out of channels. The other factor thrown into this is the thought of the any external effects to add potentially through the Waves card or otherwise. Our internal dispute is how best to move forward with this.

(Disclaimer: I am admittedly biased for the last option, but I hope to determine more objectively for my Team which makes the most sense for our current situation.)

The main options on the table so far are:
1. We get the new SQ5 board without the additional Dante card to save a mere $750 and just use Slink with tie lines from Dante as well as any external effects via USB with a computer. I feel like this option would add additional confusion/complication for some users should we need to re-patch or add additional inputs. But then even more predominantly, this would lose us our flexibility with Dante of being able to patch in anywhere on the network we’ve built for this. A potential scenario for this would be moving the smaller board outside if we ever want to use the full mixer for something more dedicated outside and/or to a isolated room in the building to mix the stream away from anything else.
2. Similarly, we get the SQ5 but with the Waves card to use with either a computer or even a SoundGrid Server which negates the $750 savings and even adds the possibility of more cost with the $1k Server while also losing the same benefits from Dante as the previous option. With both of the previous options any external effects would preferably not be run through a computer since the only computer we have for this is already managing several other workloads and I wouldn’t count on signal being close to real-time like it would with a dedicated server. And then again patching this would be a lot more complicated than it could be.
3. The option I’m leaning towards the most and want reasons for and/or against this is to get the SQ5 with Dante where connections, patching/routing, and configurations are, I would think, the simplest since Dante is already our main interface, and we have the most flexibility with managing devices, inputs, and outputs both physically and digitally. Further then offering a solution for external effects could easily be to just use the same temporary solution of a computer as before, but also for a SoundGrid Server is that there is a Dante option for SoundGrid Servers that we could invest in down the road.

Given external effects haven’t been on our plan or budget from the start of this, any consideration for it is extra; but I also don’t want to cut corners just to save a little. Also given we’re budgeting for a several thousand dollar overall AV upgrade and investment, we’re of the mindset that we want to it right and best the first time to have a solid system to last; thus is why the $750 for a Dante card is a relatively negligible amount. I’m all about getting the biggest bang for my buck while balancing quality over wastefulness in a budget. I’m not wanting to throw away money, I just want what we’re spending to make the most impact. Do you guys have any thoughts or feedback I could share with my team that we might not have considered and/or which of those three options makes the most sense?

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