[JayParticipant]

To echo Mfk0815.

Form-Fit-Function

The DX168 meets the “fit” and “function” for a pro audio system, but completely missed form.

As a stage box, it is too vulnerable. Open gaps to spill liquids into, connectors fully exposed to be stepped on regardless of rotation, no locking power and it isn’t even an even rack size. It doesn’t even travel well. I’m build some custom “racks”, no larger than necessary, that protect it accordingly and can just be dropped in work trunks to travel.

Everyone I work with has racks of gear – mostly wireless – and as a 4+ RU with all connectors on the front, again, it missed form. Mount it backwards, it still takes up more than 1/4 of my rack and adds unnecessary weight. This also applies to any installs. Put a couple in a rack and it is a nice little stage box. If they are going to do 8/0 or 0/8, then it needs to be able to chain up to 4 devices instead of 2. Redundant chaining will probably require a pair of DX Hubs.

Just my opinion, but I could use 4 in’s and 2 out’s today.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Made the case for this to the A&H US Central Region Sales Manager about a month ago:

– Install targeted
– 1 RU, IEC direct power
– Redundant DX on front or rear
– Ideally, 8 in and 8 out, but based on the card size for preamps they are using that may be difficult.
– Phoenix blocks for all audio I/O.

Apparently it is a frequent request, no insight to if it will become a product.

[JayParticipant]

I wouldn’t go that far – there are a number of requests and bugs directly addressed in this release:
– Routing options area big plus – there are some things that were near impossible to handle in-board prior to this (and requested)
– Custom midi on scene recall
– Mixpad user permissions (bug)
– Mute status on meters (I actually requested)
– AMM Metering
– Preamp/trim on LCD
– A few just-identified bugs (unicode character) that probably actually held this release a few days.

Shure integration was probably paid – either Shure or a large customer commit – but they missed a huge part. If you are running Dante, then ULX-D has management on the primary Dante so you have to make your audio management network same as Dante primary – not a good thing. The Shure lines support gateway routing intentionally to support the necessary network segregation, but A&H didn’t implement it (you can’t specify target network to scan or enter a list of IP’s to connect/manage).

However, I’m also in the category of “still not happy yet”:
– I want the RTA/Spectrograph overlay and A/B inputs on channels.
– I would also like the see the CL level of Dante integration – channel names flow between card and dLive.
– 5-6 band parametric EQ option on outputs (I’ll trade some Dyn8)

Jay

[JayParticipant]

A&H/Moderators – Would you please pull the prior 3 posts (stuartw, my response) to a new thread to continue troubleshooting without changing direction on Red’s issue?

[JayParticipant]

Stuart,

It sounds like you are missing the patch between the SG Network and the local DAW interface.

1) In SG Studio, Setup, Rack B, Device 1 (most likely), select the drop down and set the number of channels you need;

2) Now, in SG Studio, select “Patch” at the top center. You need to setup a 1:1 patch between the dLive card and DAW interface (record) for the number of channels selected then another 1:1 patch from DAW->dLive (playback) for all the channels.

Make sure you save your your session.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

I am involved with Opera & Symphony and use the IP8 at a seat in the venue to manage levels, so 2 more requests:

5) I need it dimmer than what it currently is, even to the point of allowing the brightness steps to be a range of “very dim”;

6) “Quite mode” on faders so they move not quite as aggressive and are whisper quiet.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Red,

Let’s work with the Macbook Pro, Thunderbolt 2/Ethernet, and pick a cable. The fact that you have activity lights says the cable is probably fine.

– On the Mac, spotlight search for Terminal and run it
– enter the command “ifconfig” (no quotes) and hit enter

You are looking for an entry like the one below. enX will probably be something else:
en6: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
options=10b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_HWTAGGING,AV>
ether 68:5b:35:b5:48:a2
inet6 fe80::6a5b:35ff:feb5:48a2%en6 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xd
inet 169.254.190.135 netmask 0xffff0000 broadcast 169.254.255.255
nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>
media: autoselect (1000baseT <full-duplex>)
status: active

It will be a 169.254 address and some parameters may be different, based on adapter, but this shows mine active. It will take it 30-45 seconds after connected to get an address. Take note of the enX.

– Launch Soundgrid Studio, select “System Inventory” on the left and “Setup” on the top.
– For Network Port, select the port determined above
– In “Rack A” “1 – Add Device”, select the drop down and see if you have a “Network Devices” option. If so, the card should be listed and select it.

If you don’t see it, check to see if the card is even online.
From the Terminal with Soundgrid Studio running AND the correct interface selected:

sudo tcpdump -i enX -X -s 1500 | grep WAVES3
(where enX is the port from above).
Enter your login password when it prompts and every few seconds you should see a block of lines with ‘M-DL-WAVES3’ scrolling by.
Press <control>+C to get out of it.

Based on what you learn here, next steps.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Red,

Backing up to some basics:

– With the Waves3 card installed, does it show up?
* Mixrack [button] -> Audio -> IO Ports -> Select Slot
* Surface [button] -> Audio -> IO Ports -> Select Slot
* You should see the indication of Waves 3 and the Waves logo

– What version Mac? USB-C (Newer) or Older? Newer USB has/had issues with AVB support causing Dante to not work when using USB-C/Ethernet, so I don’t know if this carries over to Soundgrid.

– Connect direct to Mac (since I know the Mac side). If you use Thunderbolt 2/Ethernet, you don’t need a crossover cable. If you use USB/Startech (and some others), you need a crossover.

– Are the connection lights on for the Waves 3 card and flashing?

– On you Mac, you have both the “Allen Heath Driver 9” and “Soundgrid Studio” installed? In the “Choose Product” you have to select the option to show all products.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Ben,

Can you answer a question on the Shure integration?

Specifically, is the receiver communication being handled by the MR, and is thus available to all surfaces/directors connected, or is it being handled by the individual surfaces/directors (thus, potentially, quite a few connections to the receivers)?

Thanks,

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Thanks Ben, but as Steffen said, anything else you can share?

RTA overlay with better resolution? Routing mixes back to inputs? Better meter displays (with GR, DCA, …)?

I understand the desire to integrate the ULX but you are still a few steps short of wavetool.fi capabilities from the teaser, which have been pretty nice running on a display adjacent to the surface. Unfortunately, I run all Sennheiser for most shows.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Any external inserts configured?
Have you used “listen” to see where it is showing up in the input chain?

If possible, I’d like a copy of your show file (save this as a specific scene). I have a not-ready-for-prime-time utility I wrote to fully dump the patch matrix(es) in dLive and would like to see what is there. I ran into some odd patch issues when reconfiguring the mixrack that old information (external inputs, output patches) were still in my scene from long ago and a set of new aux channels inherited the settings. I haven’t been able to reproduce that after the 1.42 release.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

To complete this request – don’t just overlay the existing 1/3 octave – copy some of the less expensive consoles that got it right:

– Do a 1/12 or 1/24th display, most of us use parametric EQ’s now and aren’t tied to the 1/3;
– Spectral time display. Invaluable for chasing minor feedback;
– On input/mix eq’s, always display that source regardless of PAFL;
– On the metering display, an option to lock it to a source or follow PAFL;
– Make sure it can be pulled to the external display.

Missing this was a primary reason I went back to my X32 for a recent show, I knew I was going to need the time-based for some omni wireless mics & monitors (no sound check). Smaart was an option, but I shouldn’t have to use it just for an FFT-based display with this system!

Jay

[JayParticipant]

RS,

You can leave “record send” active all the time, just reset it when you repatch inputs in that block to pick up the change (I don’t think this has been addressed yet).

My system is out on a different show each time, so I look at this as 60 _less_ buttons to press. Select the block of channels you want to record and enable “record send” – what you don’t have to do is map direct outs or tie lines for each individual input channel, and with tie lines you have to remember to reassign them if you change the input. I do map L/R/C/Sub and other final mixes to also capture them, which has to be done separately.

Most of my recording is actually done via a Waves interface @ 96k and it isn’t unusual to record 60-80 channels at once. Works beautifully.

Jay

[JayParticipant]

Glad you got it working.

Unless you have specific reasons for using direct outs or tie lines, I would try and stick with VSC (virtual sound check) record send. You can assign a sequential block of channels and easily manage the send/playback. This also means if you change an input patch the recording will follow.

If you have non-input channels, add them into the IO matrix after the VSC channels and record them (eg, L/R).

Jay

[JayParticipant]

That will work just fine, you have several options:

1) Use direct outs on the channels mapped to the GigaAce card. The broadcast feed will follow any input mapping changes that happen on the C3500.

2) Map the desired channels – CDM, Dante, Surface – the the GigaAce card via the tie-line patches. You can have anything you want, from anywhere, routed anywhere. You can also mix this with #1 and use direct outs and some tie lines.

3) Use “record send” from VSC to send the channel inputs to the broadcast board. This is a little more limited, but can be setup in 30 seconds to test the concept of sending.

Commonly misunderstood, the dLive has a fully meshed patch matrix, regardless of source/target, that lets you route anything anywhere on tie lines. Inputs and mixes have restrictions on pulling from each other (aux 9 -> input 10 isn’t allowed _yet_?) but tie lines are free-for-all. You do need to be aware of some items like ME – if you pull from a channel/mix, you get the name – if you pull direct from an HA/card, no name.

Jay

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