ProSoundWeb Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: 1 [2]  All   Go Down

Author Topic: same mix sounds different in different area  (Read 5958 times)

lindsay Dean

  • Classic LAB
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 798
Re: same mix sounds different in different area
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2014, 04:41:35 PM »

we have our 'regular' auditorium with 2 overflow areas one on each side.  the auditorium is peaked with exposed beams and pecky cedar ceiling (17' high in center).  the overflow areas have have drop ceiling about 9' high.
we use JBL RSX715F for the mains.  the overflow areas have 2 each JBL Control 25 WH speakers.
the signal for the mains comes from the LR from our Allen & Heath GL2400-32 board. the signal for the overflow areas comes from the mono mix (LR combined).
with a nice balanced mix achieved in the main auditorium, in the overflow areas it sounds like a different mix.  especially the vocals are noticeably more prominent.
really curious why this might be?
Logged
"A mans got to know his limitations"
     and Pray for higher guidance

lindsay Dean

  • Classic LAB
  • Hero Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 798
Re: same mix sounds different in different area
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2014, 04:48:38 PM »

we have our 'regular' auditorium with 2 overflow areas one on each side.  the auditorium is peaked with exposed beams and pecky cedar ceiling (17' high in center).  the overflow areas have have drop ceiling about 9' high.
we use JBL RSX715F for the mains.  the overflow areas have 2 each JBL Control 25 WH speakers.
the signal for the mains comes from the LR from our Allen & Heath GL2400-32 board. the signal for the overflow areas comes from the mono mix (LR combined).
with a nice balanced mix achieved in the main auditorium, in the overflow areas it sounds like a different mix.  especially the vocals are noticeably more prominent.
really curious why this might be?
sounds like eq adjustment on the overflows might be in order
Logged
"A mans got to know his limitations"
     and Pray for higher guidance

Jonathan Johnson

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3209
  • Southwest Washington (state, not DC)
Re: same mix sounds different in different area
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2014, 05:07:00 PM »

sounds like eq adjustment on the overflows might be in order

Not necessarily.

the signal for the mains comes from the LR from our Allen & Heath GL2400-32 board. the signal for the overflow areas comes from the mono mix (LR combined).
with a nice balanced mix achieved in the main auditorium, in the overflow areas it sounds like a different mix.  especially the vocals are noticeably more prominent.

Currently, the mix in both the main auditorium and the overflow are essentially the same mix. In the auditorium there is a lot of direct sound from the instruments and not so much from the vocals. (Without amplification, instruments tend to drown out vocals.) To balance out the mix vocals are amplified to a greater degree than instruments so they will seem to be at comparable levels. In the actual mix being fed to the FOH amplifiers and speakers (as heard in the headphones) the vocals will be noticeably stronger than the instruments.

For those seated in the overflow area the FOH speakers become a part of the perceived "direct sound." If you turn off the overflow speakers you'll find that the mix is good, but not loud enough -- hence the need for overflow speakers. Turn the speakers back on and you're getting that perceived direct sound plus the FOH mix (which already has hot vocals) and the vocals will seem too hot.

The answer is that a different mix is needed. If a post-fader aux send channel is available it can be used to feed the overflow area with a mix ("in the headphones") where the instruments and vocals are more equally balanced. Since it's a post-fader send it will track changes made to each channel for the FOH mix and can for the most part be "set it and forget it."

But there still may be EQ adjustment necessary on the overflow feed to compensate for room resonances in the overflow area.
Logged
Stop confusing the issue with facts and logic!

Malek Pallie

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
Re: same mix sounds different in different area
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2014, 07:30:54 PM »

Not necessarily.

Currently, the mix in both the main auditorium and the overflow are essentially the same mix. In the auditorium there is a lot of direct sound from the instruments and not so much from the vocals. (Without amplification, instruments tend to drown out vocals.) To balance out the mix vocals are amplified to a greater degree than instruments so they will seem to be at comparable levels. In the actual mix being fed to the FOH amplifiers and speakers (as heard in the headphones) the vocals will be noticeably stronger than the instruments.

For those seated in the overflow area the FOH speakers become a part of the perceived "direct sound." If you turn off the overflow speakers you'll find that the mix is good, but not loud enough -- hence the need for overflow speakers. Turn the speakers back on and you're getting that perceived direct sound plus the FOH mix (which already has hot vocals) and the vocals will seem too hot.

The answer is that a different mix is needed. If a post-fader aux send channel is available it can be used to feed the overflow area with a mix ("in the headphones") where the instruments and vocals are more equally balanced. Since it's a post-fader send it will track changes made to each channel for the FOH mix and can for the most part be "set it and forget it."

But there still may be EQ adjustment necessary on the overflow feed to compensate for room resonances in the overflow area.

+1 on what Jonathan said. I too think that basically, it is most likely the difference in how much stage noise the people in the overflow area hear as opposed to the people in the main area.

Since you have a GL24, I would suggest assigning the band to subgroups 1-2 and the vocals to subgroups 3-4 and using one of your matrix outs to feed the overflow area. That way, you can just turn down subgroups 3-4 and achieve a good balance between the band and vocals.
Logged

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: same mix sounds different in different area
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2014, 07:30:54 PM »


Pages: 1 [2]  All   Go Up
 



Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.035 seconds with 23 queries.