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[Guy Morris]

I have a tech rider requesting 2 x SD 8 desks for Foh and Mons. I'm a Yamaha /Dante system man but have sourced a hire in of the Digico items and look forward to working with it. I intend to have a digico competent crew tech on the job to oversee the set up to be certain on all aspects and the BEs also have show files for both desks Not wanting to be out of the loop on the set up ( I will be busy on everything else however) I started trawling through the manuals and digico tutorials about the desk and different stage boxes and their connectivity and could not find any information on how you connect  desk 1 and desk 2 physically to the stage box via a madi line ( I get all the receive only/ master connect set up /gain track etc in the desk and have gone through the SD 8 manual but Digico use the sd9 as a template example for all their tutorials (layout architecture is the same BUT not the digital transport!) as that uses cat 5 linkage the bigger desks use madi coax. ( seen the red/ blue interface boxes) No diagrams anywhere to example different madi set ups I'm assuming it's Madi in /out from each desk to the MaDi rack? (Madi 1 and 2)  Further confusion is the hire list states 2x racks and 1 x 100m madi line mc but no shorter madi links for the monitor desk. I need 48 in 32 out so assume 2 racks are handling that ( how do they link)
Maybe seeing this with innocent fresh Dante eyes misses the very obvious!
Want to get up to speed on this but find what should be the simple part of the connectivity the most puzzling!
I will be going over to the supplier for a brief overview on the system but would appreciate some advance knowledge on this.
Your advice welcome as always !
Thanks

[Rob Spence]

I think most folks suggest an analog split with a stage box for each desk.
That said, I believe it is possible for 2 desks to share but only 1 can own the preamp trim. Unless the BEs are practiced at sharing, perhaps the split is easier?



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[Spenser Hamilton]

I have a tech rider requesting 2 x SD 8 desks for Foh and Mons. I'm a Yamaha /Dante system man but have sourced a hire in of the Digico items and look forward to working with it. I intend to have a digico competent crew tech on the job to oversee the set up to be certain on all aspects and the BEs also have show files for both desks Not wanting to be out of the loop on the set up ( I will be busy on everything else however) I started trawling through the manuals and digico tutorials about the desk and different stage boxes and their connectivity and could not find any information on how you connect  desk 1 and desk 2 physically to the stage box via a madi line ( I get all the receive only/ master connect set up /gain track etc in the desk and have gone through the SD 8 manual but Digico use the sd9 as a template example for all their tutorials (layout architecture is the same BUT not the digital transport!) as that uses cat 5 linkage the bigger desks use madi coax. ( seen the red/ blue interface boxes) No diagrams anywhere to example different madi set ups I'm assuming it's Madi in /out from each desk to the MaDi rack? (Madi 1 and 2)  Further confusion is the hire list states 2x racks and 1 x 100m madi line mc but no shorter madi links for the monitor desk. I need 48 in 32 out so assume 2 racks are handling that ( how do they link)
Maybe seeing this with innocent fresh Dante eyes misses the very obvious!
Want to get up to speed on this but find what should be the simple part of the connectivity the most puzzling!
I will be going over to the supplier for a brief overview on the system but would appreciate some advance knowledge on this.
Your advice welcome as always !
Thanks

Double check exactly what you are getting, it sounds like you might be getting two MadiRacks, as they are limited to 24 out AFAIK.

It's been a long time since I've messed around with MadiRacks and gain sharing, but I think this should get you going. Wire the Madi Main of each rack to the Madi 1A and 2A (respectively) of the Master Console, this one needs to be set to Full Control in Audio IO. Wire the Madi Aux of each rack to the slave desk, ports 1A and 2A, and set this desk to Receive Only.

I'd rather do an analog split and give each console it's own rack personally.

[Erik Jerde]

First, check with the band to see what they want.  If they want two completely independent setups then get that and an analog split.

For gain sharing over madi Coax (assuming a MADIRack here but other racks will be similar) the console controlling gain gets MADI Main in and out hooked up to the console.  The second console that's tracking just gets MADI Aux out hooked up.  You then need to configure the second console for gain tracking.  I can't remember the exact steps off the top of my head, it's not hard, but it's best to check to make sure it's working well before you need it.

Consoles can share inputs from a rack but on a MADIRack they cannot share outputs.  On a SD Rack the output cards can be assigned to a specific console.  I can't recall if that requires optics or not.  In other words, unless you're using a SD Rack one of the consoles will have to use it's onboard outputs in a rack sharing configuration.  The surface only has 8 outputs so it will probably be the FOH desk which will then require running a drive snake.

Honestly, you're not familiar with the setup for gain sharing.  Save yourself the inevitable headache and just get two separate systems and an analog split.  I've gain shared with DiGiCo in the past and it's worked great but both myself and the FOH engineer were experienced DiGiCo ops and we still had to mess with it for about 10 minutes to get it working.

Good luck,
Erik

[Aisle 6]

Also make sure that the requesting Engineer's show file is the same firmware version as the consoles as this is very problematic in the Dicico range. At least that is the unpleasant experience that I have had since the Stealth II upgrade situation.

[Steve Ferreira]

I would also go analog split. This way both consoles still have full control of their own stage racks. Make sure you know what rack you are getting with the consoles as In/outs vary from rack to rack.

[eytan gidron]

As mentioned, you also have to take care that the version of the files that the artist has would fit the consoles. A higher version console can accept previous versions files but not the other way around.

Regarding sharing the racks, it can be done, and if they asked you for DiGiCo consoles, then probably the operators would know how to set it up. Basically the master console is connected with two BNC cables (in and out) to the rack's Main Madi port. The slave console will be connected with only one BNC cable, from the rack's Aux out to the console's Madi port in. The master console should be set up as the Audio Master (on the Network page) and it's clock should be set to Master (on the Audio Sync page). The slave console should get its clock from the Madi port to which the rack is connected. As mentioned only the master console has control of the pre-amps and only the master console has access to the rack's outputs. Because only one console has control of the pre-amps the other console's channels should be set to gain tracking. It's best to activate the gain tracking after the sound check when all the gains are at proper level.

If the consloes you are getting have Optocore then the Racks would be SD-Racks and then both consoles have to be set their clock to Optocore. Also both consoles can access the racks outputs.

[Guy Morris]

[quote[/quote]

Thanks to everyone for some great insight regarding the Digico set up
I have a Digico crew knowledgeable man on the team for this job now to look after all the
desk settings and connectivity and BEs. Took on board the idea of analogue split
using a MaDi rack per desk  and importantly the desk versions for show
file compatibility ! Also a big thankyou to Tim at Digico Uk who regularly
 checks for any posts on the forum regarding Digico queries to see if he can assist
I got an email inviting me to call him and he confirmed everything suggested by
Forum responders. It's all good to go so thanks for your assistance and I will be
going  down to Digico for a training day session in the near future.
Guy

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