Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Tim McCulloch]

you could also use an inexpensive split snake between the two consoles.  Then they are fully separate.

I never found the gain thing that big a deal.  House can make up gain with compressor output and monitors can turn down the faders.  Either way works.  If an input gain goes up in the monitors it goes up in all mixes.   There's no channel master fader so you have to chase down the input in all mixes.  You do have some control (12db?  18db?) with the trim adjustment in the console that does not have the master gain.

--Kevin

The splitter is the right way to do this.  I think CBI has an off the shelf model of IEM splitter that has a short tail to feed the IEM mixer and a longer tail to reach the house snake head.  I recall it was reasonably inexpensive (at least by pro standards).

With a separate monitor console you can set all the mixes to POST FADER and have that control you speak of, Kevin.  No need to grab the top knob on the strip plus you'll have full EQ and dynamics (if you need gates or comps).

[Kevin Conlon]

The splitter is the right way to do this.  I think CBI has an off the shelf model of IEM splitter that has a short tail to feed the IEM mixer and a longer tail to reach the house snake head.  I recall it was reasonably inexpensive (at least by pro standards).

With a separate monitor console you can set all the mixes to POST FADER and have that control you speak of, Kevin.  No need to grab the top knob on the strip plus you'll have full EQ and dynamics (if you need gates or comps).

Thanks. We have a splitter snake and use it now. Cat cable would be nice. Now house is analog so we need it. +100 on voice training, as you said good luck with that. These are not pros. Yes the mixes are post and i enjoy the monitor job now as i don't have to worry about the front at all. I think to retain full control at both ends the splitter will stay. The FOH guy may not be around next year for the job so i go out and someone does monitors, or i stay and some one else gets fronts. Doing this now so it's not a surprise when the time comes. Thanks to all.
           Kevin

[Tim Weaver]

The other solution is to not let either console control the gain directly. Make the gain knobs on both consoles the digital trim instead of the actual gain. Then both FOH and Monitors can twist knobs till their fingers fall off. The only thing you have to do is to set the ACTUAL gain thru the menu system during soundcheck. Find a happy medium between all your singers and then leave it alone.

Honestly twisting the gain knob during a show is poor form. I know it happens sometimes, but you need to get away from that as a "tool" to mix with. There are many ways to make up gain.

[lindsay Dean]

Or just like somebody said a minute ago get splitters for each your mic inputs and the two consoles remain forever separate

[Tim Weaver]

Or just like somebody said a minute ago get splitters for each your mic inputs and the two consoles remain forever separate

Yeah I know that's an option, but honestly the capability is already built into the desk. Why should I pay hundreds to thousands of dollars more, just so each guy can have a knob that truthfully won't (shouldn't) be used that much?

I work in the world of big-boy consoles, but I'm also a big fan of the X32. For the price point it does a LOT of what a 60k-100k dollar console can do but it brings those features down into the hands of the working-stiff bands. Now, they can get in trouble quick by getting too fancy, but for a guy like me it was awesome! I finally had a useful matrix, multiband comps, and I had Waves Multirack running on mine.Honestly the desk doesn't sound horrible, has great features, and was quite reliable. It's all win.

[Kevin Conlon]

Yeah I know that's an option, but honestly the capability is already built into the desk. Why should I pay hundreds to thousands of dollars more, just so each guy can have a knob that truthfully won't (shouldn't) be used that much?

I work in the world of big-boy consoles, but I'm also a big fan of the X32. For the price point it does a LOT of what a 60k-100k dollar console can do but it brings those features down into the hands of the working-stiff bands. Now, they can get in trouble quick by getting too fancy, but for a guy like me it was awesome! I finally had a useful matrix, multiband comps, and I had Waves Multirack running on mine.Honestly the desk doesn't sound horrible, has great features, and was quite reliable. It's all win.

I get what you are saying. Some singers blow out the pre amps and some get a flicker of light with things wide open. I have to use it. I should add that this is the only performance i have ever had to do this. This is 12 years i have been there and three boards, all with the same staging problems. The fear of someone messing up my mix came true a couple hours ago. One of the backup singers mixes the backups from the stage. In the last song he wanted to turn down the lead singer in their mix. That's great, no problem. Thing was he had mix one selected not mix 2. When the faders started moving i backed off untill they stoped and corrected things. The singer had nothing for a few seconds. This simply cannot be allowed at FOH. Splitter snake it is... period. Thanks for all the input guys.     
      Kevin.

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

Regarding gain, generally I have a set level on the meter I require it to be and if it isn't there(sure I account for dynamics) it get's adjusted up or down then left alone. Vocals and bands can significantly change volume between rehearsal and the show and if you think that it won't be that way you are fooling yourself.

That way once something is set then it stays that way and if anything changes between rehearsal and the show there is a measurement tool to notice the difference and set it back to the same level, much more consistent IMHO.

As a monitor engineer I'd much rather prefer a physical surface whereas I would happily mix on an i-thing at FOH for a level of show that an x32 would be acceptable, in a small room with a less than stellar sound system(IE it isn't installed and tuned to the room) I would actually much rather have an iPad and be able to move around the room and have a listen then trying to move back and forth to a FOH console or even worse leave it alone while there are possibly not too sober people around.

[Brian Adams]

I often use a pair of X32 Racks for monitors. I used to regularly use them as a stagebox/monitor mixer, but lately I've been using a separate stagebox. As has been stated, the only limitation of using the Rack as a stagebox is the shared gain control.

An X32 as a monitor mixer works very well for bands that mix their own monitors. If you have a monitor engineer, they would likely prefer a console surface.

[Luke Geis]

There is a gain splitting function in the X32 / M32 line though. It makes both units become digital trims. It is actually called HA gain split within the setup menu.

[Tim Weaver]

There is a gain splitting function in the X32 / M32 line though. It makes both units become digital trims. It is actually called HA gain split within the setup menu.

Thats what I was talking about, but I couldn't remember the exact phrase. It makes each console absolutely independant. It's just that one desk will have to go throught the menu system to set the actual head amp at soundcheck. There is so much digital gain available that you can "just get close" with the actual head amp and then make up the rest on the digital trim.

[ProSoundWeb Community]