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[Yohann Park]

Hello all.  I am in the process of setting the system EQ, but I cannot unlock the BSS Omnidrive to make any changes.  The original installer did a really bad job setting the system up and I have determined that it needs to be setup again, but the OEM lock is active and the screen is blank and I cannot access anything.  I would really appreciate any help on this matter.  I do need to get this done quickly...the congregation is starting to complain about the sound...Thanks!

[Dan Johnson]

You may want to read this thread.

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/354004/22040/?sr ch=ask+for+password#msg_num_1

It contains some good advice and insight on this type of situation.

[Ivan Beaver]

See if the church can get the password from the origional installer.

If he will not give it to them, then have the church INSIST the origional installer come out and fix the problem-if a simple adjustment is all that is needed-as you say.

If there is more "at play" (Physical positioning/wrong cabinets etc) you have a different problem.

If the problem is really bad and the origional installer will not help, then simply replace the DSP and do what you want-alignment wise.

[Karen Furno]

Ivan Beaver wrote on Sun, 28 December 2008 09:56

See if the church can get the password from the origional installer. If he will not give it to them, then have the church INSIST the origional installer come out and fix the problem-if a simple adjustment is all that is needed-as you say. If there is more "at play" (Physical positioning/wrong cabinets etc) you have a different problem. If the problem is really bad and the origional installer will not help, then simply replace the DSP and do what you want-alignment wise.

I agree that the first step is to contact the installer and ask for help.  But if that turns out to be impossible or unworkable, I think you may have some other options before you replace the unit entirely.  Check out this discussion from the BSS user forums:
 http://www.bssaudio.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=122&sid=8 e57cdeb4eb19b76d23704f8bc4f4e49
Unfortunately, this advice does not sound promising to me.  You could try contacting an authorized BSS service center and explain the situation to them.  There is likely a power-on button sequence that will either reset the password, or reset the unit to initial factory settings.  We have seen this in our shop for a number of digital processors and keyboards.  The sequence is usually given in the service documentation.  PLEASE NOTE:  If the unit is reset to factory settings, you will lose all the installer settings!  You may end up with worse sound than you have now if you discover that it's more difficult than you anticipated to get a new tuning by yourself.

This exact situation came to us a couple of months ago.  The fellow in charge of sound at a large church in town wanted to replace the 20 yr old analog processing in their central cluster and foldback system, with a dbx 4800 digital signal processor.  He has experience at running sound for them, and has managed volunteers for several years, yet when he attempted to patch in the dbx, he could not get it to sound even as good as the existing system.  So he called us in to do the tuning.  We brought in out Smaart and TEF gear, and spent several days doing the hardware patch, carefully checking driver polarity, listening for and finding tired diaphragms and woofer cones, measuring delay times, and developing new crossover points and parametric EQ settings.  We created a final house EQ curve through careful listening tests, relying on our ears and extensive experience running FOH for numerous production events and venues.  The customer's first try with the system was at a rehearsal for a children's play, and right away he called me over.  "Karen," he said, "I don't know what you did, but we now have 6 dB more gain before feedback in the choir mics!"  He has been thrilled with the system ever since.

I encourage you to seek out and utilize professional assistance, whether it's from the original installer or someone else.  System tuning is a tricky business, and you may save time and money in the end.

[Yohann Park]

Man!  My comp just brain farted and I lost all that I was going to say!  Anywho, I am working with a sound engineer and we have rectified the speaker position issue, but the original installers are not returning our calls.  Personally, I think that the speakers that the installers sold to us are a bit too large for our venue.  Each channel has EAW MQ1394e, MQ1312 and a MQ1366e.  This is for a room 100'x75'.  We need to gain access to the BSS so we can EQ the system again....We'll see if they return our calls.....Thanks everyone for your input....

edit:

Before we re-positioned the speakers, I found so many peaks in the curve I was really surprised!  They EQed the system to have a "nice" bell curve right around 100Hz.....I wonder why they would do that....?

[Ivan Beaver]

Yohann Park wrote on Mon, 29 December 2008 19:04

Personally, I think that the speakers that the installers sold to us are a bit too large for our venue.  Each channel has EAW MQ1394e, MQ1312 and a MQ1366e.  This is for a room 100'x75'.

Are you saying that you have the above 3 loudspeakers on EACH DSP output?  IF so you need to do a lot more than just eq the system.  It needs to be wired correctly FIRST!

Maybe I am misunderstanding your post.

Maybe you could clarify by giving the signal path out of each output of the DSP-amp-loudspeaker.

Or maybe a copy of the wiring/block diagram.

Photos of the room would also help us understand what you might be up against-besides the DSP being locked out.

[Mac Kerr]

Yohann Park wrote on Mon, 29 December 2008 19:04

Personally, I think that the speakers that the installers sold to us are a bit too large for our venue.  Each channel has EAW MQ1394e, MQ1312 and a MQ1366e.  This is for a room 100'x75'.  We need to gain access to the BSS so we can EQ the system again

It is impossible to know if those speakers are too large without knowing what the functional requirements of the system are, and how they are deployed in the room. I would certainly not assume they are too large.

I assume by each channel you mean the left and right arrays are each composed of a bass module, a 60x60 mid/hi module, and a 90x40 mid/hi module. Depending on how the coverage was arranged that may be entirely appropriate. I would not have moved them without determining exactly what the coverage problems were.

Mac

[Yohann Park]

The coverage issues were that we were getting about 5db difference from front to rear.  The sound engineer determined that we could get more even dispersion if we aimed the speakers a little more to the rear of the room....at the cost of more reflections off the back wall.  Mac is right about the setup...sorry about the fuzzy details...I will try to get some pics up so you guys can see what's going on....I still have not heard from the installers....I am tempted in dismantling the BSS.....hahaha!

[Ivan Beaver]

When you aimed them towards the rear wall, did you lose any coverage up front?  Sometimes that is the trade off.

If not, then you will probably have more gain before feedback due to less energy on the stage.

[Brad Weber]

Just curious, but how long ago was the system installed and how were you involved at that time?  Putting myself in the original installers position, if they don't know you or your role then their being reluctant to release the password or even respond to you might be understandable.  Getting people they don't know asking for information or changes is a common problem for contractors and they would be quite right to be wary in responding without first verifying with the original contact that this was appropriate.  If there was someone else at the church who was the contact for the original install you might want to get them involved and see if that helps.

[Yohann Park]

The system was setup by a contractor about 7 years ago.  Since then, we have had about 3 sound engineers come in and evaluate the system because of some of the issues that were mentioned before such as the uneven sound dispersion and the overall sound of the sanctuary.  They all ran their software and all determined that the system was not optimized correctly.  Even when I evaluated the system, I too, found discrepancies in the system.  To my knowledge, the original contractor was very slow to install the system and was only interested in selling the church the biggest and best equipment...I started attending this church about 3 years ago.  Since then, they have had issues with the sound and I do believe that we have to start from scratch....as far as the system EQ goes.  I am going to have to do some research to find out who was the original staff member that approved the work and saw it out.  As for the coverage, we did loose a little coverage in the front, but we have installed some delay speakers in the front row to compensate for the loss in coverage.  I still have yet to hear from the original contractors.....

[Jeff Ekstrand]

Is the original contractor still in business? Sometimes it's hard to stay in business if a contractor provides a product like you received on a regular basis. It could also be that they are trying to part ways with a few old projects that are a thorn in their side.

[Yohann Park]

Well, since I wasn't at this church when the system was originally installed, I can't say if they were pawning off equipment to get it out of their sight.  I do know that the other professional contractors that have been here have said that the system is not optimized at all...which leads me to believe that they installed and ran off.  I am still not getting any word from them....I think I am going to have to scrap this fine piece of equipment!  I think I am at the point of pulling it out of the loop and installing something else.  I haven't really asked around about the contractor, but it seems like everyone at our church that has tried to deal with this contractor hasn't really had the best of luck with them....The question still stands, How am I going to crack this piece of equipment without physically destroying it????

[Jeff Ekstrand]

If you're going to replace it, can I come visit and we can throw it off the roof together?

There's no "Hard Reset" in the manual?

I haven't read back all the way in a while, but did you try contacting BSS?

[Yohann Park]

Sorry for the late reply guys...I suppose that the last resort is to try to call the manufacturer and ask for an unlock code.  I don't think that this is going to be successful....We'll see what happens.  Off to contact BSS....

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