Print

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

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

You really need a disc player when you have a dedicated music PC? Another thing how often do you actually need to use a disc?

I don't think I've touched a CD in a few years other than for kids talent shows and even then popping it into my relatively old MacBook Pro has served my needs just fine, granted I do run a DAC so that I can get balanced audio out...

Regarding your video pc, I don't see a problem with running from a video switcher. I do this in two of our small venues, wouldn't do it in a venue that needs a dedicated technical person but its very easy to tell a presenter that this button switched between inputs and this knob is the volume and he doesn't need to worry about anything else.

In our larger venue, this will never be an option because the potential for problems is just too high. If you try to sell me anything with an RCA connector I will probably laugh at you.

One last question, why do you need a portable device input when you have a dedicated music pc? If that really came up as a need for one of the services you can surely just swap some cables out.

[Ken Webster]

You really need a disc player when you have a dedicated music PC? Another thing how often do you actually need to use a disc?

Well, you never know what someone might bring in for some presentation or other. No we haven't used it in a while but the last time it was needed, we couldn't actually cue up the video without the projection screen which was in use.

I'm just going through how we can setup what we have to actually work well. We may not keep a disc player but most people would have no idea how to rip a DVD or Blu-ray to a file, they will simply bring a disc that they have or a streaming link.  While we can stream, it isn't reliable, usually OK but.... not always.

If we can switch video projection stream from either computer and can play both DVD & Blu-ray, then video cuing this media is resolved, no need for a player.  However $200 gets you a mini player that does about every disc media and USB based file type and well as streaming so that's not a bad deal for a fallback option.  So I'm just putting it out there as a possible option.

Ken

[Ken Webster]

In our larger venue, this will never be an option because the potential for problems is just too high. If you try to sell me anything with an RCA connector I will probably laugh at you.

One last question, why do you need a portable device input when you have a dedicated music pc? If that really came up as a need for one of the services you can surely just swap some cables out.

The things on RCA were budget options at the time, except the extractor which I didn't get a say about.  It's only a very short lead so induced noise is not an issue, still I wouldn't have recommended it.

The portable device input is there because the sound system isn't just reserved for worship services only.  Having a 3.5 mm jack available just makes it simple and easy to play something with the least training or messing about.

[Scott Holtzman]

Well, you never know what someone might bring in for some presentation or other. No we haven't used it in a while but the last time it was needed, we couldn't actually cue up the video without the projection screen which was in use.

I'm just going through how we can setup what we have to actually work well. We may not keep a disc player but most people would have no idea how to rip a DVD or Blu-ray to a file, they will simply bring a disc that they have or a streaming link.  While we can stream, it isn't reliable, usually OK but.... not always.

If we can switch video projection stream from either computer and can play both DVD & Blu-ray, then video cuing this media is resolved, no need for a player.  However $200 gets you a mini player that does about every disc media and USB based file type and well as streaming so that's not a bad deal for a fallback option.  So I'm just putting it out there as a possible option.

Ken

Frankly you are never going to get the results you want without a switcher with a cue monitor.  There are several low end ones that now have scalers.  It is easy to use and will step up the quality of your presentations.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

[Jordan Wolf]

The Roland V1 series units (available in HDMI and SDI variants) are pretty nice for a low-end switcher/scaler. You can embed & de-embed audio to/from HDMI/SDI, which can be quite nifty.

I like the V60 as a step up in the control surface area, with the added functionality of an Aux output. It is primarily and SDI switcher, though, which may not suit your workflow.

Kramer has some units that have set & forget features with a punch & crunch style button interface that works well with volunteers.

Choose a switcher that affords some flexibility later on, should you upgrade or expand your ministry technology.

[Ken Webster]

The Roland V1 series units (available in HDMI and SDI variants) are pretty nice for a low-end switcher/scaler. You can embed & de-embed audio to/from HDMI/SDI, which can be quite nifty.

I like the V60 as a step up in the control surface area, with the added functionality of an Aux output. It is primarily and SDI switcher, though, which may not suit your workflow.

Kramer has some units that have set & forget features with a punch & crunch style button interface that works well with volunteers.

Choose a switcher that affords some flexibility later on, should you upgrade or expand your ministry technology.

Ta, I had noticed the Rolands online.  I think I only need a very simple one, perhaps the V1 if it does scaling (didn't find any mention of that).  There is a local AV business so I'll go talk to them and see what they can provide.  I've been looking into this for a while to get at least a bit informed before approaching a business.

Ken

[Ken Webster]

Hi again,

I have started having some conversations on this at church and have setup some of my own equipment to experiment at home.  Right now I am playing EAC ripped WAV worship files on my HP Pavilion laptop through USB 3 into an Essence HDACC (USB 2) outputting to my Sennneiser HD650 cans.

I have to say it sounds darn good though subtly better than the laptop audio jack.  I
guess the issues come home to roost when a whole PA system is connected badly.

However when I looked up the Radial USB PRO specs,  it says it only supports USB 1.1 (Shock)
Come on, we are up to USB 4 now or soon will be.

I know that USB 1.0 supports only 1.5 Mbps and full speed supports 12 Mbps.
USB Pro is 1.1 Full Speed so that is more than enough for ripped CDs but I am a bit concerned about comparability with new computers and future proofing.  Also read that older windows versions down sample USB 1 bit streams.  I hope that is no-longer the case.  Is there something a bit more up to date? 

Ken

[Mac Kerr]

However when I looked up the Radial USB PRO specs,  it says it only supports USB 1.1 (Shock)
Come on, we are up to USB 4 now or soon will be.

I know that USB 1.0 supports only 1.5 Mbps and full speed supports 12 Mbps.
It's 1.1 Full Speed so that is more than enough for ripped CDs but I am a bit concerned about comparability with new computers and future proofing.  Is there something a bit more up to date?

It's a 2 track device. A 24bit/96k stream is 575KB/s. I think that leaves like 2/3 of that USB bandwidth as headroom. So far all new USB specs have been backward compatible with all previous versions. What is the problem you envision?

Mac

[Ken Webster]

It's a 2 track device. A 24bit/96k stream is 575KB/s. I think that leaves like 2/3 of that USB bandwidth as headroom. So far all new USB specs have been backward compatible with all previous versions. What is the problem you envision?

Mac

"So Far" sums it up.

Also, the bit stream from the PC will be at least stereo because that is the file source and the minimum setting windows 10 appears to support.  I intend setting the USB Pro to mono out.  The bit stream is from uncompressed CDs rips 44100*16*2 = 1.4112 Mbps, still well within 1.1 Full Speed (I think).

It just doesn't seem a good deal to buy really really outdated tech but I believe it will be adequate at least in the every near future, 3 years out, it may not be compatible with anything.

As stated above , Windows has been known to down sample over USB 1 and I don't know the current W10 situation.  I can see from my HDACC that the incoming USB 2 stream is 44.1k.  I don't know how W10 will react to USB 1.1, I have no examples to test cos it's ancient history.

You know that the Devil is in the detail right?

Ken

[Jeff Lelko]

Hi Ken.  If USB really scares you that much, why not consider an ethernet solution such as Dante?  I'm reading through this thread though and am not really understanding what it is that you're trying to accomplish.  When in doubt keep it simple!  Hope this helps!
 

[ProSoundWeb Community]