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Author Topic: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia  (Read 2538 times)

Frank Koenig

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Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« on: July 18, 2021, 11:23:45 PM »

Saturday I was providing playback and voice reinforcement for a wedding party for friends here in town. What should have been a simple gig became complicated. Party was to start at 5:00. I went over at 2:00 to set up a pair of 12 in. coaxes on sticks, a TH-mini, a Powersoft Ottocanali, and the A&H Qu-Pac. Program, via Bluetooth, was from  the host's phone and all was well when I departed, planning to return at party time. (I live about 1.5 mi. away.) I joked with the host that since everything was working we shouldn't touch it. Scarcely home I got a call that the music had stopped. I immediately blamed the Bluetooth receiver and headed back over with a replacement kidnapped from my home hi-fi. After some investigation it turned out that the Qu-Pac was at fault. Everything appeared to be working -- touchscreen, computer functions, meters showed signal, etc. -- but no audio from any of the analog outputs, including headphone.

After some fiddling I went back home to get the d-Live mixrack, which hadn't been out since before Covid. Hooked it up, connected the iPad to it over Wi-Fi, and was prompted for the administrator password. Oh shit! I knew it was something easy to remember, but what? I consulted the cheat-sheet taped inside the FOH case with all the passwords, (static) IP addresses, and so forth. Couldn't find it. Now in full panic mode, what to do?

The Bluetooth is line-level out, and I had a laptop with Armonia (the Powersoft control app) so I fired it up and hooked the Bluetooth receiver directly to the amplifier analog inputs. Re-jiggering the input matrix on the amplifier I got tunes going. Whew!.

On my next, and final, trip back I brought a little 2-channel Sound Devices preamp to boost the output of the wireless mic receiver to line-level and give me a gain knob (and a simple compressor). Switching between playback and voice required repatching XLRs on the amp but I got through the night.

This morning I found the d-Live password right at the top of my cheat-sheet. It was there all along. Go figure. I hooked up the Qu-Pac and, sure enough, after about 20 minutes it made a brief farting noise and the output quit. Same symptoms as the previous night. I leaned on top of the case and audio came back. An intermittent connection of some sort. I removed its clothes and for the last few hours it's been running fine on the test bench. If I cannot get it to fail again I'll "reseat the ribbon cables", and hope for the best. But it will be a long time before I trust it.

--Frank
« Last Edit: July 18, 2021, 11:27:24 PM by Frank Koenig »
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Bob Stone

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2021, 12:04:35 AM »

And this is why having a spare analog mixer (even a crappy little Mackie) kicking around is always good insurance. As much as everyone here says digital or nothing, there's something very reliable about having a simple analog board.
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Doug Fowler

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2021, 04:12:25 AM »

And this is why having a spare analog mixer (even a crappy little Mackie) kicking around is always good insurance. As much as everyone here says digital or nothing, there's something very reliable about having a simple analog board.

A Mackie 1202vlz is a great thing to have available. 

Frank - good one on the Bluetooth fix.
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2021, 10:32:06 AM »

Not analog of course but I picked up a used QU-SB a while back to use as my back-up mixer to my QU PAC. I wanted something that could just 'drop in' real easy if the QU PAC fails. It came racked so it is well protected.
It often stays in the van at shows and gets little use BUT gives me so much more confidence just in case my QU PAC lets me down.

Ironically about 18 months ago - just as Covid was starting to affect things, I did a small private party and decided NOT to take my SB for the very first time - not even sure why. Yep - it was that show where my QU PAC caused me problems.....the network port failed and I had no way to remotely mix which was really disappointing given the fact it was my only way to mix front FOH.
I got through the evening sitting side stage using the small screen on the QU, selection buttons and the little knob along with using Chris to give me messages from the front - it was a tough gig!
When I got home and had more light and time, I realized the network port had a couple of bent pins which I fixed easily using a pair of very narrow thin nosed pliers and it has worked ever since AND I have taken the SB with me to every show EVER SINCE!
On a positive note, thank goodness the QU PAC has the screen and can be controlled from the unit itself unlike some rack units - this is one of the reasons I chose this model.
Anyway...sorry this happened to you Frank and I hope its a quick, inexpensive fix. Consider an SB as your back up if you can find a used one maybe - it would be a good option for you going forward.

BTW - I believe I caused the bent pins myself - earlier in the week I had used the QU PAC for a recording session and whilst fumbling at the back of the mixer trying to connect my USB-B cable, I accidentally tried to push it into the network port. The connections are right next to each other. I used very little force and as soon as I realized, I connected the cable correctly but that was enough to push a couple of pins out of alignment.
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Dave Garoutte

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #4 on: July 19, 2021, 12:48:36 PM »

And this is why having a spare analog mixer (even a crappy little Mackie) kicking around is always good insurance. As much as everyone here says digital or nothing, there's something very reliable about having a simple analog board.
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« Last Edit: July 19, 2021, 12:50:57 PM by Dave Garoutte »
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dave briar

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #5 on: July 19, 2021, 01:35:24 PM »

And this is why having a spare analog mixer (even a crappy little Mackie) kicking around is always good insurance. As much as everyone here says digital or nothing, there's something very reliable about having a simple analog board.
No question that but I went the digital way.  My primary is a X32 Rack in a shallow six-RU SKB case — room for a Furman power strip and Ubiquiti router and AP — and my backup is a second X32 Rack in a three-RU SKB case that is setup by default as a stage box should I need more than 16 inputs.  A thumb drive easily converts the backup to primary should I ever need it. I’ve never had to do that but I only do 6-8 gigs a year on my personal equipment and it’s reassuring to know it is nearby.
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Bob Stone

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2021, 11:51:25 PM »

No question that but I went the digital way.  My primary is a X32 Rack in a shallow six-RU SKB case — room for a Furman power strip and Ubiquiti router and AP — and my backup is a second X32 Rack in a three-RU SKB case that is setup by default as a stage box should I need more than 16 inputs.  A thumb drive easily converts the backup to primary should I ever need it. I’ve never had to do that but I only do 6-8 gigs a year on my personal equipment and it’s reassuring to know it is nearby.

The thing with digital backup is there's just so many things that can go wrong other than the hardware itself...Like the OP maybe you'll forget a login, or maybe the laptop/tablet will have problems, maybe there's wifi interference, if it's the same unit or brand maybe a firmware update will result in the same glitch in both, maybe you can't get the networking sorted, and the list goes on. With an analog backup, plug things in and power up and away you go...even if you fry a strip, the rest will usually keep going too.

Dave - The A&H Zed's are nice units. I have a Mackie ProFx8v2 and Soundcraft EPM8 kicking around, both internal power supply units, easy peasey and handy for those one mic and an ipod shows.
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2021, 01:36:13 AM »

For the shows I do, I really need to use a digital board as back up. I rely on having 5 separate mixes to my iems and of course there are the onboard FX etc...Using a digital board as backup means I have to take extra precautions though - I always have 5 iPads with me ( don’t laugh - 2 of them are old), I use 2 for lights, 1 for wireless mixing and 1 hardwired to the mixer in case of network issues - leaving 1 as a spare. I also never go to a show with updated firmware unless I have thoroughly tested everything...... With all that said I really regret selling my MixWiz years ago when I went digital. I should have kept it as my ‘spare’ spare....
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Nathan Riddle

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2021, 08:36:04 AM »

Saturday I was providing playback and voice reinforcement for a wedding party for friends here in town. What should have been a simple gig became complicated.

[snip]

Switching between playback and voice required repatching XLRs on the amp but I got through the night.

--Frank

I got the Flow8 For just these types of gigs and as a backup in a pinch to an xair/sq/dlive.

I guess I need a backup for the Flow8 now? :P

And this is why having a spare analog mixer (even a crappy little Mackie) kicking around is always good insurance. As much as everyone here says digital or nothing, there's something very reliable about having a simple analog board.

I fail to see how 'analog' makes it inherently more reliable.

PSU can fail, pots get corroded, op-amps break, etc.
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Bob Stone

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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2021, 09:10:02 PM »

I got the Flow8 For just these types of gigs and as a backup in a pinch to an xair/sq/dlive.

I guess I need a backup for the Flow8 now? :P

I fail to see how 'analog' makes it inherently more reliable.

PSU can fail, pots get corroded, op-amps break, etc.

Software is far more buggy and failure prone than hardware circuits. Digital has all the faults of analog boards, plus the software aspects on top of all that. There's also no more setup with analog than plugging everything in...no booting, networking, settings, etc.
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Re: Qu-Pac TU -- "mixing" on Armonia
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2021, 09:10:02 PM »


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