I am new to this forum as a member. I have gained a wealth of info as a guest reader. I would like any suggestions on our church sound system as to making it better. It sounds great, but we would love any ideas to maximize its potential. We have a Midas Venice 240 with the stereo mstrs., aux.1, aux.2, mon.1 and mon.2 input into an Ashly Protea 24.24m. The mstrs. B stereo outputs into a Denon DNC550 cd recorder. The fx1 is temporarily being used for an assistive listening system. The fx2 is unused. Mon.1 and 2 is prefade, aux.1 and 2 is switchable, fx1 and 2 is postfade and the mstrs. B stereo outputs are switchable. The Ashly processor is as follows;
Inputs--------Outputs
1.main l.------1. L/C/R
2.main r.----- 2. balcony 70v
3.aux.1-------3. pulpit mon.
4.mon.1------4. mon. A
5.mon.2------5. mon. B
6.aux.2-------6.lobby 70v
We have the inputs routed to the outputs just as listed with the exception of 1 and 2. Input 1 is routed to outputs 1 and 2. Input 2 is routed to inputs 1 and 2. The breakdown of the outputs of the Ashly is as follows;
1.Crown xls802 inputs 1 and 2 paralleled-ch.1 to left and right (cluster) and ch.2 to center (cluster).
2.QSC isa300ti input 1- ch.1 to 4 EV Evid spkrs. wired parallel and 70v in balcony.
3.Crown xls402 input 1 (2 unused)-ch.1 to floorbox on each side of pulpit for 2 floor mon. wired parallel.
4.Crown xls602 input 1-ch.1 (mon.a) paralleled to floorboxes on stage for singers and musicians.
5.Crown xls602 input 2-ch.2 (mon.b) paralleled to floorboxes on stage for singers and musicians.
6.QSC isa300ti input 2-ch.2 to several 70v spkrs. in lobby.
I included this info because I am always looking for suggestions on making it even better. I'm sorry for the long post, especially because I'm just getting to my question. Would it be a good idea to process my recordings with the Ashly? We have the normal problems with recording straight from the mixer. Our preaching is lively with a wide range of volume. If you set levels for talking, it clips when the volume is higher. So, I've spent hours researching and don't know much more. I noticed that the autolevel and comp. functions in Audacity really cleaned up a bad recording I made. So, I remembered that the Ashly has these functions and we have two inputs and outputs available without having to purchase cards. I know that for FOH the output limiter on the Ashly does a great job when volumes are louder. If this is a good idea, what would be a good starting point on the settings? The input side of the Ashly has an Autoleveler with adjustments for target level, action (aggressive 10:1 normal 4:1 and gentle 2:1) and max. gain. This function has the described basic mode or an advanced mode with more settings. The output side has an output limiter with settings for threshold, ratio, attack and release. Should both of these functions be used? I plan to eventually do multi-track but this is the current setup. We basically record every sermon with copies duplicated and printed before the end of the service. Thanks in advance for any advice.