[chemicalalex]

I work for an organisation that has recently taken on a brand new £6.5 million building only to find the sound system installed is no way near up to scratch and the installer is claiming they were only asked "background music" despite having microphones and paging systems as well as televisions plugged into it. Anyway we are having to bite the bullet and are installing a proper PA system this time. Its going to be multi functional so that we can accommodate as many different events as possible. This means we will be having a reasonably sized mixer and all the other bells and whistles. The problem we have is that while this may be fine for a band that comes in who knows how to use a mixer, for everyday use or during an event at the bar where a sporting event is being shown, the staff do not know how to use it.

The only thing staff would need to vary would be the overall output of the system and this ideally would need to be done from the bar and not the mixing location. Does anyone know of a device or method that could be used to act as a remote switch for the master?

Any help would be really appreciated!


Thanks

[Owain]

Cloud do very flexible remote volume/source/zone selection systems eg

http://www.canford.c...E-CONTROL-PLATE

http://www.louis-gra...on/details/0456

[bruce]

If it's really a "proper PA" for a multifunctional space, just specify your requirements and let the installers design you something appropriate. There's lots of ways to skin this cat.


The last time we did something like this, we used an Allen & Heath iDR8 at the heart of the system. A couple of radio mics, a few hard wired mics, CD & ipod input, all controlled by several AMX touchscreens located at convenient places. Several "presets" for the commonly used scenarios - eg

"Playback" - just CD and ipod
"Lecture" - just the lectern mic and PC audio
"Wedding" - 2 radio mics and CD/ipod
etc etc

These settings also have sensible limiters set.

So for most of the common uses of the venue, it's completely "self drive" - the caretaker can turn on the system and set it up.

For more complex events, we press the "engineered" button, and everything gets routed via a conventional 32 channel mixer at FoH.

Not cheap, but works really well.

[chemicalalex]

Thanks for those suggestions, they are both very interesting. Ideally the second one would be the best however the cost is trying to be controlled as much as possible so however much I would love to have a fantastic system like that, I wont be able to. I apologise for not mentioning the budget constraints in my post.

Using the cloud volume remote, how would that work? We actually have a cloud system currently in place however this system is designed to be separate. That looks like a sensible and affordable solution.

Thanks

[mervaka]

If you're going down the A&H iDR route, all the PLAnet stuff all works with the iLive, so if you're after a desk as part of your solution, it may prove more economical to buy a full iLive system with added PL controls for the bar.

[Gerry]

chemicalalex, on 19 July 2012 - 03:40 PM, said:

I work for an organisation ...

Thanks

Welcome to the Blue Room.
Perhaps you got your profile wrong as it says you are a student in a school.
Cheers
Gerry

[AHYoung]

Get some one that knows what they are doing to design a proper system with touch screen/s controlling a proccessor like the A&H. you should also integrate the av control into this so you can control the "televisions" plugged into to the sound system. the point is you actually need to do a number of fairly complex things but this can be a simple to control. This is bread and butter to someone that does this kind of work, but a steep learning curve if you dont. Thats the best option, but the cheaper but still sensible option is to instal a cloud electronics zone mixer as these are almost universal and you can add single gang remote controls to give input select and volume. If its a simple matter of selecting half a dozen inputs on a zone / zone basis, with no touchscreen id use one of these, we have installed dozens into a variety of venues with a failure rate of 0. http://www.cloud.co.uk/products/

[ramdram]

If there is contention between "you" and some installer ref the design/application/integration of a PA system then shirley this the province of the legal bods? As in not on a tech forum.

It may be that the resolution concerns professional outfits such as the Cloud folk. Suggest you pass this info upstairs to the money men and let them sort it.

Then watch the installers like a hawk to see what goes into fitting the kit. Seeing as you are a student this appears to be an opportunity not to be missed.

[chemicalalex]

Yes I am a student but that does not prevent me from having a job as well



thanks

Gerry, on 19 July 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

chemicalalex, on 19 July 2012 - 03:40 PM, said:

I work for an organisation ...

Thanks

Welcome to the Blue Room.
Perhaps you got your profile wrong as it says you are a student in a school.
Cheers
Gerry

This post has been edited by chemicalalex: 22 July 2012 - 02:27 PM