Hey all,

Big youth event coming up for church next month, and we have also been given a large sum of money to invets in a new mixing sytem ( in the region of £10 000.)

I would like to know what mixers are ideal for having it patched under the stage with possibly a single cable running to a computer with a mixer so I don't have to use the software, but can control it via a hard mixer. Sorry if I am being a little vague but I have only heard about this in bits from various people, and we really need to start saving space FOH.

any response is a good response!

cheers,

Rhys

Im unsure of exactly what you tried to say in your post, but heres what I'm thinking you mean:

You wish to purchase a stage box, multicore system and mixing desk for your church. The Multi core you would prefer to be a single cable (CAT5 type), or do you mean one a group of lines I.e. analog multi core?

Either way, £10,000 is doable. Although tight if you wish to have a digital multicore / desk, there are some on the market.

I would recommend an analogue multicore, you can pick up a reasonable priced 32 send 8 return multi core for under a £1000, and a yamaha LS9 for FOH mixing desk.

Oh - I read it differently. I thought he meant he wanted the 'mixer' to be onstage, so all cabling was confined there, and have a small footprint control out front.

I'm guessing he's heard about fibre/CAT5 interconnects, and is thinking that something like yamaha studio manager on a laptop might work?

I'd say that much of the advertising for these products IS very confusing if you don't 'know'.

The reality is that the current crop of Yamaha digital mixers are small, and very popular. Many people are running them as a direct replacement for their olf big analogue mixers, using the same multicore and plug system, but for extra money, you can have digital systems that have the in/out AD/DI section on stage, being controlled by the rest of the mixer out front - usually by just one or two cables. I suspect that your budget, while pretty good, might not really cover a more sophisticated system like this. The other good thing with digital desks, even with conventional cabling, is that you don't waste space out front on racks of compressors and limiters and effects - they're built in. The other useful bit is the ability to store desk settings, so set-up time is less, and you can be certain that the special eq/effects for a certain person can be repeated with total accuracy.



We've kind of got a bit into guesswork here - so for more accurate info, you'll need to give us some more info.

Something like the roalnd M-400 is what you want. it has a very small foot print at FOH. It comes with 2 16ch stage boxes that work on cat5. Direct PC recording. 4 stero effects and 4 31 band graphics and onboard dynamics. Its a very nice little desk.

My reading is like Paul's: I.e. that they want the mixer on/under the stage, remote controlled from a computer terminal out in the audience.

This being the case, one of the Yamaha mixers controlled by Studio Manager software is likely the method that's being thought of and it CAN work. However, it's best at largely scripted, planned events where you can preset scenes and call them up. It's not so convenient in situations where you're mixing "on the fly". Consider the need to pick up a fader or control with your mouse each time you need to make an adjustment and you can see that it's not the most convenient method if you're taken by surprise by a change of plan.

However, maybe we're reading this wrong...so it's time for more info.

Bob

You guys are probably right, maybe the stage position is where he meant..... 1:41am must have been a strange time for me.

but Bobbsy is right, more info please

No I think the OP is looking a mixer aswell with a small foot print and multi to the stage.

How about we all stop guessing, until the OP returns to clarify?

Yep that's it! I saw a rack somewhere that had a load of inputs that you would usually find on the desk, then ran via cat 5 to a pc which had a mixing desk wing attached to it. Our FOH space is very limited so I need more space but still want to have a physical desk FOH to mix with so I don't have to use the software faders. Hope this clears it up.

cheers,
Rhys

Are you sure you saw a PC with a mixing desk wing attached? It seems to defeat the logic of a small footprint digital desk by having to have a PC attached.

From what I have seen something like the Roland M400 sounds like it would work.*

You didn't say what features you wanted from the desk apart from having a small footprint FOH.

How many channels etc.

Josh

*Recommended purely from what I have read about it.

the roland desk appears to be the exact sort of thing I want.
I will look into it further and probably sort out a demo soon. Just out of interest is there such a thing as a mixing desk 'wing' that attaches to a pc and allows you to move faders on a piece of software on screen via the mixing desk? just a thought.

cheers,
Rhys

As a person who has a Roland M400, I can tell you that you can control faders from a pc, using remote desktop. You can control the desk from anywhere in the theatre using another laptop and WIFI network. I've only had the desk about 2 months, but I love the kit.
Derek

You might be thinking about the Mackie Control - which looks a little like a mixing desk but is really intended to control recording software. You might be able to get away with using this sort of setup in a live situation but I would rather use something specifically designed for the job.

Cheers

James.