12 channel soundcards

[sandall]

My local theatre has been using an Echo Audiofire-12 (running from SFX on a PC). While checking out something in the amp rack I noticed that with no audio coming out of the soundcard the "audio-present" LEDs on all the amps were lit. On removing all the patching all the LEDs went out. Looking on a 'scope showed about 2.5V of high-frequency "noise" on every output. Replaced it with a spare unit & all the outputs were now "clean".

 

With no circuit diagram my "fault-finding" has been limited to checking that all the power rails were correct voltage & "clean".

 

As this is a discontinued unit, so possibly not repairable, I am looking for something similar - 12-in, 12-out, on back-panel jacks, firewire or USB, working with Windows-7. So far I've drawn a blank.

 

E2A: On the Vs650 referred to in another post the Clip & Protect LEDs were also lit (but removing the source still left the Protect LED lit :()

 

 

[alistermorton]

Behringer FCA1616 any good to you? We used to use one of these, before we got a mixer with USB.

[Alec]

Behringer FCA1616 any good to you? We used to use one of these, before we got a mixer with USB.

Would need to be used, as it's no longer on the market.

 

Alternatively, use a digital mixer as I/O. X32 Rack will give you 16 in, 16 out for just over £600. If you can lower your I/O requirements, XR18 will give you 16 in, 8 out for just over £300.

[pjb304]

It's also worth noting that with the FCA1616 you get 8 in / out on the back panel, the remaining 8 in each direction are ADAT.

[sandall]

The Echo is 12-in, 12-out (at the moment we use 8-in, 12-out), 1U high , all ins & outs on 1/4" jack & (most important) has NO physical user controls, apart from the power switch. We could stretch to 2U high, but no more, but definitely don't want anything with knobs for wandering fingers to play with. All mixing is done within SFX.

[chelgrian]

The Echo is 12-in, 12-out (at the moment we use 8-in, 12-out), 1U high , all ins & outs on 1/4" jack & (most important) has NO physical user controls, apart from the power switch. We could stretch to 2U high, but no more, but definitely don't want anything with knobs for wandering fingers to play with. All mixing is done within SFX.

 

A MOTU 1248 might do it if enough of the IO can be used simultaneously but has physical controls.

 

You are going to really strugle to replace the AudioFire with a similar thing as either the manufacturers want you to buy multiple boxes and combine them like MOTU or they are assuming you have dispensed with the analogue interface completely and are using Dante and Dante Virtual Soundcard.

[GaryNattrass]

I just go a Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820 USB/MIDI Interface for my home studio and with an old ADA8000 have found it quite superb for the money;

https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-and-Computers/Behringer-U-Phoria-UMC1820-USB-MIDI-Interface/XP6

[alistermorton]

Behringer FCA1616 any good to you? We used to use one of these, before we got a mixer with USB.

Would need to be used, as it's no longer on the market.

 

Ah, that's sub optimal. Apologies.

 

 

 

[sandall]

You are going to really strugle to replace the AudioFire with a similar thing as either the manufacturers want you to buy multiple boxes and combine them like MOTU or they are assuming you have dispensed with the analogue interface completely and are using Dante and Dante Virtual Soundcard.

I fear you are right - Echo don't make pro-audio stuff any more, & I can't find anything out there that has more than 8 usable analogue ins & outs - possibly a couple of MOTU or Focusrite 8-ways is the answer, unless I can get the AudioFire mended :huh:

[TomHoward]

We used to have a setup of M-Audio Profire Lightbridge and 4x ADA8000s that gave 32 in & out on XLR without too many dials. Lightbridge is discontinued now but there is a Motu LP32 and ADA8200s which could give many analogue in/outs on XLR rather than jack from one interface. (Although with converters)

 

Actually there is now the KT DN9630 aes50 to usb sound card, patch it direct into a S32 stage box for 32 in / 16 out with no dials for a more up to date alternative than ADAT.

[sandall]

Thanks for all the suggestions - unfortunately none of the 2-box solutions are viable for us. At present we have 12 Ins & Outs (though we don't really have a use for the Ins), loomed via 1/4" jacks into a 14-row PO jackfield. The outputs are then patched as required to any of 20 amp channels (with no jacks inserted the system reverts to a Soundcraft Venue mixer, with all processing & routing normalled). The AudioFire is 1U, but an additional 1U is available without having to remake the looms. The backup soundcard is another AudioFire 12, so swapping units is only a 5-minute job.

 

Replacing the AudioFire with two 8-channel MOTU or Focusrite units (both 1U) looks like the only sensible way to go (even if they offer lots of bells & whistles that we don't need), as they would fit the existing looms & existing space (& still allow the spare AudioFire to be used as a back-up), while adding the option of another 4 outputs.

[GaryNattrass]

A very good friend and sound supervisor on Graham Norton and Ant+Dec uses one of these ferrofish devices with an AH SQ5 flyaway set up and it is very very good at interfacing with just about anything:

 

https://ferrofish.com/en/home/privacy-policy/

[sandall]

The Ferofish range all seem to be format converters (& I suspect well out of the price range for a community theatre) - what I'm looking for is an external firewire or USB sound-card, to output analogue tracks from a PC running SFX.

 

The first 8 sound-card inputs were connected so that if someone turns up with their favourite track on cassette, CD, DAT, MD or what-have-you they can be loaded straight into SFX on the spot, but I would be surprised if they have ever been used, as show files are almost invariably created elsewhere on site.

[cedd]

Does it HAVE to be USB? Does Dante open up any options? Could the virtual soundcard on the computer and a compact Dante stagebox or other device do the job? I don’t know the answer, just trying to think out of the box.

[sandall]

Does it HAVE to be USB? Does Dante open up any options? Could the virtual soundcard on the computer and a compact Dante stagebox or other device do the job? I don't know the answer, just trying to think out of the box.

I guess the short answer is no (it's firewire at the moment, though USB would open up more possibilities), but there are a number of reasons for keeping as close to what we have now as possible, not least cost (for a community theatre Dante would be quite an investment). We have an identical system in our studio theatre, plus a spare PC & sound-card, so swapping systems round if one crashes between doors-open & tabs could be done without too much technical knowledge (just as well, as few of the sound designers have any & there is no on-site technician).