Community Theatre Sound System Upgrade

[Don Allen]

I am looking for a sound system for a community theatre that will let them record sections of music tracks and sound effects, then send the music or sfx to sets of speakers located at stage rear, stage front, auditorium rear and foyer and use a stack format to play back during a show.

 

Eight individual destinations or combinations as desired by the director.

 

A desk like the X32 would cover the routing of the audio to the speakers and have the advantage of scene recording, but what about the recording side ? Is the X32 an overkill ?

 

I have used a laptop with audacity (which I came across on the Blue Room forums thanks), to record cd's for a show and it worked well, but not everyone in community theatre wants to put the time into learning to use a laptop and audacity.

 

Thanks for any sugestions.

[Stuart91]

 

Eight individual destinations or combinations as desired by the director.

 

A desk like the X32 would cover the routing of the audio to the speakers and have the advantage of scene recording, but what about the recording side ? Is the X32 an overkill ?

 

If the X32 seems like overkill, the soon-to-be-released X16 might fit the bill. 16 inputs and 8 outputs, a smaller physical footprint and remote control via iPad.

[dbuckley]

Many of the PC based sound playback programs handle multiple outputs, so rather than a big mixer, just go PC out to amplifiers around the place, with all the level and routing done in the software.

 

If one needs a cue list approach, then its only really with a PC (or Mac) one can do this.

 

Foyer music is the odd one out, as its only used outside of the actual show; what I typically do for this is route a mono mix of the "main" L/R feed that is annoying the audience as they file in to foyers etc.

[RayL]

How about the Korg D888? It's an eight-track hard disk recorder that (unusally) can have eight separate outputs (one per channel). A flat box with a small footprint, the layout should be pretty intuitive for anyone who can understand that "this fader goes to stage front, this fader goes to the foyer", etc

 

The recording side has XLR and jack inputs and can record up to eight tracks simultaniously, plus all the usual bounce, EQ, reverb, etc, facilities. The recordings are standard WAV files which can be downloaded from the D888's USB connector. On the playback side you can switch the output jacks between 'eight separate outputs' and 'Master L & R, Mon L & R + 5, 6, 7, 8'

 

RayL