SCS and Sound cards

[Zulu]

Hi,

I've been looking at the SCS audio cuing software, and it looks great. I want to expand our church hall theatre from it's single pair of speakers (driven from a laptop and small mixing desk) to add at least another pair at the back of the hall, and maybe one also at the back of the stage.

 

It looks like SCS can manage all this, but I'm not sure about my laptop.

 

Do I need a special Sound card ? The theatre laptop is quite old, running Windows XP. Not sure what the sound card is. My home laptop is a bit newer, running Windows 7. My control panel tells me I have a NVIDIA High definition Audio controller. Not sure what this means.

 

So the questions:

Can I control several pairs of speakers with my sound card ?

If not, what do I need?

The only "sound" output (as far as I know) is the stereo 3.5mm headphone jack, which I currently use successfully for the single pair of speakers. Can this arragement work with more speakers?

 

Or should I be looking at the "Home theatre Surround Sound" type setups: 5.5, 7.1, etc.

 

Any pointers for a Sound novice greatly appreciated.

 

cheers, Zulu

[Shez]

You'll need an additional soundcard in order to get more outputs than you currently have. Personally, I'd steer clear of home cinema type cards although they may do the job for you. I'm currently using a Focusrite 2i4 which has four outputs (or two stereo). They also have various other offerings; M-Audio are worth looking at too. All the manufacturers have multichannel USB interfaces - it's just a case of finding the one with the right connectivity options.

[boswell]

You will need an external USB soundcard,

Look at http://www.showcuesystems.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=958

for a long list of ones that work OK with SCS, It is almost any, depends on number of outputs/features/price which one you choose

Maya44 and Gigaport HD are worth a look

HTH

[gyro_gearloose]

Do you want any new speakers to output whatever is coming out of your existing set of speakers, or do you want to send them a completely different mix? If you're just adding speakers to boost volume/coverage then all you don't need extra outputs from your laptop. You can just link the signal inputs for any new new amps that you buy.

[sclg]

As others have said, you'll need an external sound card. I've used both the M-audio Fast Track Pro and a Focusrite 8i6 very successfully with SCS.

Steve

[Rob_P]

Another +1 for the ESI Gigaport HD. I have been using mine with SCS for a few years with no problems. It has 8 outputs (8 mono, or 4 stereo, or a combination thereof), but no inputs. All of the outputs are on RCA/Phono connectors. I think that it has been replaced by an HD+ model but it looks like exactly the same thing in a different case.

 

As gyro_gearloose has said above the main use of a multi-channel output on SCS is really designed for different signals to be sent to different speakers. For a typical show I might have a FOH stereo feed, a Rear stereo feed, a foyer feed for background music, and either a stereo "backstage" feed or a series of feeds for small "spot effect" speakers.

 

The other thing to bear in mind is that you will need the appropriate level of software licence for multi-channel playback. The "Lite" version only gets you a single stereo output, "Standard" gets you 2 stereo outputs, and the various levels of "Professional" get you up to 512 mono outputs! Full details are here:

 

http://www.showcuesystems.com/comparelevels.htm

 

The SCS forum is great and the software author tends to be very quick at responding to questions.

[Zulu]

Thanks, guys.

Some great info here. I'm wiser already, and am already on the trail of an external Sound card. Looks like there are plenty to choose from.

 

But, of course, it leads me to think of some supplementary questions ! So, while you're in the zone . . .

 

So, with my new Sound card and SCS (?!?), I've got several outputs from my computer, controlled by the software. I connect these to several channels of my mixing desk. But my desk has more channels than Speaker outputs. Does the Mixing desk still have a place in this new world? Or do I need to make sure I've got a desk with sufficient speaker outputs.

 

Responding to Gyro_Gearloose, yes, I'm looking at controlling the additional speakers independantly.

Rob_P, thanks for the reminder about SCS license levels.

Zulu

[peza2010]

your desk will need to have enough outs. usually on.auxs or omni's depending on the flavour of your desk.

 

having said that...... theres nothing "technically" wrong with running directly into amp channels but its not advised.

[Gerry]

theres nothing "technically" wrong with running directly into amp channels but its not advised.

Why is it not advised?

Cheers

Gerry

[Andrew C]

I see no problem running direct to your amps, provided that SCS is the only sound source (no mics, cds, etc) and that you don't need to alter levels "on the fly". If you can rehearse enough to pre-set the lot, then fine, no mixer.

[Richard P-W]

I've run SCS on the last three shows with FX and auditorium rears direct into the amps. FOH goes through a small mixer to allow for the backup laptop to be routed in, along with a CD player and microphone for emergencies. Works well!

[Rob_P]

SCS also has a "master fader" function that can be useful in this scenario - you can set the output at -3dB (or whatever) and adjust the overall volume of all outputs together. This can be useful when the audience turn up - bodies absorb a huge amount of sound.

 

Just remember to turn all of the amps off before you turn the laptop on or off!

[Zulu]

Thanks again guys. We're getting there! I believe my mixing desk has the required speaker connections.

But you've now prompted a question about amplifiers.

 

Currently I have a main pair of quality JBL powered speakers. So no additional amp required.

 

Also, I have some ex-hifi speakers, which I was planning to power through an ex-hifi amp (an old "separate"). I think this would work, but what is the "theatre norm"?

What do you guys use for speakers and amps?

 

Are these amps (or power-amps?, pre-amps?) required one per speaker? Or do you get a multi outlet? If anyone can recommend one, I can see what we're talking about. Church Hall budget, remember!

 

Many thanks, Zulu

[dbuckley]

In small venues, hifi amps are just fine, unless you need more power. I've done many shows on a 50w stereo amp purchased from Richer well over a decade ago.

[Don Allen]

We have just started using SCS11 Professional for our community theatre production of Project MacBeth and have bought a Steinberg UR28M with six outputs. Did not allow us enough time to find a better external usb audio but it works fine after sorting out the driver.

 

We got an old TEAC Tascam M208 quad mixer so we could feed SCS into 4 tape inputs and assign them through the four group outputs to allow linear faders with analogue meters, plus all of the old cd players are still there. This allows us to have stage rear speakers and auditorium rear speakers.

 

We also find the master level control on the Steinberg useful for adjusting all four channels simultaneously.

 

We also used SCS for the video projections, still working on the midi triggers for the LSC maxim XL lighting desk to increment the stack.

 

Thanks to all the recommendations we got a while ago on SCS from BR Sound Forum.

 

Don