Mackie DL32R issue

[theeguitargod]

Hi, so I have this weird problem...

 

I run a Mackie DL32R. Great unit, good sound. Its connected to a password protected wifi router. But whenever I do shows in areas where there are loads of other wifi connections in the near vicinity, it's like it's haunted or something. Main recurrent, and really irritating issue, is when sound goes to the speaker amp, it overloads, even when channel input signal is about normal/below unity and main mix signal being sent to the amp is well under 0dB. Its not even that loud. But the overload is so great that its causing the amp to fault, shutdown and restart, throughout the night. And on one weird night, a preamp shot up, sending a whirlwind of feedback through. I've taken the speakers and amps to a repair centre, they cant find anything wrong with the them. When I started doing wifi surveys to look at changing wifi channels on the router, there are times where most/all spare channels are taken up by all these other home and business routers. The problems Im experiencing only appears to happen on sites where there are loads of other wifi activity and I cant get the problem to reoccur at home to report to Mackie/Mackie service - hence my theory being its a wifi issue.

So, I guess my 2 questions are A) has anyone else experienced anything like this and B) if so, does anybody know what it is and how to do something about it?

 

Thanks in advance.

[sam.spoons]

Make sure your iPad and router can use 5GHz. The 2.4GHz band can get pretty crowded.

 

I've never experienced that particular issue with my DL1608 though.

[Bazz339]

Last Saturday in a pub with its own Wifi and in a residential area, I could not get my Hudl tablet to function reliably with a Soundcraft UI16, my friend who's mixer it was had struggled with his Ipad earlier but that worked in the end. This was only the second time we had used the mixer and the first at this venue but I certainly thought it was a wifi problem. We were using the Ui16 built in wifi, distances were very short <10M, ceiling low so not much free air.

[alistermorton]

Food for thought for the "physical faders are for old men" brigade. WiFi everything is great in theory, but if you don't control the network, you can't guarantee it will work when you need it to.

[MarkPAman]

I had a Ui-16 for a month of so and had exactly that happen to me. Then Soundcraft issued a firmware update which they claimed fixed it, and it did seem to help, so check your friend's is up to date, but........

 

There's a very long thread on another forum that indicates that this is, unfortunately, a common problem with the Ui mixers. External WiFi routers help but mine* still didn't save me from an embarrassing moment during a corporate thing. Basically I was not able to turn off the mic of a speaker who had finished his bit, and was now talking to somebody in the wings. I had to run to the mixer & yank the XLR out.

 

Also, many people, including me, find the noise floor to be too high - especially if using phantom power.

 

I sent mine back as "unfit for purpose" and shelled out the extra dosh for an A&H Qu-Pac, a decision I've not regretted for a single second.

 

* The same one runs with my Qu-Pac and has never given a problem.

[sam.spoons]

Sorry to be pedantic Alastair but you are in control of the network your mixer is using as you always have a dedicated router. The problems occur with the Ui 'cos it's built in wifi is 2.4 GHz only. I use an Apple Airport Express with my DL1608 and the only time I've had trouble was in a bar with 7 or 8 wifi networks within range, my iPhone 4S (2.4GHz only) wouldn't connect. The iPads were flawless though so it was the most minor of possible inconveniences. Eventually, of course, the 5GHz band will become more crowded and wifi problems may become more prevalent.

 

I do agree though that faders are always best (I'm a relatively old man in sound engineering terms at 62, and I have an X32 Compact as well as the DL) but for most of my gigs the compromises inherent in the DL are more than outweighed by it's many advantages.

[alistermorton]

I'm thinking more of the the general clutter created by all those phones trying (unsucessfully a lot fo th etime) to connect to networks. It might not be traffic that ever makes it onto your network, but it's interference nonetheless

[john deans]

I have seen it suggested that the mixer, or other control, network router should be set to a hidden network in order to prevent all the smartphones in the room trying to connect. It would also stop the odd punter asking for your network password so He can check email post something on twitter etc..

[timsabre]

The trouble with "embedded" wifi access points is that they are generally simple modules with not much resource. Absolutely fine as a point-to-point link but as soon as you get a few devices trying to connect, they can't handle the traffic and stop working or do weird stuff. I don't know what wifi device the Ui has got in it, but I've been involved with a few wifi-enabled devices that worked fine in development then went horribly wrong when demoed at trade shows with loads of wifi around.

[sam.spoons]

I'm thinking more of the the general clutter created by all those phones trying (unsucessfully a lot fo th etime) to connect to networks. It might not be traffic that ever makes it onto your network, but it's interference nonetheless

 

Absolutely, no disagreement there. At the moment 5GHz is pretty reliable but eventually, who knows. I'll probably be well retired by them though.