lighting effects according to sound

[plant]

we're using a Strand 200 (48 fader model) lighting board and cannot program an audio lighting effect "successfully" (as they say in the manual). it is maybe the bandwidth pass setting or maybe a faulty XLR-cord, but the chances are it is probably not the latter. when I go to the "audio" option in the setup menu to configure the bandwidth the numlock led-light does not turn on and the programmed effect led-lights do not turn off - it says it should do this in the manual, I dont know if this is any indication that something is broken seriously or not. trying to run the effect (at the "manual" step rate) does not do anything except bring up the first step in the effect, in all three bndwidth pass settings. the effect is programmed in the "chase audio" mode, but changing the step rate to anything except "manual" (with the slider) runs the effect as if it were in "chase forward" mode. we do not have a moniter.

if it does eventually work what bandwidth should we use if we want it to step when the audio is completely stopped/started (instead of stepping on a beat)? the options are >1, 1-300, and <300 kHz.

can anybody help?

[gareth]

Regarding the LEDs not behaving as the manual says they should - I've just tried it on my 200, and mine does exactly the same as yours (the effects LEDs stay lit, and Num Lock doesn't light). I don't think it matters, though - it just seems to be a mistake in the manual.

 

Regarding the possibility of a faulty XLR cable - you might be closer to the mark than you think with that theory! For some reason, Strand saw fit to make the audio input on the back panel (a) the wrong sex, and (b) the wrong pin-out. That is, it's a male connector when it should be female, and it's 'pin 3 hot' instead of the standard 'pin 2 hot'. So what you'll need to do is make up a female-to-female XLR jumper which swaps pins 2 and 3. With any luck, that'll sort you out. I've never used the 'audio in' facility on my 200, but I reckon that could be the problem that you're experiencing.

 

(P.S. - I'm sure you're already doing it, but don't forget to select Audio mode when recording the effect.)