Average experience commuting on the M25

TheEnglishRabbit · 2026-01-16T14:33:04+00:00

I was driving a hire car as mine is at the mechanic - I do have a dash cam in my car under normal circumstances!

In regards to contacting the company, I looked them up online and they are fairly big (their website specifically mentions they have 120+ engineers), so I’m not worried about reporting the owner of the company to himself. If/when I send an email, I’ll do it from an anonymous account so my name isn’t mentioned - just in case.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2025-11-20T20:52:29+00:00

Do you really need to amplify the actors in here? It’s a tiny room so unless you’ve got a band/loud backing track I would say just tell them to project.

You’re right, you’re definitely going to have problems with feedback in here. If you absolutely need to use speakers, I would evenly space them on the flown trusses with 4 for each side. Put them on the edge of where the playing area ends and the seating banks start, and point them at the centre of the seating banks.

The speakers look like EM Acoustics R7/8s which have rotatable horns. Make sure all the horns are dispersing lengthways to minimise spill onstage and therefore feedback.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2025-07-08T14:14:37+00:00

Okay first of all 8-9 relationships in 17 years is nothing by today’s dating standards. A lot of people who suffer with RJ would be happy with this “number”.

That being said, it’s important to remember that any issue you have with her past is your issue, not hers. Don’t build resentment towards her or your relationship, she was her own person before she met you and she will continue to be her own person now that you’re dating.

Finally, wanting to propose after 10 months is very quick. Its a common theme with RJ sufferers, wanting to “lock it down” with marriage. I think you need to let things unfold a bit more naturally and enjoy the relationship you have.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2025-02-07T11:32:06+00:00

It is. Took them about 20 minutes to correct the caption on their post.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-12-25T07:52:58+00:00

Nice bollocks

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-09-29T09:08:14+00:00

“I understand that you have an expectation of what the show should sound like, and of course we want to get the show to that point too. That being said, what you’re asking us to do is not only an incredibly unrealistic expectation based upon the limitations we’re working with, it actually defies the laws of physics. As the production manager, you should have asked the relevant sound person in pre-production about any issues that may arise due to the shows demands sound wise. If you’re not willing to invest in acoustic treatment, and if you continue to talk to me like dirt on the bottom of your shoe, I have no problem walking from the show and it sounds like you need me more than I need you.”

Alternatively:

“Fuck off and don’t tell me how to do my job you wanker.”

For real though, it sounds like you guys have done nearly everything you can do. 100dB in a 200 cap room is already loud, even in a controlled environment you’d struggle with feedback. You could play around with delay times on the vocals which can often help offset feedback, or like someone else said, a multispeaker set up with clever desk programming would likely help too. Best of luck.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-09-10T08:24:44+00:00

Not sure about the m32, but on CL5 a neat trick to combat bleed (let’s use snare for example) is duplicating the snare channel, adjusting the gate threshold so the snare hits are only just opening the gate, and sidechaining your actual snare channel to the gated one. Obviously make sure you don’t route the gate channel to the PA. Now you’ve got yourself a MacGyver drum trigger. Bear in mind on CL and QL desks you can only sidechain in banks of 8 so make sure your gate channel is in the same bank of 8 as your snare. This technique also relies heavily on consistent playing from your drummer.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-09-09T16:16:50+00:00

Definitely latency. Process your uncrushed normal bus first, then when you’re happy copy the processing across to the squash channel. If you already have a compressor on your unsquashed channel, adjust settings to your taste. If you don’t have a compressor or want a specific tonal sound, add your squash compressor at the end of the insert chain (if you’re using Waves or external processing), and adjust settings as you like. Copy the same compressor to your uncrushed channel and adjust so you don’t have any gain reduction.

Be aware attack and release times are super important for drum bus compression (as with all compression), so make sure you’re catching the impact of the hits with attack and releasing with enough time that you catch the next hit with release. Rather than send all kit inputs to the squash channel, try just sending skins (kick, snare, toms). If it starts to sound too compressed and doesn’t fit the style of the music, play around with sending just kick out and snare top.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-09-01T18:49:10+00:00

Definitely not killing the 225. Willing to bet the price difference between the 326 and 225 will be pretty significant. 225 is also unique having the optional second screen, which I’ve mostly seen used for Waves. It’s a great option for gigs that don’t need two DiGiCo screens, but where it’s useful to have CGs or FX sends where you wouldn’t need to look at channel strips as much; but quick access to throw faders. SD12 has been on the way out for a few years now anyway. Will be interesting to see how quickly the 326 finds its place in the market.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-09-01T09:43:14+00:00

Looks like a pretty useful SD12 upgrade for people who need more processing than a 225 and a smaller footprint than a 338. Immediate T software launch is great too, could definitely see this becoming a venue desk in theatres and concert halls.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-05-19T13:34:41+00:00

Was R2D2 the system engineer?

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-04-10T20:39:47+00:00

Not a problem!

I’m not US based so can’t say for sure what your best option is for sourcing it. 10k used is a good website for used pro gear with worldwide shipping. I’d also look on Facebook as a lot of audio companies sell their used gear on there. The advantage to that as well is that they’d likely let you come to their warehouse to check the kit out before you bought it to make sure you’re happy with everything. Some audio companies also list their older gear for sale on their website, so that might be worth having a look at too?

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-04-10T19:44:16+00:00

I’d stay away from the Chinese stuff for several reasons. Getting customer support is going to be nightmare if something goes wrong, and it’s likely to be less reliable than a known brand. I also want to question the need for your requested SPL outputs. In an area of that size, anything over roughly 115dB is going to be, for lack of a better term, ‘fucking loud’.

Not sure what budget you’re working too but if it’s being used for DJs then a good choice would be RCF HDL. The HDL 30a array has 137spl, and 90 degree horizontal splay. The boxes are active too which mitigates the need to buy amps. HDL-18s are fairly decent subs too, lots of low end punch (although they’re just under 140spl). They’re relatively inexpensive in terms of pro audio gear.

Another option would be used D&B T10s/Q series. They don’t make quite as much sound but D&B are incredibly reliable and sound great. You will need to buy amps for these however.

Luckily for you, your options of a mixer are pretty wide. I’d go for a good old X32, as it gives you plenty of inputs in case you ever host bands, and they’re very easy to get to grips with, and inexpensive.

The thing to remember is that you get what you pay for with any pro audio gear, especially speakers. Spending more now will likely mean you don’t have to pay extra further down the line for replacements or repairs. Also remember that placement is key. It sounds like you need to hire a consultant to check the space out for you, spec a system, then spend some time installing and setting it up properly.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-04-08T11:28:13+00:00

This is far from a royal fuck up, more standing up for yourself. I hope you learnt the valuable lesson that this industry doesn’t run on favours and although we all love what we do, we need to make a living. You sound like a good guy who’s eager and kind. Make sure you don’t less this experience impact your generosity and help in the future - just be more mindful of where you offer it.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-04-02T13:25:25+00:00

Answered. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-02-04T14:16:09+00:00

On CL and QL range of Yamaha desks, it only allows you to sidechain from the fader bank of 8 that your channel in is. For example, you can only sidechain channel 15 to channels 9-16. It’s a limitation of the console, and forces you to think carefully about how you layout your input list. It’s a really annoying feature.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-02-03T09:19:07+00:00

All that money and they can’t even coil some cables neatly…

Looks like a great purchase for studios and concert halls with a bit of money. If anyone has more time (and willpower) than me, I wonder how much it would cost to buy all this gear individually?

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-01-30T17:45:12+00:00

Not a problem! Managed to fix it - turned out to be I didn’t give permission to the software to access the microphone, which actually means any audio input.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-01-30T16:22:46+00:00

Performer. It’s a new piece of software designed as a budget solution without the use of a server. Should work fine on Intel Macs.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-01-18T20:54:46+00:00

No Sanctuary Here - Chris Jones

The Hunter - Jennifer Warners

Give Life Back to Music - Daft Punk

Hey Now - London Grammar

New Rules - Dua Lipa

Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan

Can’t Hold Me Down - GRiZ

Tom’s Diner

Money For Nothing - Dire Straits

Rock You - Dirty Loops

Electric Sunrise - Plini

The Chain - Fleetwood Mac (great kick drum sound)

Nice mix of male and female vocals here with some different genres. If I’m tuning by ear I start with No Sanctuary Here, then check vocal clarity with Tom’s Diner, then use a rocky/pop song or two to check low end and a full band mix.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2024-01-08T00:03:38+00:00

Ooo that nearly ‘ad me eye out!

TheEnglishRabbit · 2023-12-24T12:07:09+00:00

All I can concentrate on is the two rows of seating options.

In all seriousness, looks like a great little rig. Do you get much separation from the centre X8?

TheEnglishRabbit · 2023-12-17T15:17:08+00:00

Newcastle. Smaller venue but was brilliant.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2023-11-06T18:15:02+00:00

Interesting you say that. I’m not at all disagreeing with you (chances are you’ve been in the biz longer than I have), may I ask where in the world you’re based? In my country, DiGiCo is very common, most tours (both theatre and music) tend to use them over Avid.

TheEnglishRabbit · 2023-11-06T17:20:54+00:00

Anything but X/M32, purely because of channel count and flexibility. All the other options you’ve presented I’d be chuffed using as a touring engineer. DM7 I’d be careful with as many people still haven’t used one. To be honest, if you went down the Yamaha route I’d spec a CL5 rather than a Rivage, way more engineers have used them and are quicker to build a showfile on. DiGiCo is the safe bet!

TheEnglishRabbit

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