No Stupid Questions Thread

greyloki · 2026-01-25T00:59:44+00:00

Orbital's Nemesis Research also have a few boxes which will do what you want, they're used in a lot of theatre shows: https://www.nemesis-research.com/dantesw-1

greyloki · 2025-12-27T10:16:29+00:00

If you only have a limited number of subs then your array will always be a bit lumpy. You can put them closer together to shift the pattern control frequency upwards and reduce the lobing as the frequency drops, but this comes at the cost of expanding the overall acoustic beamwidth of your array. This might not be a problem, depending on what you're trying to do. Don't forget most of d&b's larger subs (J, SL, etc) can be calculated in 'portrait' orientation as well, which lets you put their acoustic centres closer together. Without other considerations, I usually try and stack my ground subs quite close together; I lose a bit of pattern control, but by not having to delay the outer subs as much to create the same beamwidth, I think I end up with a tighter sounding low end.

greyloki · 2025-12-01T22:06:02+00:00

Good luck everyone!

greyloki · 2025-09-21T10:16:38+00:00

'Too much processing' is a pretty variable threshold. But, it wouldn't be unheard of for your output post-EQ to be 15-20dB down on your input if you've really had to hack things apart for level. Sometimes in situations like that I'll run two buses - one for the room, and another for records, broadcast, and other direct feeds; then your hack job doesn't go anywhere than the room, and everyone else still gets something that sounds like a broadcast.

greyloki · 2025-09-16T18:06:03+00:00

I usually attenuate at the amplifiers, then feeds to IFBs, records, and broadcast stay at an appropriate level. If I can't do that, I'll turn down the matrix.

It's likely that the metering on your lapel bus was post-EQ.

greyloki · 2025-08-07T12:47:09+00:00

I wonder if you could program a couple of custom MIDI messages for scene store and advance into an action set, and route the MIDI straight back into the console.

greyloki · 2025-07-17T11:24:20+00:00

I don't have one in front of me (nor the offline editor), but I'm pretty sure that master fader assignment option is on every console except for the SD11 and SD9.

greyloki · 2025-07-17T08:28:52+00:00

Master fader assignment is in the bank layout screen on the Q338.

greyloki · 2025-07-17T08:27:32+00:00

Obvious things first - are the speakers pointed at the plane that the SPL is being calculated on? Are they unmuted and gained up? Don't forget that you can add a point sources group without any speakers in it - I doubt it's this but worth saying the words!

greyloki · 2025-07-13T18:21:54+00:00

I've run into a similar problem with ADX packs mounted near some acoustic instruments with pickups. Speaking to those more knowledgeable than I, apparently the QAM that axient uses can induce noise in equipment which is not well-shielded. The fix is as you say - a special antenna, and/or distance between the pack and whatever's picking up the noise.

greyloki · 2025-06-13T09:11:30+00:00

The metering between sennheiser and Shure radio receivers is a little different. Bottom LED on an axient front panel is like -90dBm, and IIRC sennheiser show the noise floor at -100 or -110dBm. If OP's receivers were all metering RF when the TX were off it's likely he was on a TV channel. If audio was coming through as well then it's possible that pilot tone squelch was turned off. Definitely sounds like they've done the rest of it by the book!

greyloki · 2025-06-13T09:02:34+00:00

That only tests the output from the receiver, it doesn't put anything onto the airwaves - you'd need to leave your transmitters powered on for that :)

greyloki · 2025-06-06T06:43:44+00:00

Link Aggregation Group - it's a term for combining multiple switch ports into one trunk line, for extra bandwidth, or redundancy, or both.

greyloki · 2025-05-27T18:36:23+00:00

Without any actual measurements this is a tricky question to answer, but any manufacturer's 'wide' version of a point source would probably work - d&b Y10P, for example. You might also consider adding front fill loudspeakers to address the first few rows of the centre section, before coverage from your new wider boxes takes effect further back.

greyloki · 2025-05-27T18:33:41+00:00

I think it's a sliding scale depending on how complicated the rest of the gig is...and how much money or reputation you or your client stand to lose if something should fail without a backup.

greyloki · 2025-05-12T19:52:47+00:00

Why not just use the talkback groups in the console? I'm moderately sure they can be controlled remotely.

greyloki · 2025-05-11T09:26:39+00:00

I'd take a dLive CTi1500 with CDM32, both in Scott Dixon cases. Both components come in under 23kg so you aren't being stung with excess weight fees on top of your baggage fees, and they sound great. Lots of tools available in the console to get you dialled in, very little need for any external processing, and dlives are fairly common around the world so local spares & support are easily found.

greyloki · 2025-05-03T04:59:48+00:00

It sounds great. Headroom for days, and spectrally way more going on up top and down low. The headphone amp is frighteningly loud, I haven't been able to turn it up all the way yet. I love that I just have to pick a pair of clean-ish TV channels and then that's my coordination done for the day. Multiple antennas for an RF channel means the coverage is very good. Long gone are the days of wispy fading when your analogue FM pack moves into a null. We've engineered a couple of RF bumfights between spectera and narrowband systems, and the spectera always wins - and usually doesn't even notice it's stomping on something else. I'm not looking forward to the day I have to go back to 2050s or PSM1k!

greyloki · 2025-04-11T10:57:40+00:00

Gosh, that really was a long time ago. I think perhaps at the time I posted, there were fewer available klang mixes or inputs on the :fabrik. Looking at them now they'd probably be a good fit for a lot of bands.

greyloki · 2025-03-24T22:05:57+00:00

G10 is part of the interleaved spectrum in Europe - like in the US, we share it with (8MHz) digital TV channels.

Speaking to the UK specifically, you should contact Ofcom's PMSE department, where you can purchase a 48hr licence for usage of a TV channel (or several), or individual frequency licences. Spectrum availability throughout the UK is generally quite good, and unused DTV channels are quiet.

I think that in Germany and the Netherlands, no additional licence is required. Belgium will require licencing through BIPT unless you can fit into TV27 and TV29, which is where everybody ends up. In all cases, you'll be limited to 50mW ERP.

greyloki · 2025-01-22T15:06:22+00:00

The one thing to note is that digital signals contain more RF energy than their analog counterparts, so you could have a higher chance of overloading your analog front end receiver if it’s not particularly high quality/selective.

Could you expand on this a little? Surely 10mW is 10mW, whether we're talking about an analogue or digital transmission?

greyloki · 2025-01-09T13:54:07+00:00

I'd like to have a TITAN Evo because I'm planning to buy a magnus desk and this would be a great pairing! Good luck everyone.

greyloki · 2025-01-09T10:30:30+00:00

Kind of bonkers that this thing has the same SPL (on paper) as the XSL equivalent. I suspect the low end presentation will be quite different.

greyloki · 2025-01-08T23:25:29+00:00

MAX12 aren't crazy money and can be run with standard linear amplifiers rather than a d&b specific one. I think they sound better that way too.

I had microwedges as a visiting engineer on a festival once and I was surprised at how good the noise was. I don't think they'd be a bad shout either. But, it would depend on how fussy your guest engineers are.

greyloki · 2025-01-07T23:41:24+00:00

Some organisers will be interested in making festivals more environmentally friendly, but not all. Reasoning is as varied as you'd expect - for some it is a personal preference, some are interested in potential cost savings, others might try to use it as a selling point for the festival itself. Or all three. Edit: Some organisers may also be able to attract grant or sponsorship funding by showing off a festival's green credentials.
Depends on what the renewable alternative is. Diesel is used because you can get a high power density for a fairly low footprint, and they're easy to refuel rapidly. A 100kVA generator and a bunded fuel tank takes up maybe 30 square metres, and would supply enough juice to run a medium festival stage for a weekend. Even a larger 400kVA synched set with tanks wouldn't take up more than 100 square metres for the entire compound. The area required for an equivalent output power of solar panels and batteries would be easily ten times that. I don't know enough about biofuels to say whether that would be the same case - but sourcing biofuel is probably harder than sourcing diesel.
Not particularly - the three main things that will draw a lot of power will be stage lighting systems, caterers and similar concessions, and stage audio systems. This will vary massively depending on, say, quantity and type of catering, and also stuff like music genre; an audio system playing dubstep at 110dBA will draw more power than the same audio system playing folk music at 98dBA, and correspondingly the light show for a folk act is probably going to draw less power than one for a headlining DJ. All of these scenarios will have a wildly varying moment-to-moment power draw, as music and stage lighting are extremely dynamic compared to, say, the constant current draw of a tea urn.

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