Sound Reinforcement question

[bigjunglejim]

I believe the future of mixing for live sound will be: The mixer will be on stage. A wire or fiber optic cable will run to the sound man in the audience. The sound man will do the mixing on a lap top (Stan Miller did that already for a Neil Diamond Show in Texas) or a control board will be used and a wire will connect it to a slave unit. A little further in the future, communication between the sound man's controller (laptop or board) and the stage will be buy lazar or radio signal. A traditional "SNAKE" will not be used. As I'd like to avoid buying a 200 - 300 foot 50 pair snake, what can be used at this stage of the game and still be economical? Stan has a very large budget for doing sound. Me, I have very shallow pockets. What would you suggest?

One more question. I've seen a sound reinforcement users board similar to the Altec User's Board. Can anyone here provide a link to it?

[donaldpatten]

Try;
http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/f/2/0/
Don

[bigjunglejim]

donaldpatten
Thanks.... I checked out the link... It will be my new home away from home (The Altec User's Board).

[bowtie427ss]

JJJim, So long as you're running low level analog signals over any distance i don't think there's much avoiding the multipair snake type cable. The reason it's still the standard is it's combination of performance and reliability.

Hopefully big sound companies will never resort to laptops, strictly because of their lack of reliability. PC's, especially those running windows OS are just too unreliable for this application. A Unix/Linux based server would be the way to fly.

My fantasy for some time has been a system that uses a very large interface that would be located somewhere backstage. That unit would replace the mains and monitor consoles and it would also serve as an I/O port for all outboard effects and processing which would also remain backstage.

Consider that the TOTL power amps are already being produced with full onboard monitoring/processing and diagnostics all controlled/connected via a CAT5 cable, we can't be too far away from the technology for those same amps to receive their signal digitally via the same Cat5 line.

Out at the FOH control booth we'd have a powerful server that would support 3 or 4 control terminals so that the monitor mixer, front of house mixer, and the cue/prompt director can all operate from a common location.

A single Cat5 run would be the only line running to the back stage interface. Microwave radio frequency could even be used to eliminate the Cat5 hardline.

Imagine an entire FOH booth rig for the largest of PA's that all packs into one medium flight case!

Am i dreaming or what????

[Old Guy]

I sincerely doubt the mixer will ever be onstage.

It's just as easy to digitize evreything on stage, multiple didgital signals can run down one wire. thjis already exists, the only drawback is the preamp levels, adjusting them is a pain.

The mixer industry is not going to switch to laptops. These guys build hardware not software. the dedicated mixer will dominate for at least the next 20 years. Supplemented by laptops, but not replaced by them.

Finally, wireless- the government is already cutting down on frequencies available. I don't think we'll see wireless without some really new technology.

My nickel, adjusted upeward from 2 cents due to inflation.

[LICORNE]

The technology is alredy there. Those who can afford it. It's Ethernet with optical cable.

3 way 48 channel splitter for

3 mixers one FOH, Stage, Broadcast Recording called floater.

You need a small lap top for each with XP.

You can opt for LAZER instead of optic .

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[Old Guy]

Originally posted by CONVERGENCE:
The technology is alredy there. Those who can afford it.
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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It's not a matter of who can afford it. Many who can afford it reject it.

Mixer boards still do 9999 out of 10,000 concerts. or better.

[LICORNE]

OLD GUY

It's not a matter of who can afford it. Many who can afford it reject it.
Mixer boards still do 9999 out of 10,000 concerts. or better.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Who said not using mixer board. I never said that.

Simple Ethernet switches act as snake splits and allow a laptop at any location to act as a remote control, running E Snake Control software for all patching. A good point here is that as long as a computer runs Windows XP, it should run E Snake Control software.
The beauty of having the LAPTOP right next to the mixing console is that all gain and phantom power functions, as well as digital patching, can be instantly stored or recalled as desired from the FOH or Monitor positions

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[Old Guy]

Ah now I get it. No problem.

the original post was about replacing the mixer with a laptop- i thought you were addressing that.

I don't think mixers are going away any time soon.

[bigjunglejim]

The folks who make Pro Tools came up with something along the lines of what I'm after. A controler used by the sound man and a slave unit back stage to do all the work. No traditional snake is used.
The Digidesign "VENUE" is a step in the right direction. Check out the following link for the VENUE concept; http://www.digidesign.com/index.cfm?...n=news_details

I think for those who like operating a conventional board, a controler could be made with all the knobs and buttons of a conventional board instead of having to switch funtions.