Hi guys. So we currently own an Avantis, a new Qu-5D and an AR24/12 stagebox. I was wondering what the best way to configure the signal path would be from the Stagebox if one were to use the Avantis at FOH and the Qu-5D for monitors. I would assume I would need to purchase a DxHub. Then I could run the Avantis to the DxHub, and use 2 ports, one to the AR24/12 and the other to the Qu-5D for monitors. I would really appreciate any suggestions or feedback (ie rather using dante cards or any alternative solutions)
Many Thanks!
Unfortunately you can’t connect one console to other console using the DX audio protocol. (Nor can non-Dante stage box be connected to two consoles at the same time). Therefore your method of connecting these devices together will not work. Because the QU system does not have any expansion card ports like the Avantis has, there are only two possible ways to accomplish this.
In the first method, your the stage box must be connected to the Avantis using the built in SLink port. You will also need a GigaAce card installed in one of the I/O expansion slots on the Avantis. Then you will use this GigaAce card to connect to the build in SLink port on the QU-5D console. The benefit to this method is that you can send up to 128x128 channel of I/O between the consoles using the GigaAce protocol. Obviously that is more than either console can process, so this method offers more transfer capacity than you can actually use. Please note, the connections MUST be made exactly as stated. There is no flexibility in how this is all connected together.
The second method involves using Dante to transmit audio between the two consoles. This would require a Dante card to be installed in the Avantis. The QU-5D console supports Dante internally, but it is limited to just 16 Dante inputs and 16 Dante outputs. This means this method offers less transfer capacity than the consoles can use/process. If you need to send more than 16 channels of I/O either to or from the QU-5D, your only option is to use the first method I described.
I guess there is potentially a third method, but it only works if you can remove the stage box from the system. This means if you can use just the local I/O in the QU-5D (16 inputs and 12 outputs) and Avantis (12 inputs and 12 outputs) which combined is max of 28 total inputs and 24 total outputs, then you can connect the QU-5D’s SLink port directly to the Avantis’s SLink port and transfer audio between the two consoles that way. This would allow you to connect the two systems together without requiring any expansion cards to be purchased/installed in the Avantis. However this only works if you don’t need to connect a stage box to the system for additional I/O.
PS - going back to your original post - there is another fundamental flaw as to why your initial idea won’t work. The DX Hub (which uses the DX protocol running at 96khz) is incompatible with the AB/AR stage boxes. Those older boxes use the “DSnake” protocol (which runs at 48khz) and therefore a DX Hub can’t be used with those boxes. The DX Hub is designed to allow multiple DX boxes (up to 8) to be connected to a console over a GigaAce connection, but it doesn’t work with the older AB/AR boxes or the GX4816 box (which requires the full capacity of the GigaAce connection by itself)
Hey @sic0048. Thanks for your input. Yeah I realised as I posted this that the DxHub only works with the Dx protocol not the GX or the older AR/AB Boxes. But it seems like the best way is to get a GigaACE Card for the Avantis and then run the setup like that. Thank you very much
In fact, the DX hub uses the GigaACE or the S-Link protocol to connect to the consoles. But it’s still not compatible to the old stage racks.