Broadcast setup

SQ SQ General Discussions
1

I currently have a Avantis at FOH and SQ6 in broadcast. We have a Waves card installed in the Sq and are using Waves plugins via LiveProfessor. My problem is the 48 channel count limitation. I would like to know what everyone else is doing with this setup to increase channel count. I was thinking about mixing using Fairlight live, but it has bugs and can only do 48k and not 96 (booo). I would just like to know your thoughts on my options.

2

You have three options IMHO.

  1. Swap the SQ6 broadcast console out for something with a higher channel count. Perhaps an Avantis Solo for example. Obviously this is the most expensive option (by a long shot).

  2. Use a dedicated “pre-fader” stereo Aux (or Matrix) mix from the existing Avantis for your broadcast mix. You could still use a dedicated broadcast audio engineer to mix the broadcast audio. To do this, you could either use the Avantis Director software (with some optional A&H IP8s for physical faders if needed) or use up a Mixing Station setup (again with some optional motorized Midi fader controllers like the Waves Fit Controller if needed). You’ll likely want a dedicated computer with a decent touchscreen for the broadcast engineer to use, and if you want physical faders there will be some cost in purchasing those devices, etc. But this option is far cheaper than purchasing a new console. The biggest downside to this solution is that you’ll need to use 2 busses on the Avantis for the broadcast stereo aux/matrix, so you must have enough “spare” busses available to do this.

  3. Switch to a software/DAW based mixing solution. Fairlight Live is just one possible solution. If it doesn’t meet your expectation, there are plenty of other options. Something like Reaper is very stable and would work great. The appropriate license is only $60, so while it is not free, the cost is very reasonable. You can even use motorized Midi fader controllers if you want physical faders with most software options too. You could feed up to 128 channels into the software using the Waves I/O card. That being said, the only real advantage here IMHO is that it wouldn’t use any of the available busses in the console.

Personally I would choose option #2. In fact, it is what my church does. But most of my bias towards that solution is based on my personal experience in live sound. If your broadcast engineer was coming from more of a studio background instead of a “live sound” background, they would probably prefer to use the “DAW option” (#3) instead of option #2. Long story short, all of these options are legitimate options that can work great. You’ll need to choose the one that works best for your situation and budget.

3

Perhaps another very simple thought:

Have you ever considered swapping the two consoles?
It seems that the broadcast could might be a much higher priority for you, and perhaps a simple swap - without significant additional cost - would allow you to address that.