Hello! We are currently in the process of getting outboard vocal effects on 10 of our wireless microphones. We have an SQ6 with a Dante 64x64 card, an SQ5 with a Dante 32x32 card, and a UAD Apollo x16D. After 13 hours yesterday and some trouble shooting, we have the sq taking the signal from local/SLink and sending over Dante network to the Apollo, then the Apollo sends it back to the SQ6 as a processed mic. The SQ6 then sends all the local outputs we need for our livestream (including the tuned microphones) over Dante network to the SQ5. This all works, except for now we do not have the post preamp capabilities that the SLink connection to the SQ5 had, and we can’t take the other SLink built-in port to use for the SQ5 because of the way our wiring is done, so it all has to go over Dante. is there something we’re missing or some way we could get post preamp to go to the SQ5? We need both desks to be independent. Also worth noting we do have the global direct out set to post preamp and this did not fix the issue. Thanks in advance for any advice/help!
The easiest way to send post preamp signals from the SQ6 to the SQ5 is by using tielines. I would recommend this over using the Direct Outs because this will leave the direct outs to be used another way (with the option of choosing a different “pick point” for that audio).
If you send the audio from the SQ6 to the Apollo, and then ultimately you send that audio to the SQ5, obviously you have “replaced” the preamp audio signals with the “tuned” audio signals. That’s not a routing error that can be corrected. It’s a conscious decision on your part to modify the audio signal after the preamp, but before it gets sent to the SQ5.
That being said, both “post preamp” audio and “post Apollo” FX processed audio can be sent to the SQ5 at the same time. Your could use Dante channels 1-10 to send the post preamps audio from vocal channels 1-10 via tielines (or direct outs), while at the same time using Dante channels 11-20 to send the post Apollo FX “tuned” vocals channels as well. You could even duplicate the vocal channels on the SQ5 and have both audio chains available for use. For example channels 1-10 on the SQ5 might be post preamp audio and channels 11-20 might be “tuned” vocals. However if you decide to do this, it would be best to time align the two audio chains to ensure there isn’t any phasing should someone turn up both the post preamp and turned vocals at the same time.
Hello! Thanks for your reply, we tried tie lines and that is successful however when we turn gain down on the sq6 it also affects the sq5. We want them to get separate signal like before when they were connected by SLink. Is this a possibility, and should we be sending the modified audio to the sq5 directly from the Apollo? We only want the modified vocals to the sq5 while the sq6 has to have both regular and tuned vocals.
First, if you are talking about the preamp gain, then that is correct and it’s the only way the system can function. After all, there is only one preamp (for each unique analog source) that is being shared between the two systems. Changing the preamp level on one console HAS to affect the gain level on the other console because it is the same preamp for both consoles.
It’s like using the same battery to power two different devices. If you increase or decrease the voltage on that battery, both devices will see the exact same voltage. It would be physically impossible to change the voltage on one device without affecting the other device because they share the same battery.
However each console will have a “digital trim” adjustment in the preamp section of the processing page. Digital trim changes will only affect the console on which the change is made. You will need to teach your users to dial in the correct preamp gain setting during rehearsals and then leave it alone. Once you initially set the preamp gain, any future change to the gain structure needs to happen with the digital trim adjustment. This way if/when you change the digital trim on the SQ6, it won’t affect the gain structure on the SQ5 (or vice versa).
If you are talking about changing something other than the preamp gain settings on the SQ6 and it affects the gain structure on the SQ5, then it sounds like there is a setting that isn’t correct and that needs to be changed. However, if you are really using tie lines, this normally wouldn’t occur because tie lines are sourced directly after the preamp settings and before any other gain control on the console.
As far as the question about the Apollo, I would send the audio outputs directly to each SQ console. I personally think this is cleaner and easier to understand than sending the audio to the SQ6 first, but that is just my personal opinion.
The arguement to leaving it like it is (sending the Apollo audio to the SQ6 first and then on to the SQ5) is that all the audio routing between the SQ6 and the SQ5 is the same. All audio sources on the SQ5 would come from the SQ6 and be routed the same way. For some people, this is easier to understand. It really comes down to personal preference.
That being said, by sending the audio from the Apollo to the SQ6 and then to the SQ5, the total latency time of that audio is going to be longer than audio going directly from the Apollo to the SQ5. The timing is small enough not to be audibly noticeable, but you need to be aware of the different latency times your audio paths are seeing and determine if you need to compensate for the different times or not. You generally won’t need to compensate for it unless you are wanting both “tuned” and “untuned” vocals on the same desk. Then you need to measure and compensate for the different audio path lengths/latency times.