Ballard FOH Console and Snake Project

February 6, 2009

Recently we installed a new Soundcraft Vi6 Digital soundboard into the Ballard Campus. The Campus had a Midas XL4 at Front of House (FOH) which was given to Mars Hill a number of years ago by Full Sail Audio School. When we first received the console we put much work into refurbishing it, and it was now getting to the point where we were needing to put some more money into fixing it again. Much like the process of a car, we have decided it was time to move away from the Midas XL4, as it was just meeting our current needs, and we did not see it meeting our needs in 5, much less 10 years. Like wise our current snake system barely met our current needs and needed a lot of attention. Below are links to our findings.

Having made our decision to purchase a new soundboard we debated the differences between analog and digital sound boards. We decided a digital sound board made the most sense for this particular application. (A future post will be made giving considerations to the great debate between analog and digital sound boards.)

Having made this decision we then looked at the snake system in the building. It was a weird setup: A snake head/patch panel routed into 48 channels of pre-amps. The Main output of the pre-amp went to FOH, while the single Aux output was passively split to Monitors, ProTools and our Production Suite. Driving all of our equipment at line level made for some interesting gain structure at the mic inputs on the sound boards. It worked, kinda. With this system in place there was much discussion about ways to expand on what we do, some of which required additional split outs. None of these could be done on the old snake system. We decided we needed a digital snake, because of the “unlimited” split outs that would be possible, giving us the most cost effective solution for the facility. Further we decided the digital snake pre-amps needed to be controlled by at least one of the digital sound boards, and saved within the scenes of the sound board, enabling full recall of the system preset.

What are our needs with the new system wee are going to purchase?

We evaluated each sound board/system based on the needs which we are going to use the technology. Some of the key items we were looking at where, in particular order: Audio Quality; Ease of use; Digital Snake Integration; Price; and reliability of platform. Below are some PDF documents detailing some of this out.

Mars Hill Church | Ballard FOH Console and Snake Needs

Mars Hill Church | Ballard MADI Snake Needs

What Digital Sound Boards Are out There?

We looked at many of the digital sound boards out there. We started with the Yamaha series: M7CL’s we have at every location so training would be easy, but it did not fit our “future seen” needs. The Yamaha PM5D looked promising, but the digital snake to go with put it to be an expensive option, and it only meets our current input needs. A number were just to small: Yamaha LS9, Roland V-Mixer, and the Mackie TT24. The Digico Sound boards and Yamaha PM1D are a little out of the price range, and one was just way to expensive, the Midas XL8. That left only a few digital consoles to look at: DigiDesign Venue/Profile; Allen & Heath ILive; Soundcraft SI3; Soundcraft Vi6/Vi4.

The below are our reviews of each console system and are not in any particular order.

DigiDesign Venue and Profile

DigiDesign currently has two systems out there, of which they expand on to create “other” systems. There are two control surfaces the “Venue” and the “Profile” each of which connect to a local rack and to a stage rack. The stage rack and local rack are the same for each control surface. There is a digital snake which connects the stage rack to the local rack, and a digital control cable which connects the control surface to the local rack.

The DigiDesign products were nice and had a wonderful sound to them. The idea of being able to take ProTools plugin’s and use them in the live performance was also a very attractive feature. However after much discussion, we decided that the main advantage to the plugin’s was to recreate a “sound as heard on the CD.” We decided that the average listener would not be able to discern the difference between using and not using the exact same compressor or effect, live and recorded (Web MP3 or CD). Therefor, this was not a must have feature for us.

Also, the DigiDesign systems, when combined with a ProTools HD system offer a “sound check” feature. This feature allows for the playback of previously recorded sets, through the sound board. The Rep. that was giving the demo was really pushing this feature as a “good way to check your mix” and “a valuable tool for training.” After looking into this functionality some more, we discovered a couple of things:

The playback does not recreate stage volume, so the mix playback is not 100% accurate (expected);
The ProTools system and the Venue or Profile do not actually talk to each other. In other words, any EQ, dynamics, or fader movements made during the live mix, are not tracked in ProTools, or elsewhere. So when it comes time for playback, you do not get these adjustments, meaning that the “mix checking” feature of the sound check is only really valid for the last 20 seconds or so of the mix.
The ProTools playback feature only works as a set of inputs to the “live system” (Profile or Venue)

In the end we decided that since we are installing a digital snake, we could recreate this exact same feature with any console (and probably for not much more in costs).

After walking through a demo with both the Profile and Venue systems, we found that those of us that had a good grasp of ProTools had a better understanding of the systems then the rest of us that didn’t use ProTools as regularly. Also, in looking at the layout of the consoles discovered a couple on ergonomic things we did not like.

Neither system (Profile or Venue) has a screen built into it. So if you want to use a screen, it is not a touch screen and you have to supply it separately. This also means that the icons on the screen are stretched/crunched/pixelated if your screen does not meet their specifications. we had to play a lot with screen placement and never found a location for the external screen that “felt” comfortable when reaching for controls and was out of site lines for the seats behind mix position.
On the Venue, when reaching for an Aux send knob, we regularly were grabbing an EQ or Dynamics control. The knobs/encoders are right next to each other with little to distinguish between the knobs, especially in low light.
There were a lot of flashing lights on both consoles, which distracted us from mixing
In general the controls where laid out in odd places, with the main feedback of the controls being the screen. There is some feedback around the encoders, but it is limited. We felt neither console was laid out well, but preferred the Profile layout over the Venue’s.
Combining the plugins and the consoles we found it to be difficult to use after a quick demo. An important downside, since we train volunteers to run our equipment.

The DigiDesign Profile and Venue use the same stage box/local rack/snake system. With further research, it was discovered the snake system is some proprietary snake that only works with their stage box, local rack, and ProTools interfaces. To take this and integrate it as a digital snake backbone for the entire building, interfacing with existing equipment, was very difficult and would mean replacing every console in the building. Not practical. This issue is an interesting thought because DigiDesign claims (via the Rep.) to “want to be the solution for all your needs and not limit you on how you do what you want to do.”

With looking at all the plus and downsides to the Profile and Venue Systems, these systems where not a good match for us and our needs.

Allen & Heath ILive

The Allen & Heath ILive system consists of a stage rack and the control surface. The Control Surface has some local I/O on it an acts as the local rack found in other similar systems. There is a digital snake which connects the stage rack to the control surface. The system is a 64 mono input, and 32 mono output system.

We went to a demo of the ILive and quickly where not impressed.

The things we liked:

Used a Ethersound digital snake – allows for the expansion of the snake
Local rack connectivity is on the console and not a separate rack
Ability to use the ILive as a stand alone mixer with no Stage rack (limited to 24 channels)
LED’s changed color based on mode of the channel
We also liked Allen & Heath’s reputation with their analog boards

The things we didn’t like

One very small non-touch screen
Encoder feedback LED’s are removed from the encoder, and sometimes hard to read
The “Input Strip” encoders are laid out sideways
The LED status screen on each channel was hard to read
The console has 32 mix busses which can be configured as either Auxes, groups, or Matrices. When changing the configuration of a mix bus from one state to another, the console needs to be rebooted, a process which takes a full 3 minutes. Same when changing effects.
LED’s changed color based on mode of the channel, they used colors which a color blind person will have a very hard time with.
A “tall” console – we where concerned about site lines from seats behind mix position.

After going through the demo and asking many questions we decided that the ILive was not a good match for what we are trying to do. After deciding to walk away from the console, our Vender that arranged for the demo, told us that the ILive was put together in response to someone asking Allen & Heath why they didn’t have a digital console yet. This answered for us a lot of questions as to why a console would have the work flow that this one had and why it felt the way it did.

Soundcraft SI3

The Soundcraft SI3 is a stand alone system, much like a traditional analogue sound board. With this type of system it would require a traditional analog snake coming to the sound board location. The console has 64 mono inputs and 64 inputs, 4 stereo inputs, 24 bus outputs, 8 matrix outputs, 12 VCAs, and 8 mute groups.

We did not spend much time on this console, mostly because of the ergonomics of the console layout. Another reason we moved is because the console at the time was only on firmware version 0.9. I try to avoid buying items that are on firmware version less then 2.0, unless they’ve been on the market for long periods of time. As of the time of writing this they are only on version 1.2.

The ergonomics of the console are weird. With out a central screen of any type, it relies on a single encoder knob and small OLED screen above each input channel fader. The down side is that the encoder OLED’s are always red, the function of which is defined by the OLED screen under the fader. To make a channel Headamp change you have to define the encoder to control the head amps, then make you adjustment. To change EQ, select the channel to EQ, Select the encoders to the EQ function, which turns all of the encoders into a diferent portion of the EQ, for a specific channel.

After a brief look at this console we decided it was not what we were looking for, and that it would be hard to train people on.

Soundcraft VI6/Vi4

Soundcraft currently has two control surfaces the “Soundcraft Vi6” and the “Soundcraft Vi4” in the Vi Series, each of which connect to a local rack and to a stage rack. The stage rack and local rack are essentially the same for each control surface. There is a digital snake which connects the stage rack to the local rack, and a digital control cable which connects the control surface to the local rack. The only differences between the two are the I/O count and an extra bank of faders on the Vi6. The Vi4 has 48 mic inputs and 24 mix buses, while the Vi6 has 64 mic inputs and 32 mix buses.

The ergonomics (work flow) of the system/console is very easy and intuitive. On the Vi6 there are 4 banks of inputs, each with 8 input channels, and on output bank. Each bank has a touch screen, which allows you to select the section of which channel you wish to work on. Selecting a section changes the bottom half of the screen to display what you’ve selected. The bottom half of the screen has 16 encoders on it. The background behind the encoders changes as the value of the encoder changes and the function of the encoder changes. The entire console is set up so each function is a different color, and the changes are quick and real time as well. Our color blind people can even mix on this desk. Walking an input through from the stage box to output is pretty intuitive and easy. The hardest part of the console is setting up the effects (patching wise), which only requires another couple of seconds of thought to do.

The layout very easy and every basic training session so far has taken 15-30 minutes for the console. An in depth training on the console and digital snake system takes about 90 minutes. Ease of use for the console was a very important function for us, as we have many volunteers that use the console. I asked one of the guys that uses the Vi6 regularly for his thoughts and this is what he said:

“A quick thought on what I like is that everything I need to get at while mixing is 1, or 2 at most, touches away. The only dislike that I have is about the mute groups. If channels are assigned to a mute group and are “off” and the mute group is “on,” there is no way to turn those channels “on” and have them stay muted under the mute group. They actually turn on.”

The audio quality of the Vi series is wonderful. Soundcraft and Studer partnered up and based the Vi Series on the Studer Vista series of consoles. This partnership is highly encouraging, given Studer’s performance, abilities, and sonic qualities. (Studer make broadcast and recording consoles.) After installing the system we had numerous comments on how clear the sound system was now, even from people I wouldn’t expect to notice the difference. Even the bands noticed the difference, and they were only listening to the new pre-amps that are in the stage box. (Split off that into an existing Yamaha M7CL.) As a side note the Front of House Engineer for Metallica told me he would buy a Soundcraft Vi6 if he were to purchase a digital sound board with his own money.

The Soundcraft Vi6 was an easy to use system, which allowed us to integrate with other equipment. The digital snake is a MADI snake which is an international standard. The MADI snake allows us to easily integrate the snake of the console with other equipment and sound boards. Our Digital snake now has the ablity to reach any portion of the building with an infinite number of split out outs.

Images are taken from each companies respective websites.

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FCC Selling Frequency Space

February 4, 2009

Not too long ago the FCC sold off what is known as the 700MHz band to the highest bidder. Technically this bandwidth is from 698MHz to 806MHz. This will take effect on February 18 of 2009, along with the digital Television (DTV) transition. Update: on February 5, 2009 congress passed an amendment to this pushing the DTV transition deadline back to June 12, 2009. The FCC has ruled that wireless microphones may continue to use all presently unoccupied TV channels until the end of the DTV transition.

Who bought the space and how are they planning on using it?

Commercial companies like Google, Microsoft and Dell, along with wireless cell phone carriers have purchased portions of the frequency spectrum. These companies are primarily planning on using the space (700MHz Band) for wireless internet services. The 700MHz band also has had large portions of it designated to Emergency Services (Police, Fire, Medical) and Homeland Security.

So what is white space?

A white space is the space between the broadcasting frequencies of TV stations. In other words the FCC had granted analogue TV stations a range of frequencies to operate in. After doing so, they discovered that Analogue TV stations can not operate next to each other (which is why we (in the Seattle, WA area) have channels 5, 7, 9, 11 but no 6, 8, and 10). The white spaces are these unused TV channels (6, 8, 10 etc.)

With the changes from analogue to digital broadcasting this will also free up frequencies in the 500MHz to 700MHz ranges as well. Digital Television has several advantages: up to six stations can broadcast in the same frequency spectrum that one analogue station can broadcast in; and DTV stations can broadcast on consecutive frequency ranges, unlike analogue TV stations; DTV Stations can be more tightly packed on the RF frequency spectrum then Analogue TV Stations.

What are white space devices?

A device intended to use the available TV channels is a white-space device (WSD) and are also now called TV Band Devices (TVBDs). (Wireless microphone systems are technically a white space device, but are not the subject of the current FCC ruling about TVBD’s (Nov. 4, 2009).) These TVBD’s are designed to detect the presence of existing signals, such as TV stations and other wireless users, and to then avoid the use of these channels. Early ideas proposed including GPS receivers and programming each WSD with a database of all TV stations in an area, however this would not have avoided other non-stationary or unlicensed users in the area, or any stations licensed or altered after the device was made. In a report released by the FCC on October 15, 2008 noted that these devices had met the burden of “proof of concept” in their ability to detect and avoid legacy transmissions (TV stations, wireless mics, etc.), although none of the tested devices adequately detected wireless microphone signals in the presence of a digital TV transmitter on an adjacent channel. In November of 2008 the FCC mandated Devices must both consult an FCC-mandated database to determine which channels are available for use at a given location, and must also monitor the spectrum locally once every minute to confirm that no legacy wireless microphones, video assist devices or other emitters are present. If a single transmission is detected, the device may not transmit anywhere within the entire 6 MHz channel in which the transmission was received.

A TV Band Device (TVBD) could be a cell phone, laptop computer, or fixed point to point machinery for delivering wireless internet to homes or businesses. In November of 2008 the FCC gave conditional support to companies to start manufacturing white space devices. According to the FCC Nov. 4, 2008 ruling TVBD’s can not be sold prior to the DTV transition date. So this whole process just may repeat in those frequency ranges as well.

The above information was partially sourced from Wikipedia, and from the FCC Nov. 4 2008 ruling.

Rules for TV Band Devices (TVBD’s):

Fixed units (for home or business install use) are allowed to operate with effective radiating power up to 4W on channels 2-51 (54MHz – 88MHz and 174MHz – 216MHz and 470MHz – 698MHz), with the exceptions of channels 3, 4, and 37.
Personal/Portable units (cell phones, laptops, etc.) are restricted to channels 21–51, and are also not allowed in channel 37 (reserved channel for radio astronomy and medical telemetry). They are limited to 100mW operating power or 40 mW if operating in a channel adjacent to an active TV station. This moderate power will reduce their range and therefore the possibility to cause interference.
Portable white space devices could include mobile phones and wireless laptop computers that are carried or worn by the user, while fixed devices could deliver wireless broadband internet service to homes and businesses.
Licensed operation of wireless mics takes precedence over TVBD. TVBD must coordinate around active licensed wireless mic systems.
TVBDs must include the ability to listen to the airwaves to sense wireless microphones (in addition to TV stations)
TVBDs must use location sensing in conjunction with a database of registered broadcast license assignments. The database will also include a list of protected areas for wireless microphones such as entertainment venues and sporting events. TVBDs must first access the database to obtain a list of permitted channels in the area before operating. A TVBD that lacks this capability can operate only under the direct control of a TVBD that has it.
TVBD’s must access the database at least once a day, and every time it changes location.
If the TVBD is within one Kilometer of a known wireless microphone it must change TV channels (the full 6 MHz), or stop transmitting.
In 13 major markets two channels between 21 and 51 will be reserved and available for wireless microphones. These will be the first open (non-TV) channels above and below channel 37. (Those 13 markets include Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Huston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco/Oakland, and Washington D.C.)

How does this effect us (wireless microphone users)?

Many wireless microphones operate in this frequency space (the in and below the 700MHz band). As of the moment many of the microphones used in churches across the country operate in these frequencies and may run into problems. The exact ruling on how this is going to work, still has not been rolled out by the FCC. On Nov. 4 2008 the FCC voted to allow companies to manufacture devices that will operate in the same frequency spectrum as our microphones. The FCC is wanting the devices to have geolocation services in them, so that they do not operate on known used frequencies in the area of the device. This means that all area devices (wireless microphones) will need to be registered with the FCC.

The November 14, 2008 FCC ruling (a 130 page document) does not address the issue of wireless microphone operations in the 700 MHz band. The FCC had proposed earlier that wireless microphone operations in the 700 MHz band should cease in February 2009, but a final transition date has not been announced.
Wireless microphones and personal monitors may continue to operate in the UHF television band between TV channels 14-51 (470-698 MHz), and in the VHF television band between TV channels 7-13 (174-216 MHz).
Even though wireless microphones would retain their licensed, secondary use status (secondary only to digital television), the white spaces proposal creates a potential for interference to wireless microphones from unlicensed devices.
Until the DTV transition date public safety agencies will begin to use TV channels 63 – 64 (764 – 776 MHz) and 68 – 69 (794 – 806 MHz) for two-way radio communications. As these frequencies gradually become busier, wireless microphones operating on these TV channels may encounter occasional interference.
After the DTV transition date, TV channels 60 – 62 (746 – 764 MHz) and 65 – 67 (776 – 794 MHz) will be opened up for use by new commercial wireless services.

Wireless microphones may continue to operate on all of these frequencies, just as they do now. However, wireless microphones that operate on frequencies above 698 MHz should not be used after DTV transition date of February 19, 2009 (Now June 12, 2009). That said, I have yet to find any rulings by the FCC saying this is an illegal frequency band to be in. With the 700MHz band now being largely given to Emergency Services and Homeland Security, these frequencies will most likely be mobile radios. Meaning that a frequency that works right now, just may be overridden with radio chatter when you need it most, as a cop drives by.

Users who experience interference from DTV will notice some of the following symptom’s: increased dropouts, decreased operating range, and undesired noises. System’s which are indoors and have line of sight between transmitter and the antenna will experience better performance.

To see what DTV stations and Analog stations are operation in your area check out Shure’s Frequency finder Website. Type in your city and state and search – Note: you do not need to select a “Wireless Series.” Clicking the channel number will revel the frequencies of that TV channel. Or you can check out the FCC page.

Check out this FCC Proposal saying Wireless Microphone users need to vacate the 700MHz band. As of this time I am unaware of any ruling that brings this into law. Therefore, wireless microphones can still be operated in the 700MHz band

How does one get on the FCC Database?

As of Nov. 2008 the FCC is still looking for someone to create and manage this database. So since there isn’t a database yet, no one can get on it.

What are the two TV Channels set aside for my area?

That still needs to be figured out, and note that the 2 TV channels are not set aside for every market/city, just 13 major markets/city’s.

What Does the Future Hold?

While the current debate rotates around the 700MHz band (TV channels 52-69), the debate will surely move to the 50MHz to 700MHz ranges (TV channels 2-51). So get ready for round 2 sometime in the future, probably right after the dust settles.
Google is planning on a release date of 2010 for their first full scale TVBD, based on an interview with Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington Telecom and Media Counsel on January 29, 2009.
White space devices are allowed to go on sale on February 18, 2009, but in reality, it will probably be much later – at least a year. Before new devices can be marketed, they will have to pass FCC certification tests, the results of which will be open for public review and comment. Based on this scenario, we do not expect devices to go on sale until the end of 2009.
In short no one seams to know. The wireless microphone industry has stopped manufacturing wireless systems in the 700MHz band, but there isn’t actually a must stop using those currently owned units date set forth by the FCC. Chances are, units that are currently owned can continued to be used, however expect to need to replace them soon – probably within a year or two.

Resources:

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Ballard FOH Console and Snake Project