X32 Discussion

[Kevin Maxwell]

re: X32 Discussion

DSP and memory are two separate items. But, they are related.

DSP (Digital Signal Processing) requires processing time.

Memory is finite, too. However, it can be allocated differently.

Maybe Behringer figured out a way to store more data, in the same amount of space.

As an aside, it used to be, programmers were very good at designing efficient software, because hardware was so limiting. (Both in memory and processing.) It’s still limiting, but not like it was 30+ years ago. Quite frankly, a lot of programmers today don’t have the same skills as those in retirement now, because those skills aren’t as critical. (That’s why we have so many Windows applications that leak memory. Quite frankly, it’s just poor programming.) I digress.

In any event, I believe we're only talking about Scenes within a Show. Worse case, there might be points in the production where maybe you could load another Show.

Eric H.

I am very well aware of code bloat. It has annoyed me for many years. I am one of the older sound people here. And I have worked with electronics before there were Personal Computers. I had to load up a mainframe test computer off of punched paper tape once when someone turned off a breaker that they weren’t supposed to touch. This was testing components for a XXXXXXX, I could tell you about it but then I would have to …. Well you know how the rest of that goes. And yes I have also been trained to do that. I also used to troubleshoot Microprocessor based systems in hexadecimal. Ever heard of a Yuccalizer?

I use the generic term DSP to refer to the overall system. I didn’t think I needed to be any more specific then that.

They didn’t expand anything. To make it look like there are 100 more scenes it is just storing it on the computer you would have hooked up to it using Xcontrol. It might be a quicker way to get to another 100 scenes bit it is a clumsy way of doing it as far as I am concerned. I am stubborn and I don’t want to put the show at risk by having to have a working computer hooked up to the console just to get it to work. Striking it every night and getting it back again every day. I also don’t want to load up another set of scenes at any time during a show, even at intermission. I am asking a lot for a board in this price range and all anyone has to say is it can’t do it and we never planned on it doing all of that and then we are done here.

Look into their file structure and in particular look at all of the files it takes to store the scenes, one file per scene. But also look at the file that stores all of the console state data with an ascii editor. If you need me to tell you where it is I will do that in a PM, someone can really mess up the console badly if they were to play with that one. But it might give a clue as to what might be able to be done in the future with the X32.

I hope this clears up a few things.

 

[Kevin Maxwell]

re: X32 Discussion

I believe it doesn't save any changes you make (correct me if I am wrong). The only way you can save changes is if you either save it as a new scene or save it on top of a different scene (therefore overwriting it). When you press the "Go" button all it does it loads up the settings from the next scene, it doesn't save the changes from whatever scene you were on before.

But....it does save changes to an extent. If you load up a scene, then make changes to it, the boards saves your changes in memory I believe every 2 minutes (from what another user on this forum mentioned) so that if the console is turned off it remembers where you left off when you go to turn it back on again.

Hopefully this answers your question.

I am getting a bit frustrated and maybe it is because I am not a writer. I know what I am trying to say, it just seem like people are having a hard time understanding how I am saying it.

I have been trying to write about this short and to the point but I don’t seem to be getting my point across. So here goes the long version.

The standard way that I want a digital console to work with scenes is when I hit the go button it recalls the next scene. I don’t want to hit another button or turn a knob and then hit go. The X32 can be set to act that way in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next’. That is good.

But the way that it is doing that is to have the next scene pre-cued and if you try to over write the scene that is active on the surface you wind-up saving over the next scene instead. This is bad from my point of view. Why would you want to make changes to the scene you are in but save it to the next scene?

After my show is initially written it is not the final version it is very preliminary and many changes will have to be made as we run the few rehearsals I get to do with sound. It is very fast paced. I only get to stop the rehearsal if there is a very bad problem, like one of the principal characters mics has died for some reason. So I am constantly updating the scene I am in at what ever time that may be. I am even still making changes during the shows.


On most consoles I have worked with there is usually -

A scene store button on the surface and the ability to make one of the user defined buttons act as a store button.

There is also the ability to make a button act as the GO button.

And another button to act as the BACK button.

Go meaning when the go button is pushed the next scene in the list is recalled. When the back button is pushed it recalls the previous scene in the list.

I like to use 2 buttons with the one being lower (closer to the wrist rest) and the other button being above it. So with the X32 if they let that functionality be enabled on the assignable buttons I would put the GO button as button number 12 and the BACK button would be button number 8. And I would make 7 my store scene button. I also want a “set selected channel to NOMINAL” button.

This (store button) is a major need for me and at the moment there is no way to save a scene except from the scene view.

For consoles that have GPI capability I have made a GO/BACK box that I plug into the ports and can put the box where I want it.

So my fingers are dancing between those buttons regularly. The store button usually requires one press to call up the store screen and another press to save/store the changes. I am usually just double tapping the store button to update the scene I am in after I have made whatever changes I have needed to make to that scene.

Basing this only on the Xcontrol off line PC software once you recall scene 1 it recalls scene 1 and then if you look you will see that the next scene is gray, that is the scene it will recall when you hit go. If you flag a scene to be skipped you will see as you go down the list of scenes recalling them with the go button only; the gray bar jumps past the skip scene. So if you have scenes 5 and 6 flagged to be skipped when you go thru and recall scene 4 the gray bar jumps to scene 7.

If you turn off the go next in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next”. You have to select a scene and then press go to recall a scene. The only reason I can see someone wanting to do this is if you basically wanted to disable the go button. And some people might want to do that. I like to see functionality added to digital mixer so different people can do things the way they want to do them. So I am not saying to take that functionality away unless it is a bug.

When I used an iLive T112 a while ago you needed to hit the forward button and then the go button. It was very annoying because you could loose your place easily. I think they changed that in the firmware after I used one a couple of times.

There is also a strange behavior if you recall scene 1 and then click on scene 1 and then hit go you will see that go does nothing. Actually it works that way for any scene if you loose the gray bar it will not move with the go button.

I think the X32 looks like it is a great console but I don’t know if they ever intended it to work how I think it should for theater. I am asking a lot for a board in this price range and all anyone has to say is it can’t do it and we never planned on it doing all of that and then we are done here.

BTW look at the saved information for a show with an ascii editor and there are some interesting thing in there. If you know how to read that kind of stuff.

 

[Eric Hill - USA]

re: X32 Discussion

Hi Eric,

I will send this on to the development team and get back to you on this.

Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BEHRINGER

Hi Joe,

Somewhere along the way, this problem appears to have been resolved.

I tried the procedure tonight that I'd previously mentioned. Firmware version was 1.08, and XControl version was .51. I could not duplicate the problem.

Hope you’ve been well.

Eric H.

 

[Christian Boche]

Re: Graphics guy getting used to X32

Firstly this is my first venture into digital, what a great desk for the money!!

Can one of you experienced sound guys help me out? I want to place a single graphic over say eight identical channels of lavalier mics, what's the best way to achieve this?

Also I am currently using linked mix busses (ie in stereo) to output my active subs and my delays. I am told by an LS9 user I should be using the matrix, what's your view?

Ps works fine for me, as I have it set up, just curious as to the correct or normal way. I also realise there is no need to output stereo for the subs but I have a pair and it's easier to have separate cable runs.

Richard

Hi,
you could use a dedicated audio subgroup for your lavalier mics and insert a GEQ in this audio group. In addition this gives you another channel parametric EQ.
Personaly I would use the mono bus for running subwoofers. A mixbus is more flexible than a matirx, but a matix won't eat up mixbusses...so there is pro&cons.
Christian

 

[Christian Boche]

re: X32 Discussion

Cool, it works now !

i have a gig next week with 6 bands and 3 djs. I will be mixing monitors with the X32. The foh is handled by an m7cl. What is the best configuration for mon mix. I will have 8 wedges and 4 IEM plus 2 side fills, the side fills can be pre, the rest should normally be post fader ?

Othmane

I'm not that experienced with doing monitors, but I stole some practices from vetran monitor guys. Most of them ride everything post fader, especially in "combat audio situations" like festivals with short changeovers and "line check & go" practices.
On a digital console, especially when you have to deal with layers and floor wedges, it can be tough to seek&destroy feedback on the spot. With your signals in postfader you can instantly grab a fader and pull it down, so the overall output of this fader gets instantly lower in volume on every monitor out. Or the band starts to play and no one can hear the lead singer loud enough, you just raise the fader on the lead singers channel and you're good. Selecting and adjusting each separate monitormix takes too long. Concerning the side fills, I prefer to have them (left & right) on seperate mixbuses, at least when woking in band enviroment. Postfader monitor for the DJ is a good thing, when you have to deal with DJs who crank everything up to the max. If they raise their outputlevel, their monitor volume will raise too. Works quite good as "DJ emergency brake"
Christian

 

[Per Søvik]

re: X32 Discussion

I am getting a bit frustrated and maybe it is because I am not a writer. I know what I am trying to say, it just seem like people are having a hard time understanding how I am saying it.

It is not your writing, we just don't know how to read carefully before we ASSume what you are trying to convey. Anyhow, I can't help you getting the buttons exactly where your hand wants them, but saving a change to a scene when you are i "cue next"-mode isn't really that hard from my point of view, you just have to press the back button "<" before saving. Sure you can make that adjustment to your way of working? It won't give you more scenes and insert, but maybe if we nag long and hard enough ~;-)~:wink:

 

[Forrest Houghton]

re: X32 Discussion

I am getting a bit frustrated and maybe it is because I am not a writer. I know what I am trying to say, it just seem like people are having a hard time understanding how I am saying it.

I have been trying to write about this short and to the point but I don’t seem to be getting my point across. So here goes the long version.

The standard way that I want a digital console to work with scenes is when I hit the go button it recalls the next scene. I don’t want to hit another button or turn a knob and then hit go. The X32 can be set to act that way in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next’. That is good.

But the way that it is doing that is to have the next scene pre-cued and if you try to over write the scene that is active on the surface you wind-up saving over the next scene instead. This is bad from my point of view. Why would you want to make changes to the scene you are in but save it to the next scene?

After my show is initially written it is not the final version it is very preliminary and many changes will have to be made as we run the few rehearsals I get to do with sound. It is very fast paced. I only get to stop the rehearsal if there is a very bad problem, like one of the principal characters mics has died for some reason. So I am constantly updating the scene I am in at what ever time that may be. I am even still making changes during the shows.


On most consoles I have worked with there is usually -

A scene store button on the surface and the ability to make one of the user defined buttons act as a store button.

There is also the ability to make a button act as the GO button.

And another button to act as the BACK button.

Go meaning when the go button is pushed the next scene in the list is recalled. When the back button is pushed it recalls the previous scene in the list.

I like to use 2 buttons with the one being lower (closer to the wrist rest) and the other button being above it. So with the X32 if they let that functionality be enabled on the assignable buttons I would put the GO button as button number 12 and the BACK button would be button number 8. And I would make 7 my store scene button. I also want a “set selected channel to NOMINAL” button.

This (store button) is a major need for me and at the moment there is no way to save a scene except from the scene view.

For consoles that have GPI capability I have made a GO/BACK box that I plug into the ports and can put the box where I want it.

So my fingers are dancing between those buttons regularly. The store button usually requires one press to call up the store screen and another press to save/store the changes. I am usually just double tapping the store button to update the scene I am in after I have made whatever changes I have needed to make to that scene.

Basing this only on the Xcontrol off line PC software once you recall scene 1 it recalls scene 1 and then if you look you will see that the next scene is gray, that is the scene it will recall when you hit go. If you flag a scene to be skipped you will see as you go down the list of scenes recalling them with the go button only; the gray bar jumps past the skip scene. So if you have scenes 5 and 6 flagged to be skipped when you go thru and recall scene 4 the gray bar jumps to scene 7.

If you turn off the go next in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next”. You have to select a scene and then press go to recall a scene. The only reason I can see someone wanting to do this is if you basically wanted to disable the go button. And some people might want to do that. I like to see functionality added to digital mixer so different people can do things the way they want to do them. So I am not saying to take that functionality away unless it is a bug.

When I used an iLive T112 a while ago you needed to hit the forward button and then the go button. It was very annoying because you could loose your place easily. I think they changed that in the firmware after I used one a couple of times.

There is also a strange behavior if you recall scene 1 and then click on scene 1 and then hit go you will see that go does nothing. Actually it works that way for any scene if you loose the gray bar it will not move with the go button.

I think the X32 looks like it is a great console but I don’t know if they ever intended it to work how I think it should for theater. I am asking a lot for a board in this price range and all anyone has to say is it can’t do it and we never planned on it doing all of that and then we are done here.

BTW look at the saved information for a show with an ascii editor and there are some interesting thing in there. If you know how to read that kind of stuff.

Ok, I think I get it now. I will try to replicate what you are saying both on my console and XControl later today when I get home from school (its 3am so if I try now I will probably be sleeping through my classes later today), and report back.

As for the store button, I can definitely see that as being a huge plus if Behringer could incorporate it as an option in the assignable section. Now that I think about it all the digital consoles I have worked on before (ls9, dm1000, and DDX3216) have had that feature.

 

[Michael Moore]

re: X32 Discussion

Hello all,
Few things. .

- I too haven't gotten my activation email from the official Behringer forum. .
- I understand that the graphic EQs are "stereo" but what I don't understand is if there is a way to process each side of the stereo EQ differently. . For example, my typical setup includes 4 floor wedges each on its own mix, but sometimes different band members want me to EQ their wedges differently. . What I have been doing is sending mix 1 & 2 to GEQ 1, an mix 3 & 4 to GEQ 2 and using the parametric EQ on the mix bus to make them sound a little different, but (coming from a yamaha / presonus background) that you'd be able to add a little 160hz for example to mix 2 and NOT mix 1 without having to go into parametric eqs. . I realize I could use a dedicated GEQ for mix 2, but then the other side of of the GEQ becomes useless if I can't find another mix that needs that identical adjustment. . I'd like each GEQ to be able to have two sets of frequency sliders, one for the first mix/channel patched in, and one for the second. . Unless I'm just missing something. .
- I think that when you are in "sends on faders" mode and you select a matrix out, then the faders on the left side should automatically go to mix bus masters so you can mix your mix bus masters into the matrix using faders instead of using the screen and knobs. .
- As far as icons go, I we should have a turntable icon and an iPod icon. .
- I understand how the DCA groups work and have been using them, but what I don't seam to understand is that is seams like a channel HAS to be assigned to a DCA group to come out of the mains? I realize there is a stereo mix button per channel, but for me it makes me assign it a DCA, when I would think DCA groups would be optional and not mandatory (again unless I'm missing something)

Thank you for your replies in advnace, and Please don't take what I posted as complaints, I mean them as suggestions. . So far the console has been nothing short of awesome! !


Michael Moore
IntenseSL.com

 

[Dave Korman]

re: X32 Discussion

I am getting a bit frustrated and maybe it is because I am not a writer. I know what I am trying to say, it just seem like people are having a hard time understanding how I am saying it.

I have been trying to write about this short and to the point but I don’t seem to be getting my point across. So here goes the long version.

The standard way that I want a digital console to work with scenes is when I hit the go button it recalls the next scene. I don’t want to hit another button or turn a knob and then hit go. The X32 can be set to act that way in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next’. That is good.

But the way that it is doing that is to have the next scene pre-cued and if you try to over write the scene that is active on the surface you wind-up saving over the next scene instead. This is bad from my point of view. Why would you want to make changes to the scene you are in but save it to the next scene?

I totally agree about this.

If I have the console set so the GO button loads the selected scene and then selects the next, if am in scene 6 and I then press PREV GO I expect scene 5 to be activated - not to stay exactly where I am! I have to press PREV PREV GO to get to scene 5, which is counter intuitive and not good in a live environment when you need to get back to the previous cue in a hurry. A back button that immediately loads the scene BEFORE the current ACTIVE one would be even better as Kev suggests

Similarly with over-writing scenes. If I have an active scene and press SAVE I would expect to overwrite the active scene, not the NEXT scene

Also - we really really need the ability to insert scenes - ideally with point cue numbers so we don't have to re-write the book! And the ability to then re-number the scenes to integer cue numbers with a variable offset and from a variable start point (ie starting at cue 22, renumber all cues to integer numbers with a gap (offset) of 2, which would then leave the cues numbers 22,24,26,28 etc. which then leaves some room to manoeuvre without renumbering/using point cues (useful before the book is written up)

 

[Andrew Prince]

Re: Reaper & USB over XUF card

If you can make it next week we have an X32 Clinic in Melbourne.
If this date does not work out, hit me with a PM and I will arrange another time with our Product Specialist in Australia.

Hi Joe,

I don't think you've done any promo work in the UK yet? Might I suggest Scan Computers for a demo? They are also in the process of building up their pro audio department and they regularly hold workshops for Ableton, Cubase, various pro audio interfaces, their own DAWs etc. Their pro audio guys are always looking for new workshops to run and they have a great publicity machine to bring people in. They also have a nice showroom with a stage area to demo in, free parking and it's very easy to get to, being just next to the Reebok Stadium on a large retail estate:

Scan Pro Audio | Facebook

I would be willing to supply my X32 for the demo if you can send the experts.

Kind regards, Andrew
Mama - The UKs 'all era' Genesis tribute band!
Carillon Video - Professional Wedding Videographer & Wedding Video Production Services in Bolton, Manchester & all over the UK

 

[Andrew Prince]

Re: Reaper & USB over XUF card

USB isn't quicker. It's got higher latency and CPU overhead. There's a reason more video happens over Firewire. You got a card for USB - why not get a good high quality FireWire card instead? If you look on audio boards where people use firewire for DAW, there are lists of good cards with good chipsets out there - you don't have to flounder blindly.

However, if you get dropouts or "glitches" in your audio, be aware that FireWire - once you get a stable setup - will ALWAYS outperform USB and might give you much better results on the same hardware.

Thanks for the tips Eric.

If the USB setup gives me grief, I'll certainly look into the Firewire card like you suggested.

Kind regards, Andrew
Mama - The UKs 'all era' Genesis tribute band!
Carillon Video - Professional Wedding Videographer & Wedding Video Production Services in Bolton, Manchester & all over the UK

 

[Per Søvik]

re: X32 Discussion

Hello all,
Few things. .

- I too haven't gotten my activation email from the official Behringer forum. .
- I understand that the graphic EQs are "stereo" but what I don't understand is if there is a way to process each side of the stereo EQ differently. . For example, my typical setup includes 4 floor wedges each on its own mix, but sometimes different band members want me to EQ their wedges differently. . What I have been doing is sending mix 1 & 2 to GEQ 1, an mix 3 & 4 to GEQ 2 and using the parametric EQ on the mix bus to make them sound a little different, but (coming from a yamaha / presonus background) that you'd be able to add a little 160hz for example to mix 2 and NOT mix 1 without having to go into parametric eqs. . I realize I could use a dedicated GEQ for mix 2, but then the other side of of the GEQ becomes useless if I can't find another mix that needs that identical adjustment. . I'd like each GEQ to be able to have two sets of frequency sliders, one for the first mix/channel patched in, and one for the second. . Unless I'm just missing something.

The issue with the Behringer activation mails is well known by the Behringer people by now, or at least it ought to be, so I guess they are looking into it.

As for the monitor eq, use Dual GEQ, it is like the stereo, but with two sets of faders.

- I understand how the DCA groups work and have been using them, but what I don't seam to understand is that is seams like a channel HAS to be assigned to a DCA group to come out of the mains? I realize there is a stereo mix button per channel, but for me it makes me assign it a DCA, when I would think DCA groups would be optional and not mandatory (again unless I'm missing something)

I really don't get what you mean, but your channels need to be assigned somewhere, either to a group or to the mains. After that, DCA-assignment will only influence level and mute (as per the DCA), not routing.

 

[Andrew Prince]

re: X32 Discussion

Right now i have one question so far in all the pictures i see that in the tft screens it says UXF with a green light in mine i see only UF with a green light is this normal or is something wrong?

Hi Gerhard!

My X32 does exactly this. Everyone calls it the XUF card. Every screenshot I've seen shows it as XUF. It shows up in the computer AISO driver as XUF but on the X32 screen, it appears to be called UF, with a green light to show it's working.

Not a problem, from what I can tell.

Kind regards, Andrew
Mama - The UKs 'all era' Genesis tribute band!
Carillon Video - Professional Wedding Videographer & Wedding Video Production Services in Bolton, Manchester & all over the UK

 

[Othmane Alaoui]

re: X32 Discussion

I'm not that experienced with doing monitors, but I stole some practices from vetran monitor guys. Most of them ride everything post fader, especially in "combat audio situations" like festivals with short changeovers and "line check & go" practices.
On a digital console, especially when you have to deal with layers and floor wedges, it can be tough to seek&destroy feedback on the spot. With your signals in postfader you can instantly grab a fader and pull it down, so the overall output of this fader gets instantly lower in volume on every monitor out. Or the band starts to play and no one can hear the lead singer loud enough, you just raise the fader on the lead singers channel and you're good. Selecting and adjusting each separate monitormix takes too long. Concerning the side fills, I prefer to have them (left & right) on seperate mixbuses, at least when woking in band enviroment. Postfader monitor for the DJ is a good thing, when you have to deal with DJs who crank everything up to the max. If they raise their outputlevel, their monitor volume will raise too. Works quite good as "DJ emergency brake"
Christian

Merci Christian,

I naturally would like to use all of the mixbuses post fader for the ease of the operation, all of your imputs becomes triggers for each of the mixbuses, I am still confused but will get it !! My question now is : can I modify the mixbuses from Pré to Post for all of them or I can only use the preconfig in setup menu ?
Also, is there any PAD or -10 or -20 Db on the console for the inputs, I do not find any ,,,

Thank you again,

OThmane

 

[Gerhard Asveld]

re: X32 Discussion

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the information, happy to hear nothing is wrong. I'm in anyway happy with my X32


Gerhard

Hi Gerhard!

My X32 does exactly this. Everyone calls it the XUF card. Every screenshot I've seen shows it as XUF. It shows up in the computer AISO driver as XUF but on the X32 screen, it appears to be called UF, with a green light to show it's working.

Not a problem, from what I can tell.

Kind regards, Andrew
Mama - The UKs 'all era' Genesis tribute band!
Carillon Video - Professional Wedding Videographer & Wedding Video Production Services in Bolton, Manchester & all over the UK

 

[Eric Hill - USA]

re: X32 Discussion

I'll take the easy one, as I need to get to work. ~~:smile:

Also, is there any PAD or -10 or -20 Db on the console for the inputs

There is no pad on the channel inputs.

The gain encoder provides 12 dB of cut, and 60 dB of gain.

Eric H.

 

[Eric Hill - USA]

re: X32 Discussion

I understand how the DCA groups work and have been using them, but what I don't seam to understand is that is seams like a channel HAS to be assigned to a DCA group to come out of the mains?

If you have a Channel assigned to a DCA, then the DCA does need to be "up" for signal to be routed out L/R.

Otherwise, there are two methods to get signal to L/R:

- Select a Channel.
- Go to the Main tab.
- Make sure LR is selected.

The other way is via sub-groups. The Channel is routed to a Bus (configured as a sub-group). Then, the Bus sends the signal to L/R. (Or, wherever you want.)

I don't have time right now to write-up those directions. But, they're probably in the manual. If not, post again, and I'm sure somebody will chime-in. If not, I'd be happy to help more later.

Eric H.

 

[Shane Presley]

re: X32 Discussion

I'll take the easy one, as I need to get to work. ~~:smile:



There is no pad on the channel inputs.

The gain encoder provides 12 dB of cut, and 60 dB of gain.

Eric H.

Speaking of which, has anyone adjusted thier gain while there was a constant signal running into the channel. I was running through the channels with a mic checking them while saying a long aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, and gaining up the strip. lots of "skipping" and "audio cut-outs" in small increments. I know on the ls-9 there was a "jump point" around -18, but the behringer seems to cut out during every increment.

Same goes for an effect parameter change - the effect drops out when you change the parameters - I guess these are some of the shortcomings of a 3K console.

 

[Adam terry]

re: X32 Discussion

I am getting a bit frustrated and maybe it is because I am not a writer. I know what I am trying to say, it just seem like people are having a hard time understanding how I am saying it.

I have been trying to write about this short and to the point but I don’t seem to be getting my point across. So here goes the long version.

The standard way that I want a digital console to work with scenes is when I hit the go button it recalls the next scene. I don’t want to hit another button or turn a knob and then hit go. The X32 can be set to act that way in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next’. That is good.

But the way that it is doing that is to have the next scene pre-cued and if you try to over write the scene that is active on the surface you wind-up saving over the next scene instead. This is bad from my point of view. Why would you want to make changes to the scene you are in but save it to the next scene?

After my show is initially written it is not the final version it is very preliminary and many changes will have to be made as we run the few rehearsals I get to do with sound. It is very fast paced. I only get to stop the rehearsal if there is a very bad problem, like one of the principal characters mics has died for some reason. So I am constantly updating the scene I am in at what ever time that may be. I am even still making changes during the shows.


On most consoles I have worked with there is usually -

A scene store button on the surface and the ability to make one of the user defined buttons act as a store button.

There is also the ability to make a button act as the GO button.

And another button to act as the BACK button.

Go meaning when the go button is pushed the next scene in the list is recalled. When the back button is pushed it recalls the previous scene in the list.

I like to use 2 buttons with the one being lower (closer to the wrist rest) and the other button being above it. So with the X32 if they let that functionality be enabled on the assignable buttons I would put the GO button as button number 12 and the BACK button would be button number 8. And I would make 7 my store scene button. I also want a “set selected channel to NOMINAL” button.

This (store button) is a major need for me and at the moment there is no way to save a scene except from the scene view.

For consoles that have GPI capability I have made a GO/BACK box that I plug into the ports and can put the box where I want it.

So my fingers are dancing between those buttons regularly. The store button usually requires one press to call up the store screen and another press to save/store the changes. I am usually just double tapping the store button to update the scene I am in after I have made whatever changes I have needed to make to that scene.

Basing this only on the Xcontrol off line PC software once you recall scene 1 it recalls scene 1 and then if you look you will see that the next scene is gray, that is the scene it will recall when you hit go. If you flag a scene to be skipped you will see as you go down the list of scenes recalling them with the go button only; the gray bar jumps past the skip scene. So if you have scenes 5 and 6 flagged to be skipped when you go thru and recall scene 4 the gray bar jumps to scene 7.

If you turn off the go next in Setup/global/General preferences – “Scene Go next”. You have to select a scene and then press go to recall a scene. The only reason I can see someone wanting to do this is if you basically wanted to disable the go button. And some people might want to do that. I like to see functionality added to digital mixer so different people can do things the way they want to do them. So I am not saying to take that functionality away unless it is a bug.

When I used an iLive T112 a while ago you needed to hit the forward button and then the go button. It was very annoying because you could loose your place easily. I think they changed that in the firmware after I used one a couple of times.

There is also a strange behavior if you recall scene 1 and then click on scene 1 and then hit go you will see that go does nothing. Actually it works that way for any scene if you loose the gray bar it will not move with the go button.

I think the X32 looks like it is a great console but I don’t know if they ever intended it to work how I think it should for theater. I am asking a lot for a board in this price range and all anyone has to say is it can’t do it and we never planned on it doing all of that and then we are done here.

BTW look at the saved information for a show with an ascii editor and there are some interesting thing in there. If you know how to read that kind of stuff.

I am in this same boat. I would love to be able to set up scenes within a show, say 1 scene for each song in a musical and then be able to just hit go to change the effects and levels for the pit and even some of the mic settings for the actors.

Even better would be to link the board to Qlab using a midi cable and have the mic mutes be automated with the cue structure for the show. Qlab would be trigger the GO command on the X32. This would be the perfect setup for some of our shows that have been running for a couple of years now, on tour, and are very consistant.

 

[karim noujaim]

re: X32 Discussion

After 2 weeks of playing around experimenting and enjoying the looks of the X32 on my desk and the great comments I am getting of my jealous colleagues , all I can say is that I am amazed of how my console is running. Even after long days of studio recording.

I am Recording through fiwi to my DAW, sending back from my DAW to X32, liking what I am hearing on my monitors using effects EQs and all and I am happy (can never be totally really happy ). I even like the pres even more than the Yamaha ones I had prior to the X32.

Now the question is: Can I send back the end result to my DAW? In my logic I should be able to but I can't seem to be able to. If possible how would you do it? I would be satisfied if I can send a stereo track back to the DAW and even better if I could send each individual track alone. Especially that I love some of the FXs available on the X32 better than my plugins which I paid a fortune to get them.