MY BRAAAAAAAAAAAND new Smaart 7 rig!

[eddiemapp]

I like to explore new ideas each time I start a new tour so for this one I decided to go all out and build a new Smaart rig to utilize the power of V.7.

It's been really incredible and my systems engineer as well as all of the local engineers have been blow away at the power of the new version. My idea was for this to be a powerful lightweight setup that is easily portable, can be stored in an overhead storage bin while fully making use of using multiple mics.

As the software and my rig continues to progress forward I'd like and always welcome input to help make my setup more efficient.

So here it is, my setup consists of the following:
1. 15" 2.8 Ghz Macbook Pro with 4 gigs of ram
1. Stagg SRB-2US soft rack case
2. Lectrosonics TM400A's rackmounted
1. Presonus Firestudio Project
8. Audix TM-1 (Rational editions)
3. Quick release clamps
4. Spring clamps
1. Sirrus 514 Calibrator (with a Harry Brill Jr. adaptor)

This allows me to walk in with my backpack plus rack and be setup in seconds. (Yes I know this all may seem a bit excessive but Smaart is something that I use on a daily basis and is something that I've developed a formula around for how I work)

Here are a few things that I've discovered along the way so far.
1. Audix TM-1's seem to have some sort of grounding issue with the TM400 transmitter. Jamie is aware of this and I've spoken with Karl and the techs at Lectrosonics regarding this. Using a short xlr cable seems to fix the issue.

2. Quick release clamps are AMAZING!!!! I bought a few spring clamps which are pretty cool but i think i'm just going to buy a few more quick release ones since they're smaller and more robust.

3. The firestudio works really well once you have the internal mixer setup correctly. I also like the fact that it has an IEC power cable instead of a wall wart or external power supply.


I'll send some photos of all of this tomorrow from the gig. Let me know what y'all think so far.

Eddie

[Daniel Ellis]

i like it.. i wish i could have all of that gear.

I do use quick releases though and they are pretty much the greatest things ever!

[Adam Black]

Sweet rig. I especially like the soft rack case.

[Ferrit37]

Hey Eddie,
could you post your mixer settings for the firestudio?, I never feel like I get mine right :(

[eddiemapp]

Ferrit. I'm currently using outputs 1 and 3 for my reference (generator signals). In the universal control panel I have all inputs muted plus all faders off except channel 11 (which is DAW 1) it's set to unity and panned hard left. The master fader on the left is all the way up. For channel 3 it's set up the same way except I'm using channel 12 panned left. I'd send you some screen shots but our Internet is pathetic today on the bus. In case you'd like to know my inputs are as follows.
1. Hardwired Mic 1 (brown)
2. Hardwired Mic 2 (red)
3. Hardwired Mic 3 (orange)
4. Hardwired Mic 4 (yellow)
5. RF Mic 1 (green)
6. RF Mic 2 (blue)
7. FOH Mic (purple)
8. Reference signal

I have each mic/cable/input/trace color set to the resistor code colors to help keep track of which measurement represents which mic.

FOH mic was in the yellow position but I found it extremely difficult to see outdoors in high contrast view. I moved it to the last two channels since I know I'll always be using at least two channels and then any additional mics can be added as needed.

Hope this helps

[eddiemapp]

So here's my recap and update since I'm now on my first break of this tour. Everyday I'm finding new ways of speeding up my allignment and tuning process and here's how:

1. Physical input patching scheme:
I've moved my FOH measurement mic to input 7 and reference signal to input 8. Since I know I'll always be using these two signals I've placed them at the end of the inputs just as if this were an early turn of the century 2 channel smaart setup. That way any other measurement inputs that I'd like to include can be added from there and they always reference to input 8.

2. Groups:
Based on how many inputs I'll be using (which depends on room size and layout) I have different groups setup to help minimize clutter in the main veiwing windows and also make data handling a lot easier to understand. Here's my groups
FOH (foh mic & ref sig)
RF (RF 1 & RF 2 mics, FOH mic, ref sig)
MEDIUM (MIC IN 1 & 2, RF 1 & 2, FOH mic, ref sig)
LARGE (MIC IN 1,2,3,4 -RF 1,2- FOH mic, ref sig)

This also helps to avoid over taxing the 1's and 0's that Smaart has to compute when finding delay times and when switching back and forth between spectrum and transfer windows (since both remain active at the same time). I've found that it can be a bit taxing if you have 8 inputs running simultaneously in both windows.

3. Mic placement and management:
After a few different setups in different venues and out of consideration for my systems engineer who was still running around dancing through seats with mic cables like a dancer with those long red ribbons I decided to dedicate my first RF channel to the farthest or uppermost position of the venue and have the second channel be the roaming multi positional alignment mic.
RF 2 covers: Main PA to side hang, Main PA to outfills, Main PA to frontfills, and first zone of the array.
This saves having an extremely long cable to take what can become a tedious measurement process.
RF 1 is then used for aligning Main PA to lawn systems and for checking frequency response of the last zone of the array Vs. the first zone and any others in-between.
If other mics are required then the first 4 hardwired mics are utilized off center infront of one side of the PA as follows:
Input 1 (mid floor)
Input 2 (near FOH position)
Input 3 (back of floor or lower bowl)
Input 4 (top of lower bowl)

This is based on an decent sized arena and of course everyday Is different. Also MAKE SURE SOMEONE IS WATCHING YOUR MICS AT ALL TIMES.
I've already had a forklift come dangerously close to running over one, nearly had one swept up by a broom to make way for chairs, and another almost stepped on by the barricade person walking backwards.

Finally:LIVE IMPULSE RESPONSE!!!!!!!!!!!
This guy is truly remarkable! In mere seconds (well ok several seconds) I can have everything alligned and be on my way to catering even sooner now.
At a recent extremely windy gig the main PA was swaying back and forth as I was attempting to align my front fills. With the live IR I could actualy watch the screen and see the impulse response move along in perfect time with the PA. This was a bit annoying for alignment purposes but figure the people in the pit will be swaying back and forth moshing and crowd surfing so I pick a point somewhere in the middle.

Well hopefully some of this is helpful or makes sense since I'm traveling (not driving) and typing on my iPhone.

Eddie

[Ferrit37]

Hey eddie,
Thanks good insights :)

[Adam Black]

Sorry for posting this late, I sorta forgot. :) But this is a pic of Eddie's SMAART rig.

[ewolram]

Eddie,

Where did you get the rack mount kits for the TM400A's?

I have got almost the same rig but with a MOTU box. The MOTU rides on the Firewire 800 and needs no external power supply.

-Phil

[Kip Conner]

So the Firebox Studio has individual 48volt selections per channel and a pad capable of lowering the line level input signal from the console?

Otherwise you would be sending phantom power back to the console outputs?

Looks like it might fit well into the overhead storage on the plane too, except regional flights.

[eddiemapp]

Call lance Wascom at tour supply in Nashville and he should be able to hook you up with the rackmount kit for the TM400. I would've responded earlier but apparently my phone overseas and rational don't play together well (swine flu, scurvy...etc)

On another note I've been forced (kicking and screaming) back to verion 5.4 to work with the Clair I/O, which still works but doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what this version is capable of. The live impulse response Is invaluable and I'd guess shaves atleast 10 min, if not more of pink being sent through the PA.

[PhillipIvanPietruschka]

The live impulse response Is invaluable and I'd guess shaves atleast 10 min, if not more of pink being sent through the PA.

To what end exactly do you use it and how does it save you so much time? I do exactly all of my time alignments with the phase trace and have never felt the live impulse response adds much beyond some potential for signal verification. In practice I rarely turn it on, and wouldn't miss it if wasn't there.

phillipivan.

[eddiemapp]

I rarely used the Impulse response in previous versions as well till Jamie turned me on to the Live IR. The phase trace I still use for aligning subs to mains but for most other applications I now have been using the Live IR almost exclusively.

Here was my previous method for aligning main PA to front fills:
Send pink to main PA and use delay finder to set the delay time,
write down the main PA delay time,
Send pink to the front fills and use the delay finder to set the delay time,
write down the front fill delay time,
subtract the front fill time from the main PA time and then add the difference in time to the front fills,
resend pink to both sources to verify your measurements.

Here's my new method:
With the Live IR on send pink to main PA and use auto track to find it's time (you'll see the Impulse response center at the time arrival time of the Main PA).
Turn off auto track and with pink still sending through the Main PA send pink to your front fills (they should probably appear ahead of the Main PA on the live IR). Spin up the delay time on your front fills and watch/listen till the two signals become one IR.
Done

If they are in polarity with each other then you should see addition on the Live IR when the combine.

This is how i've been aligning our side fill/front fill/main hang/side hang/out fill/delays for the past few months and it takes no time at all (well except for the delay needed for..........oh never mind).

Recently at Jones Beach amphitheater in NY i was attempting to align the front fills to the Main PA with hurricane force winds blowing through. It was fun to watch on the Live IR as the front fill impulse was stationary (because they were sitting on the stage) and the Main PA impulse moved from left to right just like the flown PA was.

[PhillipIvanPietruschka]

Here's my new method:
With the Live IR on send pink to main PA and use auto track to find it's time (you'll see the Impulse response center at the time arrival time of the Main PA).
Turn off auto track and with pink still sending through the Main PA send pink to your front fills (they should probably appear ahead of the Main PA on the live IR). Spin up the delay time on your front fills and watch/listen till the two signals become one IR.
Done


Recently at Jones Beach amphitheater in NY i was attempting to align the front fills to the Main PA with hurricane force winds blowing through. It was fun to watch on the Live IR as the front fill impulse was stationary (because they were sitting on the stage) and the Main PA impulse moved from left to right just like the flown PA was.

I do a very similar thing, but with the phase trace, and I do it the same or almost the same, irrespective of if I am aligning a spatial x-over or frequency x-over (subs to mains).

Pink to main system. Set delay time and capture trace.

Pink to sub system, add delay until phase traces match as much as possible in the desired range.

Set level.

Combine and verify.

The only additional step to this is with subs: I measure the mains (Mid & Highs) first, set delay, capture. Measure subs, capture. Measure mains and add delay until we have adequate phase alignment. Set levels, combine and verify. (Presuming you need to add to delay to mid highs to achieve the alignment).

I can often observe speaker movement in the phase trace that is to small to see, normally I blame it on the mechanists playing with large set pieces.

It seems like we have a very similar method with slightly different tools. I get the impression that the faster one would be what ever we are more familiar with.

[Arthur Skudra]

If anything, I find the Live IR feature to be really handy to tell me where I'm at when looking at the phase trace. I like seeing both simultaneously when I do my alignment work.

[PhillipIvanPietruschka]

Arthur, by both do you mean Live IR + Phases traces or something different?

Eddie, another questions for you: do you ever bother with a processor trace as part of your measurement system?

[Arthur Skudra]

Arthur, by both do you mean Live IR + Phases traces or something different?Yes, the Live IR and phase and magnitude traces simultaneously. I have a 17" laptop screen, so why not? :)


Eddie, another questions for you: do you ever bother with a processor trace as part of your measurement system?That too, if a processor output is convenient to access.

[PhillipIvanPietruschka]

That too, if a processor output is convenient to access.

I have gone as far as having a dedicated smaart output from soundweb, with facilities to select which of the processing channels is routed to that output where resources allow. I find it very handy. I find being able to set and measure the system EQ (et al) whilst having the speakers muted allows me to be more accurate with the filter settings and means I dont have to subject others in the theatre to noise for quite so long (which everyone appreciates).

[Arthur Skudra]

I have gone as far as having a dedicated smaart output from soundweb, with facilities to select which of the processing channels is routed to that output where resources allow. I find it very handy. I find being able to set and measure the system EQ (et al) whilst having the speakers muted allows me to be more accurate with the filter settings and means I dont have to subject others in the theatre to noise for quite so long (which everyone appreciates).
Yep, that's what I do as well, and inverting the magnitude of the processor output so I can overlay it on top of the the raw response curve of the system under test. However having done my magic with a perfect overlay of the eq on top of the system response, I find that a few times I have to lessen the amplitude of a few applied filters to get things to sound good to my ears. It's always good to review each filter and make sure the end result is what you're trying to achieve before charging on to the next part of the system.

[Kip Conner]

Eddie- I assume that you don't have to use any of the recording software to use the firestudio as a sound card in AudioCore? Or is there a driver set-up that must be installed.

Secondly do the outputs on the back of the serve as direct outs from the inputs? just wondering about using the outputs to add to a multi-track recording.

[eddiemapp]

Sorry for not replying in a more timely fashion. I've been traveling for the past few weeks and haven't stopped to sit down and reply to these posts (plus it's a bit time consuming to reply on my iphone).

I do occasionally use a processor trace depending on the measurement setup i'm using. I've actually been bouncing between two different software versions (7 & 5.4) with two different computers AND three different interfaces lately due to discrepancies between our two separate systems that we're touring with.

As Arthur mentioned I used the Live IR, phase trace and Magnitude all simultaneously. I only use the live IR for alignment and then just mainly focus on the phase and magnitude widows. Depending on the application the new spectrograph has been helpful especially with being able to scroll back in time.

Phillip, You are correct. There are many ways of achieving similar results when aligning using Smaart 7 and I've used a few different methods over the years and have currently found what i've described in previous posts to be the most efficient method that works for me so far. Still i know there will be many new and exciting methods that users will discover when using this program as it develops and i'm looking forward to incorporating new practices into my repertoire. I still use the phase trace for my sub alignment but rely more on the live IR now for most everything else.

[eddiemapp]

Kip,

With the Firestudio project i believe (though I could be mistaken) you need to download their drivers for the preamp which also allows you to use their Universal control software to configure the internal mixer. From there you can route the inputs to which ever outputs you'd prefer.

I found that this preamp also works in conjunction with the Presonus Capture software which is really handy for simple multitrack recording.

[Kip Conner]

Eddie- my bad for not clarifying. I'm really just looking for a unit that doesn't require me to have another program running in the background. For intance I was looking at the MOTU devices and in order to get them running you have to run some sort of recording software in the background so you can keep it set-up.

Most recording software as we know can be processor hogs so I was looking for a device that can run without a special piece of software and if the outs on the back were direct outs or did they need to be configured since it's a full duplex I/O?

Do you find anything sluggish while running that piece of software in the background or are you just using the driver plug-in?

[eddiemapp]

With the firestudio once it's configured in their universal control program you don't have to open it again. No other software is necessary to have the preamp fully functioning. You do have to assign each input to the desired output though

[Dr. J]

Kip -- Eddie is correct. I have the FireStudioMobile and all it needs is the Universal Controller. The UC is not a program that HOGS up the processor. Very basic. I also have the Presonus SL so the universal controller works with ALL Presonus devices.

Studio One & Capture doesn't have to be running if you don't want it too.

I have NEVER had an issue with the Firestudio. Awesome!

[Kip Conner]

This might be my guy then. I'm having some video issues with v7 and don't want to add to the amount of work the computer is doing. Thanks guys

[Jay Barracato]

For intance I was looking at the MOTU devices and in order to get them running you have to run some sort of recording software in the background so you can keep it set-up.




For my MUTO traveler it is not necessary to have the controller program running.

[Matt Bridgwater]

My MOTU Ultralite doesn't need the controller software running in the background either.

[PrestonSoper]

Kip,
I use the Motu 8 Pre without the recording/matrix software and it runs like a champ on my MBP.
I use the firewire out from my Motu running V7.2 and also use it for playback from the MBP out to the 1/4" LR outputs of the unit to the console.
This allows me to play music in the Apple lossless codec format instead of the dreaded 1/8"th inch output.

[PrestonSoper]

The one drawback to the Motu 8 Pre is portability as it is a rack mount item.
For fly dates I use my SoundDevices usb pre.

[eddiemapp]

Hey guys/gals,
Just letting you all know that I'm posting some new pics tomorrow of my current smaart7 configuration if anyone's interested. It's been working flawlessly and has been a lot of fun to use (yes that may sound weird say) but my systems engineer and I have been having a blast on the road trying to be more efficient and accurate everyday with our measurements.