AudioMedia - June 2008 - (Page 28)

ALISTAIR McGHEE finds a new way to use this flexible, programmable DSP box, and tries to convince everyone to buy one instead of a pastie. B BC Wales has just launched a newly fitted out multimedia bus, so newly fitted in fact that it’s not actually finished yet, but the Urdd (one of Europe’s largest youth culture festivals) called, and the blue bus was rushed to the radio front line. At the heart of the new audio installation is Allen and Heath’s iDR- DSP-based mixer, that provides cue mixing and talkback. It was kind of an unusual choice, as we would normally turn to Prospect or Glensound for our comms solutions for a vehicle mostly doing radio. However, I stupidly asked our senior OB engineers what they wanted in a talkback system, and of course it was a large sink usually found in kitchens. And the iDR- brings a lot to the party. Designed as an installation mixer for clubs, churches, and conference centres it offers a high degree of flexibility, some really tidy control options, and a price that doesn’t break the bank. We ordered the optional input and output expanders which bring the system up to in by out, and three PL- eight rotary control panels. how the system is going to cohere. My favourite mistake was getting open talkback to all outputs on the night before we went live – careful with those pager settings is all I can say. On the first morning we went live I rang Gwynfor Jones, the Senior Engineer, at about am to check it still worked, but my fears were unfounded and having got the programming right, the system has delivered so far in spades. In some ways it suits broadcast better than the install market it was designed for. I love the fact that it has XLRs and MIDI, so I can drag it out of the rack if I have to and plug in industry standard controllers. I can’t wait to get a Kenton plugged into to it, to get faders. I love the overkill in control interfaces and the fact I can plug three key switch boxes in. And there’s loads of things I haven’t tried yet like ambient noise compensators and automatic mic mixers. Oh yes, and infrared control from remotes and wall plates. I haven’t been as excited about ALLEN & HEATH IDR 8 AUDIO MIX PROCESSOR For the Eisteddfod, we have nine inputs to the cue mixer including two discrete talkback positions, eight outputs, each with an individual cue mix, and eight talkbacks including group outputs. Out of the box the iDR- provides a in, out matrix with eight mic/line inputs, eight balanced outputs on XLR, and two balanced inputs and outputs on jacks. The mic inputs have a pad/phantom power and dB of gain. Each input has a full range of EQ, compression, delay, gating, and a host of grouping, ducking, and diving options. Well not really diving. The inputs can be fed into a gain or mute matrix to feed each of the outputs so you can maintain up to independant mixes. With the added expanders, it becomes a full x system with all i/o on XLRs, and mic inputs. Programming the box is via a Windows interface and the control options are tidy. Allen and Heath have their own PL-Anet which is daisy chained over Cat with the controllers drawing power from the iDR- , or you can have Midi, Sysnet, RS , or a custom serial interface. You perm any two from start up and you can already see the range of options available. We opted for PL-Anet and the PL- box that has keys, LEDs, and eight soft rotaries with LED display of rotary settings. For the Urdd, I configured one PL- with seven switches as talkback to seven outputs, seven switches selecting the rotaries as individual mix controllers (that is the matrix gains of each output), one switch for input gains and one switch for output gains. On the second PL- we had five individual talkbacks, one master talkback, and one group talkback, with two four-input mixes on the rotaries to separate cue speakers. Like any kit capable of flexible operation, programming is a matter of practice, and in the course of the set up I made every possible mistake (or at least it felt like that) and I think some new mistakes that hadn’t been thought of before. The online documentation is a bit thin so you have to be really on your toes when thinking through a product in ages; it’s very, very clever. Like all geniuses it has flaws. Better talkback control, boolean logic in the programming, preset manipulation from the key pads, and a really tidy mix controller would all be welcome. Better documentation would help keep novices like me from bumbling into open talkback, and sometimes I find myself wondering if I hadn’t saved a setting or whether the iDR- had forgotten it. But don’t let any of this put you off, the flexibility and power of this system is glorious. Did I tell you the input and output expanders can be up to metres from the iDR- and require just a couple of cat s to function? Or that on the front panel you get another soft switches and LEDs, or that the LEDs can be multi-colour gain meters, so you can monitor all your input and output gains – plus use the switches to solo them to the onboard headphone amp? But please A&H, give the amp a bit more oomph. What I want for Christmas now is a PL controller with eight old-fashioned keys for talkback, a built in speaker, and the software to recognise multiple key presses so you could emulate the talkback of my youth. But even better would be if you all went out and bought one, so the price would come down, and I could have another one. And it’s made in Cornwall, surely this is a cause for celebration and demands more attention than a pastie? I N F O R MAT I O N THE REVIEWER ALISTAIR McGHEE began audio life in Hi-Fi before joining the BBC as an audio engineer. After ten years in radio and TV, he moved to production. When BBC Choice started, he pioneered personal digital production in television. Alistair is now Assistant Editor, BBC Radio Wales, but is allowed out occasionally. £ iDR-4 4+2 In/4+2 Out Digital Mix Processor GB£1,188.75 (exc.VAT), iDR-8 8+2 In/8+2 Out Digital Mix Processor GB£2,354.04 (exc.VAT) A Allen & Heath Ltd., Kernick Industrial Estate, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9LU T +44 (0) 1865 842300 T +44 (0) 01326 372070 W www.allen-heath.com 28 AUDIO MEDIA JUNE 2008 http://www.allen-heath.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of AudioMedia - June 2008

AudioMedia - June 2008 Contents Recording Post Broadcast AES Review What's Up UK? Geofocus: Australia For the Record Special Report: Videosonics Newstalk: DPA New Microphones Novation SL Compact Allen & Heath IDR-8 Eastwest Quantum Leap SD2 & Goliath Final Cut: Indiana Jones Merging ADR Module Koolworld SSL Duende Good Product Sampler: Microphones Video Guide AMSR Meyer Sound The Blue Planet Live! Royer Labs Mics R-121 & R-122

AudioMedia - June 2008

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