Mixers/Consoles - 5.1 Surround mixer recommendations?

[macman47]

Hi there we are a small black Box theatre with a new 5.1 Surround sound system the only item missing is a mixing board that is capable of mixing surround sound. We are not a large venue so we don't need a HUGE number of I/O's.

Thoughts?

[soundlight]

0196VCM or 02R96VCM. Great consoles, incredibly flexible, surround panning 3.1 or 5.1, or even 6.1 with the 02R96VCM.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by macman47

Hi there we are a small black Box theatre with a new 5.1 Surround sound system
Thoughts?

Honestly, someone wasted a ton of money.
There is no way that the entire audience is actually going to get the full experience.


Whatever the console, it must be digital.

[Schniapereli]

I have worked on the mentioned 02R96, and can add a second opinion to their great versatility, and general awesomeness.

[DaveySimps]

The O1V96 would be sufficient. Bumping up to the O2R seems like a needless expense. It is not likely you will need all of the extra inputs. in a Black Box. Although both are nice boards.

~Dave

[Eboy87]

Another vote for the above mentioned board by another happy user of Yamaha digital. Agreed with Davey, for a blackbox, the 01V96 would suit your needs very nicely. I've yet to fill up a Mackie 1402 in ours.

[museav]

Have to agree with Phil here, you might want to step back first and describe what you have. When you say that you have a 5.1 surround system do you mean that you have a speaker system with dedicated inputs for left, center, right, left surround, right surround and sub/LFE signals that is designed to deliver five channel sound to all seats? Or simply that you have a system that has left, center, right, left surround, right surround speakers and a subwoofer? Or even that you already have a processor or receiver in place that decodes surround sound encoded sources?

There is a huge difference between having a five channel system and having a system with a surround sound decoder, this could definitely affect any aspects related to the console. There are also differences between having five speakers and a sub and having a system that delivers a desired result to more than a small portion of the audience.

So maybe you could explain what you really have and how you plan to use it, that might help make sure that any suggestions focus on your specific application.

[DaveySimps]

Another thought came to my mind. Do you actually need a mixer in there at all? If you are just running SFX playback, you may want to consider getting a computer, Stage Research’s SFX or Q Lab software, and a multi channel sound card (such as the Echo AudioFire 12). You can create an almost endless variety of surround effects with either software, and just go out of the sound card into the amps or processor(s). For the cost of a new Yamaha O1V96, you can get a PC, AudioFire 12, 8-channel snake (or other cabling), and the SFX standard edition software, and have a little bit of money left over. Of course, this will not work if you intend to use mics or anything that may need a preamp. Just another way you may want to consider approaching it.

~Dave

[Eboy87]

I'll admit to not knowing anything about the OP's situation than what he posted, but I could see a reason to not go with strictly a PC-based playback solution. There've been shows we've done in our blackboxes where we've needed mics, and while it could be done on a PC, I still prefer to have a console in front of me, if nothing more than to act as a matrix of sorts sending out to the 5.1 (I use that term just to describe LCR, SL, SR, sub, not coverage) system and any other effect speakers.

[DaveySimps]

Eboy, we are in agreement about the mics. That is why I mentioned that caveat in my previous post. I can think of many reasons to prefer a board over a computer solution. However, the SFX software (not sure about the Q Lab) has an active matrix built in that is much more flexible than that of the Yamaha O1V96. Again, speaking in just terms of SFX cue playback.

Another great thing about a computer solution is that the fade times, looping of cues and other items are adjustable on the fly in the software, where as on a traditional playback device, the sound designer would have to go back and edit the cue / source material. Also, the detail of information stored in the software cues is much more specific than that stored in the board cues of the aforementioned digital mixer. The SFX system is all one Go button, where as the board you have to recall the stored scene (or adjust levels / routing manually) and then push play on the playback device; more opportunity for operator error / inconsistency. Certainly there are many pros and cons for either system. I am just trying to give additional info for the Op, not start a debate.

~Dave