Installs - building a new sound system for a theatre

[AlexD]

Ok this is going to be a big one. I am designing a whole new sound system for my school drama facility. I have been given a budget of 1,500 pounds (IV lost my pound symbol on my key board...) what I want to do initially is to get a loudspeaker set up with surround sound and sound reinforcement. We have 6 cables set up on ever side of the room 3 on each side for surround sound. We have yet to set up a multi core in the building it’s self but we have plans to do that. I am going to be running SCS cueing soft ware for this system. I am planning on buying the soundcraft LX7 ii 16 change soundboard, is this a good sound board and will it be able to do what I want.

I know that to make this system work I need to run the pc through a sound card, the sound card into the mixer and then take that though the amps to the speakers. What I am confused on is how I connect the soundcard to the mixer so that I can control all of the speakers individually.

Sound reinforcement
I am planning on having two condensers of opposite sides of the room permanently and having them run through a feedback eliminator. I do not have any mic’s at the moment and I don’t know what ones to get so could you advise me on what to get there.

Surround sound
I do not know what speakers to get for the surround sound system or amp so could you advise me there as well. I know there is a special amp you use for surround sound.

What I have at the moment
we have gamma 12/300 passive speakers and an amp to run them. We also have two subs one of witch I do not know if it works and I don’t know what model they are or even witch socket is the input and which is the out so I don’t think we will be using them.

Speaker set up
I am having the 6 surround sound speakers and the gamma 12/300 passives are a 2 part speaker so I am having the sub on the floor and I am mounting the tweeters on the grid that we have. I am thinking if I have enough money left over that I will get two more speakers to mount in the middle of the stage. Also when there is a production on I am thinking of getting my music departments pa system and using it at the front of the stage for the vocals to be passed through. (This is a tequnec that I saw at London’s national threat and I haven’t really heard anything about it, so is this any good or doesn’t it really matter?) Also if I am going to get two new speakers what would you suggest?

[AlexD]

oh and if a mod is reading this and see's some spelling mistakes u can change them if u want im dislecsic so very bad at spelling. sorry

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by AlexD

oh and if a mod is reading this and see's some spelling mistakes u can change them if u want im dislecsic so very bad at spelling. sorry

It is not the moderator's job, nor will they function, to correct your spelling and grammatical errors. I'm sorry that you suffer from Dyslexia, but since you are aware of it, one would think you would be even more careful about how you present yourself. Having a disease does not automatically exempt or excuse you from common courtesies such as punctuation and the shift key.

You're likely to receive much better answers if your questions are coherent. See also http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/q...ish-class.html.

[AlexD]

ye i would do more grama if i could but i just cant... and i only said if thay wanted coz a lot of form i have been in kind mods do. and btw its not a disse. Tthere i have made changes to it, I hope its up to your standers...

[kiwitechgirl]

So let me see if I've got this straight; you're a school student and they've given you, unconditionally, £1500 to get a new sound system. Judging by your post, you have pretty much no idea where to start. My advice? Go to a local company and get them to advise you. We can give you all the advice in the world, but without seeing your space the advice is not going to help you much. Get someone who knows what they're doing to come in, look at the space and advise you on what to install. Otherwise you're going to end up with something unsuited to the space.

What I can advise you on is SCS as I use it on a daily basis. We run it on a high-spec PC with stripped down XP as an OS (avoiding Vista), going to an M-Audio box (similar to this) via Firewire, and then the M-Audio has eight outputs which go into eight channels on the desk, and then through the eight outputs on the desk into four amplifiers. We drive SCS pretty hard, and provided your PC is dedicated, has NOTHING ELSE on it except what you need to run the M-Audio box (ie absolutely no games of any description and no connection to the Internet), and is relatively high-powered, you'll be OK. We've had a few issues in the past, mostly due to us underestimating how powerful the software is and so trying to find ways to do things that it actually does automatically, but the software author is incredibly helpful and questions on the forum get answered very quickly.

[AlexD]

Thank you i will get some one in to help

About the m-audio, Its the profire 610 that you use? an that is what omuncates the mixer with teh pc? I just want to be sure. This is basicly the soundcard?

Also on SCS i am planing on getting the standed version. Will that be able to run all the speakers? Becaus form what i have read on SCS it seems that only professional plus can do ultiple speaker chanles, If it helps i woul liek to have 6 chanles for the Surround sound, two stage and the vocal speakers.

[AlexD]

Also will a soundcraft LX7 ii 16 chanle mixer be able to do what i am planing?

link to specs on the mixer
Soundcraft Spirit LX7ii - 16 Channel - Mixers/Analog - 16 Channel

[museav]

Alex, you seem to be making the very common mistake of jumping right into the equipment 'stuff' without first identifying what it is you are trying to do. What are your goals for the audio system? How is the space used? What is the space like? What do you already have? Is all the conduit, power and other infrastructure required already in place? The point is to first consider what you need the system to do and the conditions under which it will have to operate and then you can develop a solution that supports those, part of which would be determining the physical equipment.

For example, is the space large enough that the audio system has to provide speech reinforcement or is all speech handled without any reinforcement? Is the space a proscenium layout with fixed seating or a 'black box' with totally flexible seating and arrangement? Also, you don't mention any inputs other than a condenser mic on each side wall with feedback eliminators and while I am not sure what those mics are for or why the feedback eliminators, I have to guess that there are likely some other inputs and perhaps outputs involved.

The LX7ii is not really intended to handle surround sound or the quantity of outputs you noted. It might be able to do it by using all the auxes for the surround channels, but it would be very awkward. Quite frankly, an approximately $2,400 budget is likely not near enough for the type of capability you mention, especially since it sounds like you have nothing presently installed and minimal equipment to reuse. Keep in mind that the cost for a system is not just the big pieces but also all the ancillary items like cable, racks, mounting hardware and so on. Those items start to add up and typically mean you actually have much less than the total budget for the major items.

Speaking of existing equipment, the only Gamma 12/300 passive speaker that I can find is not a two part speaker, it is a typical full range box with a 12" woofer and compression driver on a compact horn (Carlsbro). In addition, the idea of using subs likely means some type of external crossover and/or processing. Take these apparent discrepancies and the fact that you have some existing subwoofers but apparently aren't considering using them because you aren't sure if one works and can't figure out which connection is the input, and that all indicates that you will likely need some help figuring out how laying out the system, installing it and making it work. That effort alone may use much of, if not exceed, your budget.

So at least based on what you have said, it quite bluntly sounds like your vision and your budget may not reconcile and thus you may have to focus on what are the priorities in regards to the functionality provided, then develop a plan that will support those immediate needs now and allow you to later evolve the system to accommodate the other functionalities desired.

[AlexD]

The style of the room is proscenium layout, we allways have the stage in teh same place but the chairs can be moved but normaly we have the same set up.

As for the two mics there ware for genral sound renforcment. Becaus its a school some of the children cant project there voices very well so we do someties have to get some condensors from our music department to use. Other inputs will be other mics that we will eb useing in productions like wireless head sets, pit band and other mics taht we will use when we need to. the system is also going to be bassed more on the cueing softwere (SCS). ALso i should have said that this will be a thing that is teached posible.

Our school likes to go big on there produtions. we have high quolity lighting and the backstage, set design and all the other parts are all high quolity. So the sound system is basicly to finish this off and get the sound to be at a high quolity becaus at the moment its very simple and not very good.

Form what u said on the speakers I wanted to mount them on the grid but we dont have the brackets for that and i now dout that i will be able to find them. Also form what u said on the budget makes sence and i think i will not have the surround sound or the sound renforcment.

On the whole what i want out of this system is mainly the cueing softwear and to have a good quality sound system. i think i will just get someone whos a profesnol to help me out.

You are sugesting leaveing out the complext stuff and just start with the basics of a cuple speakers, cueing softwere and the ability to mic up a pit band and other mics on stage, And form that exspand into sound renforcment and surround sound?

[AlexD]

Also this crossover thing, I dont relly understand that could you exsplane that to me? Or do u know of somewhere that exsplanes it?