Portablem Sound effects system.

[gafftaper]

Looking for some recommendations for a portable sound effects system. Our college will be purchasing "SFX" for the new theater but we do a least one show a year at a large off campus theater. That theater only has a CD player available for use. We've used CD's, DVD's, and I-pod's but all have issues especially with cue playback delay. I know there's a lot of dj gear that is a possibility. A friend suggested 360 Systems "Instant Replay" as an option. Again I know there is also DJ gear out there like this. I suppose I could install SFX on a laptop and take that along with me... not sure how legal that is without an extra license. There's also "Soundcue systems" software, which I've heard moderately positive comments on... and it's a lot cheaper than SFX

So what do you think? What's my best way of taking sound cues on the road? Most of our shows only have 10 to 20 sound cues.

[mbenonis]

I'm curious as to whether you've considered QLab for both systems. It's free for under 8 channels of output (upgrade licenses aren't terribly expensive, and much cheaper than SFX), rock-solid, and very easy to use. None of which I can personally say for SFX.

http://www.figure53.com

[gafftaper]

We hadn't considered QLab. The audio consultant for the new theater told us to go with SFX and we've stayed with that knowing it's used at all the large theaters locally.

I'll certainly take a look at QLab. For this portable situation I'm really inclined to go with a stand alone unit (like the Instant Replay). Just because it would be a nice educational contrast to the software solution in our home theater. On the other hand I'm also seeing that Instant replay runs around $2700... I could buy a real nice Macbook and QLab for a lot less than that.

[Logos]

I run Sound Cue Systems on my incredibly elderly IBM 600. Its the only thing i use it for and it works like a dream. Instant cueing and all the rest. Doesn't seem to like MP3 though I convert everything to wav files.

[Footer]

why not move the PC with SFX on it to the bigger space? I would assume both are not in use by you at the same time?

[mbenonis]

FWIW, here's a list of the theatres who are using QLab at least part of the time:

http://figure53.com/wiki/index.php?title=QLab_in_Action

Definitely give it a second look - it may be significantly cheaper than an SFX system, when you consider the computer, audio hardware, and the software together.

[gafftaper]

I just had a conversation tonight with the guy who used to be the resident sound designer for the big regional theater downtown. He says SFX is the only way to go from the educational standpoint since most theaters are using it. As for crashing, he said it was a problem at first. However they just set up a system exactly to the specs SFX calls for, uninstalled every component they could, and they have had no problems after that.

There are lots of interesting cases out there that would be travel friendly. Building my SFX system in a case that is ready to travel might be a great solution.

Is anybody using a hardware device like the "instant replay" for sound effects playback?

[ChrisAshworth]

If you go with SFX, ask them to see if you can get a free/reduced upgrade when they release the next version. They have been estimating that the new version will be released in the fall, and it sounds like it will have a lot of good stuff in it.

Sorry to hear we missed out on bringing you into the QLab community. Maybe next time around.

Best,
Chris (the QLab guy)

[gafftaper]

I wouldn't say you have completely failed to get me in the QLab world. But it's definitely an uphill fight. I'm very much a P.C. guy in the first place and it appears that SFX is the most widely used software (at least locally). So that's two strikes against QLab. SFX is known to crash or have buggy versions that crash... that's a strike against it. But I'm enough of a techno geek that I can build and maintain a P.C. that is designed to make SFX very happy for a lot less than a Mac.

Thanks for the tip on the new version of SFX. Our building won't be finished until the fall and we won't perform our first show there until January... so I'll make sure I wait for that new version if I do go with SFX.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by gafftaper

But I'm enough of a techno geek that I can build and maintain a P.C. that is designed to make SFX very happy for a lot less than a Mac.

There is no need to build and little need to maintain a Mac(excepting updates of course)
You can always buy a used Powerbook with OSX for around $450
Used PowerBook