Help with Output Channel Management

[Jonrob]

Greetings All: I have not seen a fit to the following situation so I am asking the Gurus on line. I am doing a community theatre production and have a powered mixer with enough inputs (6) but it really only has two outputs which I use for the main auditorium (Rt and left). I want to be able to power speakers on stage for different effects (door closing, breaking glass etc.) and it would be more effective for teh sound coming from the correct part of the stage. Any suggestions on equipment for how to get the correct sound to the correct speaker? I need 3 more outputs in addtion to the right and left for the auditorium. Thanks

 

[2mojo2]

You may need to line up a more substantial sound console/mixer to get the results you are looking for.
What kind of mixer are you using?

 

[DaveySimps]

There are several ways to go about this. My recommendation would be to use either aux sends or sub groups. What sort of mixer are you currently using? What are you using for FX playback? My guess is that you will need to get a new mixer. If you tell us what your budget might be, and exactly what the board is used for, we will be happy to give some recommendations.

~Dave

 

[Jonrob]

Thanks Dave: I am attaching a schematic of the sound plan that I am sure I am sure is not bery professional but there ya go. The boundary mics are pretty straightforward (after mixing). Their sound will be from the actors and then go right out to the auditorium. I then want to send sound cues from the laptop to speaker 3 which is offstage (i.e. police cars approaching, door openings etc.). We also want the effect mics (1 &2) to pick up some local activity on the stage and play that sound to offstage speakers 1 and 2 respectively. Any equipment suggestions? Thanks so much! Jonrob

 

[jkowtko]

Like Dave says, you'll need to use whatever outputs are available on your board -- usually Aux or SubGroup outputs.

However judging from your comment on it being a 6 channel board, you may not have more than two Auxes to work with, and no subgroups. this means only four outputs (L, R, Aux1, Aux2). So if you can live with two FX speakers instead of three you might be in luck.

But, we don't know what your board is -- maybe it has five discrete outupts available. Please tell us the make/model and it will be easily to help you make the best use of it.

 

[DaveySimps]

Thanks for the diagram. It did help us give us an idea of the input and output requirements you have. In order to help you, we still need to know what make and model mixer you are currently using. As I previously mentioned, if it has aux sends or sub groups, you can use those outputs to route to your effects speakers. I am guessing you may not have either on your mixer.

Having no idea what budget you may have, I am going to start on the lowest level, and recommend you start looking into the Behringer Eurorack line of mixers. They have a cheap price point with lots of features. Certainly there are many many other options, but these are very cost effective. Again, this is just a guess based on the info we have so far. If you give us more info on what mixer you currently have and what your budget may be for a new mixer, we are happy to refine our recommendations.

Buy Behringer EURORACK UB2442FX-PRO Mixer | Unpowered Mixers | Musician's Friend

~Dave