Yamaha LS9-32

[ALF]

I have lost my left mains. When I pan left they are gone. i have them in the console's headphones jack. Any ideas. I have a new EV TG-7 amp powering the PA.

 

[themuzicman]

I'm going to assume your Left Mains are driven by your Stereo Master. If this is a new venue, make sure your Left Main is actually driven by the stereo master and not a Matrix send that's sending L/R - a Matrix send would make your Pan knob a fancy useless knob. Now, we're going to go down the signal chain.

Step 1: Make sure an Omni Output is patched to your Stereo Master's Left Output (inside of the LS9)
Step 2: Make sure Audio is coming out of the Omni Output - I would use the built in Tone Generator under the Utility Screen in the LS9 and a QBox or a known good powered speaker connected to the output. Keep the tone going for the next few steps.
Step 3: If Audio is coming out of the Omni Output, plug in the female side of the cable into the console, and take your QBox or powered speaker to the other side of the cable (amp side) and check there.
Step 4: If Audio is coming through on the other side of the cable, plug it into the amplifier and then grab a known good unpowered speaker and plug it into the amp.

 

[Aaron Becker]

Great advise from TH above, but if you're running L-R, simply swap the cables on the back of the board. If the problem follows the board jack, you have a routing problem on the console. If the problem follows the speaker, you have a problem downline of the mixer.

 

[TimMc]

ALF, let us know what you find after trying the above advice. I have a client in your general area and should you not get this sorted, might be able to pay you a visit while I'm in the neighborhood.

 

[cowfunn]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to revive this thread with a similar question. I'm quite new to the Audio world and I'm learning hands-on while reading the manual.

We are currently getting ready for a play at our school, and while running/testing Sound Cues, we found out that while playing a sound effect (ie train coming) from Qlab on a Mac mini, the sound goes right to left when it's suppose to go left to right.

We found this out late (when we were about to head home), so I have not looked at the patches to make sure the connectors are correct or played with swapping the cables.

If it's indeed the a routing problem, anyone have idea how to fix the routing issue?

 

[Aaron Becker]

What type of interface is running between the mac mini and LS9? My initial thought seems to be it would be a swapped cable on a stereo split and maybe there isn't any type of DI or interface being used. If you PFL the left input channel only, do you hear what you're expecting on the left side? Are you running the input to a stereo paired channel, stereo return, etc? It's been a while since I've worked on an LS9 but if you can give us some more details on how things are connected we might be able to help.

 

[cowfunn]

What type of interface is running between the mac mini and LS9? My initial thought seems to be it would be a swapped cable on a stereo split and maybe there isn't any type of DI or interface being used. If you PFL the left input channel only, do you hear what you're expecting on the left side? Are you running the input to a stereo paired channel, stereo return, etc? It's been a while since I've worked on an LS9 but if you can give us some more details on how things are connected we might be able to help.

Oof, okay I hope I'm using the right terminology.

Mac mini is connected to a HDMI Splitter (because we use it to project images to a projector), which is connected to a Kramer Presentation Switcher via HDMI. From the switcher we go from the S/PDIF output to a RCA? splitter, which on the other end goes to a patch panel, and links it to 2 inputs on the LS9. (This was setup before I took the job at the school)

Confusing? yes 100%.

Honestly I wouldn't notice the issue, if we were playing music and it comes out both right and left speakers. It's because of this one sound cue (incoming train) we realize the sound should be coming left to right but the sound is coming right to left (apparently this a big deal cause it will confuse the students).

 

[Aaron Becker]

Oof, okay I hope I'm using the right terminology.

Mac mini is connected to a HDMI Splitter (because we use it to project images to a projector), which is connected to a Kramer Presentation Switcher via HDMI. From the switcher we go from the S/PDIF output to a RCA? splitter, which on the other end goes to a patch panel, and links it to 2 inputs on the LS9. (This was setup before I took the job at the school)

Confusing? yes 100%.

Honestly I wouldn't notice the issue, if we were playing music and it comes out both right and left speakers. It's because of this one sound cue (incoming train) we realize the sound should be coming left to right but the sound is coming right to left (apparently this a big deal cause it will confuse the students).

I'm not super familiar with the interface you speak of. My guess is there is some crossed left/right cables between the computer and the board. An easy test would be to disconnect one of the board inputs and see which side of the audio you lose. Again, this all assumes the cue is correct in the sound file on the mac mini.
If you need a "quick" fix - just flip the panning of each of the channels on the LS9 (pan the left input hard right and the right input hard left). Not a long term solution, but if you can't chase down all the cables, it'll at least fix the problem if it's a one-off or until you can properly sort the issue.

 

[DrewE]

I'd swap the connectors (or repatch them if they're currently normaled) at the patch panel and call it a day.

If that's not workable, though I can't see why it would not be, maybe you could use some sort of audio editing program to swap the channels on the Mac.

 

[Aaron Becker]

I'd swap the connectors (or repatch them if they're currently normaled) at the patch panel and call it a day.

If that's not workable, though I can't see why it would not be, maybe you could use some sort of audio editing program to swap the channels on the Mac.

Both of these solutions don't really address the root cause. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding of patching or the setup we aren't understanding and this could inadvertently break other sound cues or panning within the cowfunn's setup. Tracing the cables is step one, re-writing cues before we know they aren't broken isn't really a great idea, IMHO.

 

[cowfunn]

Thanks everyone for your input,

One thing I forgot to mention, is that when we play the train sound effect to the booth speakers, the audio comes out correctly (left to right).

When I get back to the booth tomorrow, I'll trace the cables to as my first step. Thanks everyone!

 

[DrewE]

So if you hook up a mono microphone and pan it back and forth, does it correctly pan in the booth monitors? And presumably also reversed in the mains?

If so, you then must have the channels switched up somewhere between the board and the main speakers. If, instead, you get proper panning in the mains but incorrect in the booth monitors, then the booth monitors and the connection from the computer both have a channel flip-flop somewhere. As it's a digital console, it is possible (or I suspect it is possible--I don't have specific experience with the LS9) that the switching might be in the setup and routing inside the mixer, rather than misconnected cables exclusively.

 

[Aaron Becker]

Thanks everyone for your input,

One thing I forgot to mention, is that when we play the train sound effect to the booth speakers, the audio comes out correctly (left to right).

When I get back to the booth tomorrow, I'll trace the cables to as my first step. Thanks everyone!

Well, this changes things. How do you listen to the audio via the booth speakers? Is it a matrix of the mains (or effects speakers) or are you PFL'ing the source inputs?

So if you hook up a mono microphone and pan it back and forth, does it correctly pan in the booth monitors? And presumably also reversed in the mains?

If so, you then must have the channels switched up somewhere between the board and the main speakers. If, instead, you get proper panning in the mains but incorrect in the booth monitors, then the booth monitors and the connection from the computer both have a channel flip-flop somewhere. As it's a digital console, it is possible (or I suspect it is possible--I don't have specific experience with the LS9) that the switching might be in the setup and routing inside the mixer, rather than misconnected cables exclusively.

I agree with this. I hadn't even considered it was something downline of the mixer. Cowfunn should ensure the patching is correct from the board onwards first, by using your steps. Good catch.