SC48 output level

[David Colella]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine just bought a new SC48 console, he is saying that when he puts 0db of pink noise from a output of the console into a XTA crossover he is hitting -12 on the XTA unit. He has tried several different pieces of gear...ie. x-overs, eqs, and has the same result. His complaint is he has to drive the console almost to clip before he can get enough output level. Any thoughts?


Cheers,

David Colella

[Limelight]

Hey David!

I'd like some clarification on this as well. Had a buddy out to a show the other night and he was blown away that on my SC48 my output levels were almost at clip and the system wasn't even running into speaker/amp limiters. He told me that on his DShow, if his meters were almost at clip, he'd be well into limit and at a very very high spl. I understand each PA is different, but on my prior console (M7), I seemed to have have ALOT more headroom than the SC48 has. Any ideas??

[Scott Fahy]

I would check the metering, is it set to peak or RMS?? Not sure what the actual difference is but I'd guess that if your set to Peak metering there would be about a 20db difference in metered outputs.

Scott

[Sheldon Radford]

Hi David,

e is saying that when he puts 0db of pink noise from a output of the console into a XTA crossover he is hitting -12 on the XTA unit

This would be about right for peak metering. A peak of 0 dB would read about 10-12 dB lower on an averaging (RMS) meter.

Try this: use RMS metering (at least initially, as you're getting used to the gain staging), set the Output Clip threshold (Options page) to just a few dB below max (rather than the conservative 6 dB default), and don't be afraid to run the meters up, knowing that you have 5dB add'l headroom above the meter, and that the clip indicator will tell you when you're getting close.

One other note: all VENUE systems (SC48, Mix Rack, FOH/Stage Rack) are capable of producing the same output level. Specifically: max output is +24 dBu, and the 0 dB reference point on the meters equals +4 dBu. This means there is 20 dB headroom above the 0 dB reference.

Sheldon

[Chris Johnson]

I experienced this when moving from an M7 to a Venue. It is a metering issue, not a headroom issue. It doesn't help that it seems the M7 meters are in dBfs which would mean that -18dB on the M7 meters is equivalent to 0dB on the Venue meters...

[Sheldon Radford]

Hi guys,

To translate between dBFS and the meter scale used on VENUE, all you need to know if that 0 dBFS (the maximum possible digital level) = +20 dB VENUE. Then just subtract dB as needed.

For example, to convert the 0 dB reference on VENUE to dBFS, simply subtract 20 dB (+20 dB VENUE "max" minus 20 dB = 0 dB VENUE "reference") from 0 dBFS to get -20 dBFS.

Sheldon

[David Colella]

Sheldon,

You say to try using RMS metering initially to get use to the gain staging. After I get use to it, should I then switch to Peak?

[Scott Fahy]

Only if you want to, I keep mine set on RMS all the time.

[1Audioman]

Originally Posted by Sheldon Radford

Hi David,


This would be about right for peak metering. A peak of 0 dB would read about 10-12 dB lower on an averaging (RMS) meter.

Try this: use RMS metering (at least initially, as you're getting used to the gain staging), set the Output Clip threshold (Options page) to just a few dB below max (rather than the conservative 6 dB default), and don't be afraid to run the meters up, knowing that you have 5dB add'l headroom above the meter, and that the clip indicator will tell you when you're getting close.

One other note: all VENUE systems (SC48, Mix Rack, FOH/Stage Rack) are capable of producing the same output level. Specifically: max output is +24 dBu, and the 0 dB reference point on the meters equals +4 dBu. This means there is 20 dB headroom above the 0 dB reference.

Sheldon

Sheldon,

Thanks for you suggestions, as I'm the "friend" David spoke about. I will give it a try on my upcoming show this weekend and get back to you. I too am coming from the "Yamaha World" and I'm attempting to get a handle on the gain structure of the SC48.