DCA EQ

M32 and X32 Digital Consoles
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slh792
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:56 pm

DCA EQ

Post by slh792 »

We have the Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Bass and Keyboard set with a master DCA channel. My question is. Can you adjust the EQ's for these instruments as a whole in the DCA area?
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pvannatto
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Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: DCA EQ

Post by pvannatto »

Hi @slh792, the sanswer is no, because there is no audio that passes through a DCA. A DCA functions like your TV's remote control.
Paul Vannatto
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slh792
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Joined: Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:56 pm

Re: DCA EQ

Post by slh792 »

Thanks @pvannatto
Alttöpfer
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Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 10:25 am

Re: DCA EQ

Post by Alttöpfer »

What you can do if you add 'Mixing Station' remote app to your x/m32 setup:
Mixing Station has a very convenient equalizer GUI and a new quite comfortable momentary link option. So you can do this linking of your DCAs or any other channel combination an do the linked EQ job on the mixing station surface.
KMaxwell
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Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 3:42 am

Re: DCA EQ

Post by KMaxwell »

In my opinion the better way to do it is to EQ the sound system for linearity, what goes in is what comes out. Then you won’t need to be doing overall EQ on a bunch of inputs. EXCEPT the vocals and these can be put in a Mix Bus and (EQed for the best Gain Before Feedback and the proper sound of them) that Mix Bus is then routed to your outputs. Just be sure to not feed the individual vocal channels to the outputs except feeding the Vocal Mix Bus to the system outputs. This of course also means properly mic(ing) the instruments on stage. And don’t use garbage mics and put the mics in the right place. If you need to do the same EQ on a bunch of instruments then something else it wrong.
Alttöpfer
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Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 10:25 am

Re: DCA EQ

Post by Alttöpfer »

I tried to show how it may work but not to discuss wether it‘s reasonable...
KMaxwell
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Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2021 3:42 am

Re: DCA EQ

Post by KMaxwell »

Alttöpfer wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 5:23 am I tried to show how it may work but not to discuss wether it‘s reasonable...
I understand and a lot of people answer the question asked even if it not necessarily the best practice way of doing something. But it almost feels like the kind of answer I give people that come up to me while I am setting up for an outdoor concert in a public area and they ask me “do you know when the concert starts”. And I will reply “YES” and keep on workings. I have answered their question but it doesn’t really help them and it wasn’t what they really wanted to know. I know it is nothing like that but most of the time it gets a laugh, not always. I like to try and help people do a better job when doing sound and I try to dissuade bad techniques.

But I didn’t realize that in Mixing Station (MS) you could link things like that. Thank you for pointing that feature out. I have done a lot of customization in Mixing Station (mostly to set it up for church musicians to have an easier way to mix their IEMs) but I don’t use it all of the time.

When I started MS today on my computer to look at the linking capability some of the menus were different from when I was last playing with it and getting into some of the settings. It told me there was a new version (I have it on the laptop computer and other devices) it looks like it is updating but it didn’t and every time I try to update it it looks like it is updating but it just then goes away. And the next time I go to start it it again tells me the same thing about an update being available and it does the same thing again. When I started up my tablet I just went to Google Play and updated MS on that device from there and it worked just fine. It is only the PC version that isn’t updating. And yes all of the versions of Mixing Station that I use are paid for.

I have an application for that that I have found that can be very helpful. First I must clarify something the TRUEQ in the M32/X32 mixers I find to be really good because of the way that the filters interact giving you a result that is more like a Parametric EQ, but much faster to get results that you need. A fellow made a utility called EQ Slave and it links the graphic EQs on the X32/M32. I just did a google search and I can only find a Mac version of it online. So when you are using the EQ on the mixer the other EQs that are linked follow along. The application is when you have a bunch of Monitors on stage that when they are all turned up some frequencies will build up. With the EQs linked you can turn them all on and see what is building up and tweak them all at once. I would usually first EQ an individual monitor and copy and paste the EQ to the other ones like it that are all the same make and model on stage. Then I link the EQ and deal with the common frequencies that build up. I am usually doing this with Smaart. When you are done I just unlink the EQs. I didn’t see the ability to link the TruEQs together in MS I may have just missed it.

I don’t know if Paul V has a utility like EQ Slave in his tool box.

For a series of outdoor concerts that we do that is the same basic setup all summer long (except for the number of Monitors and where they may be placed) I just recall the setup. I don’t have to EQ the monitors or even the house system every time. I really like this capability in digital mixers.
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