| APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #313985] |
Fri, 18 April 2008 16:47  |
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I know plenty of us on the LAB have been waiting for APB Dynasonics to finish the MixSwitch and that day has finally come, MixSwitch Analog Master units are now available.
As seems to be a pleasing trend, I received one of the first units off the line for the sole purpose of kicking the hell out of it and reporting back to you here on the LAB. I just un-boxed this little guy today, so all I have is some ripped off feature set info and some photos, but rest assured there will be plenty to come.
Long story short, the MixSwitch provides an easy way to connect more than one thing to your PA without having to run it through a console. I've got this one in my FOH rack so that I can run my console and another for the support act (or headliner, depending on which hat I'm wearing) into the MixSwitch and switch between them for the show, or sum them together to let us both play with the PA. Plenty of metering and PFL capability makes it easy to keep track of what's going on, plus there are additional inputs for my iPod (so I can play setup/pre-show/take down music without tying up my console), an announce mic, and a whole other set of ins for a DJ or CD player. All the non-primary inputs have basic EQ and limiting to keep things under control. Also provided is a 15 pin connector for linking to additional MixSwitch slave units, or to allow general purpose switching/muting and indicators of the success of the same. The "iPod" and Announce Mic inputs are available on the front and rear panels for easy setup.
While I'm using this in its traditional capacity, clubs that don't have live sound every day may find it handy to tie their DJ into their sound system without re-patching, or to have basic announcements without having to touch anything. There's also plenty of capability to have an emergency system override of the sound system that would mute music from the consoles but still allow the PA to be used for announcements.
For more advanced needs, you can tag on a bunch of MixSwitch slaves (I think I pinned JP down to admitting that 8 would be allowable, which offers 36 input switching).
In any case, here's the full feature set again stolen from APB's website, and some photos:
- Provides Ability To Easily Switch Between A Primary Digital Or Analog Console And A Backup Console
- Select Between Headline And Opening Act Consoles In Concert/Presentation Situations In SWITCH Mode Or Operate Both Consoles Simultaneously In SUM Mode
- Allows Selection Between FOH And DJ Mixers In Club Applications
- Analog & Digital/Analog Versions
- Announce Microphone Input With EQ And Limiting Independent Of Primary Or Secondary Consoles (Master Units)
- Stereo Program Input With EQ And Limiting For Music Playback Independent Of Primary Or Secondary Consoles (Master Units)
- Additional Stereo XLR Line Input Allows Connection To A Third Console Or Facility Input (Master units)
- Input And Output Monitoring via LED Meters and Audio Solo
- Highest Possible Audio Performance – THATŪ Corporation InGeniusŪ Devices Used On All Primary XLR Analog Inputs
- Slave Units May Be Linked Together For Use With Monitor Consoles Or Wherever More Line Signals Require Switching
- Auto-Bypass Of Primary Input To Output In Case Of Power Failure
- Connectors For Remote Switching And Tally
-- Bennett Prescott
Director of North American Sales
EONA ADRaudio d.o.o.
Cell: (518) 488-7190
An amateur practices until they get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong.
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #315551 is a reply to message #313985 ] |
Wed, 23 April 2008 13:16  |
 Chuck Augustowski
Messages: 111
Registered: April 2004
Location: CT (Home) / NJ (Company) |
Has No Life |
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Here is an additional front panel photo of MixSwitch:
Chuck Augusowski
APB-DynaSonics
[Updated on: Wed, 23 April 2008 13:19]
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #315552 is a reply to message #315551 ] |
Wed, 23 April 2008 13:18 |
Chuck Augustowski
Messages: 111
Registered: April 2004
Location: CT (Home) / NJ (Company) |
Has No Life |
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And a little better rear panel photo of MixSwitch:
Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
[Updated on: Wed, 23 April 2008 13:29]
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #316570 is a reply to message #316338 ] |
Fri, 25 April 2008 20:01 |
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Drew,
The idea is that a club that has live music most nights can leave their installed PA and live band board in place and when it's time for a DJ, press a button and be ready to go, with a nice stereo limiter in place to keep an overenthusiastic noise maker under control. The controls for that could be anywhere, due to the GPIO on the back, and with the MixSwitch locked in an equipment room club management won't have to worry about having their patrons molecules disassociated by high SPL on off days.
-- Bennett Prescott
Director of North American Sales
EONA ADRaudio d.o.o.
Cell: (518) 488-7190
An amateur practices until they get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong.
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #316804 is a reply to message #313985 ] |
Sat, 26 April 2008 19:48 |
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I stopped by APB on Friday for unrelated reasons, and talked to JP about some questions I had about the MixSwitch. He asked me if mine had the transformer option. That was the first I'd heard of it, so I took a photo. Mine doesn't have the transformers, but just so y'all know it's available from the factory on the main outs:
We'll be using the Road Test MixSwitch at Bamboozle this coming weekend.
-- Bennett Prescott
Director of North American Sales
EONA ADRaudio d.o.o.
Cell: (518) 488-7190
An amateur practices until they get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong.
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #316806 is a reply to message #316804 ] |
Sat, 26 April 2008 19:50 |
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Here's a detail shot about how complex the front panel controls are... Olga, JP, and Taz do some amazing engineering work. Those are 4 layer boards.
That plug in card is metering, the one next to it (closest to you in the shot) is the limiter card, it's replaceable for easy modification.
[Updated on: Sat, 26 April 2008 19:51]
-- Bennett Prescott
Director of North American Sales
EONA ADRaudio d.o.o.
Cell: (518) 488-7190
An amateur practices until they get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong.
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #316809 is a reply to message #316804 ] |
Sat, 26 April 2008 19:52 |
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MixSwitches ready for final testing...
Sorry for the mediocre image quality, I only had my phone and I was behind the scenes.
-- Bennett Prescott
Director of North American Sales
EONA ADRaudio d.o.o.
Cell: (518) 488-7190
An amateur practices until they get it right. A professional practices until they can't get it wrong.
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| Re: APB Dynasonics MixSwitch [message #323424 is a reply to message #323415 ] |
Fri, 16 May 2008 11:55 |
Chuck Augustowski
Messages: 111
Registered: April 2004
Location: CT (Home) / NJ (Company) |
Has No Life |
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If your DJ Mixer only had Left-Right outputs while your FOH console and system uses Left-Right-Sub, we would suggest that you use the Stereo Line Input for your DJ input (Bonus, a limiter is available - With On switch - on this channel with adjustable threshold). This gives you assignment to Bus 1 and 2 as the default Left/Right Stereo Mix. You have two addition summed mono Mix Buses to assign to from this input. If your FOH console/System is using 3 OR 4 as the Sub Mix, you would assign this DJ input to 3 or 4 as a summed Mono of the stereo input to the sub channel in balanced with the Left/Right mix. This doers not need to be a DJ mixer but instead could be a 3rd console in festival applications. Note that this is the Stereo Line Input.
You can use the additional "Stereo Program Input" in the same way (2 DJ's), but usually this is meant as a direct music playback into your system (No DJ) enabling both front (iPod) or rear panel music playback input for your system without depending upon your console for this playback. (HF/LF EQ as well as limiter included on Stereo Program Input) This also means you can start tearing down you console while still providing music (and announcements) without depending upon your console for this function.
Chuck Augustowski
APB-DynaSonics
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