SAC where we at?

[DrDoug018]

We use SAC with a system similar to yours just a bit smaller.

Two Dr250 tops and two T39 subs. Since I already had a dual core machine sitting around our whole system cost something like $1,500 ($500 SAC, $450 for 3 ADA 8000, $225 for sound card). Thanks to Brent for getting us started with SAC.

I built my own rack with the amps and ADA in one and the computer, wireless IEM, and monitor in the other. It would probably be better to put the ADA in the same box as the computer but we had reasons for doing it this way. We run about 20 inputs and 5-6 monitor mixes; a combination of wedges and wireless IEM. The main console sits behind me on stage left (or FOH left - I always get those two mixed up), and we run two wireless remote laptops; one to FOH and one to keyboard player who mixes the right side of the stage monitor mix.

We have yet to run an Ethernet cable to FOH - wireless has worked great for us. We use one of the wireless IEM units at FOH for the sound operator to solo channels but have not yet implemented a system for him to talk with us. That's next on my to do list.

Whereas I absolutely love what SAC has done for our sound, it does take it's toll on me as the bass player and only person who knows how the whole thing works. When we do a show with full lights it now takes us almost three hours to set up. I find myself looking forward to the gigs where someone else is providing sound and I can just plug and play.

For a small one or two person sound company SAC is fabulous. For a weekend R&R band it might be a bit of overkill. OTOH the band is less likely to fire me because nobody else can set up the system

Doug

[djtrumptight]

Over the weekend i attended a concert at a park featuring Jazz singer Kem,Morris Day and the Time and about 14 local artists.I had never really watched an engineer work the boards outside,i was mesmerized,this guy wasnt just moving an occasional slider,he was pressing buttons all through the performance.Some of you may know him,his name is Jim Gibbons.I asked him if he was using a SAC system,he said no but he had one thats only 24 channels,he was looking to update that system to 48 channels.The system he was using consisted of 64 channels,all of which he uses to mix Kem and his live band,plus he said it was a good system to use when you gotta make changes for 14 different acts.My question would be,if you are using SAC,are you limited at 48 tracks ?

[jeffsco]

No...SAC will accomodate a 72 input or higher count.You are limited only by the inputs of your sound card, and the amount of $$$ in your wallet. If you get into MADI and such you can have a very high channel count,

[BrentEvans]

No...SAC will accomodate a 72 input or higher count.You are limited only by the inputs of your sound card, and the amount of $$$ in your wallet. If you get into MADI and such you can have a very high channel count,

SAC supports 36 stereo hardware inputs, and has 72 input channels. This means you can have up to 72 inputs, and most setups would also have 36 stereo outputs.

Hardware inputs can be assigned in stereo, and other things can use SAC channels as well such as VST instruments, SAWStudio Playback assignments, and of course hardware inputs can be multi-assigned. Hardware inputs can also be assigned in the return section for outboard effects... but the overall limit is 36 stereo devices.

It would be technically possible to run two instantiations of SAC on the same PC, but there is currently no way to link the two instantiations other than hardware loopbacks, which would suffer from a cycle of latency. I believe ou can also use something like RME Totalmix or MOTU CueMix as a submixer, which would not suffer latency, but they are more limited in their scope. There is some usefulness though... you could mix a large number of choir mics into a stereo feed in one of these packages, then pass the summed signal to SAC as an input (I think, anyway).

In any case... SAC has far more IO than most mixers anywhere near its price range.

Edit - Typo (well... post-at-11-pm mistake-o anyway)

[jeffsco]

Brent..I stand corrected...You are right. Serves me right for mutlitasking while trying to answer questions! It is in the RME TotalMix software that you can get higher channel count.

For what it's worth...my SAC rig uses an RME Raydat card and 4 behringer ADA 8000 for a 32 channel input count. I'll eventually get a 2nd raydat card,or perhaps the MADI interface for 64 channels but right now it's all I need.

Long and short of it...check out the SAC forum.

[tartan]

Remotes control all aspects of the Host except except plug ins. Any changes to FX parameters need to be done at the host.
The exception to this is the native Delay and EQ plugins.

Not quite. Even VST/DirectX plugins can be controlled remotely, just with a bit more effort (click blue triangle to transmit changes to SAC host).

[BrentEvans]

Remotes control all aspects of the Host except except plug ins. Any changes to FX parameters need to be done at the host.
The exception to this is the native Delay and EQ plugins.

Not quite. Even VST/DirectX plugins can be controlled remotely, just with a bit more effort (click blue triangle to transmit changes to SAC host).

Not all VST and DX plugs will do the remote update. Many will, but more than a few won't. It's better than nothing.

[tartan]

Remotes control all aspects of the Host except except plug ins. Any changes to FX parameters need to be done at the host.
The exception to this is the native Delay and EQ plugins.

Not quite. Even VST/DirectX plugins can be controlled remotely, just with a bit more effort (click blue triangle to transmit changes to SAC host).

Not all VST and DX plugs will do the remote update. Many will, but more than a few won't. It's better than nothing.

Ah ok -- I guess I haven't run into any that don't work. I don't use that many, though -- just Anwida Reverb, IQ4GUI, the Reaper bundle, and of course, CB's dual LR.

[Monomer]

Over the weekend i attended a concert at a park featuring Jazz singer Kem,Morris Day and the Time and about 14 local artists.I had never really watched an engineer work the boards outside,i was mesmerized,this guy wasnt just moving an occasional slider,he was pressing buttons all through the performance.Some of you may know him,his name is Jim Gibbons.I asked him if he was using a SAC system,he said no but he had one thats only 24 channels,he was looking to update that system to 48 channels.The system he was using consisted of 64 channels,all of which he uses to mix Kem and his live band,plus he said it was a good system to use when you gotta make changes for 14 different acts.My question would be,if you are using SAC,are you limited at 48 tracks ?

I didn't know Jim had an SAC rig.


Last I bumped into him he was running a GL2400.