SABINE-zine - 010808

SABINE-zine
August 8, 2001 - Issue #1

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News Graphi-Qs in Orlando World Center	Sabine Graphi-Q GRQ-3102
“A great product at a great price — and no client complaints!” is how Brooke Mellington, Audio Specialist for the Orlando World Center, Marriott, describes the benefits of using six remote-controlled Graphi-Qs with built-in FBX Feedback Exterminators® for the World Center’s breakout rooms. Clients get clear, crisp audio with plenty of headroom, and Mellington and his crew of audio technicians no longer get phone calls from irate clients about feedback problems. “In our larger general sessions — as many as 5,200 attendees — the Graphi-Qs are our safety valve,” states Mellington. “I use them on podium mics, and definitely when I have wireless mics on stage.” ”Wireless lavalier mics are the most popular request I get — up to 24 wireless lavalier mics on stage at a time — and because of that, the Sabine Graphi-Qs have been a lifesaver.” According to Mellington, “clients are free to run all over the stage; podium mics can be live and used, or not used; and that motivational speaker who, surprise, just hops off the stage — and he didn’t do that in rehearsal — can go right into the audience without fear of feedback!”

Power Users By Mark Frink, monitor engineer for kd Lang, Joni Mitchell The old argument about graphic versus parametric filters is well-known to most of us. Graphic filters give us a familiar menu of tones we can easily identify, while parametrics are the only precise way to accurately smooth speaker and room anomalies. The Graphi-Q offers the best of both worlds and something for everyone. For monitor applications, I choose its graphic filters for basic equalizing, and then ring out with the FBX filters. If there are large peaks centered on non-ISO frequencies that need to be tamed, I can switch one or more of the 12 FBX filters to become a simple parametric filter. For FOH applications, where FBX filters aren’t quite so important, more of the 12 filters can be used as parametrics to tune the speakers and the room, leaving the graphic filters for artistic tweaking or tone shaping as a FOH mix engineer normally would do.
Using the Graphi-Q without a computer offers challenging, but very workable front-panel controls for a graphic EQ, a delay and a compressor, plus fabulous FBX filters. By adding a computer you get all the features of a powerful processor that you’ll wonder how you lived without. After getting the first two as front-panel control units, I now only buy slaves (6 more mixes in 3 rack spaces, and no bending over). I’ve long since gotten over EQ’ing with a mouse, which is outweighed by far by all the advantages a system of remote-controlled Graphi-Qs offers.	Mark Frink
The combination of Smaart (SIA Software Company, Inc.) and Graphi-Q is a powerful tool that allows precise control of the speakers in my monitor system. The edge that FBX filters provide gives me extra gain-before-feedback and an invisible, lightning-fast hand to control the squeals of the occasional unforeseen accident. The time before soundcheck I used to spend barking into a microphone is better invested getting an accurate picture of each speaker’s response, fine tuning them to target curves and using the built-in delay to align the response on stage to work coherently as a system in conjunction with the main speakers.

Q-Tips Turbo Setup for FBX filters We created the Turbo setup function because many of you asked for a way to do your initial FBX filter setup as quietly as possible. Remember, one of the main benefits of an automatic feedback controller is Gain Before Feedback, and to get that you have to set a series of filters before the show starts. Turbo Setup lets you do that very quickly and very quietly — a big plus if you have to set filters while people are in the room.
So what happens in Turbo mode? The input stage of your Sabine unit (all FBX products have this function) is essentially turned up all the way, which means the feedback goes into clipping immediately. The FBX algorithm works fastest under these conditions. And the output stage is severely limited, so when you raise the gain of your system to create feedback, all you hear is very low volume feedback. Now you get the fastest and quietest setup possible. But don't run the show while the FBX is in Turbo — your program will sound distorted.	FBX Reset button & Turbo Mode LED as seen on a Graphi-Q
How do you start and stop Turbo mode? When you reset your FBX filters you automatically enter Turbo mode, indicated by either a flashing LED or a dedicated Turbo LED. When you complete the standard setup procedure, Turbo mode automatically ends and you are ready to go. Or your can stop Turbo mode at any time by Locking the Fixed filters (push the Lock Fixed button!). For a complete look at how FBX filters work, click here.

Next Issue

A look at delays and how Sabine FBX & Miami DJs Spin without Feedback!

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