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Welcome to the fifth issue
of our e-mail newsletter, designed to help you get the maximum
benefits from using Sabine products. Please feel free to reply
and make a suggestion, or ask for a specific topic to be
covered.
News
Power to the Wolverines!
“For a few hours on any given Saturday, the
Michigan Stadium hosts the largest gathering of people in the US,” attests
Jay Barth, system engineer for the Michigan Stadium. “And it’s a
Sabine ADF4000 that allows the networks to deliver it live, loud and clear into
the homes of the remaining 287 million,” he continues.
Barth uses a Sabine Power-Q™ ADF4000 to keep referee microphones from
causing disastrous feedback over the stadium’s house system. “The
networks get an unprocessed signal from us,” states Barth, “but they
wouldn’t be able to use it if it were not for the Power-Q’s ability
to deliver loud, feedback-free signal to our house system.
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“We use everything on the Power-Q,
and because of it, we get compliments all the time from the major television
and cable networks on the quality of signal we deliver."
— Jay Barth |
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Michigan Stadium, home of the
Wolverines & Sabine's Power-Q |
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The Power-Q™ ADF4000 Digital Workstation
combines the functions of nine separate products into one easy-to-use 2U
package. The 24-bit, two-channel Power-Q contains parametric EQ (up to 12 bands
per channel, with low and high pass filters), 31-band graphic EQ with
adjustable filter widths, full-featured real-time analyzer, compressor/limiter,
delay, noise gate and 24 patented FBX Feedback Exterminator® filters (12
per channel). The Power-Q allows all functions to operate concurrently.
“Handling wireless referee microphones is a challenge to say the
least,” admits Barth. “Our referee carries an omni-directional
microphone — powered by 50,000 watts of Crown amplifiers — into the
middle of over one-hundred thousand screaming fans,” he continues.
“And every five minutes or so, he’s got to be the one heard —
clearly — over everyone else.” To accomplish this, Barth makes good
use of the Power-Q's abilities. “We use everything on the Power-Q —
FBX filters, graphic and parametric EQs, compressor/limiter, delay and noise
gate," states Barth. "And because of it we get compliments all the
time from the major television and cable networks on the quality of signal we
deliver."
In 1998, Michigan Stadium set a new NCAA record
for seasonal average attendance — 110, 985 fans per game!
Barth also uses the Sabine Power-Q at Michigan’s new state-of-the-art
Donald R. Shepherd Women's Gymnastics Training Center. “Wireless headsets
and background music in a room that can hold several thousand people are all
the reason I need to have a Power-Q installed,” asserts Barth. The $3.2
million, 22,000-square-foot facility has 17,000 square feet of training area
and is outfitted with the latest in gymnastics training equipment.
- Check out Sabine's Power-Q
online.
- Visit Creative
Audio Productions.
Power
Users
Del Fox Gets the Best of Both Worlds
"Sabine came out with the first FBX Feedback
Exterminator® in 1990 and it took me about a year to find out about
them," recalls Del Fox, Director of College Wide Technical Services at
Brevard Community College, Cocoa, Florida. "But I've been busy using them
ever since."
Fox installed his first Graphi-Q into the Brevard Community College gymnatorium
— a gymnasium space that includes a 60x40-foot stage. "Typical of
most college gymnasium-auditorium combinations, you couldn't understand what
was being said over the sound system," he remembers. "I installed a
Sabine Graphi-Q and set it up with my Macintosh using my own hand-crafted
serial interface," Fox states. "Now everyone wants to know why the
system sounds so good!"
Fox uses SIA SmaartLive (Windows) and SpectraFoo
(Mac) to fine tune installed and live systems. "Using a Macintosh with
Virtual PC allows me the best of both worlds," confides Fox. "I use
the multiple-window ability of SpectraFoo for signal comparison, and then click
on the SmaartLive window for analysis and control of the
Graphi-Q."
In addition to his responsibilities at Brevard,
Fox designs and installs custom sound systems, like the one he is currently
working on in Titusville, Florida. "The Parrish Medical Center is
approximately a 200-bed hospital in the construction stage right now,"
states Fox. "I will be installing a Sabine Graphi-Q, Real-Q2 and the new
True Mobility 2.4 GHz wireless system into the hospital's 4-story atrium
space." Fox plans to use the Real-Q2's Real-Time Adaptive EQ to retain the
equalization curves despite changes in room conditions.
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"I installed a Sabine Graphi-Q ... now everyone wants to know
why the system sounds so good!" "
— Del Fox |
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Del Fox |
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Fox has since updated his hand-crafted
Mac-to-Graphi-Q serial interface with a commercially available USB-to-RS-232
adapter. Read the following Q-Tip for more on connecting Sabine products to
your personal computer. |
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SABINE Home
Sabine, Inc.
13301 NW US 441
Alachua, Florida 32615 USA
• TEL: (386) 418-2000
• FAX: (386) 418-2001
• E-mail:
sabine-zine@sabine.com
All Rights Reserved
© 2002 Sabine, Inc. |
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Q-Tips
USB Connection to Graphi-Q, Power-Q &
Real-Q2
Situation: I'm at the jobsite trying to
tweak the settings on a Graphi-Q. Only one problem, there isn't an RS-232
connector on my laptop!
Solution: Go USB. There
are a variety of USB to RS-232 serial adapters to choose from.
Some of the ones Sabine power users have used (successfully
or unsuccessfully) are listed
on our website.
Connection Tips: Follow the
manufacturer's installation/operation procedures carefully to install your
RS-232-to-USB adapter. Then, connect your Graphi-Q/Power-Q/Real-Q2 to the
adapter, turn the Sabine unit on and launch the Sabine unit's Remote Control
software program on your Windows PC. (NOTE: Mac users have reported excellent
results using Virtual PC emulating Windows 2000).
Next, you need to find out — and possibly change — the COM port
setting for your USB to RS-232 adapter. Referring to the image below, open up
your Control Panel (Start — Settings —
Control Panel) then:
- Double click the System icon to open up
your System Propertieswindow.
- Click Hardware and then Device
Manager in the System Properties window.
- Open up Ports (COM & LPT) and look
for your USB device and COM port setting.
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| Windows 2000 Device Manager (may differ from other
versions of Windows) |
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If the setting is COM 1, 2, 3 or 4, simply close
out of the Control Panel windows and select the appropriate COM port in the
Sabine Remote Control software. However, if the COM port listed for the USB
device is greater than 4, you will need to reassign the adapter's COM port
setting. To do this, go back to Ports (COM & LPT) in your Device
Manager and double click your USB to Serial adapter. Click Port
Settings and then Advanced. You should then be able to select the
COM port (1, 2, 3, or 4) being careful not to select a COM port already in use
on your computer.
Read more on connecting
your Sabine product to a personal computer. |
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