# soundboard security



## ccfan213 (Dec 22, 2004)

my assistant principal does not want to put our new soundboard in the house because there would be no security on it. for those of you who mix from the house, what do you do to keep your board safe? 

i was thinking we could put up a fence-cage around the area where i would mix from so it sounds like the house but is actually in an enclosed room. but this would look kinda ugly. any suggestions?


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## len (Dec 22, 2004)

I'm assuming you have no secure booth, or there's no room for the new board, and/or the new board is too big/bulky to be moved in an out frequently. 

The only thing I can think of would be to order a case for it, and padlock the case. If you're concerned about theft moreso than damage, there are a number of security products which are basically cables that you can attach to the board and some pipe or bolt or something. Less secure than a room, in terms of damage, but better than nothing. 

But if the new board is that expensive that they're concerned, maybe it's time to lobby for a real booth.


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## lightguy2k6 (Dec 22, 2004)

Our school also has an open both, so we have an issue with security. On our soundboard we built a cover for it and attached two padlocks to hold down the cover over the board. When the board needs to be used, just unlock the padlocks.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 22, 2004)

we do have a secure booth, but the sound in the booth is drastically different from in the house and no soundguy in their right mind would ever mix from it. our board is huge and the booth has a really steep staircase so it cant be moved before every show. i am worried about theft, damage and people screwing with the board.


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## moojoe (Dec 22, 2004)

yea, we do what lightguy2k6 does, we built a table for the board and all the other sound equipment, then built a cover that just sits over it all. on this we put two padlocks.


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## avkid (Dec 22, 2004)

we have this understanding with all the music students and actors that if they touch anything they get detention!!


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## Sombra2 (Dec 22, 2004)

with having the understanding that actors, etc. get detention or leaving the board in a locked theater is that other people come in and they might not be as understanding (hence audience while the sound tech is not there)


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## ccfan213 (Dec 22, 2004)

the auditorium can be locked but is usually open and i am not that worried about people like musicians cause im usually there if they are, its more the night shift custiodians or people who come in for meetings and stuff where there are no techs.


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## SuperCow (Dec 22, 2004)

We have this understanding with actors, and just about any student that if they screw up anything they will not see another dawn.


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## Sombra2 (Dec 22, 2004)

how did you manage that. it one thing in a college environment, but high school. if you can get every single person in a school to agree and i mean really agree to not touch specific equipment to a certainty then i would be really freaked, that not natural.


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## SuperCow (Dec 22, 2004)

Simple. The room is locked with a combination, so the doors are always closed. On the door is a large *Access Forbidden - Staff Only* sign. Then, we have some signs that we put on the boards and on the door. My favorite: *This equipment and the data it stores is far more valuable than you are.* It gets the message across.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 22, 2004)

the problem is most musicians think they know sound and the rules dont apply to them. we cant lock the doors at all times because there are assemblies and meetings and stuff. there is no way to make sure that the equipment is not touched and if it is and no one is present we wont know who to punish for it.


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## great_beyond (Dec 22, 2004)

All these a good suggestions. Here is what I do. The productions that we bring the sound board out, usually we have the theatre contracted for the entire production and Tech week. Our Custondians are great, I dont know about your school , but you should give them more cedit than you do, I highl doubt they will touch anything. WE lock the theatre when we are not using it. If there is an event going on, we have a tech there to watch and take care of things (they usually need mics anyway). and I take pictures of the sound board after I have set levels to get that extra security. And actors generally dont touch the board ( I leave notes everywher "I will castrate you if you touch this board, however if you would to make a request of music come see me personlly. sinceraly, the one who can make you be heard." That does the trick.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 22, 2004)

we dont use techs for everything, only if they write it on the building use form, so i cant be there all the time, and i do trust the school custodians, they are very helpful, in fackt they all have keys to the booth. however there is a second crew of night custodians who are contracted from a private company and come in to clean the school. they are not so trustworthy and are the ones who do the actual cleaning of the auditorium, the regular custodians dont do as much of the cleaning, they do more of the makins sure teachers have what they need and are the ones there at night to watch over things.


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## techieman33 (Dec 23, 2004)

at my old highschool, we had it added into the rentals contract, that they had to have at least one tech from our highschool there at all times, and that they be paid a minumum or $10 an hour. No one ever complained. And I didn't mind the money.


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## bdesmond (Dec 23, 2004)

Find a rental house in your area to build a flight case for the board. The board may come with all the measurements to build the case in the manual, on the manufacturer's website, or you may need to do some measuring.

Specify that the case be built such that the top cover half of the case is completely removable, and that one or two locking points be provided where you can padlock the case shut when not in use. Additionally, as it sounds like you're going to be putting the lid on every night, you'll want a fairly large hole cut in the back of the case (where the hinges are) to pass your cable bundles through.

When you're using the board, just leave it sitting inside the bottom of the case. At the end of the day, pop the lid on, lock it and go.


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## SuperCow (Dec 23, 2004)

If there isn't a rental house in your area, then check with the manufacturer if they have road cases purpose-built for that board.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 23, 2004)

again though with the night custodians, there is no one there to watch and make sure they dont pick up the entire roadcase and carry it out the door.


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## avkid (Dec 23, 2004)

bolt the case to a table or something they can not easily get out the door!


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## ccfan213 (Dec 23, 2004)

thats true,
thanks evereone i will talk to my assistant principal when i get back to school after break!


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## mbenonis (Dec 23, 2004)

I really like the idea of a permanent table, bolted into the floor, with the road case bolted to it and the lid padlocked down. I only wish we could do that; unfortunately we don't have the space (the only space that would be feasible is where the church puts _their_ board every Sunday). Oh well, things could be worse - at least we have decent equipment.


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## len (Dec 24, 2004)

mbenonis said:


> I really like the idea of a permanent table, bolted into the floor, with the road case bolted to it and the lid padlocked down. I only wish we could do that; unfortunately we don't have the space (the only space that would be feasible is where the church puts _their_ board every Sunday). Oh well, things could be worse - at least we have decent equipment.



So bolt yours down and put the lid on it. The church group can put theirs on top of your case. Unless it's some massive Midas or Eminence board or something stupid big like that it shouldn't do any damage, assuming your case is of decent quality.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 24, 2004)

i dont get why you and the church would not leave both your boards set up or share one, isnt it extra work to keep switiching them?


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## techieman33 (Dec 24, 2004)

Even assuming it was a midas board it wouldn't harm a good case. We do it all the time.


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## mbenonis (Dec 24, 2004)

The church that uses our auditorium has a completely separate reinforcement system that they set up every sunday. Their board is indeed massive (a 48 channel A&H ML5000) and they have two racks of signal processing gear (not counting the speaker cabinets, patchbay, and amp racks on stage). For comparison, our board is a 24 channel Spirit Live 42.

Then there's the issue of the study hall being in the auditorium - and we have at least one broken chair a week...


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## mr_sound (Dec 24, 2004)

ccfan213 said:


> again though with the night custodians, there is no one there to watch and make sure they dont pick up the entire roadcase and carry it out the door.



Well how big is this board? If the board is that expensive, odds are it's not light, and neither will the flight case be. Bolting it to the table is a good idea..if you intend on never moving this thing. Otherwise, you're just shooting yourself in the foot. You need to consider just how much effort it would take to steal this thing. Most thefts are done rather quickly, and people don't want to be taking a long time to lift heavy objects....they'll just steal a VCR. If someone has a lot of time, it's likely an inside job, in which case it would be a blessing in disguise since you don't want a theif working there.

Regardless of whether you decide to bolt the board to the table, you should get all the snake and all your insert sends and such on a multipin. Make sure you get a flight case with a doghouse so you can leave everything patched. Then you just disconnect the multipins, pop the lid on, and lock it up. Plus, since you're going through all that trouble, you can put in a few different snake locations around the place with these multipins, making it really easy to move the board to a new location. Cutting big holes in the back of a flight case can compromise it's structural integrity, and the case may not actually be as strong as it woulda been without the holes in it. It's not going to make a huge difference.....but it sounds like you want this case to take quit a bit of abuse.

Of course, above all, your school should have this thing INSURED. So even in the unlikely event that something does happen, you're not going to be completely screwed. If you don't have a board that expensive insured, then you're asking for trouble. 

And what's this about the study hall kids breaking auditorium chairs? Those chairs aint cheap...who's controlling these kids? 

And that's exactly the problem with high school. Out in the real world, if your gear gets trashed, you bill the guy who hired you to do sound in the first place. And you make sure it's in your contract that he is responsible. Of course, you still have insurance, just incase. In high school you can't do that.....nor can you fire the foolish employee of yours that spills a coke on the board.

That's enough of a rant from me..I'm out.


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## mbenonis (Dec 24, 2004)

mr_sound said:


> And what's this about the study hall kids breaking auditorium chairs? Those chairs aint cheap...who's controlling these kids?



I'm not sure...any ideas? 

Seriously, though, at our school we have mandatory study halls for most students (minus the vocational ed students, etc.), and we have 1900 students. Split that over 8 periods, that's like 200 kids per study hall with two monitors.

As far as fixing the chairs, our school engineer takes care of that. He can fix just about anything (and pretty well to boot). Worst case scenario, break the concrete up, put a new bolt in and cement it, and rebolt the chair down. I've seen it done before.

This isn't the only thing they like to break. The aisle lights are apparently fun to play with too...fortunately I can get maintenance requests pushed through pretty quickly, or fix the damn things myself.


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## JP12687 (Dec 24, 2004)

"nor can you fire the foolish employee of yours that spills a coke on the board."

Yea or in my school...you promote him to be the TD....


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## Sombra2 (Dec 24, 2004)

you can't just fire a guy because he accidentaly spilled a soda or do something because he thinks he doing his job but accidently damages the board. Also if the board is not constantly guarded or secured it not so much as stealing a heavy board but by damaging it by the students or audience members who are either up to no good or thinking they know how to use the system even though they don't.


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## JP12687 (Dec 24, 2004)

Sombra, your right...but you also dont advance that guy up to TD, that was more my point.


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## techieman33 (Dec 24, 2004)

if you get a road case, just lock it up in an office, or the booth, and when you need it just pull it out, as long as it's not a large board it shouldn't be to much of a hassle.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 24, 2004)

its pretty damn heavy, its only 24ch but it has 8 subgroups and for the life of me i cant figure out why it weighs so much, it took three full grown men grunting and turning red to get it up the stairs into our booth. so i dont want to be movint it too much, sombra2 is right, partially because we discussed this online the other day.... its both the issue of theft which the night custodians have plenty of opportunity to move heavy objects as they are unsupervised all night, but it is also that there are people in the auditorium without techs all the time and there is no way they will change this. i cant ensure that an exposed board wont get damaged, people like to play with things. i dont want to have to re plug in everything every time there is a 1/2 hour assembly, that could get annoying fast, and im not quite sure what you mean by a multipin.
by the way, we have broken seats too and it drives me insane. i cant figure out why people like to steal the wooden armrests from the seats...


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## bdesmond (Dec 24, 2004)

A multipin being a soco plug. You have one connector with alll your cabling going into it. 

http://www.socapex.com/products.htm


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## ccfan213 (Dec 24, 2004)

i knew that, im just not thingking at the moment lol. thanks for reminding me.


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## propmonkey (Dec 25, 2004)

who is going to steal a soundboard?? i think thats pretty unlikely but if there are people around it you should keep it covered its more likely to be complete destroyed then stolen in my opinion. i dont think the average high schoo lstudent or person would want a soundboard and or know how to sell it if they were able to steal it.


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## sound_nerd (Dec 25, 2004)

Have the guys in your autoshop/machine shop make a plexiglass or lexan cover for the board that can be bolted to the table. Put a hole in the back for cables and such.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 25, 2004)

we dont have a autoshop or machineshop or a woodshop for that matter.


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## Sombra2 (Dec 25, 2004)

couldn't some sort of enclosed cabinet work? one with a padlock. for my home theater i have this cabinet that has a couple of shelves and a hole for wires, couldn't something like that work?


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## mr_sound (Dec 25, 2004)

Actually, since you've mentioned enclosed cabinets, I do know some people make something that looks more like a desk for pro audio stuff. It has a roll top that you can padlock, and then a cabinet underneath for all your rack gear. I beleive I saw something like this in the Markertek catalog www.markertek.com.

Of course, I still highly recommend getting a nice flight case for it that can be padlocked. Then get all your inputs and such on a multipin. If it took 3 guys to get just the board into the booth, then I highly doubt anyone's going to steal the board in a flight case. When you're using it, take the lid off and connect the multipin (though I'd use one of those elco 52 pin ones, not the socapex 19 pin...that's for lighting) and you're up and running. When you're done, disconnect the multipin, put the lid on, and lock it up. Any ATA flight case will protect it from stray objects, and likely even a fall off the table itself. The padlocked lid prevents anyone who thinks they know what they're doing from touching the board. And the sheer weight of the thing prevents anyone from walking off with it. 

BTW, what board is this? I'm curious to know what 24x8 board takes 3 guys to move.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 25, 2004)

idk the model # because it is brand new, but it is a Crest Board. i will check after break and i hope to be able to post pics soon.


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## Andy_Leviss (Dec 27, 2004)

The trouble is that, particularly knowing which building you're talking about, Matt, is that most of the easy solutions aren't terribly cheap, and it'll be a fight to get the money spent for it. I remember the losing battle I went through trying to get the LX console down in the house for focus when I was there, and that was a one man carry, two down the stairs. The boss man just didn't want us moving it. [shrug]

Without knowing exactly how big the new console is, the easiest solution would be to see if you can find a rolling cart it will fit on and make space for it back in the cage, just like where the old one lived. If you need mics for small "talking head" events, just leave 'em patched in back there so it just needs to be powered up . Then when there's an event, roll it out front, patch it in, and put it away at the end of the night. Leave the cable runs out.

We always left it out in the house when I was there, but then again, it wasn't a nice pretty new console, either.

The ideal solution for a bigger console, is to get a real case for it with a doghouse, and then get a console tipper. The case has wheels on the lid, and the tipper goes on the side of this and actually tips the console, in the case, up so that the tipper and the case act as a table. The lid goes away, and you leave the console in the bottom of the case. Of course, this is way overkill for a 24x8, but I'm throwing it out there for completeness.

--A


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## ccfan213 (Dec 27, 2004)

haha the "boss-man" i know exactly what your talking about the principal was willing to leave it in the house but the "boss-man" changed the plans at the last minute to put it in the booth. in fact the principal overheard me complaining about it and told me not to blame him. you are right about getting them to pay for anything, but they may be more willing to if i can explaing to them how much better it will make thier new equipment sound. i didnt know you used to mix from the house, hell i didnt even know the school owned a snake! though i guess the snake into the booth wasnt really that permanent and could probably be moved...


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## Andy_Leviss (Dec 27, 2004)

Yeah, for the musical, senior variety show, and "Music for a Cause" (do they still do that?) we'd set the top of what used to be a folding table wedged between two rows of seats mid-house when I was there, and put the console on that. There was a small, but big enough, snake that we'd run from there down the aisle, along the front of the stage, and back to the cage.

The few times I visited after I graduated, they'd migrated to just setting up the folding table behind the back row of seats, which I suppose is a lot easier and not too horrible a compromise.

The booth, with a tiny window and being way over the head of the audience, is beyond awful. Odds are that mixing a show from up there with the new gear will sound worse than mixing downstairs with the old gear.

The key, if you're going to make any progress on that, is to explain in simple terms, but remember that you are talking to somebody far older and more important than you. He was always pretty good at understanding if you explained it clearly but respectfully, just remember that, frustrating as it may be, he is the boss )


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## Radman (Dec 27, 2004)

Simple way to keep people from touching the board:

Electrify all parts that can be touched when not in use. Or get one of those cameras they have at stoplights or in gas stations and a sign that says: "YOU ARE BEING WATCHED". Or both. Yeah, both. Wait no that would fry the components, darn. I like the padlocked roadcase idea. Or a dustcover like the one in that car commercial that makes it look like a piece of crap. Maybe the locking table is the best. Yeah go with the desk with the locking cover.

Why do I have the feeling I should read more than the first page before I post? Oh well...


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## len (Dec 27, 2004)

techieman33 said:


> Even assuming it was a midas board it wouldn't harm a good case. We do it all the time.



I was just going on how big a Midas or Eminence could be, plus its case, on top of something less big, with an insufficient case. Was meant more as one of those overstatements that isn't based on a real, likely occurance.


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## len (Dec 27, 2004)

propmonkey said:


> who is going to steal a soundboard??



Given enough opportunity, people will steal anything. I doubt the maintenance staff would be stupid enough to do it because they'd be the first people that would get suspected, and they'd either have to have the need for it, or have a source to sell it to. But I guess it depends on the school. If the original poster is that concerned, it must be a valid concern.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 27, 2004)

Andy- we didnt do music for a cause this year, we did rock the vote instead, seniors who had proof that they registered to vote got in free and evereone else paid 5 bucks.


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## ccfan213 (Dec 27, 2004)

well im not that concerned about theft, more about people who think its fun to mess with the board, but thinking as my assistant principal would theft is a key concern even though it is very unlikely and since he would have to approve any change i have made that a key concern.


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## blindbuttkicker (May 21, 2012)

What we did before we moved out into the FOH at my church

Old sound board 12 channel Yamaha with gooseneck talkback mic, sat on table inside an elevated position within the booth, heavy piece of equip for being so msall suprisingly. Behind the board sat the amp and monitor racks and a rather very small space to step up into the "sound board area" so not that much risk of theft otherwise youd end up breaking the board and or your back from trying to wrench it out. (recently upgraded to a Behinger 32 Channel that nearly took up the whole table when we put it in, amazed it could even fit.) sat inside a single deadbolt locked room with high security lock on door and a specialy cut key, very minor risk of theft. 

After moving into the church, new Behringer put on table. Put locking bolts into the table bottom and secured it with a bolt to the bottom of the table now if somebody wants to walk off with our board theyll have to take the table with.


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## josh88 (May 21, 2012)

Wow, an 8 year resurrection is one of the older ones ive seen haha 


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


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## blindbuttkicker (May 22, 2012)

josh88 said:


> Wow, an 8 year resurrection is one of the older ones ive seen haha
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk



haha aint that the truth


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## neotrotsky (May 22, 2012)

blindbuttkicker said:


> What we did before we moved out into the FOH at my church
> 
> Old sound board 12 channel Yamaha with gooseneck talkback mic, sat on table inside an elevated position within the booth, heavy piece of equip for being so msall suprisingly. Behind the board sat the amp and monitor racks and a rather very small space to step up into the "sound board area" so not that much risk of theft otherwise youd end up breaking the board and or your back from trying to wrench it out. (recently upgraded to a Behinger 32 Channel that nearly took up the whole table when we put it in, amazed it could even fit.) sat inside a single deadbolt locked room with high security lock on door and a specialy cut key, very minor risk of theft.
> 
> After moving into the church, new Behringer put on table. Put locking bolts into the table bottom and secured it with a bolt to the bottom of the table now if somebody wants to walk off with our board theyll have to take the table with.



Personally, given the options, I would of pushed for them to buy a slightly bigger Yamaha or stick with the current Yamaha rather than go with a Behringer.


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## neotrotsky (May 22, 2012)

josh88 said:


> Wow, an 8 year resurrection is one of the older ones ive seen haha
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk



So my suggestion of a surly rigger with a Mossberg 500 and a Game Boy to keep him occupied is a late and poor suggestion?


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## blindbuttkicker (Jun 27, 2012)

neotrotsky said:


> Personally, given the options, I would of pushed for them to buy a slightly bigger Yamaha or stick with the current Yamaha rather than go with a Behringer.



We prefered the Behringer because of our budget constraints, the Yamahas would be nice but dgital boards r not wat we need (we would like on but we're doing it in increments.) and the Behringer has cleaned up and resolved some audio problems we think were present with the patch system after we installed a 32 channel snake. So the berhinger is a really nice board in my opinion and our previous Coordinators opinon (hes been head of A/V since back in the 70's stepped down about a year or so ago, but he's still the "head boss" in some things), as we used a sub mixer on the old board for all the band instruments. We also were needing a bigger board because of the amount of channels that we currently had in use (over 22 channels on a 12 channel board and 12 channel submixer, we were really pushing it with the patch panel). We wanted to eliminate the patch panel sytem and go for direct input, hence another reason of y we bought the Behringer


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