# wireless laptop to mixer



## MikeG (Aug 7, 2012)

Any way for wireless connection between laptop and mixing board? like bluetooth maybe?
I thought if nothing else I could just use a wireless intsrument rig.....any other ideas?


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## museav (Aug 7, 2012)

MikeG said:


> Any way for wireless connection between laptop and mixing board? like bluetooth maybe?
> I thought if nothing else I could just use a wireless intsrument rig.....any other ideas?


Are you trying to control the mixer with the laptop or to get the laptop audio into the mixer (or both)? What distances from laptop to mixer are involved and are there any intervening walls, rooms, conduit, ductwork, etc. or is it direct line of sight??


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## MikeG (Aug 7, 2012)

museav said:


> Are you trying to control the mixer with the laptop or to get the laptop audio into the mixer (or both)? What distances from laptop to mixer are involved and are there any intervening walls, rooms, conduit, ductwork, etc. or is it direct line of sight??



All I want to do is put the audio from the laptop into the mixer without chords. At most the distance would be about 25ft but in general probably less. Its all open without interference accept the quick and clumsy movement of children of all ages......hence the need for chordless


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## cpf (Aug 7, 2012)

If you already have a wireless microphone setup with a spare transmitter/receiver pair, it's easy to get a cable to hook your laptop up to the belt pack, and then the receiver to your board. 

Otherwise, there's Bluetooth speaker adapters, AirPort Express+AirPlay, or lots of tape.


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## FACTplayers (Aug 9, 2012)

I second cpf's idea of using a spare wireless pack. However, may I ask why you want wireless? It just seems like a headache that isn't necessary. However, I realize sometimes it's just easier to do wireless. I once had to rig up some speakers to be wireless. Pretty interesting and turned out well, but annoying more than anything.


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## TimmyP1955 (Aug 12, 2012)

Take the audio from a computer at the console, and control that computer from the laptop.


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## soundlight (Aug 12, 2012)

TimmyP1955 said:


> Take the audio from a computer at the console, and control that computer from the laptop.



This is how I've seen the problem presented here solved. Set up a computer near the console that will actually play the files, and then use a VNC client to control it from wherever you want to over an existing wireless network.


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## Blake (Aug 14, 2012)

Here is an adapter cable you can use for the wireless pack.


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## museav (Aug 15, 2012)

MikeG said:


> All I want to do is put the audio from the laptop into the mixer without chords. At most the distance would be about 25ft but in general probably less. Its all open without interference accept the quick and clumsy movement of children of all ages......hence the need for chordless


All in fun but the typos are just too ironic and I have to ask that if the audio is without chords and chordless then will anyone want to hear it regardless of whether it is wired or wireless?


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## ScottStine (Jan 5, 2013)

I run my sound file programs from my laptop to the available mixing board. I am usually on a wireless microphone provided by the facility, but I am tethered to the board by my laptop. 

If I could connect to the board from my laptop (or tablet) wirelessly, I would have an entirely new set of options for our shows.
I follow the logic of the belt pack transmitter idea but I'm not where I can try that anytime soon. Has anyone tried/verified this idea to work?


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## damjamkato (Jan 5, 2013)

ScottStine said:


> I follow the logic of the belt pack transmitter idea but I'm not where I can try that anytime soon. Has anyone tried/verified this idea to work?



I've done this with success before. You just need a cable with terminations that match the output of your laptop and the input on your wireless transmitter. Depending on the model of your wireless system, you will have to attenuate the input gain on the pack to allow the pack to accept a line level signal.


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## Morte615 (Jan 5, 2013)

The link posted above is great! I was planning on turning an unused DMX line into a signal line to be able to run an audio source for the stage, this will be so much easier (and I don't loose a potential DMX line!)
Mostly looking for some way for the dancers to play music during warm-ups without have to be in the booth. Also great for the tech table so we don't have to run a 100' snake out of the booth!
Thanks!


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## Megasong (Jan 6, 2013)

Going back to the original question, and assuming the limitation of sending Audio from the laptop to the mixer and nothing else, the cheapest and easiest way is to use one of the cheapie AV senders designed for sending signal from your cable/satellite box to other TVs round the house. They can be picked up for under £10 and work pretty well. We sometimes use them from a mixer aux mix out to remote parts of a venue where background music etc. is needed and it would be a pain to route cables. Amp with Speakers at the far end and receiver plugged direct into the Amp, sender from the Aux pair.


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## museav (Jan 6, 2013)

Megasong said:


> Going back to the original question, and assuming the limitation of sending Audio from the laptop to the mixer and nothing else, the cheapest and easiest way is to use one of the cheapie AV senders designed for sending signal from your cable/satellite box to other TVs round the house. They can be picked up for under £10 and work pretty well. We sometimes use them from a mixer aux mix out to remote parts of a venue where background music etc. is needed and it would be a pain to route cables. Amp with Speakers at the far end and receiver plugged direct into the Amp, sender from the Aux pair.


Any specific products or associated links? Something like Rocketfish seems to be around $130 for a transmitter and receiver pair and appears to get mixed reviews in terms of sound quality, as well as having a range that may be pushed in many venues.

What may be a major factor in any wireless system is how critical it is to have reliable, stable audio. I think you'll find that the consensus is that you cannot beat wired connectivity for critical applications and that going wireless is usually a matter of trading off the reliability and sound quality of a wired connection for the flexibility that wireless can provide. How you approach the wireless transmission is thus often a matter of how much tradeoff in reliability and quality you are willing or able to accept. An under $20 consumer product may work in some situations but may not be the most capable or reliable solution and that may have to be factored into deciding whether it is an acceptable solution for a particular situation.

The wireless mic transmitter and receiver concept is pretty well proven and often used in temporary systems for parades, air shows, etc. in order to get audio to remote speakers. However, one possible consideration in relation to laptop audio is that each transmitter and receiver pair transmits one channel of audio, thus stereo playback would require two wireless mic systems while multichannel playback or effects would require multiple systems. A stereo IEM system might work better for stereo but may also have a more limited range.


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## Megasong (Jan 6, 2013)

I totally concur that the wired solution will be better in performance terms than wireless, especially a domestic solution such as the one I proposed. However given that the initial requirement seems to be to provide music for kids moving about (quickly and clumsily) and not to be able to control what's coming through, just get it from one place to another over 25ft, I stand by my suggestion. It works, it has so far been reliable (for us at least) and whilst the quality may not be the highest it is probably not far off 192kbps mp3 standards. We use it over much greater distances - albeit typically for background music rather than hi-fi, and I'd be hard pushed to tell if it was a wired or wireless connection in a situation with background noise such as an hotel reception room or dining area. Line of sight in a kids dance area should be no problem at all.

UK ebay has item number 150973322800 which is exactly what we have a couple of sets of for just such situations, we have even used them (don't tell anyone lol) to send additional monitor feeds back to stage when we ran out of connections on a snake having not been briefed properly. The band were well impressed and had no complaints at all and thought we were employing expensive technology!

If you are looking for absolute levels of quality and reliability go for wired or expensive wireless, what I propose will more than likely be more than acceptable providing no one knows what you're doing and turns snobby. We would not however EVER suggest it for a situation where quality is paramount. We always have back up just in case, although so far it's never been needed, if we do use the cheapo solution.

Steve


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## TimmyP1955 (Feb 3, 2013)

Megasong said:


> Going back to the original question, and assuming the limitation of sending Audio from the laptop to the mixer and nothing else, the cheapest and easiest way is to use one of the cheapie AV senders designed for sending signal from your cable/satellite box to other TVs round the house. They can be picked up for under £10 and work pretty well. We sometimes use them from a mixer aux mix out to remote parts of a venue where background music etc. is needed and it would be a pain to route cables. Amp with Speakers at the far end and receiver plugged direct into the Amp, sender from the Aux pair.



But how will he power it? A battery pack I guess. Things are getting messy now.


Control of the music computer by another computer or iPad would be the best approach IMHO. If you don't have an iPad, get one. There are several apps that I find to be very useful when doing this soundy stuff.

The best way to buy a used iPad is to go on Craigslist and post a Want to Buy ad. State the kind you want, and that you will only buy locally in person. I got a reply the next day, made an offer, and the next day got a mint iPad2 16GB Wi-Fi with a Griffin Defender case (the one I wanted) for $300.


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## Megasong (Feb 3, 2013)

TimmyP1955 said:


> But how will he power it? A battery pack I guess. Things are getting messy now.
> 
> 
> Control of the music computer by another computer or iPad would be the best approach IMHO. If you don't have an iPad, get one. There are several apps that I find to be very useful when doing this soundy stuff.
> ...



I totally agree with best practice etc. but the questioner clearly stated all he wants to do it get audio from laptop to mixer and nothing else, this was what I was suggesting a solution to. It's for kids in a hall or somesuch with line of sight communications over very short distances and I would suspect control over audio tracks mix and volume, basic tone etc. all coming from the laptop.

There will obviously be mains power of some sort at the Mix/Amp end so no issues there, so far as the other end goes you can buy portable LIon rechargable battery packs for peanuts which would plug straight in and give hours of use - OK yet another thing to carry but so would his original thought of using instrument senders which implies that he's not going to be moving about but just needs to be elsewhere from the mixer.

My solution is intended to be a budget fix for someone who, by the nature of the question, is probably not in our industry and does not have our budget or wider requirements. I know it's quick and dirrrty but I also know it works and is reliable although it flies in the face of everything we think we should do. If anyone can come up with a better solution for his simple requirement for under £30 including battery pack I'd love to know it. All the other suggestions are excellent but we're in a different league cost/complexity wise.


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## bennosteve (Jul 16, 2014)

MikeG said:


> Any way for wireless connection between laptop and mixing board? like bluetooth maybe?
> I thought if nothing else I could just use a wireless intsrument rig.....any other ideas?


there is a cable made for this, with a resistive network to safely combine the L + R channels (instead of shorting them together). It is called the Kenny Kable, or iKenny kable. http://www.rothsound.com/ikenny-kable-3-5mm-to-ta4f-shure-bodypack-transmitters-p-508


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## bennosteve (Jul 16, 2014)

MikeG said:


> Any way for wireless connection between laptop and mixing board? like bluetooth maybe?
> I thought if nothing else I could just use a wireless intsrument rig.....any other ideas?


I just posted and forgot to state that it is for use with a wireless beltpack transmitter. Currently made for Shure or Audio-Technica transmitters, more brands by request.


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