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NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 10:53:59 EST
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 15:53:59 GMT
Xref: intern1.nntp.aus1.giganews.com rec.audio.pro:1052295


On 2004-03-17 said:
I'm talking about a church who pays someone once to install a sound
system which isn't going to bring them any income, and they don't
ever expect to have to spend any more money on sound equipment
snip
Then one Sunday morning five years later the janitor comes in, turns
on "the sound" and it doesn't work. So next week they try to find
the guy who installed it (it must still be "under warranty," eh?)
and he's no longer around. So they get out the Yellow Pages, call a
sound contractor who comes in, looks it over, and says "Well, this
Ethernet interface at the console end has gone on the fritz. They
don't make it any more so I can't get another one. There are new
interfaces that use the same Ethernet cable that you have here, but
I have to get one for each end. They're better than the ones you
have here, but it will cost you $1500 for the new equipment plus
I'll have to recalibrate the levels since they work differently now.
That's not what the customer was expecting.
The "analog" version of this scenario is "Oh, this connector has a
broken wire. I'll just resolder it. That will be $35."
--
And has one who's been on both ends in a church, as one of the board
of the church and also the guy who was responsible for the sound
upgrade I would have never argued to go with a digital anything for my
church.

My first consideration is just as Mike described it. I'm going to be
gone someday and when something goes wrong God only knows who's going
to get the call to make it work again. Xlr connectors can be
resoldered; it's familiar technology to a lot of us old farts. We can
make it work again.

AS one who was both responsible for the sound system and a member of
the board I wanted this system to provide them many years of service
because I knew that until somebody else died and gave them a bequedst
to do it it wouldn't get done. A lady's bequest was specifically for
a better system so that many of our elderly members with hearing
difficulties could hear better. IF that church is still surviving
twenty years from now I expect when I go back to my old boyhood home
to visit I'll find that same system still in operation no matter how
far it's deteriorated. I'd been fighting the put out small fires
with their sound systems for years. FIrst there was total junk, then
marginally usable then we finally got something installed which met
their needs and could truly be expected to do the required job.


FOr my part I'd probably be awhile before I went with a digital snake
for any system I expected to operate as I haven't seen a digital board
I liked to operate yet. I like my analog interface, each channel has
knobs switches buttons and faders with no menu selecting necessary.

IN fact I went with the ubiquitous DBx 2231's for my graphics in my
foh and monitor rigs because I'm leery of something like the Driverack
systems and their menus. THis old blind man can ring out a system by
grabbing the appropriate controls on the analog graphic. THat could
be interesting if I should lose my place in those menus while trying
to quickly ring out a system.



Richard Webb
Electric Spider Productions
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

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