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Yamaha QL1 Soundcart


PJ Rankin

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Hi all,

 

I've seen over the years a number of mixers use a Yamaha 01V on their sound carts into their recording devices of choice. I was wondering if anyone has decided to use something more modern such as their QL1 line? I do a lot of live engineering work alongside my location mixing and really enjoy the flexibility I've experienced with their QL5. In the future I'd  merge the two fields together when I eventually reach the stage of requiring a sound cart. My thinking goes QL1 into the sound devices 970 via Dante, I'd have a lot of flexibility then when requiring more than the 16 analog ins but expanding that also via Dante with any of the rio racks if needed. 

 

Let me me know if you see any obvious holes in the idea. 

Cheers. 

PJ

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Hi PJ,

while my own console in Australia is an 01v96 which I use with SD970s via dante as you describe, I did use a QL-1 on a job in LA with rented gear last year. Location Sound provided the rig. I found it quite fine to use for the work I do, but could see the fact it has digital input gain adjustment (in 1dB steps) could be an issue for recordists who are used to adjusting input gain over the top of dialog. The stepping might be audible. It's quite a bit taller than an 01v96, but not as tall as a Digico SD11, which I also use a lot. Other than that, I liked it, the big screen is good to use. Sounds nice and clean.

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I've been using the QL1 and Sound Devices 970 for a couple of years now, and highly recommend it.  Like any console, it takes a bit to get adapted to it, but now I feel like I can offer the best audio possible directly because of this combination.  Some of the biggest benefits are:

  • Dugan Automix - Has the ability to run 3 automix programs at the same time, with weighting options
  • RTA's - Allow me to roll off unwanted sounds (wind, generator), and know very objectively that I'm not touching the dialogue track.  This allows to EQ non-destructively, which is huge for location work.
  • Dante - Using Dante lets me use the 970's ins and outs for extra analog connections.  It also allows me to plug in a computer to back up to Boom Recorder, and lets me use Dante Via for playback.
  • Sends On Fader - Takes a minute to get used to from the "Aux Mode/Fader Mode" from the older Yamaha consoles, but makes routing incredibly flexible.

There are trade-offs, of course.  Some people won't get over the AC power, the weight, the lack of trims per channel, etc.  I don't begrudge anybody who says the board isn't for them, but for me there's still nothing better on the market.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the feedback guys. @Doc Justice I'd never thought of the secondary backup to Boom Operator but great idea. But yes in all my experience it's been mostly positive, if there's one thing I could change it is the faders; they aren't the best I've used after mixing with buttery smooth ones on the Midas heritage series. @nickreich I've never used digico boards myself so would be interested to hear the pros and cons of their set ups. Having worked with older yamaha boards such as the pm5d that had analogue gains, these were notably stepped in 1db increments but being a hybrid analog/digital desk made them useless for different scenes on the board or doing change overs when mixing multiple bands. I've never noticed the incremental gains with the QL either but perhaps I wasn't in a very isolated/intimate listening environment like I would be on location. 

 

Am am I correct in saying that typically something that requires 240v on location that people have been using golf cart batteries for supply? What kinda run times would that get you over a day with the kinda rig you posted @ryanpeds?

 

cheers for the input so far

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On 6/10/2017 at 7:20 AM, PJ Rankin said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. @Doc Justice I'd never thought of the secondary backup to Boom Operator but great idea. But yes in all my experience it's been mostly positive, if there's one thing I could change it is the faders; they aren't the best I've used after mixing with buttery smooth ones on the Midas heritage series. @nickreich I've never used digico boards myself so would be interested to hear the pros and cons of their set ups. Having worked with older yamaha boards such as the pm5d that had analogue gains, these were notably stepped in 1db increments but being a hybrid analog/digital desk made them useless for different scenes on the board or doing change overs when mixing multiple bands. I've never noticed the incremental gains with the QL either but perhaps I wasn't in a very isolated/intimate listening environment like I would be on location. 

 

Am am I correct in saying that typically something that requires 240v on location that people have been using golf cart batteries for supply? What kinda run times would that get you over a day with the kinda rig you posted @ryanpeds?

 

cheers for the input so far

I'm guessing that the rig I posted is setup for full time shore power but has the APC for backup in case of loss of power. I would think that it is a fairly power hungry rig with the QL1 and Mac mini setup. 

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