Lectrosonics Venue 2 Audible iQ Filtering

[jawharp]

Hey,

 

I just got a new Venue 2 with 6 receivers all on A1.  I'm powering it from my Meon Life and have it running to my Cooper 106.

 

Every time the "iQ" icon shows up (the dynamic filtering) on the receivers display, a low audible click is definitely there.  It also happens when the icon goes away.  There don't appear to be any options for the iQ filter in the menu, so I couldn't try changing anything.

 

Has anyone experienced this?  Did I get a lemon?

 

Thanks

[karlw]

Hi Jawharp - how is your transmitter gain set? We usually only hear about this when the TX gain is low (i.e. set to completely avoid engaging the input limiter) and then the gain is made up later in the audio chain. 

That said, there is a way to bypass the auto IQ filter switching. 

 

This is done using Wireless Designer with a command entered in the Wireless Designer Command Terminal window.

 

The command is “eniqctrl”. 

 

Send eniqctrl=1 to enable the control feature

Send eniqctrl=0 to disable the control feature

 

When the feature is enabled, a new item appears at the end of the RX menu in the Venue 2 receiver frame, named “iQ MODE”.

When this is selected, a page opens which allows you to select 1 of 3 iQ filter modes for each receiver: Auto, Wide and Narrow. Auto is the default state. Wide and Narrow are fixed modes for use when filter bandwidth changes cause clicks in the audio. The Narrow setting should only be used when received signals are relatively strong because the insertion loss of the filter is 8dB greater than the Wide filter.

 

That said, I have generally recommended using the “narrow” setting, and have not heard any complaints. More and more, our mantra is “filter and attenuate” since the RF noise floor is getting ugly out there. If you have range problems, then change it to “wide”.

 

[jawharp]

Thanks for the info Karl.

 

That must be it.  My gain is set to 13 to avoid the limiter.  Honestly, not because of how the limiter sounds.  I guess I'm just playing it too safe.

 

Have you noticed any gain setting in particular where the cutoff is for when the filtering would be audible?  Like a number we generally shouldn't go below?  Or does it change per situation?

 

Thanks again!

 

Joe

[karlw]

I'm usually in favor of making sure the limiter is "tickled" on peaks, where you see the -20 LED blink red just briefly. To me, it isn't audible, and it means that you've got a better s/n ratio. What that numerical gain setting will be depends on the mic, the actor, etc. 

 

I'm not sure about where the gain would be set to not hear the ticks, I do think it depends on a number of factors. You might be able to experiment and develop that threshold for your own ears, with the mics you normally use, etc.