114 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
114 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
 
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# Getting the pastor's mic into the Mac
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The engine takes **any CoreAudio input**. It does not care how the audio got
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there. Pick whichever of these matches the room, and it shows up in the
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**Sermon audio → Input device** list like any other sound card.
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---
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## The one rule
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Feed it **the pastor's microphone**, not the main mix.
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A direct out, a matrix, an aux, a bus — anything that is that one voice. Music,
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congregational singing and room noise all make the transcription worse, and the
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voice-detection has to work much harder to find the speech.
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Post-EQ and post-compression is good. Post-fader is fine. Post-reverb is not.
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---
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## Dante
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Dante Controller is already installed on this Mac, but a Mac cannot receive
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Dante audio without something to receive it *with*. Two options:
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### Dante Virtual Soundcard (about $50, one time)
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The normal answer. It turns the Mac itself into a Dante device.
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1. Buy and install **Dante Virtual Soundcard** from audinate.com.
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2. Start it. Set it to **2 channels**, sample rate **48 kHz**.
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3. Open **Dante Controller**, find the row for this Mac, and subscribe
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channel 1 to the pastor's mic transmit channel.
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4. In the engine, pick **Dante Virtual Soundcard (1-2)**.
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There is no subscription. It is the only money this whole system costs.
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### RedNet hardware you may already own
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This Mac has **RedNet Control 2** and the Focusrite PCIe driver installed, but
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no RedNet device is currently attached. If there is a RedNet box or a PCIeNX
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card in a Thunderbolt chassis somewhere in the building, reconnecting it gives
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you Dante input for free and with lower latency than DVS.
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---
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## Waves SoundGrid
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For the locations on a Waves network instead of Dante.
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1. Install **Waves SoundGrid Studio** (free from waves.com) on the Mac.
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2. Connect the Mac to the SoundGrid network. SoundGrid Studio will find the
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server and I/O.
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3. In SoundGrid Studio, patch the pastor's mic channel to the **driver** —
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that is the thing that appears to macOS as a sound card.
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4. In the engine, pick **Waves SoundGrid** as the input device.
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The Mac needs a wired Ethernet connection to the SoundGrid network, and it
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should be a **separate** interface from the one reaching the NAS if the two
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networks are separate VLANs.
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---
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## Console USB (free, works today)
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Your M32 does 32 channels of USB audio to a Mac with no extra hardware.
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1. USB cable from the console's **USB** port to the Mac.
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2. On the console, route the pastor's mic channel to a USB send.
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3. In the engine, pick the console as the input device.
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Least elegant, zero cost, and completely reliable. A good way to prove the whole
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system works before spending anything on Dante.
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---
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## BlackHole (for testing)
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BlackHole 2ch is already installed. Anything playing on the Mac can be routed
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into the engine through it, which is useful for rehearsing with a recording of
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last week's sermon before you trust it live.
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---
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## If Dante is not in the list
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**Restart the app.** Chromium reads the audio devices when it starts, and if
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Dante Virtual Soundcard was launched afterwards it will not be there. The app
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now watches for devices appearing and picks them up on its own, but a restart is
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the certain fix.
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Also worth checking: DVS running, set to Core Audio, and at least one channel
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subscribed in Dante Controller. If the app lists the device but the meter never
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moves, the device is there and the subscription is not.
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## Level
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Aim for speech peaking around **-20 dB** on the app's meter. Measured on this
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rig the Dante feed peaked at -44 dB, which works but leaves only about 14 dB
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above the speech/silence line — quiet passages can slip under it. Raising the
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send at the console is better than winding Sensitivity down, because Sensitivity
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lowers the bar for room noise too.
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## Checking it works
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The engine has a level meter with a notch on it.
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- The **bar** is the incoming level.
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- The **notch** is the line between silence and speech.
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Speech should push the bar clearly past the notch and turn it green. Room noise
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between sentences should sit below it. If it doesn't, move the **Sensitivity**
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slider — left if quiet speech is being missed, right if noise is triggering it.
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