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Extending the L6 link range


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Hi all,

 

I find it quite frustrating that my multicore is 30 m which nicely gets to the back of the room in most of the venues that I'm doing sound for, but the maximum length for the l6 link, out from the m20d to the first speaker in 15 m (50ft). I love using the l6 link as it offers simplicity, ease of setup and control. I just wish I could extend the range! Other than buying an l2t to act as a repeater, which is clearly a ridiculous idea! can anyone offer any ideas? I am using good quality Aes/ebu 110 ohm cable- has anyone tried pushing this to 100ft? The ipad app is good for walking around and doing the odd tweak but its not up to replacing being at the desk.

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Ok so for those of you who are interested....

 

It doesn't work :-(!!

 

At best the speaker keeps appearing and disappearing.

 

I'd be very interested to understand what the reason is that it works perfectly up to 15 meters but not 30....  What is lost in transmission for that extra 15 meters?????

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It all depends on the line-drivers used in the equipment. Some run up to five volts; if the signal is standard AES/EBU, the specification allows it to run as low as two volts. The higher voltage works better with longer cables, because cable losses have less effect on the signal.

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The OP has already said that operating the mixer from an iPad is not as easy for him as directly working the mixer. So he's looking for a way to move the mixer to the FOH operator position and send the outputs to the stage.

 

Basically this is the way one works with a traditional mixer and a snake, but sending L6-Link from the back of the room to the stage is too great a distance and is unreliable.

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The ipad app is good for walking around and doing the odd tweak but its not up to replacing being at the desk.

 

Can I ask why you find that to be the case? My experience is that in many ways, it is better. The screen is larger, and virtually every adjustment that can be made on the M20D is also available on the iPad screen. The only real difference is the physical knobs, and generally, 'fader view' on the iPad is nicer than those anyway, I have had no problem with 'deep' tweaks and settings via iPad, and it has been 100% reliable. It is just a different way of working, but given how you gain by not having to drag large multicores around and save on all the setup/breakdown time, it is worth getting used to it.

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Using iPad at the back of the room is reliable but will require a good signal, so get apple express or belkin or netgear n600 and put it up high. Also make sure you get a portable battery- just in case iPad needs charging halfway through. i was mixing a monitor out to the house PA system and walked into the bathroom to mix the drums and bass to be heard through their house speakers --we played their bar area and customers could hear us everywhere in building including outside while standing in line. 

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Can I ask why you find that to be the case? My experience is that in many ways, it is better. The screen is larger, and virtually every adjustment that can be made on the M20D is also available on the iPad screen. The only real difference is the physical knobs, and generally, 'fader view' on the iPad is nicer than those anyway, I have had no problem with 'deep' tweaks and settings via iPad, and it has been 100% reliable. It is just a different way of working, but given how you gain by not having to drag large multicores around and save on all the setup/breakdown time, it is worth getting used to it.

I must admit that i find the ipad app a bit unreliable to be the only control I have for the sound.  I took the advice on here and I use an apple airport express but I still find that it loses connection from time to time.  It generally re-connects again but I would not have the confidence to run the sound for an evening on just that. (Also the 'Mute all/Mics' button is not available on the ipad!)  I also find that when I use line 6 wireless mics (operating at 2.4Ghz) at the same time this can often completely knock out the wirless between the M20d and the ipad.   I'll admit that i might have old ipad software etc but being at the desk gives me a bit more confidence.

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There's a topic somewhere here on the forum that describes how to setup your airport express to use the 5Ghz band to reduce the interference you can get from other devices using 2.4Ghz. I also recall Don Boomer saying that this requires more of a line of sight between the iPad and the airport express (so raise it up if you can) but I have found it to be very reliable in my experience. No dropouts like I had early on.

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I initially also had some reliability problems with the wi-fi. First efforts using the Samsung USB adapter were totally hit and miss... difficulty connecting.... dropouts... the Airport Express was better, but still not 100% by any means. I did a lot of testing and experimenting, and my finding were that getting the wi-fi adapter AWAY FROM the mixer made a massive difference. I actually use the Samsung, mostly, via a 2m USB extender cable that has a little built-in base. I position this as high as I can well away from large metal objects. Since doing so, I have had total reliability.  Not one failed connection... not one drop out in dozens of shows. Rock solid all night, every time. Plug the same adapter into the mixer and it is back to square one... I have been using this for some time now, and seem to have very good range as well. Likewise with the Airport... at least 2-3m from the mixer as high as you can get it. Might be worth a try.

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