Questions & Answers

Add a dedicated ducker feature to gate slot in Fat Channel

+13 votes
354 views
asked Jan 29, 2023 in StudioLive Series Feature Requests by michaelreust1 (2,480 points)
I have been one of the leading corporate AV techs in my area for several years, and have recently been hired as the head of audio for a major big 12 university's athletics department. I've already specified a couple studiolives for a few system rebuilds in this school, but one thing holding back further adoption in this field is the lack of a real ducker feature. I know there's a way to mcGyver one up, if you have an output and and input to burn, but many times we're dealing with massive I/O lists, as a lot of this stuff gets broadcast to multiple outlets.  A thing that ALWAYS happens at sporting events, is you've got some kind of DJ or video with music going, and then an announcer or MC will talk over it. And without a ducker in place, intelligibility goes out the window. AND, these are all extremely difficult venues in terms of acoustics and layout, since the speakers are generally pointed directly at the microphones, and seating is in the round almost always.  So we need every edge we can get.  Also, ginning up a ducker with a compressor isn't an ideal option, as the videos we get especially, aren't even remotely consistent in levels, which makes the compressor behave differently in every case.
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