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For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

Connecting Hauptwerk to MIDI organs, sequencers, ...
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johnstump_organist

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For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

PostThu Nov 29, 2018 4:12 pm

For anyone who might be interested, I’m sharing my current audio setup for those who like to follow such things.
My interface is a RME 802 and I now have ten Behringer 2031a’s that I am using in the following way:
I have 8 of them set up as stereo pairs and 2 of them connected to my DefTech SuperCube II sub.
The Sub channel is run off of one the earphone jacks on the RME (it sets within a couple of feet of the RME and the un-shielded cable run does not to seem to effect it).
On theory that IM is the worst enemy of amplified organ sound, I have routed all Pedal stops, the bottom 2 octaves of all manual 16's and the bottom octave of all manual 8's to my Sub channel.
16' and 8' stops are going to be putting harmonics (especially the third sounding ones) into the tenor and middle octave of the keyboard range anytime you are playing in the bottom octave of the pedal board and putting them into the middle and upper octaves when playing above the bottom octave.
I send all the stops of an organ to all channels to get the most separation of notes in a scale. I have used various cycling methods with this setup, and found all of them sound much cleaner with the pedal ranks removed and lower octaves of the manual stops removed. Although the lower octave of the manuals is not played that much compared to the middle of the keyboard, they do get played if manual to pedal couplers are used. I especially like the sound sound of Tone Matching Mode I (the one that separates all the thirds). It provides an extremely clean sound much freeer of IM, although it does send every pitch note of the same name to the same pair.
I have yet to separate the organs by division to separate pairs that I know some people say sounds very nice as well. The next time I have free time to set up another routing scheme I will set one of my Alternate loadings to that setup and see what I think.
John
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IainStinson

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Re: For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

PostFri Nov 30, 2018 5:59 am

I'm very interested to note that you have a "sub channel" which includes a set of "full range" speakers and the sub and that you use this for the pedal division, manual doubles and the bottom octave of the manual 8 stops. I would imagine that you have to take care in getting the levels set appropriately so the "join" between the sub channel and the "main" output is smooth for the 8 ranks split between the two groups.

It is an interesting approach which I might try out over the Christmas holiday.

(At present I send a full mix down to the sub channel (which only has a sub woofer (and so is not full range)) and use 5 stereo pairs of "full range" speakers (conventional hifii speakers) the for main output using the cyclical notes and ranks. This is quite successful in reducing the IM and sounds good across the range of sample sets I play. It seems to require minimal adjustment for each sample set.)

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Re: For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

PostFri Nov 30, 2018 5:59 am

Previous post duplicated by the forum - deleted
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johnstump_organist

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Re: For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

PostFri Nov 30, 2018 9:01 am

I was doing the same as you, but everything I read (especially the Colin Pykett articles) recommends avoiding that clash between pure tuned thirds of the harmonic series and the very out of tune thirds of equal temp. So I decided to try what I'm doing now.
The 2031's go down to about 50khz, I set the Sub to roll off around 60khz and it hasn't presented a significant challenge. I always do a lot of note regulation anyway, as I don't use any of room compensation programs.
I think you'll find an improvement in sound with less IM in the middle octaves. Reeds certainly sound much better using the tone matching mode 1 but even using the cyclic within octaves it improves the sound getting those lower harmonics from the pedal stops out of mid-range of the keyboard.
John
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Re: For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

PostFri Nov 30, 2018 11:07 am

It's interesting reading about all the different ways audio setups are being done and the results they provide.
With all the options available to us with Hauptwerk the possibilities are almost endless if you have the multiple channels, speakers and the time to work with. I also like the fact you can set up different instances with the same instrument, come up with different routing schemes and then make comparisons.

As some know here, I'm one of those that has tried many different audio arrangements and routing schemes. I use exclusively wet sets, and my goal has been to get the most realistic 'listening from the first couple rows of pews' sound I can come up with just like you'd hear if you were there in person listening to the real instrument. Not an easy task for sure! I recently took a number of weeks to test and compare a new arrangement that involves not only some different routing, but new speaker placement as well (which by itself can make a huge difference by the way), and have meant to do the same and give a report here like John has, this way if a person is interested and wants to try it for themselves they can, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Thanks, John for sharing what you are doing here. All this gives me more to ponder and yet another scheme (or two) I may try. I'd be interested to hear a bit more about your speaker placement in comparison to where you are seated at the bench.

Marc
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Re: For what it's worth - My Audio Setup

PostThu Dec 06, 2018 9:35 am

Two of my alternate configurations use Tone Mode 1. All of my configurations have four separate channels for the bass notes. Tone Mode 1 with the bass split out produces the best clarity to my ears, especially with chords. One configuration has six mono channels in each of four groups. Another configuration has two groups with six stereo pairs. I also have a configuration with 12 groups, each with a stereo pair.

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