Kemper with X32 Rack (IEM)

  • Hey everyone,

    I'm getting ready to introduce two new pieces of equipment into our live set. One being my KPA - which I've used once at practice straight into the PA. Sounds great!


    The other piece i'm putting into motion soon is an IEM rack that will send everything input into a mic splitter (2 ART S8's) which will have one half of the split going to the X32 and the other side going to FOH.


    As far as getting my Kemper into that mix - I'm assuming I could go either mono/stereo out to the splitter. I've seen other people say that I need to go monitor out to the IEM and send the stereo mains to FOH. Any opinions on this? I haven't attempted to hook everything up yet and wanted to see if anyone has a similar setup!


    Thanks

    -Cody

  • I would just go stereo:

    * more space in your ears

    * less unlogical cable mess for you and/or stagehands/technicians, etc


    Personally, i just hand my ipad to the soundguy on duty to control my x32 ;)

  • I would just go stereo:

    * more space in your ears

    * less unlogical cable mess for you and/or stagehands/technicians, etc


    Personally, i just hand my ipad to the soundguy on duty to control my x32 ;)

    I've got a follow up question for you. I've seen many people say they can control their X32 with the ipad/iphone app while out on tour, but when I look at tutorials it looks like you need to hook it up (the X32) to a router and get an IP address and all this other jazz that I can't imagine is readily available at any old venue. So how is this connection accomplished without the wifi signal? Or is it just the case that you need to have a wireless router hooked up to the X32 Rack - no internet connection required, just something to be the middle man between the Console and your phone/iPad?

    Edited once, last by CodyFLS ().

  • X32 Rack. I'm running *main outs* to the S8. My monitor outs are unused for live stuff - but I have a usb hub and a usb sound card *in the rack* so if I need to track anything I just plug my usb in and I'm done.



    Top to bottom:

    Kemper - the patch panel below it is custom - it has a USB pass through to the hub (which then has the Kemper a sound card and a Roland UM - ONE midi dongle attached. Next to the USB pass through are the midi in, out and thru. Next to MIDI are the main outs L & R. Next to that is an ethercon jack for the remote, and then finally is a jumper between my wireless (mounted in the back of the rack) and the input. (I find the alt input too noisy for my tastes).

    Below that - power, our MOTU Midi time piece (which drives my Kemper changes via MIDI, and will soon also drive the lights once I get around to it). Below that: Wireless mic (receiver), 2x IEM transmitter (for me and our bass player). Both of these are in stereo, and connected via a snake to the lower rack).

    In the bottom rack - 16 channels of splits by way of 2x ART S8s, a 1/4" patch bay (which is labeled for the tracks but we've changed the routing on the X32 so I don't need those any more) and then our IEM out puts.

    On the back of the big rack - 2x 16 channels of XLR (P16) patches - one set are the S8 outs for FOH mapped 1:1. I give the FOH the directs - and keep the transformer isolated side for myself. (unless I need phantom power for the overheads and I just rewire those two channels)


    , the other set covers our PA outs - FOH, Monitors (2 pairs), Tracks out (For when we don't do a full mix ourselves), and the drummer's IEMs (he's wired).


    I run the Kemper in stereo - XLR. Works amazing. We also run stereo IEMs.


    KPA Unpowered Rack, Kemper Remote, Headrush FRFR108s, BC Rich Mockingbird(s), and a nasty attitude.

  • I've got a follow up question for you. I've seen many people say they can control their X32 with the ipad/iphone app while out on tour, but when I look at tutorials it looks like you need to hook it up (the X32) to a router and get an IP address and all this other jazz that I can't imagine is readily available at any old venue. So how is this connection accomplished without the wifi signal? Or is it just the case that you need to have a wireless router hooked up to the X32 Rack - no internet connection required, just something to be the middle man between the Console and your phone/iPad?

    k- I can cover that too. There's a Wifi router Velcroed to the back of my mixer rack. You *never ever* rely on the venue's wifi. Always roll your own. That way you can (a) configure the router to give all of your devices the same IP address and (b) nobody's gonna mess with your connection.

    No internet connection is needed. You're creating a wireless local network to connect your devices through.


    KPA Unpowered Rack, Kemper Remote, Headrush FRFR108s, BC Rich Mockingbird(s), and a nasty attitude.

  • One more thing. Sorry for the multiple posts - but about the app:


    We also have dedicated tablets for this - they're all cheap Asus android tablets. I've used kindle fires too for this. I stick with the Android stuff because that way I can run MixStation Pro on all of the devices. It's a LOT more reliable than whatever behringer provides.

    It is my understanding that the initial version of the 'free behringer app' was made by the same guy who did mix station pro.

    I also run X32 Edit on my MacBook for emergencies.


    KPA Unpowered Rack, Kemper Remote, Headrush FRFR108s, BC Rich Mockingbird(s), and a nasty attitude.

  • I have an XR-18 at home that we have the Kemper hooked up to.


    For the IP / tablet connection the recommendation is that even though wifi is supported on the mixer you don't want to rely on that alone. So get your own wifi router and make that part of your setup.


    Use wired connections to the mixer and at least one computer that you can use to actually control it. The mixer is configured to use wired ethernet, NOT wifi. Then even if the wifi goes down (people complained about tons of cell phones trying to connect to the mixer wifi during the actual show making it go down) you'd have control over the mixer through the wired connection. Now if you have a X32 with the actual physical controls, I don't think it makes it that risky. That being said, a dedicated wifi router is probably more robust than the mixer built-in one.


    So the tablets / phones to adjust the personal mixes would connect to the mixer through the wifi router, NOT directly to the mixer wifi access point.


    (As for the audio connections I have the Kemper going to three inputs on the mixer, stereo out + DI. You can also use the very same laptop to record the whole show through USB from the mixer to the laptop.)

  • Now if you have a X32 with the actual physical controls, I don't think it makes it that risky. That being said, a dedicated wifi router is probably more robust than the mixer built-in one.


    So the tablets / phones to adjust the personal mixes would connect to the mixer through the wifi router, NOT directly to the mixer wifi access point.

    It is an issue with the X32 Rack - no physical controls.


    FYI- the X32 doesn't have built in wifi- so a router is required. And good advice about the one hardwired connection. I don't do this personally (we play small enough venues that it's never been an issue) but my last band with an XR18 had the problem of dropouts on the tablets. It never dropped my laptop, but still. Very good advise.


    KPA Unpowered Rack, Kemper Remote, Headrush FRFR108s, BC Rich Mockingbird(s), and a nasty attitude.

  • k- I can cover that too. There's a Wifi router Velcroed to the back of my mixer rack. You *never ever* rely on the venue's wifi. Always roll your own. That way you can (a) configure the router to give all of your devices the same IP address and (b) nobody's gonna mess with your connection.

    No internet connection is needed. You're creating a wireless local network to connect your devices through.

    Very helpful - I am going to get this hooked up today to try it out!

  • I've got a follow up question for you. I've seen many people say they can control their X32 with the ipad/iphone app while out on tour, but when I look at tutorials it looks like you need to hook it up (the X32) to a router and get an IP address and all this other jazz that I can't imagine is readily available at any old venue. So how is this connection accomplished without the wifi signal? Or is it just the case that you need to have a wireless router hooked up to the X32 Rack - no internet connection required, just something to be the middle man between the Console and your phone/iPad?

    Most wifi routers have dhcp servers built in, so they can work on themselves, without internet connection. In practice: I just stick a wifi router in my x32's flightcase, and son't care about internet ;)

  • Use wired connections to the mixer and at least one computer that you can use to actually control it. The mixer is configured to use wired ethernet, NOT wifi. Then even if the wifi goes down (people complained about tons of cell phones trying to connect to the mixer wifi during the actual show making it go down) you'd have control over the mixer through the wired connection. Now if you have a X32 with the actual physical controls, I don't think it makes it that risky. That being said, a dedicated wifi router is probably more robust than the mixer built-in one.

    I understand your fear. But as you probably know, the wifi signal only carries "control" signals to your mixer, audio is never passed throught the wifi. So when wifi drops, audio just continues in the last state the mixer was.

    I did sound for a few bands using an ipad (mostly bar gigs), and am playing guitar/keys myself through this setup. In my experience, when you have a good base foh mix, good monitor mix, and the musicians try to have volume changes built into their presets (solo boost and such), it wont be a big disaster when wifi drops for a few seconds. during the show, your soundtech should just be a backup for when your mix changes between songs and you were to lazy to have presets for this :D 90% of his work is done during soundcheck... (there are exceptions, ive seen techs play with delays on certain syllables of the lyrics and such)

    One thing I would advise though, is a mute pedal for your acoustic guitar, so the musician can mute + unplug it himself when he switches back to electric. I have been in situations when wifi drops at the exact same time the musician in question wants to unplug his acoustic. It's really weird when a musician holds his acoustic guitar above his head with his hand ready to pull the plug for longer than 3 seconds..... :D It's also a shame when his patience is over and you hear a loud pop from the speakers...

    And offcourse, I still have my large x32 and a 50m ethernet cable for those bigger stages: I am not going to mix on an ipad when I am 30m from stage on a 3000+ event. But in the end, 95% of what we musicians do are bar gigs, and the owner of that bar will be thankful when you don't take 4 squares meters of his precious space (which can be filled with drinking/paying customers!)

  • One thing I would advise though, is a mute pedal for your acoustic guitar

    I was going to say that since this setup is for just the monitoring mix only, not FOH, it is probably not that big of a deal to lose control of the mixer for a short while. And yes, the worst part is missing the ability to mute or unmute something.


    Now you need the mic to be live for that kazoo someone is playing, well, it's not coming back until the wifi recovers. ^^


    Also, that distinction you mention is important. We are NOT talking about Internet access at all, just a private wifi (or wired) for the mixers to be able to be talked to.

  • Now you need the mic to be live for that kazoo someone is playing, well, it's not coming back until the wifi recovers. ^^

    And may it recover slowly. The audience will bow and pay to Bob Khan.


    KPA Unpowered Rack, Kemper Remote, Headrush FRFR108s, BC Rich Mockingbird(s), and a nasty attitude.

  • I used the monitor mix app on an iPad and found it helpful to put it into airplane mode then turn the wifi back on again. It helped with losing connection to the C32 router

    A brace of Suhrs, a Charvel, a toaster, an Apollo twin, a Mac, and a DXR10