iOS DL16S experience

[Wynnd]

OK I get it now.  To change anything in the WiFi connections, one needs to detect the mixer, change the settings then connect up the network cable.  If the network cable is connected first, you can't change to the wired connection.  (or the external Router connection apparently.)   I'm not sure what happens when the mixer is turned off and rebooted.  Going to test it.

[WK154]

Mackie did go out of their way to emphasize that only ONE method can be used at a time. X-Air doesn't care if you have it wired and using WiFi as the connection method. It simply ignores the wired connection.

[Wynnd]

Mixer apparently stays in the last configuration it was used in.  I need to be careful here as my home network has a different name then my gigging router.  If I use the Airport Express II, I will probably just wire it in.     I suspect the Airport Express is a better WiFi router than the built in one.  (Even though there isn't an external antenna.)  Least it seems like it is.

[Wynnd]

Went back to Access Point mode and I've been watching the signal strength vary from 3 to 10 bars and the mixer is less than 10 feet away.  My Time capsule runs from 8-10 bars consistently.  (And can be reached by my tablets anywhere in the house, even in the basement where my practice piano hangs out.)  I'm not experiencing any drop outs like I saw at the library.  (Fewer WiFi's nearby.  Total of 6 here at home and three of them are mine.)  I don't plan to trust the internal WiFi as just about every environment has a bunch of WiFi's nearby.  The Airport Express II will be traveling with the mixer.  Thinking about just double sided taping it to the mixer.  Or just rack mounting the mixer.  (The rack is more than 100 pounds.  At 65, I'm liking lighter stuff.)

[WK154]

That's been the experience with the X-Air/M-Air all along. The internal units are only 802.11b/g. This was first announced in 2003, that's 15 years ago and should be in a museum by now. A bad choice for both B.. and Mackie. Good for practice or if you can convince your customers to put their cell's in Airplane mode  . Adding a antenna with higher gain or directional will help somewhat with signal strength.  I used a Hawkins 15dBi directional antenna and it helped somewhat. Can't really control the 2.4GHz phone issue so 5GHz is a solution for now. Wired gets rid of the problem altogether. I use WiFi for setup and switch to wired for the show.

[Wynnd]

As I get ready for Saturday's show, I went and ordered a aftermarket WiFi antenna that should kick the output of the mixer's own WiFi up by about 8 db.  Probably won't be a problem in Saturday's club.  Hope I'm right.  Will bring the Airport Express anyway.  (New Antenna was less then $10 delivered.  Model  TL-ANT2408CL)  The Antenna is about twice as long.  (Think that's about 4 times the wave length)  It should still fold down, if not, I'll just put it in with the power cord.

[WK154]

That's a 8 dBi antenna (Half Wave) it will give you about 6 dBm over the standard, but I would simply hook up the router that has worked for you and never look back.

[Wynnd]

6 dBm would be the same as increasing the WiFi power 4 times.  That should be a significant increase.  My reason I've been avoiding taking the airport express is that it's currently double sided taped to my mixing stack.  I'm trying to move away from the mixing stack.  I'll bring it in my trailer, but I really don't want to take it in.  (I always allow 3 hours for set up when doing keyboards and sound.  I don't like hurrying anymore.) 

[WK154]

I finally updated my Lenovo Tab 2 to 6.0 so I now have the offline version of MF V5.0 which seems to work after 1 minute of test  . That's as far as it will ever go (DL16/DL32) til the DL1608 release.

[Wynnd]

The Antenna was supposed to come Saturday, but it showed up early Friday.  Of course I tested it.  Works fine and is clearly stronger than the original.

[WK154]

The Antenna was supposed to come Saturday, but it showed up early Friday.  Of course I tested it.  Works fine and is clearly stronger than the original.

Use Airport Utility it will give you RSSI values instead of guessing. As I've stated many times before it's about the 2.4 GHz traffic (phones) not your signal strength.

[Wynnd]

Likely.  I bought a small rack mount case to mount the mixer in.  I'm going to mount one of my DriveRack PX units and my Wireless Microphone receivers in it too.  Plenty of room for the Airport Express.  Gonna have to work on proper length cables.  I really like the right angle power connectors. 

[Wynnd]

Gig experience report.  Had a gig in a small club and was first chance to take the DL16S out.  I had my Airport Express as a back up.  Also carrying my aftermarket antenna with me but set up the mixer in the Access Point mode.  Mixer was beside my right knee and one of my iPads was to my left.  Keyboards were between the two and the club had about 20 people in it with 1/3rd at the bar.  (Rest were watching the wildcard game.)  I set up early.  (Don't like to rush)  Did give me time to easily notice issues.  I would drop the input trim and the change on the iPad was immediately erased by the mixer that didn't see it.  I shut down the mixer and put on the longer antenna.  Restart the mixer and things went nearly perfectly the rest of the night.  I will definitely be putting the Airport Express into my mixer box.  Got a few minor modifications to make things work without having to reattach cables every use.  (I hate that.)  My next use will be the Speeches Outdoors at the end of the MLK day March and Parade.  (We call it the Marade.)  I did that last year and it was 23 degree and snowing and there were still about 2000 people who stayed for all the speeches.  We can be tough when things are important. 

[WK154]

Could you elaborate on the statement "I would drop the input trim and the change on the iPad was immediately erased by the mixer that didn't see it." . I seriously doubt that a 3ft. distance would be an issue for either antenna. Switching to the express will invoke a different set of code that may be more stable. Where there any disconnect notices in this episode?

[Wynnd]

I was on the new trim screen and needed to reduce the trim on a VERY HOT HEADSET MIC that the drummer was using.  I would use my finger to reduce the setting on that channel and when I took it off the screen, the mixer immediately returned the trim to the previous level.  I agree that 3 feet shouldn't be an issue with the stock setup, but it was.  The organ that was between the two is a Mojo and internally it is a Embedded XP windows machine.  (I find that strange, but it should make repairs easier as I used to be a PC/Network tech.)