Multiway Audio switching for music room.

[maniac]

Interesting one.

 

Our music teacher wants a way of connecting the audio from the 12 macs we have in the music tech room to the amplifier at the front of the classroom. The wiring is easy, I can buy wall plates with 2 phono plugs on for £2 each, and run the wires to an RCA patch panel in a central location, that's relatively easy to do.

 

What I'm having trouble doing is finding a way of switching between channels. There's no amplifier in existance with 12 inputs, and I can't find a simple switch box for that many channels, so my other option is a mixing desk, but again 12 stereo channels is impossible to find. Any suggestions?

 

Has anyone else done this sort of thing "on the cheap" as we don't have a ton of cash to spend on this. I know there are extreemly expensive systems on the market to do this sort of thing, but we don't have that much to spend unfortunitely, and in theory it's actually not difficult to do, providing I can find the right type of switchbox.

 

Failing everything else I may well build one myself, but I'd rather buy a ready made product off the shelf if possible.

 

Mike.

[K.C.Leblanc]

I think some class room monitoring systems (like AB tutor) do this. These must be something out there for the Mac.

[wesleyw]

TL Audio M1-F - Tubetracker 8 or 12 Input Mixer 12 input pre-amp mixing desk.

 

 

Wes

[maniac]

I think some class room monitoring systems (like AB tutor) do this. These must be something out there for the Mac.

 

It needs to be a direct connection really to retain the quality of the output, as it is for music afterall.

[maniac]

TL Audio M1-F - Tubetracker 8 or 12 Input Mixer 12 input pre-amp mixing desk.

 

 

Wes

 

Brilliant, but way out our price range unfortununitely.

[wesleyw]

right I'll keep on looking!

 

 

Wes

[wesleyw]

Behringer XENYX X1622USB 16-Channel Mixer with USB Audio Interface | DV247

 

Yamaha MG166C Analogue Live Sound Mixer | DV247

 

Wes

[plexer]

What about 3 4 way units Stereo RCA Phono Audio Selector Switch 4-Way Remote Control -... they can then feed into an amp.

 

Ben

[plexer]

Allthough that one is quite expensive however FourWay Stereo Audio Switch Box : AV Splitters Switchers : Maplin is cheap.

 

Ben

[pscott]

BEHRINGER|XENYX 1202|MIXING CONSOLE, XENYX 1202 | CPC

 

Would that do the job?

[soveryapt]

What about a bit of a project for yourself? Some push switches mounted in a box. Push the button and it connects to the output (use latching buttons obviously) and then a load of RCA inputs to the box to make it easier to rewire. Feed the output then into an AMP and et voila ..

 

It's what I'd look at doing anyway ..

[Guest Guest]

2 of these? ALESIS MULTIMIX 8 LINE - 8 CHANNEL MIXER- EACH

 

As you've found thers not exactly much call for lots of stereo channels in music.

[john]

Or how about a lower tech way, make a 12 way panel with the ends of your phono plates going to them, and then just label them up MAC1, MAC2 etc and get the teacher to use a Phone lead from the normal amp to each one and just switch them by hand? Cost to you maybe £20 in materials if that?

[jsimpson]

I personally would try to spend a bit more and go with something by a company named Kramer Electronics. I use some of their products on my campus to split VGA and video connections. This is the kind of thing that they specialize in and they actually have exactly the product you are looking for; VS-121HCA - Umschalter - Kramer Electronics it is a bit on the pricey side ($796 US) but it is something that would be well worth the upfront expense.

 

 

p.s. Another company to look into would be gefen - Gefen, LLC

[webman]

Extron. Exactly what you want: Extron A/V Switchers - SW 12A & SW 12A RCA

 

http://www.extron.com/product/img-lg/sw12a_60-483-30.jpg

[glennda]

I was actually talking to the Muisc Tech teacher about this yesterday!! Didn't actually think there was anything out there for it!- any idea on cost?

[webman]

I think Extron only sell via resellers, so find your favourite local AV company and ask if they can source the product you want. A quick Google revealed ITM Components, but we've used GV Multimedia before and they have supplied a few Extron AV products so might be able to get hold of something for you.

[glennda]

Cool ill give my normal supplier a call - he seems to be able to find pretty much anything i want!

[john]

My good friend and supplier Audioworks - Audio and Audio Visual - PA Systems - Induction Loop Systems - Installation - Lancaster can supply Extron stuff as I know he discussed a switcher scaler unit for a project I was working on so maybe worth giving them a go, they do mail-order so location isn't an issue They are also Kramer dealers.

[Andrew_C]

Extron kit won't be cheap. This would be trivial to do yourself with a rotary switch and couple of hours soldering. If you don't solder, maybe someone in D&T could knock it up for you?

[sjatkn]

As Andrew_C said, you could make something yourself. A couple of switch options are RS (327-692, RS Components | Electronic and Electrical Components) or Audio Maintenance Limited GR-03-001 - Rotary Switch; 12 way, 1 pole, 3 gang.