Multiple Mixers--multiple amp question

[bair_ohio]

Ive got a Mackie Board that the theatre uses for live sound, Ive also got a seperate board in the booth for PC sound. My question is this.

Can I hardwire both into the amps without running in to problems?

Basically, I want to run them(mixers) indpendantly but use the same amps.

Any direction here would be appreciated.

[xstatic]

Yes, you should be able to do that just fine. The biggest problem I see is the obvious one... You will have two people mixing to the same system with independent controls. Why not just run the PC mixers outputs to the other console? Or vice versa...

[SonicAlbert]

There's a couple ways to do it that come to mind:

1. Submix the outputs of both mixers and send that to the amp. So you'd need a very small mixer for that.

2. Send the master output of one of the mixers into the other mixer and then go to the amp from that mixer. Routing this would not be difficult, you could go into an aux or buss return, for example.

What I would *not* do is connect the outputs of each mixer by hardwiring them together.

[bair_ohio]

The main idea here is to have complete control from either mixer.

mixer A is only used during live band situations.
mixer B is only used during theatre performances.

As is stands right now, the A mixer runs through a channel in mixer B then on to the amps. The pain here is that you must go to the booth and set the mixer(B) to the proper level. This just complicates things.

does this make sense?

[SonicAlbert]

Then you just need a little summing box. Run the outputs of both mixers into the summing box and then straight to the amp.

Any decent little mixer should work, but there are also summing mixers designed for just this kind of task.

[RAK]

Originally Posted by bair_ohio

Ive got a Mackie Board that the theatre uses for live sound, Ive also got a seperate board in the booth for PC sound. My question is this.

Can I hardwire both into the amps without running in to problems?

Basically, I want to run them(mixers) indpendantly but use the same amps.

Any direction here would be appreciated.

So you've got the same amps powering the speakers in the house, and the speakers in the booth?

Are you going to leave mixer B in the booth for theater performances and not mix that from the house?

[xstatic]

All you really need then is some sort of switching device since you will not be simultaneously using both consoles. In fact, you could literally just "Y" the two mixers together, get a samll mixer to combine/switch with, manually replug etc... All of which seem simple to me.

[SonicAlbert]

I don't think switching is necessary. Both mixers can be active all the time if they are being submixed by a third small mixer.

[xstatic]

My suggestion for a "switching device" was meant to be the small mixer, or in place of one

[bair_ohio]

Just to make clear. I would like to set this up so that whether your doing live band sound or theatre sound, No one would have to touch a mixer beyond the one they are working with. Thats why I was thinking about hardwiring both mixers direct to amp.

Maybe what I should of asked was,

Can I run two seperate mixers directly in to a single amp?

[xstatic]

Yes, you can. It just isn't the greatest of ideas.