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Audio Review: Yamaha SB168-ES Stage Box
Do you think analog is getting nervous yet? Analog technology has been replaced in so many spots in the audio signal chain it may be starting to believe it's going the way of the dinosaur. Sure—analog has managed to keep its job in a few key areas, including speakers, mics and snakes. But even the analog snake is facing extinction in high-end live setups, thanks to several digital snake systems that have emerged in recent years. As with mixers, outboard effects and speaker processing in the sound reinforcement realm, digital technology brings an impressive increase in flexibility to the humble audio snake.
Digital snake systems require analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion at the stage. Yamaha's SB168-ES stage box handles this crucial step, converting input channels for a quick trip to the digital mixer and converting mixer sends back to the analog domain.
Yamaha has chosen to embrace the EtherSound digital snake system by French company Digigram. EtherSound uses a single CAT-5 computer networking cable to move audio data in both directions. At a 48 kHz sampling rate and 24-bit resolution, EtherSound will carry a whopping 128 channels of audio. EtherSound can work with daisy-chain or ring topologies, with most setups boasting a latency of just 104 microseconds. EtherSound can go just over 300 feet on standard CAT-5 cable (or miles after a conversion to optical), with no loss of fidelity or increase in noise. Try that with an analog snake!
Think Inside the Box
The SB168-ES stage box offers 16 channels of input (A/D) conversion and eight channels of output (D/A) conversion at 48 kHz sampling rate and 24-bit resolution. Up to four SB168-ES units can be linked together, provided you have a Yamaha digital mixer with one interface card per stage box. Employing some simple math, a fully decked-out Yamaha ES168-ES system would offer 64 inputs and 32 outputs. Our test system included a Yamaha LS9-32 digital mixer (with two interface cards) and two SB168-ES stage boxes, for a total of 32 inputs and 16 outputs.
Digital conversion is just one facet of the Yamaha stage box. The SB168-ES also offers 16 mic inputs (or "head amps" in Yamaha lingo) that certain Yamaha digital mixers can control remotely. The LS9, for example, can directly control the SB168-ES mic gain, phantom power and high-pass filter. You can store SB168-ES preamp gain settings in the mixer's scene programs, making for a true "full-recall" signal chain. For houses of worship that juggle multiple bands or setups, this level of control can be a great benefit.
Physically, the SB168-ES reveals its features with one glance at its front panel. Every significant connector and indicator is there, positioned for easy access and monitoring. The left-hand side of the SB168-ES's front panel holds all 16 XLR inputs. Each has three indicators including 48-volt power, signal present (-34 dB) and peak (-3 dB). The right side holds the EtherSound input and output jacks, data status indicators, device select dip-switches, a master 48v switch and all eight XLR outputs.
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Loren Alldrin is a regular contributor to Church Production Magazine.
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