need some SFX help!

[loebtmc]

We are having a series of odd glitches in our sound program and I am hoping that one of you techno folks can help. We have two board ops who are splitting the dates, and one board op never has any trouble while for the other, cues drop out completely or play at the wrong level, or in the wrong speaker. The only thing these ops are doing is hitting GO but the result is different.

We are using SFX, a fairly up-to-date version (I don't know which one, I am not running the sound board, just getting the producer's frustration when cues don't appear). What happens is the opening cue is fine, the second cue is soft and then we have no more sound cues. Each time, we reboot the system and the computer, and by the second reboot we have sound again and can make it thought the first part of Act 2, but then one or two cues still drop out completely and another handful come in at a different level or in the wrong speakers.

Not sure the questions to ask, our TD is stumped, and I am reaching out for anyone who might have experienced this kind of bug or oddity in their spaces.

...help?

Thank you in advance!

[KMC]

Is it possible he's loading the wrong show into SFX?  If your op is loading an old version of the show (maybe one the sound designer was using to build the show originally) it likely doesn't have the correct cues, and would also explain why the errors are consistent.

[loebtmc]

we have two shows today, I am willing to check anything -

pat

[PurrKitten]

Don't know if you got this fixed by now, but I've worked with SFX quite a bit.

If it wasn't another show file as the other poster suggested, are you using self-amplified speakers that are somehow getting the volume adjusted at the speaker site between shows?  Maybe the one board op is checking them and resetting them before each show (it's happened to me).

Also, is all of your sound equipment on:  pre-amp/external sound card, amplifier, etc.  Do you have any other sound equipment patched in for "emergency situations" like a mixing board that could be sucking some of the sound away if the mixing board is on and doesn't need to be (again, it's happened to me)?

It's hard to de-bug these things because every tech booth is set up differently.  Hope you get it resolved.

[PurrKitten]

Hey, I just thought of something else.

Within any SFX show (called a "workspace"), multiple queues can be established.  Whenever I open a workspace/show, all of the queues open for that show, but I know that you can close any of them, and then they wouldn't be available for execution I'm thinking.

So my question is, are all of the queues that the show uses open within the workspace for the show?

Just a thought.  BTW, this is within the context of SFX v5.6 (can you tell I'm also a sound designer?)

I see you are based in LA - I'm in OC - which theatre is this in?  Just curious.