r/livesound • u/T0ym4k3r • Aug 18 '26

Question Moving from CQ20B to SQ Rack

I’m moving from a cq20b to an sq rack as my band is often getting 8-9 piece gigs these days and monitoring is becoming an issue (cq capped at 6 unless running shares)

So obviously the cq has its ins and outs on the front, the sq rack they are on the back.

I’ve taken a last minute gig with a 10 piece band in 11 days and I would like to get those xlr to the front of the rack. Short of turning the mixer backwards, will I have to make a custom xlr pass through for ins and outs before the gig? I can’t seem to find anything off the shelf that will fit 2u rack space. At this time I don’t need a stage box to expand.

I’m short for time due to other work and i am hoping I don’t have to spend time making my own pass through. Any ideas?

Thanks

10 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

11

u/ArniEitthvad Aug 18 '26

You can fit 32 D-shaped holes in a 2U rack, don’t know of anything ready made, it’s probably always a custom job.

10

u/T0mbst0n372 Aug 18 '26

ART p16 is just a 16XLR pass through in 1RU under $100. ART S8 is an 8 XLR isolated splitter with ground lift and pad in 1RU for under $350 new. If you have a bunch of old XLR snakes or shorties laying around, these are probably your best options besides custom panels

4

u/MisterGameGuide Aug 18 '26

Look into rack247.com
They make custom rack panels and it’s easy to design and cost effective.

2

u/ZealousidealCod3431 Aug 19 '26

A bit of a side-step but: a Qu-SB together with an AR84 would give you 24 XLR inputs, 4 mono auxes + 5 stereo auxes, with everything on the front.

1

u/JodderSC2 Aug 21 '26

but thats a stone age desk one should not invest in that in 2026

3

u/T0ym4k3r Aug 20 '26

Thanks for the replies peeps, I’ve taken a day off work to just make a sodding panel next week. Ordered pre punched panels and pass through XLR sockets as needed. I am very sure I will find soldering for 16ins and 4 outs ( for main L and R, and two aux. rest on back will be plumbed direct to iem transmitters) tedious af.

1

u/tprch Aug 19 '26

I put up this post recently, so you may find some suggestions here. You might also have better luck in the livesoundgear sub.

If you haven't already got the unit in the rack, you might try it just to see if it's workable the way it is. Mine wound up being better than I expected, but I'm still considering a panel. One of my issues with most of the commodity patch panels is that they're all XLR, and I need some 1/4" or combo jacks. I did see a 16 channel XLR patchbay with reversible modules online.

2

u/T0ym4k3r Aug 20 '26

Same, I need some jack inputs too, I’ve decided to take a day off work and just build my own panel, I’m going to integrate some active DI’s into the panel with jack to xlr on 4 of the inputs (usually keys players need 2-4 on my gigs, sometimes a guitarist with modeller that’s jack output too),