The two main venue’s where my clients produce shows are Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth Texas and Winspear Opera House in Dallas Texas. Both venue’s have BSS London BLU DSP systems and so I have been building my own BSS London BLU rig so that:
A. I know how it works and what is possible with the system
B. I have a system that can cover my own DSP needs
C. I am learning a DSP platform that is fairly standard in the audio industry
BSS London BLU is not inexpensive but by being patient and purchasing used on eBay, I’ve been able to assemble a fairly capable and affordable DSP rig.
Unlike some stand alone DSP devices with a fixed architecture, BSS London BLU is a DIY platform. Once you’ve chosen the desired hardware (including how many inputs / outputs / GPIO / etc…) you start with a blank virtual canvas and via device blocks, build whatever you need. What this means is that there is a learning curve just to get audio to pass through the box but at the same time you can achieve things not possible with a fixed architecture device.
Fortunately companies that produce open architecture DSP systems know that there is a learning curve and typically provide an online training program. In the case of BSS London BLU, the video training series can be found here:
With any open architecture DSP system, seeing examples of how to achieve the desired result is helpful to learn how to use the interface.