System Overview
Understand the equipment, signal flow, colour coding, and network infrastructure before you begin operating the system.
What You Have
The Sanctuary Church audio system is a fully digital, networked audio system built around the Yamaha TF3 digital mixing console and the Yamaha Tio1608-D stage rack unit. All audio between the stage and the console travels as digital data over a Dante network — there are no long analogue audio cables running between the stage and the FOH position.
ℹ️ What This Means
Dante is a networking technology that carries audio over standard Ethernet cables. Instead of running a separate cable for every microphone and speaker, a single network cable carries all 32 channels of audio in both directions simultaneously.
Signal Flow
Equipment Guide
Click any item to expand its description and specifications.
Colour Coding Systems
There are two colour coding systems in use, and it is important to understand the difference. The Physical Cable Colour Code applies to the Neutrik ID rings on the rack panels and cables — this is your guide during setup and patching. The TF3 Console Colour Code applies to channel strips in the TF Editor software and on the console screen — this helps you navigate the mix quickly. The two systems are largely aligned (for example, orange means IEM in both), but they differ for stage inputs, where the physical system uses a single green for all inputs while the console splits them by instrument group.
System 1 — Physical Cable Colour Code
Neutrik ID rings on rack panels and cables. Use this during setup and patching. If the colour on the cable does not match the colour on the panel, you have the wrong cable.
| Colour | Signal Type | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Green | Stage Inputs | All mics, instruments and DI boxes from the stage |
Orange | IEM Outputs | All in-ear monitor feeds, wired and wireless |
Yellow | AUX Outputs | Cry room, foyer, camera feed, AUX zones |
Red | FOH Outputs | Main speaker outputs (FOH-L, FOH-R, SUB) |
Blue | Dante Network | D-PRI and D-SEC Ethercon cables between racks |
Purple | Control Network & RF | Wi-Fi antennas, RF paddle antennas for wireless mics |
White | Power | Mains and UPS power cables |
System 2 — TF3 Console Colour Code
Channel strip colours in the TF Editor and on the TF3 touchscreen. Use this to navigate the mix. Channels are grouped by instrument type, with each DCA group sharing a colour.
| Colour | Group / Function | Channels |
|---|---|---|
Red | Drums + FOH Outputs | CH 1–3 (KICK, SNARE, HATS), HOST, MASTER, SUB |
Yellow | Guitars + AUX Zones | CH 4–6 (BASS, A.GTR, E.GTR), PREACH, AUX 9–20 |
Green | Keys + Talkback | CH 7–9 (KEYS.L, KEYS.R, VIOLIN), TALKBACK |
Blue | Vocals | CH 10–13 (VOX 1–4) |
Orange | IEM Outputs + Matrix | AUX 1–8 (IEM-1 through IEM-8), MTRX 1–4 |
Purple | Media & Control | CH 14–15 (CLICK, TRAX), CH 22–23 (PHONE-L/R), CG 1–2 |
Cyan | Speech | CH 16 (MD), DCA6 SPEECH |
Pink | FX Returns | FX1 REVERB, FX2 DELAY |
ℹ️ Physical ID Label vs TF3 Channel Name
The Physical ID Label (e.g., VOX-1) is the short label printed on the Neutrik panel and cable. The TF3 Channel Name (e.g., VOX 1) is the name shown on the console screen, TF StageMix, and MonitorMix. Both refer to the same signal path. A simple way to remember it: you patch the physical label, and you mix the console name.
Network Infrastructure
Dante Audio Network
Carries all 32 channels of audio between the TF3 and Tio1608-D over a single Ethernet cable. Managed by the Netgear M4250 switch in the Stage Rack. Always use the D-PRI (Dante Primary) port at both ends.
Control Network
Two Wi-Fi networks hosted by the Teltonika RUTXR1 in the AV Ops Rack. TSC-MIX-FOH is for the FOH engineer (TF StageMix app). TSC-TF3-IEM is for the worship team (MonitorMix app).