Anatomy of a Service Call
Even Simple Sound Systems Aren’t Plug and Play By Pat Brown The sound system in the Chapel at a local nursing home had all of the typical problems – distortion, poor gain-before-feedback, and...
View ArticleWhich Pin Is Hot and when does it matter?
By Pat Brown Introduction All audio components that pass a signal should be properly polarized. The concept of polarity can be confusing. Like many principles, it is most easily understood by non-audio...
View ArticleSound System Autopilot
Theory and Practice – By Dale Shirk Today’s sound systems can be quite complex. Many times that complexity exceeds the requirements for simple a talking head meeting. Fortunately the same system can...
View ArticlePads 101
By Rick Chinn Attenuation (loss) pads are handy tools, and understanding their design and application takes a few minutes and lasts a lifetime. This article discusses pads to be used in traditional...
View ArticleMeaningful Metering
By Pat Brown It is beneficial for the sound system operator to have some visual feedback regarding the operating levels of sound system components. Unfortunately, the monitoring of audio program...
View ArticlePiezo Magic – Accurate Gain Structure Using a Common Device
By Pat Brown In order to set the gain structure of a signal processing chain properly, it is necessary to determine when each device (mixer, eq, etc.) can no longer provide an increase in output signal...
View ArticleTen Reasons Why Church Sound Systems Cost More
In a day of mail order mania and cost consciousness, remind your customers of some basic truths by Pat Brown A letter to a church building committee might read: Thank you again for the opportunity to...
View ArticlePolarity 101 – Some subtleties regarding device polarity
Since most sound reinforcement equipment uses bipolar power supplies (allowing the audio signal to swing positive and negative about a “zero” reference point), it is possible for signals to become...
View ArticleChinn on Trim
By Rick Chinn A recent Syn-Aud-Con Listserv thread provoked an interesting discussion about the input stage of a mixer. Rick Chinn’s contribution to the thread touched on the technical and practical...
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