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Thursday, February 02, 2012
Pat Brown 02/02/12 04:27 PM,Many things around us are getting better. Computers are faster, televisions have more resolution, and dishwashers are quieter and more powerful than ever. But with all of our digital wiz-bang processors, technology has been unable to eradicate “bad sound.” Why is this so? This short piece is an attempt to shed some light on three possible causes, two of which have been completely unaffected by the technological revolution. The goal of most sound reinforcement systems is to deliver high quality… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Analog • Audio • Consoles • Digital • Engineer • Mixer • Sound Reinforcement • System • Technician -
Friday, January 13, 2012
PSW Staff 01/13/12 11:43 AM,You’ve finally invested in a high-quality vocal microphone and your voice has never sounded better. Unfortunately, the keyboard player in your band decides he wants to use your mic during his featured rap. You cringe as he practically eats the microphone. You can barely watch as he encourages audience members to scream into the mic. Afterwards he returns your mic, still operational but considerably wetter and unhygienic. Microphones are subject to an inordinate amount of abuse, especially in live music.… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Recording • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Analog • Audio • Education • Engineer • Microphone • Sound Reinforcement • Studio • System • Technician -
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Pat Brown 01/10/12 03:20 PM,One of the most confusing subjects in audio? Loudspeaker power ratings. It’s generally accepted that a large loudspeaker power rating is a sign of quality and something to be desired. And it’s the performance metric that probably has the greatest influence on the consumer’s buying decision. But a closer look reveals that power rating is far less significant than other metrics regarding the performance of the loudspeaker. The term “power rating” requires further explanation to avoid misunderstanding. It’s tempting to… View this story
Filed in: AV • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Amplifier • AV • Audio • Loudspeaker • Power • Sound Reinforcement -
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Bobby Owsinski 12/07/11 07:31 PM,These days it seems that almost everyone has a digital audio workstation (DAW) and a common 8-channel interface from Avid, MOTU, Edirol or some other manufacturer. Believe it or not, these small, inexpensive rigs pack more power than The Beatles ever had during their heyday (yet they sold over 1 billion records), and we can easily put that power to work when making a simple 8-track recording. While many of the interfaces actually have more than 8 inputs if you… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Audio • Digital • Microphone • Mixer • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • System -
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Pat Brown 11/29/11 03:04 PM,The device commonly referred to as a “speaker” is more correctly referred to as a loudspeaker system. It is comprised of some transducers, a crossover network, an enclosure, and a few additional parts. Loudspeaker system designers must be familiar with the complicated interactions of the components that form the system. An assemblage of good parts does not guarantee a good system. (Note: For the remainder of this article I will refer to a loudspeaker system as simply a “loudspeaker.”) If… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Product • Study Hall • Installation • Line Array • Loudspeaker • Sound Reinforcement • Subwoofer -
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Chuck McGregor 11/22/11 01:26 PM,“So how many watts can this loudspeaker take?” The technical answer is that it depends on the thermal and mechanical limits of the drivers and crossover components. The practical answer is that it depends on the program material played: its peak/average ratio or transient content and spectral (frequency) content. The REAL question is not what is the power handling, but what is the OPTIMUM size power amplifier to use on a loudspeaker? Rule of Thumb For a rule of thumb… View this story
Filed in: AV • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Amplifier • AV • Education • Loudspeaker • Power • Sound Reinforcement -
PSW Staff 11/22/11 09:29 AM,One of the most popular specialized microphone techniques is stereo mic’ing. This use of two or more microphones to create a stereo image will often give depth and spatial placement to an instrument or overall recording. There are a number of different methods for stereo. Three of the most popular are the spaced pair (A/B), the coincident or near-coincident pair (X-Y configuration), and the md-side (M-S) technique. Spaced Pair Technique The spaced pair (A/B) technique uses two cardioid or omni… View this story
Filed in: Recording • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Audio • Microphone -
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tim Vear 11/21/11 11:55 AM,Instruments and other sound sources are characterized by their frequency output, by their directional output, and by their dynamic range. Frequency Output Frequency output is the span of fundamental and harmonic frequencies produced by an instrument, and the balance or relative level of those frequencies. Musical instruments have overall frequency ranges as found in the chart below. The dark section of each line indicates the range of fundamental frequencies and the shaded section represents the range of the highest harmonics… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Microphone • Sound Reinforcement -
Friday, November 18, 2011
PSW Staff 11/18/11 10:43 AM,(Editor’s Note: Eminence Speaker LLC contributed to this report.) Cone drivers (also referred to as woofers and transducers in this article) are not overly complex. When an electrical current passes through a wire coil (the voice coil) in a magnetic field, it produces a force that varies with the current applied. The cone, connected to the voice coil, moves in and out, creating waves of high and low air pressure. The coil and magnet assembly are the “motor structure” of… View this story
Filed in: AV • Feature • Poll • Slideshow • Study Hall • Amplifier • AV • Audio • Loudspeaker • Manufacturer • Measurement • Power • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • Subwoofer -
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Paul LaPlaca 11/10/11 09:22 AM,“Check one, two… one, two…” As a soundperson, I’ve had to repeat this phrase ad nauseam - at times I even hear it in my dreams. Everyone wants to know: “Why can’t you count to three?” To which the punch line follows: “Because on three, you have to lift.” Ugh, like I haven’t heard that a thousand times before. (In addition to “when will this be over” and “is that really necessary?”) Years of enduring these tired refrains finally prompted… View this story
Filed in: Live Sound • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Audio • Consoles • Measurement • Microphone • Processor • Sound Reinforcement • Stage • System
Articles Tagged Audio Basics
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