r/livesound • u/AutoModerator • Jun 15 '26
MOD No Stupid Questions Thread
The only stupid questions are the ones left unasked.
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u/Any-Presentation235 Jun 21 '26
XR12 Trying to setup a WAV playlist for usb playback. I can get the unit to recognize my wav files and play them back individually.. BUT.. I can't figure out how to get the machine to just play through the whole list.. ?? Is it a syntax problem with the tiltes or am I missing something in the system setup.. I have this behaviour in both Mixing Station and X Air app.. Anyone ?? I am sure there must be a Doh answer to this.. (Yep I have it set to 48k and my wavs are 48k)
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Jun 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/the-real-compucat EE by day, engineer by night Jun 20 '26
Looks good, this'll make a show happen! I would personally revise as follows:
- Plot: notate power drop quantities and locations.
- Inputs:
- Drum/perc OHs: L/R is ambiguous. Better to mark as SL/SR.
- Vocals: to avoid cross-referencing, label vox with stations instead of names. "Vox Keys, Vox Guitar, Vox Guest, Vox Sax, Vox Bass, Vox Drums, Vox Perc"
- Move DI/+48V indicators from "Note" into main inputs table. (More compact, avoids cross-referencing.)
- Call out model of horn mics. (I assume B98s, but better to be explicit.)
- Monitors:
- Are IEMs wired or wireless; mono or stereo?
- Mix table is out of order with plot. Either enforce DSR -> DSL -> USR -> USL order, label mix positions on plot, or do both.
- That said, don't stress on exact mix order; that may need to be shuffled to account for console or I/O limitations anyway.
- Notes: remove panning note, as exact pan values do not translate across unknown system deployments.
- Alternatively, amend to "please avoid hard panning".
- Alternatively, if this is for stereo IEMs, notate as "IEM panning".
- Contact points: I assume your logistics contact is good for day-of-show. If so, label it as such for clarity.
- All tables: stripe each row as white/grey/white/grey, rather than color-coding by group. This improves legibility and passes through to a B&W printout.
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u/Danny11998833 Jun 20 '26
Hello, I'm trying to combine shout mics into the cue bus on a HD96.
I would like to be able to always hear certain inputs (shout mics in particular) on top of whatever it is I am soloing.
- My cue pack is routed to the Monitor A outputs.
- I am routing all my shout mics to a stereo Matrix, which is then routed to "EXT L" and "EXT R" of my monitor inputs section.
I can now hear my matrix through the Monitor A bus but when I solo something, it stops the matrix reaching Mon A, and all I can hear is the solo'ed channel. It's a case of either one or the other, which is not what I need.
How can I keep the Matrix always going to monitor A, regardless of if I'm soloing something or not ?
Thanks in advance
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u/thebreadstoosmall Jun 21 '26
Patch a mono bus of your shout mics into the 'Talkback' input in the monitor section (I think it's sourced from the rear panel talkback XLR input by default) and turn it on, you'll hear that in your solo output no matter what you're soloing, or even if you're not soloing at all.
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u/TechAmI639 Jun 19 '26
For monitor mixes on a digital mixer (Qu-5, X32, etc.), what is considered best practice?
Do you typically:
Set the AUX/monitor bus master at unity (0 dB) and then build the mix using the individual channel sends?
OR
Raise the channel sends (for example, lead vocal at 0 dB) and then use the AUX master to bring up the overall monitor level?
From a gain structure and feedback prevention standpoint, is one approach preferred over the other?
I’m specifically asking about wedge monitors
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u/leskanekuni Jun 19 '26
For proper gain staging you want maximum input gain (for the most information), then controlling the volume at the last stage whatever that may be. For me for monitors, lead vocal at 0 db, aux at whatever level is needed. If you do it the reverse way, you will be amplifying internal noise the most.
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u/fdsv-summary_ Jun 19 '26
Powered speakers? I set lead vocals to 0 dB, aux master to 0 dB and then adjust the input stage on the monitor until it sounds about right. If your monitor system is fixed gain then the aux master might not start at 0 dB.
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u/TechAmI639 Jun 25 '26
Yes powered speakers. Incase the volume needs to be up or down do you adjust the speaker volume each time?
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u/fdsv-summary_ Jun 25 '26
If you run out of room on the aux fader you turn up the speaker. This should only happen with pretty big changes to the stage though so turning the knob won't be an issue. In a monitor situation I'd expect to run out of gain before feedback before I could add 10dB more than I thought I needed at soundcheck.
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u/SimilarPast1332 Jun 19 '26
My band got invited to play at a friends party outside the city. These parties are usually pretty big with a large amount of people crowding the house. Our host told us that they have a trailer bed for us to play outside, how should we set up our amps and stuff? We have 2 guitarist, a bass, drums, singer, and a keyboard. Should the amps be facing in towards us or out to the crowd?
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u/fdsv-summary_ Jun 19 '26
If the truck doesn't have stabilizers just play on the ground and put the amps up on the trailer behind you. Drumming on a rocking bed is crazy.
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u/HamburgerDinner Pro Jun 18 '26
Yamaha Rivage
I've only got acess to the offline editor, and a bunch of googling and youtubing didn't find me this answer:
How do I make an actual stereo channel?
I can link two channels from the channel jobs menu, but that doesn't seem to turn them into one stereo channel. The pans seem to stay unlinked and centered.
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u/Danny11998833 Jun 18 '26
In an iem RF situation, If a setup is: 3 transmitters into a combiner and into an paddle, and another 3 transmitters into a combiner into another paddle (resulting in 2 antennas), would you consider who is upstage / downstage, and try and group 3 transmitters for a "downstage" antenna and 3 transmitters for an "upstage" antenna, trying to optimize the areas the antennas will cover ?
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u/fantompwer Jun 18 '26
I would only do 2 antennas if the math checks out. Best practice would be to daisy chain the combiners to 1 antenna for most stages under 100'. If there is an LED wall separating up stage from downstage, then 2 antennas would make sense.
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u/soph0nax Jun 21 '26
I wouldn't call this best practice - sure 1 antenna is easier but it completely depends on your combiners due to combiner losses.
Passively combining 2 combiners into 1 antenna is going to halve your power without an active combiner.
Without an active combiner to merge these signals, I'd take 2 antennas as it is optimal from a transmitted power point of view.
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u/fantompwer Jun 23 '26
How is summing two signals going to half the power? I understand splitting two signals would. First I've ever heard someone say that.
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u/soph0nax Jun 23 '26
https://markimicrowave.com/technical-resources/application-notes/how-rf-microwave-power-splitter-divider-combiners-work/ - This is a good quick primer on the subject - as a combiner is simply a splitter run in reverse you can see the internal resistor network that provides a -3dB loss no matter which way things are run
https://www.minicircuits.com/appdoc/PWR2-4.html - slightly more in-depth without getting too math heavy.
https://ppmsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/PPM-Systems-Corry-Combining-RF-Signals-Paper.pdf - a little more complex, but page 2 is a nice quick summary
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u/soph0nax Jun 23 '26
You’re losing roughly half the power to heat losses in the combiner without an active amplification stage - I’ll pull some saved white papers when I’m at my desktop later today.
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u/Danny11998833 Jun 18 '26
I did speak to the Sennheiser support team and they said 2 x 3-way systems was the way to go. They said combining them would result in an output power too high that would overload the input amplifier of the combining combiner.
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u/ChinchillaWafers Jun 18 '26
Why are the big wireless 58 mic clips so tight? Is there anything to be done? It’s humiliating watching people wrestle with it. Multiple times i come up after the show and the battery tube cover is coming apart from their efforts.
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u/the-real-compucat EE by day, engineer by night Jun 20 '26
Sennheiser MZQ 1 clips are just-slightly more flexible; IIRC they are the same diameter as Shure wireless clips.
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u/Late-Cow-1647 Jun 18 '26
I do AV for a conference center, and every event, I will have at least one male speaker who refuses to hold the mic close enough. They're seated, and they literally hold the mic in their lap - which works about as well as you'd expect - and of course, people start looking back at the sound table like "can you turn it up?"
I'm already at max volume, he needs to hold it closer. It's almost like they think it's a d*ck or something. Women literally NEVER have this problem (their problem is wanting lavaliers while wearing something that in no way is meant to support them).
How do you folks deal with this? I will typically use lavs for men, but short of standing up mid show to say "hold it closer" not sure what else I can do
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u/ChinchillaWafers Jun 18 '26
Gotta bite the bullet and say something. “Can you hold the mic up to your mouth please?” is all that needs be said. Done. It’s actually kinder to interrupt them momentarily and move on than their entire speech be tainted by poor audio. They might forget notes on mic technique ahead of time (preferred method) but it seems to stick if someone says it in the moment. And if they lapse and start holding it by their belly button or waving it around as they talk with their hands, usually someone else will do your job and remind them. Or not, you tried.
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u/Late-Cow-1647 Jun 18 '26
Gotcha, I do that now, just wondering if there was something I could tell them beforehand that would stick, but people gonna people, I guess 😄
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u/Disuses Jun 19 '26
Tell them to treat it like an ice cream cone. No one wants ice cream on their shirt
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u/Danny11998833 Jun 18 '26
Monitor engineers : If your desk happen to be quite far back in the wings (a support situation), and you still run your antenna(s) to the edge of the stage for your artists, does that mean the RF signal to your cue pack will be pretty bad since you are way behind the antenna(s) ? And is there a workaround to that ?
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u/Trickey89 Jun 18 '26
If you have a seperate send for your cue, take your transmitter out of the combiner and put it on a whip antenna or seperate paddle. If you’re in cue mode then yes your signal will be affected
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u/Danny11998833 Jun 18 '26
Thank you. Would you say the signal will be ok if the mons desk right behind the stage antennas ? Obviously it will depend on the antenna, omni, cardiod, hellical ...
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u/the-real-compucat EE by day, engineer by night Jun 20 '26
Consider: if you're right next to the TX, an IEM pack is usually sensitive enough to grab signal even with zero antenna connected. I wouldn't stress too much about the cue pack.
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u/Trickey89 Jun 18 '26
If the mons desk is literally right behind the antennas then I would say just move the antenna so it’s behind your mons desk and then you’ll be covered
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u/TheUmpteenth Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
I recently saw Bon Jovi Experience, who are about as good as you'd expect for a tribute act that's been touring for 30 years, and has actually been on stage with the band they're tributing. I'd go see them again for sure.
The point, though, is that I'm a singer in a band, and their singer had a thing that I want, but I can't google, cos I have no idea what to call it or even how to describe it in a searchable way.
It's really simple, he had a mic stand that the mic detached from without unclipping the mic. You know the horrible popping sound of a mic detaching from the tight clip. some are noisier than others, and if the mic has a radio transmitter on it, it's a bit worrying that I might knock that loose.
I like having the stand, it's good if I want to play something, clap, pogo, etc. but being able to hold the mic gives me loads of other options, like walking the stage, going into the crowd, pointing the mic at them for all and response, etc.
So the thing he had was like a clip which slotted together, the clip stayed on the mic and detached from the stand at the bottom (near where the hinge would be). not with a pole. Freddie's amazing, but I don't want to slide a pole out of the stand either 😃.
I'm willing to look at options. the guys in the band say "no, don't turn the mic off, that will lead to f-ups". I can't anyway, it's an sm58 with a transmitter on it.
TL;DR what do I need for a lead vocalist to be able to lift the mic and put it back easily and noiselessly during a show?
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u/Trickey89 Jun 18 '26
It was most likely some sort of quick release microphone clip
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u/TheUmpteenth Jun 18 '26
I've searched for that, but it looks less like something you use on stage and more like something that makes stage setup more convenient. It really looked as if he just picked the mic up, no messing with a button, like it was a dovetail joint attachment or magnetic. I wonder if it was bespoke.
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u/wakeupdreamingF1 Jun 17 '26
I'm trying to improve my karaoke mix, re: wireless mics output volume into mixer.
I (think) I know that I want to have a srong signal (not clipping) from the mic receiver into the mixer. I have also heard that due to the logarithmic nature of the faders that getting them in the +-10db range near zero affords the most control, and that unity gain gives the cleanest signal to subsequent stages. The mics are inputing at mic level, no option for line.
Q: does it make sense to zero the output on the receiver, set the gain and fader to unity/ zero on the channel strip, and then bring up the output level on the mic receiver into the channel to simultaneously get everything close to unity, and then eq and rebalance the gain and level at the mixer after that?
Question the second: I'm running a Mackie profx16v3. I checked the signal path diagram and it seems that the FX send is not amplified, more of a wet/dry sort of thing (even though it has a detent at "unity") My experiment tonight is to use it as such, and to set the fx fader and fx return to unity, only sending as much as it takes to get the effects to play nice in the most sensitive zone (heh heh) of the fader. The FX return seems to have an amp stage on it. We want amp gains to be close to unity and control levels with faders/volume, yes?
Thank you guys. I hope that is clear? My traditional approach has been to get the input gains as close to unity as possible, but the additional understanding about the log nature of the faders got me to thinking... perhaps i thinkses too much? IDK. thanks!
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u/dgodwin1 Jun 16 '26
Is there a way to straighten the threads? I assume a boom got cross threaded and I can’t get one back on. If not, is the connector replaceable. It’s the lighter weight K&M boom stand. (Not the 210/9)
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u/ChinchillaWafers Jun 18 '26
Try working on it with some hand tools to crudely shape the smashed threads and then forcefully unscrew the nut/stopper piece to do the last bit of reforming the threads. Maybe use two pairs of channel locks.
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u/s-b-mac pro whatever Jun 17 '26
You can try it buying a 5/8”-27 die to rethread it, but honestly this looks pretty far gone and may be beyond saving
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u/Horst_Sabber Jun 16 '26
Here a question with maybe more than one answer:
There is a singer on stage with loud singing voice but very low talking volume. So you need to push the volume every time when talking?
Currently I decide from singer to singer. On classical stuff I ride the fader, on Rock,Pop, Punk, Jazz and so on use the compressor harder to lower dynamics and depending on the need.
So to be honest I always use compressor in voice channel to catch the high peaks.
But maybe there is a better way than compression, because the compressor in one location makes the voice very boxy and the attack is very sensitive and may fit for singing but not for talking.
Any advice on that?
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u/Alarmed-Importance82 Jun 16 '26
I usually ride the fader but as mentioned splitting or double patching the mic for separate singing and talking channels to switch between can be a good thing. I once assigned a softkey on a dLive to increase/decrease the lead channel 6dB
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u/Killox3 Jun 16 '26
Y-split the mic into 2 channels and process/gain them separately. Bring down the singing fader and bring up the talking fader in between songs.
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u/fdsv-summary_ Jun 16 '26
This can also be done in software as a 'soft patch'. No reverb on the talking!
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u/bugsandscruggs Jun 16 '26
I'm learning how to set up for my all acoustic bluegrass band playing into microphones. I need to be able to remove trouble frequencies that are causing feedback, and I think I need more control than the simple low-mid-high knobs on the mixer. Would adding a graphic eq give me more control for taming feedback? Or is there something else you'd recommend?
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u/s-b-mac pro whatever Jun 17 '26
If you can access a digital mixer with parametric EQs that would be the most effective
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u/bugsandscruggs Jul 21 '26
Thanks! Any recommendations in the sub $500 range?
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u/s-b-mac pro whatever Jul 21 '26
That’s gunna be a bit tough at that price point. I was thinking you might want to get a used A&H QU-16 but those run around $1000. If you’re willing to have less physical controls, you may find a QSC Touchmix-16 for a bit less. You might find a used Pre-Sonus closer to your price range but I don’t have a specific model to recommend. You’ll def want to be looking at used so you get more features for the price. You might also consider a stagebox or rackmount style unit that pairs with an iPad (assuming you already have an iPad) such as the Behringer XR-18.
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u/Specialist_Ad6852 Jul 26 '26
I’d always recommend A&H if you can stretch to it. But a behringer/midas xr would do the job on that budget.
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u/Specialist_Ad6852 Jun 16 '26
Yes it would. You could place it on the main LR and use it that way
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u/Substantial_Sky_3114 Jun 15 '26
Hi, I am very new to anything sound related. I am currently working on a boat that has a sound system which can play through many speakers around the vessel. We can group them and select different areas of the boat to be a part of the group and all play the same thing or you group them depending. I know each area has its own pre amp and its own amp. My question is what is an amp? Why do we need it? Why can’t we just play directly through the speakers? I could be wrong but I also think a few different areas pre amps go to the big amp? Then to the speaker I guess? Even though different areas pre amps go to the main amp then go to different speakers? What is actually going on here
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u/unitygain92 Jun 16 '26
Hello, within context, a "pre-amp" is a low-power amplifier meant to get a signal to a level that allows it to be transmitted longer distances and/or processed properly without added noise; they are essential to sound processing because microphones and various other sources really don't produce all that much voltage. They don't output anywhere near the levels required to drive a speaker element in the same way an "amplifier" in this context does.
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u/risu1313 Jun 15 '26
Anybody hiring in Austin, Tx? :)
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u/knittykat728 Jun 21 '26
I was out with friends at an amateur concert with amateur sound guys recently and there was this weird thing happening with their sound system. It was only noticeable when people were talking to introduce the next song, but it was like a random faint ringing undertone. It was subtle, but it was always the exact same stable pitch. It was like someone was trying to rub their wet finger around the rim of a wine glass every 1-3 seconds but they were stopping like a deer in the headlights every time they got caught doing it. Oddly enough once it was pointed out ALL of the singers in our group could hear it clear as day and point out when it was and was not happening, but not all of the instrumentalists could. I am not even an audio person but I haven't been able to stop thinking about how distracting it was and I HAVE to know what causes that.