SOLVED: Audio problem - HELP!

David W. Richardson said:
Yeah, that's the same pitiful manual that I've found.
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Go over to https://www.gearslutz.com/board/geekslutz-forum/ and ask John Roberts if he can get better info.

I'd really like to know which is the right cable before I buy it. It starts to get expensive buying cables just to see if they are the right ones.
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You may have to live with trial-and-error unless you can get better info.
Fortunately, there are places to buy cables that will allow for returns.
Or, you could just resign yourself to using an unbalanced cable which will work in any case.
http://hosatech.com/product/pxf-100/


FYI, with the mixer-to-amp cabling as it currently is, the amp's "MAIN MASTER" gain can only be set to 1. Any more is much too loud. So clearly that's not optimal. Probably not "unity". :-)
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The last step in the chain (the power amplifier) is set for adequate sound levels in the audience.
The concept of "unity gain" is more of a concept for the line-level gear upstream in the system.
 
As it turns out, I already have a cable like the Hosa you linked to -- female XLR on one end, male 1/4" mono on the other. So I'll give that a try tomorrow.

Thanks!
 
Okay, yesterday I took my cable to the church. I connected the female XLR end to the MIX-L output on the Soundcraft EPM-8 mixer. I connected the male 1/4" mono end to the PWR.AMP input on the Peavey XR600C amplifier. I disconnected the other cable that had been running between the mixer and the amp.

Although I got plenty of level on the LEDs on the mixer, and sound output in my headphones connected to the mixer, I got no sound at all via the amp to the room speakers. I turned up Master Gain and Master Monitor levels on the amp, but still no sound. All channel pans were set to 0. I tried moving the XLR to the MIX-R, but still no sound.

I know the cable itself works because I used it to connect a microphone to a 1/4" jack on the board, and that worked.

So what am I missing here?
 
It is possible that is an OUTPUT from the Peavey XR600C (to send the audio to an external amplifier).
So maybe there is no line-level input at all on that thing. The document is really pathetic.
Another reason to go over to GearSlutz and ask John Roberts (retired design engineer for Peavey).
I would try the jack next to it, the "AUX IN" Or even the "GRAPHIC IN".
 
Richard Crowley said:
It is possible that is an OUTPUT from the Peavey XR600C (to send the audio to an external amplifier).
So maybe there is no line-level input at all on that thing. The document is really pathetic.
Another reason to go over to GearSlutz and ask John Roberts (retired design engineer for Peavey).
I would try the jack next to it, the "AUX IN" Or even the "GRAPHIC IN".
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Good thinking. I'll give that a try today. Thanks!
 
Depends on your POV. Is it an "input" to the Peavey gadget?
Or is it the "input" to an external power amp? (Meaning that it is an output from the Peavey)
The Peavey manual is so bad, it doesn't surprise me that they could confuse inputs and outputs.
Many of those things are written by non-technical interns who don't know an input from their left elbow.

You have confirmed that audio is coming out of the 1/4 inch plug?
I typically touch a headphone plug to the output plug in question just to confirm audio.
if you hold them just right you can connect sleeve to sleeve and tip to tip.
Or you can hold them facing each other and touch tip to sleeve and sleeve to tip.
 
Richard Crowley said:
Depends on your POV. Is it an "input" to the Peavey gadget?
Or is it the "input" to an external power amp? (Meaning that it is an output from the Peavey)
The Peavey manual is so bad, it doesn't surprise me that they could confuse inputs and outputs.
Many of those things are written by non-technical interns who don't know an input from their left elbow.
Click to expand...

Can't answer that question. So I'll try the cabling to a different input on the amp today and see how that goes. Thanks!
 
REJOICE MY BRETHREN! Again I say REJOICE!

I received the attenuation cable and installed it this morning. That appears to have eliminated almost ALL of the buzz/hum. What little there is left is completely ignored by the AGC of the camcorder. HALLELUJAH!!!!

I have adjusted all of the faders and gains and whistles and bells according to Richard's excellent advice, and everything seems to be sounding GREAT!

I never did get any kind of connection from the "MIX" output XLRs on the mixer to the inputs on the amp to work. However, I connected the "Monitor Out (L)" from the mixer to the "AUX" input on the amp (rather than one of the HI-Z inputs) and it seems to work much better.

Heck, even the mic for the piano started working.

So we are HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!

Thanks SO much to everyone for all your great help and advice. I owe you BIG!
 
Happy to have contributed a little. But your patience, persistence and civility in this thread were way more important. Congratulations.

- Greg
 
Yes, congratulations for hanging in there and being willing to learn new things; and, more importantly, how to APPLY them to Real World!
Feel free to come back for more help as you are ready. PTL! SDG!
 
Wow! Not quite perfect yet, but the improvement is dramatic. The preacher's voice is very clear now. Nobody should have any complaints about being able to understand it.

Good sound on the organ, but I thought there was a little metallic ringing when the choir sang. It might be that monitor speaker right on the edge of feedback -- not sure, though.

What type of wireless mic is it that's giving you trouble, and where is the receiver located?

- Greg
 
Greg Smith said:
Wow! Not quite perfect yet, but the improvement is dramatic. The preacher's voice is very clear now. Nobody should have any complaints about being able to understand it.

Good sound on the organ, but I thought there was a little metallic ringing when the choir sang. It might be that monitor speaker right on the edge of feedback -- not sure, though.

What type of wireless mic is it that's giving you trouble, and where is the receiver located?

- Greg
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Thanks Greg!

Yeah, I may have to lower the gain on the choir mics just a smidgen. I noticed that too. I did make adjustments during the course of the service.

I don't know what the make and model of the wireless lapel mic are. Will go tomorrow and find out.

The receiver is located at the back of the sanctuary, where the camera and sound system are. I believe it's a Nady, but I'm not positive of that. I suspect it's pretty old. I'm thinking the problem might be with the way he wears it -- instead of clipping the transmitter to his belt and letting the antenna wire hang, he stuffs both into his shirt pocket. I've checked it before and made sure there were no loose connections or bad cables. But I haven't tried testing it with it shoved into my shirt pocket. I'll try that next.

Also, I'll test it in the same location and position he's in when the problem occurs. He only uses that mic for children's church, where he sits down with the kids and leans over to talk to them. I need to replicate his actions and location.
 
Okay, I was wrong -- the wireless lapel mic is a Shure T1. The receiver is a Shure T4A.

I wasn't able to reproduce the problem today. Even wiggling the mic cable, the antenna cable, and shaking the transmitter I still couldn't get it to drop out. I did it all in the same place in the room that the preacher was in. I wonder if I need pews full of people before the drop-out will occur?

The children's service begins at the 09:13 mark, and the level drops out at about 09:28. Can anybody see any reason for it?

(BTW, I didn't do the camera work. I was just working on the sound.)
 
David W. Richardson said:
Okay, I was wrong -- the wireless lapel mic is a Shure T1. The receiver is a Shure T4A.
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Shure T-series "Presenter" system. This is a step up from Nady, but not by much, and it doesn't take much for the system to drop out. I have worked with several installations that had these, and years ago we had them at my home church. In all of those, I have advocated for replacement simply because the systems are flimsy both in build quality and in signal integrilty.

Sennheiser G3 or even Audio Technica 3000-series would be a vast improvement.
 
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Great stuff. I gave up on you David. But the others, with more knowledge, got you though it. I was befuddled by the idea of the pad working. But now I have one more bit of knowledge. Thanks to the great contributors here.
 
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