SOLVED: Audio problem - HELP!

Alex H. said:
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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I'm sure it would be a vast improvement, but it's not easy to get the $450+ needed to make the purchase.
 
David W. Richardson said:
I'm sure it would be a vast improvement, but it's not easy to get the $450+ needed to make the purchase.
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I get that, but it's the best way to fix the issue. Sometimes, if these videos are important to the congregation and they see the issue, it can be possible to motivate that $450 to be contributed... especially with the supporting argument that you have done quite a bit to improve the sound without having to spend much money at all. "I got this far on pocket change, but there's one last hurdle that requires an investment."

In the mean time, the best bet you have to minimize the dropouts is to raise the receiver unit to have unobstructed line-of-sight no matter if the congregation is standing or seated. Unlike the Sennheiser and AT units that allow for extended, external antennae (and antenna distributor systems), the cheap-o Shure units have permanently-attached antennae, so to move them you must move the whole box.
 
As a first step, can you run a long microphone cable from the mixer down to somewhere near the front row and install the receiver at that end, where it will be much closer to the transmitter? It's a bonus if you can get it up high enough off the floor that it will always be in a solid line of sight to the transmitter. Wireless systems, even cheap ones, have a "squelch" circuit to cut off the audio when the radio signal at the receiver is too weak to guarantee quality audio; it could be you're just on the edge of the working range of the system, and adding more bodies in the pews absorbs just enough RF energy from the transmitter to make it cut out.

Ultimately, replacing the wireless transmitter and receiver with better equipment will be the best solution, but I do understand the money issues. And even then, they are never 100% reliable. As I've often read here, "the most expensive wireless system in the world works almost as well as a $20 cable." :)

- Greg
 
Greg Smith said:
As a first step, can you run a long microphone cable from the mixer down to somewhere near the front row and install the receiver at that end, where it will be much closer to the transmitter? It's a bonus if you can get it up high enough off the floor that it will always be in a solid line of sight to the transmitter. Wireless systems, even cheap ones, have a "squelch" circuit to cut off the audio when the radio signal at the receiver is too weak to guarantee quality audio; it could be you're just on the edge of the working range of the system, and adding more bodies in the pews absorbs just enough RF energy from the transmitter to make it cut out.

Ultimately, replacing the wireless transmitter and receiver with better equipment will be the best solution, but I do understand the money issues. And even then, they are never 100% reliable. As I've often read here, "the most expensive wireless system in the world works almost as well as a $20 cable." :)

- Greg
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I'll have to give that some thought. I'm not sure how I could run it so that people wouldn't trip over it, etc. I certainly could run it for test purposes, in an empty sanctuary. But I've never been able to reproduce the problem in an empty sanctuary, so I don't know that that would prove anything.

I'll see what I can figure out. Thanks!
 
David W. Richardson said:
But I've never been able to reproduce the problem in an empty sanctuary, so I don't know that that would prove anything.
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Because bodies absorb RF. The congregation may be seated, but the transmitter is still at waist/pocket level on the pastor and is still having to travel through heads and shoulders. Plus, if the antenna is in contact with the pastor's body, the transmission range suffers greatly. I'm assuming the dropout is apparent in the live system as well? More argument for asking the congregation to sponsor a new wireless system.

Get the antennae higher and/or closer to minimize the issue for now.
 
Alex H. said:
Because bodies absorb RF. The congregation may be seated, but the transmitter is still at waist/pocket level on the pastor and is still having to travel through heads and shoulders. Plus, if the antenna is in contact with the pastor's body, the transmission range suffers greatly. I'm assuming the dropout is apparent in the live system as well? More argument for asking the congregation to sponsor a new wireless system.

Get the antennae higher and/or closer to minimize the issue for now.
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I get that. I'm just saying that it's going to be hard to reposition the receiver closer to the transmitter without stringing the cable where people will be walking. And it's no good to just do it for test in an empty sanctuary. So I have to figure a way to get the receiver closer without the cable being a hazard.

I can get the receiver higher, that's for sure. I might try that first.
 
I might be able to position the receiver inside the pulpit, and run the cable down under the floor along with the cable for the pulpit mic. Although that would put a 1/2" sheet of wood between transmitter and receiver, it would be VERY close to him. I would think that would be better than being far away and the signal going through so many people. Worth a try.
 
Been reading the online manual for our wireless system. It says that the two antennas on our receiver should be angled away from each other, at a 45-degree angle from the vertical. Ours are currently aimed straight up, parallel to each other at a 90-degree angle from the vertical. Changing that as the manual suggest might solve the problem.

These are the troubleshooting steps it recommends for a 'no sound' situation:

Make sure the transmitter and the receiver are operating on the same frequency.

Extend receiver antenna(s) as far as possible. T4 receiver antennas should point away from each other at a 45° angle from vertical.

Move receiver antennas away from any nearby metal objects.

Remove any obstructions from between transmitter and receiver.

Make sure you can see receiver antenna(s) from transmitter.

Move transmitter closer to receiver; it may be outside system range.
 
The first thing I would look at is batteries. Are you using new alkaline cells each time? Many times I have seen places "save money" by using used batteries and or rechargable, both of which will give you problems. The big problem with rechargeables is that they are a lower voltage than the cel size is normally and that puts them just into the usable range when fully charged but they drop very quickly below that and you can get a variety of issues.
 
Noiz2 said:
The first thing I would look at is batteries. Are you using new alkaline cells each time? Many times I have seen places "save money" by using used batteries and or rechargable, both of which will give you problems. The big problem with rechargeables is that they are a lower voltage than the cel size is normally and that puts them just into the usable range when fully charged but they drop very quickly below that and you can get a variety of issues.
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We don't use rechargeables, we use alkalines. Not a new one every time, but the one in the transmitter now is new. I've made sure it's not loose and breaking connection.
 
In addition to the lower nominal voltage, NiMH rechargeable batteries have a completely different (non-linear) discharge characteristics than alkalines and the systems battery meters are far from accurate with rechargeables. Most decent wireless systems preform the same on a lesser voltage (1.2V) with built-in voltage regulaters. Rechargeable batteries can work great, and save lot of money and the environment, but... an adhered to work flow and organization must in place or problems will most certainly arise (usually at the absolute worst possible time).
 
Richard Crowley said:
Are there no microphone lines up to the front of the church?
Do you use only wireless microphones? How many mics do you use?
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There are several microphone lines to the front of the church, but all are used for other things -- pulpit mic, choir mics (x4) and piano mic. The only wireless used normally is the one the preacher wears, and he only uses it during the children's service, which lasts about 5 minutes. We do have two other wireless mics -- one lapel, one handheld -- but they are rarely used.
 
Well it seems I still have a small issue with a buzzing sound. The AGC doesn't seem to boost it, which is good, but it's still noticeable.

I can use noise reduction in editing to remove it, which is fine. But when I'm not there, they just upload the camera files straight to their website, so the buzz will be there. I'd like to eliminate it if at all possible.

I just did a short clip this morning. You can hear the buzz plainly during the silent spots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvAY8DC0Gwo&feature=youtu.be

Any thoughts?
 
1) Do you hear it when you listen to the mixer with headphones?
That question determines whether this is noise collected by the microphones and other sources and mixed into the program.
2) Or do you only hear the noise in the audio recorded by the camera?
That question determines whether the source of the noise is the interconnection between the sound system and the camera.

Did you ever install the isolation transformer (Radio Shack 270-054) between the mixer and the camera?
In this epic discussion, I have lost track of what was done.
 
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