Every genre of music is associated with a certain dynamic range, meaning the difference between the loudest and softest passages. The word “dynamic” is defined as “a force that stimulates change or progress within a system of process”. It defines how versatile a piece of music or a piece of gear behaves (musical instrument, amplifier, … Lire la suite
Author: Christophe Anet
Differences between Flown and Floor-Mounted Subwoofer Deployments
When line-array loudspeaker systems are deployed in large venues, one issue that is most often debated is how to install subwoofers to adequately cover the entire audience. Should you keep the energy on the floor and deliver that tactile sense of bass to the crowd with a ground-stacked solution? Should you aim for more volume … Lire la suite
How to mitigate Sound Propagation through Materials in Live Sound Settings
You may remember from your science classes in school that the speed of sound is a constant, but this statement is entirely dependent on the material through which sound is propagating. Different medium transmit sound at very different speeds. So, let’s look at some typical materials that most people would encounter in indoor live sound … Lire la suite
Setting Subwoofer Level correctly in your PA System
Subwoofers are great solutions to extend the low frequency performance of your PA system, and there are three aspects to consider carefully when setting up a subwoofer. In the following order. Subwoofer Placement If subwoofers are used in many portable and installed PA applications to enhance the overall listening and performance experience, their placement in … Lire la suite
What Causes Loudspeaker Hum and Hiss and How to eliminate it
If you are familiar attending any type of live show, concert or performance using PA loudspeakers, you will most likely also agree that loudspeakers’ humming, hissing or buzzing noise can quickly ruin a performance. This article reviews each of the common causes of audible (and irritating) loudspeakers’ hum and hiss, and discusses effective strategies to … Lire la suite
Understanding Closed, Vented and Band-pass Subwoofer Designs
The history of the subwoofer is inextricably linked with the evolution of the full-range loudspeaker. In the mid-1950s, various manufacturers of hi-fi loudspeakers began to introduce compact, closed-box enclosures that featured long-throw woofers, and in the early 1970s a talented engineer working at Jensen, named James Novak, developed the equations describing a bass reflex (or … Lire la suite
What is Auto Mixing on a Digital Mixer?
An auto mixer, or automatic microphone mixer, is a live sound-mixing tool that automatically reduces the volume level of a microphone’s audio signal when it is not used. This is particularly valuable when several microphones are open at the same time, reducing extraneous noise. In this article, we will describe how the Auto Mixer function … Lire la suite
How to correctly position multiple Subwoofers for Cardioid Deployment
To start, let’s recall that the low frequency energy radiated from a conventional subwoofer is effectively omnidirectional below 200 Hz. This is because the directivity of a subwoofer is related to the ratio of its size to the length of the sound wave it produces. The length, or size, of the sound wave is inversely … Lire la suite
Conseils pratiques sur le placement des enceintes pour le son live (partie IV)
La couverture verticale est sans doute plus importante encore que la couverture horizontale. L’élévation et la distance sont essentielles. Pour une couverture adéquate des enceintes, il est essentiel de trouver le bon équilibre entre la distance et le volume sonore des enceintes... Lire la suite
Conseils pratiques sur le placement des enceintes pour le son live (partie III)
Chaque espace présente des difficultés de couverture qui lui sont propres. Par exemple, dans un club avec des plafonds bas, vous n’aurez jamais une hauteur suffisante pour suspendre un système de diffusion line array ; pour la sonorisation en plein air, l’absence de murs apporte, elle aussi, son lot de contraintes... Lire la suite