Members Audiopile Posted October 12, 2013 Members Share Posted October 12, 2013 Our community church (the church in town) hit me up for suggestions on improving their church PA system. Having never actually stepped foot in that church, even though I routinely mow their approx. 2 acre lawn as a neighborly thing to do, I did a walk through with one of the church elders the other day ago... and checked out their system. The church PA system was pretty much what I expected... the system was undoubtedly professionally designed & installed... very nicely done... excellent craftsmanship, especially concerning the finish carpentry aspects. No doubt the system was "big bucks" in it's day... and it's day was "when the church was built", which was approx. 1971 (+/- a year). The mixing console is a Lafayette brand... 8 channel, rotary pots, no EQ's or aux sends... just an aluminum panel with 8 input rotary pots and one master volume rotary pot. I suspect possibly the console or amp(s) or ? is tube construction (not solid state) as the system took a bit to "warm up & come on". It struck me that much "engineering" (or design) and cost was put into aesthetics... function was a secondary consideration. The main sanctuary's speaker is a (one) cell horn (possibly Atlas or University... it didn't look like an Altec, although I couldn't get a good look at it) hidden behind a cloth grill at the front of the sanctuary... and basically pointed directly at the 3 mics on-stage. There's also ceiling mounted speakers throughout the church (zones)... in the cry room, lounge, meeting room, etc... with wall mounted attenuators in each zone area. The main sanctuary seats approx. 800, although typical mass attendance is "a couple dozen" (maybe that many). "Budget" is pretty meager for any audio upgrade (the church is trying to save-up for new siding as the highest priority at this point).Anyhoo... the sound is awful... to the point of not encumbering performers on-stage with dealing with the sound system is likely best (just leave the sound system off in the main sanctuary)... GBF is... well... almost a negative number (with the system off functionally delivers the most usable GBF in the sanctuary). The system response in the main sanctuary seems to be approx. 600Hz - approx. 5Khz... with a lot of humm & buzz. I suspect most of the humm & buzz is coming from the masses of hi-z connections running from the stage to the mix position (probably 150ft.+ of cable per)... most/possibly all of these problems can likely be corrected fairly easily and cheaply. The stage mics are abominable. The pulpit mic is a Shure Unidyne 515 (original to the 1970 installation and beat to death)... positioned about 4 - 5ft. ahead of whomever might be standing at the pulpit, and basically aimed at their belly button. There's a vocal mic at the piano, which is a Shure Prologue 10L I believe... it has a thick piece of foam (homemade windscreen) scotch taped over what's left of the mic's windscreen to "reduce feedback". The third stage mic is a Realistic (Radioshack) something or another... and it's positioned for the acoustic guitar. The "mic cable" for this mic appears to be a curly cord (lime green) from a '70's vintage telephone handset that somebody grafted XLR ends on.Anyhoo... considering they basically have "no budget"... I suggested that upgrading the mics and cleaning-up the wiring could be a good start... probably the best bang for the buck... and then maybe consider upgrading the sanctuary speaker.Suggestions for mics? (or should I "Run Forest, run!?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted October 12, 2013 Members Share Posted October 12, 2013 Unless you're feeling particularly generous,,, I'd invest in a pair of Nike's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted October 12, 2013 Author Members Share Posted October 12, 2013 Bobby1Note wrote: Unless you're feeling particularly generous,,, I'd invest in a pair of Nike's. I happen to be wearing a pair of Nike Airmax... those do? Or would some Nike track shoes be better suited? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fdew Posted October 12, 2013 Members Share Posted October 12, 2013 I am the tech for my church, I like church sound. Churches need to understand that they are not exempt from Gods laws of physics. If the speakers are in the wrong place and there is no GBF and there is no budget then nothing can be done. My recomandation to them isGet moneyGet good speakers in the correct locationUpgrade other equipment as needed, and get rid of the hum and buzz.THEN get a new mic. Posibly a over the ear wired or wireless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted October 12, 2013 Members Share Posted October 12, 2013 I suspect they need unbalanced mics ? Maybe you have a mixer and snake in your junk pile that would be usable (and a definite improvement). Maybe you even have some beat up SM58's or some such ? Some sort of flyable speakers? An old amp? Heck, I have most of that in my junk pile - all except the mics and mic cables. And I suspect you have a MUCH bigger junkpile . Oh, and you do realize you will forever be their free fixit guy ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 13, 2013 Members Share Posted October 13, 2013 I would work on improving infrastructure first then mics later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members happwith12strin Posted October 13, 2013 Members Share Posted October 13, 2013 Since you have a very minimal budget, I would suggest an AKG D5 mic. Excellent feedback supression. Cost about $65-95 The other thing you might look at is a Yamaha MG102C mixer, they cost about $90-100. I would borrow a small mixer that is known to be good and substitute it to see if the mixer is causing the hum. Electronic stuff has a shelf life. Capacitors can fail and cause hum. The warm up time on the mixer does not sound good. Might also be a ground loop some where, maybe a power amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted October 13, 2013 Members Share Posted October 13, 2013 Hw12s is right about the hum. VERY good chance it's coming from the power supply filter caps in both the mixer and the power amp. Disconnect and/or short the inputs to verify. I am familiar with the D5; good mic but if the speaker really is pointed at the microphone, you gotta move one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted October 13, 2013 Members Share Posted October 13, 2013 The chance of it being caps is so much less than being something else like a ground loop as to be silly. If it smells like a horse, don't go looking for a zebra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted October 13, 2013 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2013 agedhorse wrote: The chance of it being caps is so much less than being something else like a ground loop as to be silly. If it smells like a horse, don't go looking for a zebra. Well... the first thing I'm fixin to get into is the wad of telephone wires literally band-aided into a wad hanging out the back of the Buick sized Hammond organ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.