Skip to content

Articles

Fig. 1 - A fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley filter with point source drivers.

The Science Behind Feedback

Other than dead silence, feedback must be the most hated thing in professional audio. Feedback has been with us since the first microphone was placed in front of a speaker and is something every audio technician learns to manage. As long as loudspeakers are returning sound information back to presenters and performers the potential for feedback will remain. This month, we’ll define the cause of feedback, and then see how some aspects of monitor speaker design can contribute to causing feedback.

Read More »
Shure KSM8 Dualdyne Vocal Microphne

Shure KSM8 Dualdyne Vocal Microphone

In 2004, my friend Harold Blumberg, a product consultant for Shure for more than 30 years, contacted me about a prototype microphone. I rarely heard him speak so glowingly about a piece of gear, but he said Shure engineers created a truly revolutionary condenser live vocal mic. He asked if I was interested in beta testing the then-new KSM9. Always open to experience better performance and more pleasing results from a vocal mic, I enthusiastically volunteered to give the new unit a shakedown on the road.

Read More »
DiGiCo S21

DiGiCo S21 Digital Console

Representing a significant departure from what the company has done over the past 10 years is the S21 — the latest offering from DiGiCo. In an effort to reach a new set of customers that can’t afford its higher-end desks, DiGiCo went back to the drawing board to create a console that they hope will redefine the industry’s expectations of what a sub-$10,000 console is capable of. My demo system consisted of an S21 surface in a custom road case, as well as a D-Rack for remote I/O and a Cat-5 snake for connecting the two together. In the time I spent with the S21, it was clear that DiGiCo has something new and special that isn’t just another digital console.

Read More »
EAW’s unique ‘engine’ drives its Adaptive line arrays

Inside EAW’s Adaptive Systems

Since its earliest days, Eastern Acoustic Works has always been defined by an ongoing quest to redefine the state of the art in loudspeaker systems that offer practical solutions targeted toward professional sound reinforcement users and installers. Perhaps a clue to that comes from incorporating the term “Acoustic” into the company name, when “Eastern Speaker Works” might have sufficed. And certainly the most recent embodiment of EAW’s solutions-oriented approach comes in the form of its Adaptive Systems line, which now includes the Anya and Anna line arrays and the Otto subwoofer.

Read More »
Empty Clair S4 cabinets form the outer perimeter walls of the rehearsal room. Photo by David Morgan

Nashville’s Blackbird Academy, Revisited

Note: Last month, David provided a quick tour of The Blackbird Academy’s new live audio school in Nashville; this time he returns to delve a little deeper.

In August of 2015, I journeyed to Tennessee to mix a fantastic show with Andrea Zonn, vocalist and violinist in James Taylor’s band. She performed all the songs from her newly released CD, Rise, on the Music City Roots broadcast. This refreshingly eclectic music show is performed and recorded at The Factory in Franklin, TN, just southwest of Nashville. After Andrea’s performance, I took some time to interact with the Blackbird students. Last summer, Blackbird Academy’s Live Sound division was up and running and I looked toward participating in one of the classes.

Read More »
Infrared systems, such as this Sennheiser receiver, are especially useful in difficult RF environments

Assistive Listening and Your Church

What is the most important thing you do as a church audio engineer? I think all of us would agree that having the message heard clearly by each and every individual is the single most important thing we do. With a properly designed sound system, the average person should be able to hear the message without any problem, but what about those in our congregation who are hearing impaired? What can we do to make their experience better and ensure that they hear just as well as everyone else?

Read More »
Illustration by Andy Au

Hemp Audio!

Of the 20 medical marijuana dispensaries scheduled to open in the State of New York, the dispensary on 14th Street and Third Avenue, in the heart of New York City, was one of the seven to open its doors on Jan. 7, 2016. For those of us old enough to remember the good old/bad days of the City, this is an amazing occurrence considering the Draconian laws Governor Rockefeller put in place in 1973 pertaining to possession and distribution of the herb. Alongside morphine, opium and cocaine, cannabis was categorized as a Schedule 1 narcotic that carried stiff prison penalties for possession and distribution. Even though this legislation made Rockefeller look tough on crime, other politicians from both the left and the right opposed this ruling and thought it was unjust to equate the non-violent crime of drug possession and trafficking alongside rape and murder.

Read More »