Complete newbie here, need help with cables for my church PA system

[prochlea]

can I get an opinion on Hosa cables?

my opinion - they're cheap, poorly made, and don't last... That said - they make a ton of adapter cables that are sometimes hard to find in other brands. So, I have a few, but in our portable environment, they only last a year or so.

[sagentg]

Thank you for all the help guys. I ended up buying a couple mogami cables and pro co cables. Thanks again.

[pdc]

Originally Posted by audiomatic

Check page 7 of your owner's manual for a description of balanced versus unbalanced signals. Check the bottom of page 14 for an illustration of a TRS (tip, ring, sleeve) 1/4-inch plug and TS (tip, sleeve) 1/4-inch plug.

Since you are new at this, you may want to consider getting a snake rather than buying and installing cables and soldering connectors at each end of each cable. This is an illustration of a 100-foot snake.


http://www.allprosound.com/catalog/p...zon%20S8X4-100


I am not recommending this particular snake for your specific circumstances, just providing an example in case you're unfamiliar with snakes. The box can be placed somewhere near the stage so that mics and instruments can be plugged into it. Plugs at the other end of the snake plug into the mixer.

The box of the snake shown has two XLR plugs that can feed your powered main speakers. The "Stereo Out" (left/right) jacks of your mixer are TRS (not XLR), so if you want to send these to the speakers using the XLR plugs at the box, you'll need an adaptor to go from mixer TRS to snake XLR. There is a simpler alternative. The box also has two TRS 1/4-inch jacks that can accept balanced (or unbalanced) signals from instruments. These can just as easily feed your speakers using balanced cables with TRS plugs on either end; the TRS plugs at the other end of the snake can then plug into the TRS Stereo Out jacks at the mixer.

The box of this snake also has eight XLR jacks for plugging in mics or XLR cables from instruments. You may not need 100 feet of snake, and in the immediate future you don't need this many XLR inputs. But this will give you an idea of what to shop around for to suit your specific circumstances.

We have a 100-foot snake stored in a closet that we'll probably never need. It's possible that there is a church in your area that has a snake in storage that they'll never need. It wouldn't hurt to ask around.

He doesn't need to worry about soldering. Neutrik makes great solderless XLRs. They work well for the newbie or the vision impaired to proud to wear glasses or use a magnifying glass.

Also, I see you constantly posting for All Pro Sound. Do you work for them? They are not the cheapest place. They are nice and they have done some good work. But for onezee twozee stuff, there are much better options than a contractor.

[audiomatic]

Originally Posted by pdc

Also, I see you constantly posting for All Pro Sound. Do you work for them? They are not the cheapest place. They are nice and they have done some good work. But for onezee twozee stuff, there are much better options than a contractor.

I'm in the environmental remediation business and a volunteer tech at church. I get stuff from American Musical Supply, Musician's Friend and occasionally Sweetwater and All Pro Sound. If I'm undecided about a purchase for a specific application, I'll sometimes call Sweetwater or All Pro Sound because I know the person answering the phone will be very knowledgeable and helpful.

[prochlea]

If I'm undecided about a purchase for a specific application, I'll sometimes call Sweetwater or All Pro Sound because I know the person answering the phone will be very knowledgeable and helpful.

Most of the people at Full Compass are pretty helpful too and they have great prices...

and no - I don't work for them.

[pdc]

Northern Sound and Light will get down and dirty, AND they send you a free T-Shirt.

Pro Sound Productions in Dallas is usually pretty good. I think Full Compass and Northern Sound and Light are the two of the cheapest, high-volume dealers of real gear. AMS, Musicians friend and all of those MI places are about the same. If you have a friend at Guitar Center you can always negotiate a better deal than what they print.

The comment about Hosa being crap is spot on. Horizon/Rapco is right behind them. I sell those too, but just for the entry level people that do not care, do not really use their system, or are just too cheap to do things correctly. As will any fabrication company, Horizon/Rapco will make whatever is ordered. So they ARE capable of doing some good stuff, but you really have to get picky on the engineering specs and then inspect it.

ProCo and Whirlwind are almost the comparable. Whirlwind has standardized connectors that are heavily supported in the live sound world on the local, regional and national level. They also have a cool lazer based wireless snake system. ProCo uses ultrasonic soldering on their top end cable and it has a lifetime warranty. It is great stuff for high-traffic, high use, areas.

Mogami is great stuff. Canare is great. If you have to use bulk, Mogami, Gepco and Beldon are great options. Some times you can find low-voltage wire for audio applications cheaper from non-audio suppliers.

[daver2]

I think whether you turn the piano off at the mixer when it is not being used is down to you and how you find it convenient to work. We personally do fade down the instruments when not in use to prevent noises being produced when the keys are accidentally hit at a critical part of the service! The downside of this is that you have to be pretty smart and get the piano fader back up just before the pianist starts his or her introduction. I would certainly recommend fading the pastor's mic out (and any vocalist mics) when not in use - *** BUT *** you have to be on your toes if the pastor suddenly decides to say something 'off script'. Eventually the service leaders/preachers and audio guys will develop a series of looks and guestures which amounts to an unwritten language between them!

Depending on the accoustics of your worship hall, you will almost certainly find that the sound is different during the setup to when the church is full. Eventually - with a bit of practice - you will get to know what the differences are and compensate for them during the setup.

Welcome to the wonderfull world of Audio...

[audiomatic]

Originally Posted by prochlea

Most of the people at Full Compass are pretty helpful too and they have great prices...

Thanks! I'll go check 'em out.

[audiomatic]

Originally Posted by daver2

Eventually the service leaders/preachers and audio guys will develop a series of looks and guestures which amounts to an unwritten language between them!

Not when the congregation is standing in front of them and they're sitting in a chair staring at the mixer. (Am I the only one who has this problem!?!?)

[daver2]

I have pinched a direct feed off the video guys from the wall-mounted camera which is above the congregation so even if the congregation are standing and waving their arms in the air I still get to see what is going on up front! I didn't learn much when I was a teenager - but the one thing I did learn was that if you can't see what's going on you don't stand a chance! But you're right - it still doesn't work all the time (especially with one of our technophobe pastors who announced in his sermon the other week 'have you heard about this internet thingy?'!)

[daver2]

I have pinched a direct feed off the video guys from the wall-mounted camera which is above the congregation so even if the congregation are standing and waving their arms in the air I still get to see what is going on up front! I didn't learn much when I was a teenager - but the one thing I did learn was that if you can't see what's going on you don't stand a chance! But you're right - it still doesn't work all the time (especially with one of our technophobe pastors who announced in his sermon the other week 'have you heard about this internet thingy?'!)