Hi,
We have a couple of portable PA systems like this...
Pyle PWMA230 200W VHF Wireless Microphone Battery Powered Portable PA System | eBay
Would it be possible with the right cable to split the output from say an ipod so that we can use one as the right channel and one as the left thereby gaining some volume. It's for a carnaval float so we need to get as much volume as possible as our rival floats have generators etc etc and tend to drown us out a bit with just the one.
All help and advice appreciated.
Adri
We have a couple of portable PA systems like this...
Pyle PWMA230 200W VHF Wireless Microphone Battery Powered Portable PA System | eBay
Would it be possible with the right cable to split the output from say an ipod so that we can use one as the right channel and one as the left thereby gaining some volume. It's for a carnaval float so we need to get as much volume as possible as our rival floats have generators etc etc and tend to drown us out a bit with just the one.
All help and advice appreciated.
Adri
Thanks for the reply.
I was fairly sure about the cable that was needed but not sure if the whole thing would work.
Do you think it will?
TIA
Adri
I was fairly sure about the cable that was needed but not sure if the whole thing would work.
Do you think it will?
TIA
Adri
I have made up a 3.5mm stereo to 1/4" dual mono lead myself to hook up MP3 players, phones etc. to a mixing desk. It works perfectly. Just be sure to use the input marked Audio and not the ones marked Mic or Guitar.
The cable you need looks like this. If you are in a hurry you might have to make it up yourself but they are available.
The cable you need looks like this. If you are in a hurry you might have to make it up yourself but they are available.
what sort of equipment is being run on these floats that requires generators? would solar panels a battery bank and inverters work? if you can't make the system louder perhaps you can make the background quieter! U shaped baffles around gen sets to block and absorb/redirect noise should be considered me thinks.
The trouble with the stereo-2 mono solution is that your system is mono, so you end up
with one unused jack. What is really required is a cable from 3.5 stereo jack to standard quarter inch mono, with a pair of mixing resistors in heat shrink inside one of the connectors - a cable you're not going to find ready made. You could say that, as the sockets were made for headphones they already have a resistor in them, so can merely be paralleled, and get away with it a lot of the time, but those mp3 players have very low working voltages and use very low impedances - so current limitation distortion can start quite low, and be excessively linked to phase relationships within the music. Minijack to two RCA connectors (Phono connectors in the UK, Cinch in Europe) are widely available, as are one RCA to two, and RCA to jack adaptors, and all should be in your adaptors case and, in my case, masses of XLR and a few Speakon adaptors), and the parallel lead can be swiftly bodged together from those. For a few dBs of added loudness a broadcast-style compressor in the chain can be handy. If you run out of gain, bigger resistors and use the mic input. You can get mixes nowadays that were not intended for mono - when I was mixing I always checked even an extreme stereo mix in mono, for compatibility with AM radio and TV, but things only designed to be heard on headphones can be more impressive if they ignore compatibility.
with one unused jack. What is really required is a cable from 3.5 stereo jack to standard quarter inch mono, with a pair of mixing resistors in heat shrink inside one of the connectors - a cable you're not going to find ready made. You could say that, as the sockets were made for headphones they already have a resistor in them, so can merely be paralleled, and get away with it a lot of the time, but those mp3 players have very low working voltages and use very low impedances - so current limitation distortion can start quite low, and be excessively linked to phase relationships within the music. Minijack to two RCA connectors (Phono connectors in the UK, Cinch in Europe) are widely available, as are one RCA to two, and RCA to jack adaptors, and all should be in your adaptors case and, in my case, masses of XLR and a few Speakon adaptors), and the parallel lead can be swiftly bodged together from those. For a few dBs of added loudness a broadcast-style compressor in the chain can be handy. If you run out of gain, bigger resistors and use the mic input. You can get mixes nowadays that were not intended for mono - when I was mixing I always checked even an extreme stereo mix in mono, for compatibility with AM radio and TV, but things only designed to be heard on headphones can be more impressive if they ignore compatibility.
Sound interference levels in carnivals are set by:- competing floats, public screaming, hysterical animals, eighty-four different types of percussion, squeaky hammers, whistles, balloons and not infrequently firecrackers. The only way to reduce this is to go a few streets away and have your own, private carnival - which sort of removes the point of the whole thing. Chaos is a mijor factor in the overall experience.turk said:
I suspect all you'll do with that cable is push the rest of the setup into more distortion. Its a little portable battery-powered thing, not designed to compete with PA setups.
Depending on where you are in the UK, it'd be much easier to simply rent a PA system for a day. If you're near the Peak District, I can probably help, though you'd need to source a generator.
Chris
Depending on where you are in the UK, it'd be much easier to simply rent a PA system for a day. If you're near the Peak District, I can probably help, though you'd need to source a generator.
Chris
sorry as someone who has been part of organizing large three day festival events with multiple stages i guess it's second nature to think about everything from generator noise levels, to location of attractions(even where the loo's are placed can make or break a show!) you are correct background /ambient noise levels are something to be lived with sometimes, but other times they can be managed to a great degree and to good effect.
i do feel a better system is in order but sometimes living with what we have requires collateral solutions...
i do feel a better system is in order but sometimes living with what we have requires collateral solutions...
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