feel free to ignore this!

[Jan Janowski]

I'm Venting!
I just completed a 'project' at the church... "Audio system is not working correctly.... Will you look at it?"

That was August!

My first questions were: Who did the install? Is there any Documentation? Is there any Contact Person I should call? Answer to all 3 questions... "I don't know!"

So I promise to do an: "examination...."

Now I've been attending this church since we started visiting here in late 1998.... on vacations....

Last reference I have is talking to a guy who said it was actually the 2nd system they had.... First didn't work, and was replaced.... and showed me a rack hanging from ceiling in a room... 2017 maybe? (Addendum: He moved to Lousianna, and passed away)..

So August 2025 I go there, and go to that room..... And that room is EMPTY!

"What are you doing in this room?" Looking for audio system?

It's not here... It's in a room 75 feet away!!! (I immediately look at ceiling... It is NOT a dropped ceiling! It's solid! OH MY!)

Follow them to other room (Another Solid Ceiling Room -- OH MY!)... I see the rack I remember in a different room, in corner of this room... hanging down from ceiling. So I start my examination.....

No Documentation... No contact information... No 'knowledge' of system... Nothing Labeled... and Half of system inoperative.... !!

"Are We Having Fun Yet?"

Approached them yet again.... "This system is in Shambles!" If I continue, I may make it worse, before better... Are you OK with that?"
"Go Ahead"

First few visits was to determine a SINGLE LINE DRAWING of the system... I seem to find un-necessary equipment...disconnect nothing: Document everything, if it ends up being "???" on Single Line Drawing..... But continue on!!

I eventually find microphone XLR boxes labeled: 3/4, 5/6, and 7 (7 up maybe 15' in the air over Choir)... but no 1/2! Did I mention nothing is labeled at the multiple cables lying in a pile in the audio rack? Did I mention that only mixer input 2 & 3 have un-labled connections to it, and many loose cables have no labels but go into the ceiling?

(eventually determine these labeled mic boxes is a holdover from the 1st system that didn't work out... but was re-used as part of 2nd system! Oh My!)
ok, and 1 mic box that I did find: is wired inverted, so it subtracts audio in mixer.. Damn! that too?

So there are 4 mics.. Mass, Lectern, and Choir... (And spare in a drawer!) Mass works... Lectern is intermittent. Choir doesn't work at all... Yet, only 2 cables are connected to mixer(s) in rack! 2x 4 input mixers linked together... It took me 3 months to find Choir mic cable: It's 25' from audio rack in a closet, and mic turns out to be dead... but it still hanging above the Choir! Looks Impressive!

I get wife involved, who has assinsted me on projects before, and we go through many many cables that connect no-where and are piled in multiple places un-ceremoniously.... We get maybe 8 cables, nearly 150' of rats nest removed from behind mutilple areas.... Those were found to be miswired also! Oh I'm chasing: "Experts"!!

About this time I start looking for factory User Manuals.... some found, some obsolete... One found under a Different MFG's Name compared to what’s on the chassis! Print out and adjust mixer. What works sounds better now.

Next visit I had a simple Single Line drawing of what I had documented.... and bought mic cables from home I knew were wired correctly...
Mics all use Phantom Power (+48V fed back through cable to power amps in the mic)... MASS Works... Lectern Doesn't, and spare mic tested at "Mass" position OK... A GOOD SPARE!

Cable from home wired from Lectern mic direct to mixer, bypassing old cable system altogether, and NOW 2 Mics WORK FINE!!! Master Mixer output is adjustable to feed to (Obsolete EQ system and Amp) and to speakers...

Eureka! I'm Done! The 2 mic system they wanted to speakers is working correctly, and is labeled! Mix sounds good: DONE!

 

[Telos]

I'm Venting!

Maybe try praying. Sounds like you're in for a new audio system.

One mic seems light for a choir (unless it's a choir of two).

 

[Jan Janowski]

OH NO! Then I'm told only one mic works to Webcasting!

"WEBCASTING???

That's the 'unnecessary' extra equipment I saw before!!

Back to my "Single Line" drawing to find & Document those connections....!

Then I'm told: Webcast program can only support 2 channels of audio, we wanted 3, but it only supports 2... That's why the 3rd mic! Good! Add revisions as we go along!!!

So once I see how it's wired... it appears that one chassis gets two separate analog audio channels, and converts them to one 48K USB audio... 48K is to lock it to video... where is that? Find camera in church... converts video to USB, to a room where ... on a desk... Laptop mixes audio and video, and then output combined A/V via the same USB port, to hub, out to Ethernet converter, and then to Web! UPDATE SINGLE LINE!!! Also doing screen captures on ALL Settings configurations -- of the webcast program -- as I bet no one knows those, either!!

Month or so later..... At this point: Mass and Lectern to Speakers in Church are FINE! Have been for a few weeks.. Audio to Webcast is only Mass, Lectern mic is Dead to webcast but works to speakers, and half the time - No Audio at ALL - to Webcastl! Another Intermittent!

Last Month... Decided to PITCH the Analog audio to USB Converter as it is Intermittent, and manual I did find is not on this MfG's name, but the MFG who bought them years later MFG sold Company! More variables! Since I was changing hardware, changed audio feed too - to get around the "Only 2 audio channel" webcasting issue...... Used Headset Output of mixer as separate level controlled output of mixed audio to feed audio to Webcast system, sperate from speaker feed level... that also Broke the: 'Only 2 channels of audio to webcasing"... Limitation... via a 10db pad to prevent overloading of single channel analog audio to 48K USB converter....Web Sees: 2 Channel MONO...
Webcast now has 2 mics: Mass and Lectern!

 

[Jan Janowski]

Not Done Yet!!! The "Spare" mic in drawer- is not the type of mic for vocal use..... 20 year's ago I did a Commercial - where a Prominent Star did not show, and no one got paid... Owner knew me and he gave me a Professional Vocal/Instrument Phantom Power Studio Mic in lieu of payment... It's been in my Parts drawer since about 2002... I added a Shock Mount, Another person bought a Mic Stand, and with cables from the removed "Rat's Nest" of cables: rewired correctly, a 'free' cable wired the Donated Mic, into Mixer as the NEW Choir Mic! -- That was what they wanted before... Why Not? Mix soulds beautiful!
DONE!!! NO! But getting "Close"!!!
Turns out, whoever configured the Webcast system used a USBV2 Hub to connect 4 devices:
USB Video Camera in
USB Audio in
USB RF Mouse
And USB to Ethernet Adaptor for Ethernet output to Webcast.....

The W10 Laptop used for Webcasting.... Has a single USBV3 port... USB2 Hub is now going intermittent, or cannot keep up, I can't tell.. with all the data going in & out!!

OK! Swap that out that USB2 Hub with a USBV3 Externally Powered unit.... USB3 for increased bandwidth, and to match laptop, External Power to improve weak signal levels..

FINALLY! SYSTEM SOLID HD USB Video IN, 48K Audio IN: (3 Mics: Mass, Lectern, Choir) , Ethernet OUT to Webcasting, and RF Mouse.

YEAH: "I LOOKED AT IT", and made a COUPLE of changes!!! Just a COUPLE!!

All cables and devices are labeled... There is now a 3 Ring Binder with: documentation, Factory manuals where found, Spec sheets, and a Theory of Operation for the next guy who looks at this!

DONE!!

(and that Dead, overhead Choir mic still looks impressive!!!)