How To Test In Your PA Speaker Rental Setup To Prevent Blunders
Public Announcement, PA, speaker rental is a great solution for event organizers who do not put together social events on a regular basis, but still need to occasionally organize an event that involves dozens, or hundreds of people, and therefore needs a PA sound system. In this article we will go over the most important aspects of the PA equipment rental system and specifically PA speaker rental system that you as an event organizer must test to ensure uninterrupted and satisfying flow of the event. The tests you must perform on your PA rental are: the loudness test, the sound quality and clarity test, and the sound mixing test. Let's see how to perform these tests quickly.
The PA speaker loudness test
Before the event, with the chairs and the tables set up properly, play the selected music through the PA system setup and walk to the front row, the mid section, and the last row of seats or tables and make sure that the loudness is not overwhelming in the front row, yet not too quiet in the back row either. Take another person with you and see that you can still quietly talk with them despite the sound coming from the public announcement speakers.
When the PA audio equipment turns out to be too loud, you can make a note of it, uplighting rentals and simply play the music at the event at a lower level. When the speakers turn out to be insufficiently strong, there are a few things you can do to increase their power. First, you could place them higher up on the PA speaker stands (make sure the DJ stands or PA speaker stands are included in your PA speaker rental agreement). Second, when your arrangement includes a PA subwoofer, you could see if you could either place it about a yard away from a wall (any wall will do), or, better, a yard away from a corner if you are using an indoor venue. In an outdoor venue, turning a subwoofer into the ground for about 30 degrees might do the trick of increasing the power sufficiently.
Keep in mind that, with audience present, the loudness will go down significantly for the people sitting in the back. Human bodies turn out to be quite effective sound absorbers.
The PA system speaker sound quality and clarity test
You absolutely must perform the sound quality tests with any rented PA equipment. You need to test with all PA audio equipment sources that you are planning to use in the event, mp3 players, iPods, CD players, turntables, microphones. With these sensitive electrical devices, any external electrical machinery can cause reduced sound quality, such as static noise, the 60 Hertz mains noise, and more. Some of such noises you can test for before the event.
The PA systems sound clarity test is best performed when some people are already in the room. The reason is that, due to sound absorption and scattering by human bodies, the sound can be mumbled and unclear, especially in the rows far away from the speakers. Pay attention to medium and high frequency components of the sound. The remedy for the mumbled and unclear sound that is caused by scattering and absorption is the same as before - place the mid- and high-range speakers higher up on the stands to maximize the direct sound pathway even to people far removed from the speakers.
These are just a few tests to perform with your PA audio equipment and PA speakers.
The PA speaker loudness test
Before the event, with the chairs and the tables set up properly, play the selected music through the PA system setup and walk to the front row, the mid section, and the last row of seats or tables and make sure that the loudness is not overwhelming in the front row, yet not too quiet in the back row either. Take another person with you and see that you can still quietly talk with them despite the sound coming from the public announcement speakers.
When the PA audio equipment turns out to be too loud, you can make a note of it, uplighting rentals and simply play the music at the event at a lower level. When the speakers turn out to be insufficiently strong, there are a few things you can do to increase their power. First, you could place them higher up on the PA speaker stands (make sure the DJ stands or PA speaker stands are included in your PA speaker rental agreement). Second, when your arrangement includes a PA subwoofer, you could see if you could either place it about a yard away from a wall (any wall will do), or, better, a yard away from a corner if you are using an indoor venue. In an outdoor venue, turning a subwoofer into the ground for about 30 degrees might do the trick of increasing the power sufficiently.
Keep in mind that, with audience present, the loudness will go down significantly for the people sitting in the back. Human bodies turn out to be quite effective sound absorbers.
The PA system speaker sound quality and clarity test
You absolutely must perform the sound quality tests with any rented PA equipment. You need to test with all PA audio equipment sources that you are planning to use in the event, mp3 players, iPods, CD players, turntables, microphones. With these sensitive electrical devices, any external electrical machinery can cause reduced sound quality, such as static noise, the 60 Hertz mains noise, and more. Some of such noises you can test for before the event.
The PA systems sound clarity test is best performed when some people are already in the room. The reason is that, due to sound absorption and scattering by human bodies, the sound can be mumbled and unclear, especially in the rows far away from the speakers. Pay attention to medium and high frequency components of the sound. The remedy for the mumbled and unclear sound that is caused by scattering and absorption is the same as before - place the mid- and high-range speakers higher up on the stands to maximize the direct sound pathway even to people far removed from the speakers.
These are just a few tests to perform with your PA audio equipment and PA speakers.
Comments
Post a Comment