"No sound coming from the speakers!"

[kylethegeek]

Hello...
I just got a text that woke me up (Don't bother me while I am sleeping!) saying "There is no sound coming from the church speakers!" I went through the general errors troubleshooting. (Most of the time it is the amp not being turned on. When I do a show, the amp is the first thing on, and the first thing off, and we just have a strip to control it. I am going to get back at the person who installed the system. I usually turn the amp off manually to make sure that it gets off without having the power cut to it and hence popping.) I also went through the "Are the connections tight." I am assuming, and hoping, that this is a user error. I was messing around with some mics, but that would have nothing to do with the main inputs that we use on a daily basis. Appearntly, the "tech team" (I'm part of it btw) is attempting to fix it. Any ideas? This post really wont help anything, as by the time it gets answered, we will have it fixed.

Equipment: Allen and Heath PA28, Crown XTi 4000

 

[ScottT]

Are the proper faders up? Routing correct?

Also - the amps are typically what you use to break/make a connection. So they're the last the be turned on and the first to be turned off.

 

[mstaylor]

I would go through the simple board troubleshooting, mute buttons and other simple things like that. I find usually I did something stupid. We were doing a festival the other week and the mains quit mid song. We were using a Midas and threre are three buttons at the bottom center that when accidently touched will dump everything. I have done it once and the house engineer did it this time.

 

[MilesDenison]

...the amp is the first thing on, and the first thing off...

Agreed about the amps. Technically they should be last on, first off.

You're probably right about the user error bit. Somewhere, someone's unassigned channels from the main bus, or has the main mutes on, or has the amp gain down, or or or.

 

[kylethegeek]

Sorry about that rant. I had to get it out. I am tempted to remove my number from the booth. As it turns out, the amp had both channels off. I was told that the amp was on, but I guess our booth operators are not smart enough to check the amp and make sure the knobs are turned to the marker.

Thanks for the amp suggestion, I am going to attempt to get a delay put it, that way the amp will actually work the way it should. I am surprised that we haven't blown them yet...the way it was stupidly set up.

 

[DaveySimps]

In light of this incident, it might be a good opportunity to do some retraining of the volunteers. A good training program helps everyone to succeed. Maybe make up a physical check list with pictures to clearly show the proper way to set up, power on, and power down the system. Just a thought.

~Dave

 

[Jsamuels201]

I find that if you're in charge of a room where a lot of people without good troubleshooting skills or audio knowhow work the best thing to do is put labels on everything. When they go to turn on the amp there should be a big sign saying where to turn the knobs and what light to look at to see if it's on. There should also be a note that says "Did you turn the console (and anything else that feeds the amps) on?". On the audio board there should be a big sign that says "Are the mains up?" and "Is you're channel muted?". As stupid as it sounds these notes are great for people that aren't necessarily tech savvy. In my high school TV studio the DV tape decks have doors that need to be closed manually after taking out a tape. Each deck has a sign with a picture of an alligator on it that says "Shut You're Mouth!". Because of this even the most spaced out freshman remembers to close the door on the decks which saves us huge amounts of time cleaning play heads.

At the end of the day you're still probably going to get calls from people that really don't know what they're doing or are just having one of those days, but having notes like this will save you a huge amount of time.

 

[waynehoskins]

A good system design can make basic operation moderately idiot-proof. Many of the elements are very simple. Security covers can prevent accidental adjustment of controls that shouldn't be moved, and power sequencers simplify system turn-on so that everything goes on and off in the right order. Perhaps now is a good time to start thinking of simple things you can do to stupid-proof the system.

 

[museav]

My first thought on the follow up was "Why was anyone adjusting the amp levels?" System gain structure should be properly set and after that there would usually be no need to access the amp input level controls.

I agree with Wayne that security covers and a power sequencer would make the system power a bit more foolproof and with the suggestions to use signage and labeling to remind people but rather bluntly, if the system consists of the mixer and one amp then people who cannot grasp how to properly turn on and off that system should probably not be operating it, much less adjusting the amp levels. This is the common issue that you can try to 'foolproof' the system, but is it better to try to educate the fools than to possibly end up supporting or even promoting fools operating the system?

 

[kylethegeek]

I find that if you're in charge of a room where a lot of people without good troubleshooting skills or audio knowhow work the best thing to do is put labels on everything. When they go to turn on the amp there should be a big sign saying where to turn the knobs and what light to look at to see if it's on. There should also be a note that says "Did you turn the console (and anything else that feeds the amps) on?". On the audio board there should be a big sign that says "Are the mains up?" and "Is you're channel muted?". As stupid as it sounds these notes are great for people that aren't necessarily tech savvy. In my high school TV studio the DV tape decks have doors that need to be closed manually after taking out a tape. Each deck has a sign with a picture of an alligator on it that says "Shut You're Mouth!". Because of this even the most spaced out freshman remembers to close the door on the decks which saves us huge amounts of time cleaning play heads.

At the end of the day you're still probably going to get calls from people that really don't know what they're doing or are just having one of those days, but having notes like this will save you a huge amount of time.

We have attempted to idiotproof the booth, but the majority of the attempts have failed. Thanks for the advice.

I am going to attempt to retrain someday... Another show is taking my time currently.

I was probably the one who was adjusting the levels... I was trying to see if a speaker was working. I probably forgot to turn it back up. The main "tech" (as we call him: Mr. Know it all, as he tries to know everything and knows just about nothing) took 5 minutes to figure that out. Someday I plan on getting him kicked out [Evilface]

Thanks for all the help!


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