Electro-Voice PSX600 - Page 19

yy W X A. W A i * A V A
1. Use appropriate speaker pole-stands to mount the loudspeaker systems on
the left and right side. The height in which the speakers are mounted should
be clearly "above the audience". This ensures that the volume in the front is
not too loud, while still achieving sufficient intelligibility in the back.
2. Turn the loudspeaker systems slightly towards "the center". This enables
the performing artists to monitor their performance even without separate
stage monitors.
3. Microphones should not be positioned directly in front of the sound
reinforcement system’s loudspeaker cabinets. Otherwise, unwanted feedback
could occur; when the amplified sound coming from a speaker is directly fed
back to the microphone.
4. Make sure to set all rotary controls on the PSX 600 to their center (12
o'clock) position.
5. Make sure to set all faders in the console's lower area to their minimum
position.
6. Make sure to set all the graphic EQ's smaller faders (top right) to their
center position.
7. When connecting the loudspeaker systems to the power outputs that are
located on the rear panel of the PSX 600, be sure to use Speakon® cables.
When establishing the connection, make sure to hear the Speakon® connectors
click into place. Otherwise no secure connection is achieved.
8. Start w ith, connecting a single m icrophon e to Input 1. Use only heavy
duty, highly flexible microphone cables. Thin and inflexible cables - although
cheaper - lead to accidents on the stage and are mostly the reason for constant
annoyance during setting up of the equipment.
9. Switch the mains supply of the PSX 600 on, using the Power-On switch on
the rear of the appliance. It is possible to employ dynamic as well as condenser
type microphones. Phantom power is automatically supplied to all microphone
inputs which makes additional batteries for the operation of condenser
microphones dispensable. During the system starts the FX unit 1 is pre-set to
the Reverberation effect No. 5 and the FX unit 2 is pre-set to the Echo effect
No. 55.
10. In case the red "StandBy" indicator on the right bottom lights, press the
Stand-By switch to activate the appliance.
11. Test the microphone by speaking some loud words while holding it close
to your mouth. The green signal present indicator (LED) of channel 1 will
light. Turn the “Gain Control” of channel 1 - the control all the way on the
top of the channel's module - to the right until the red peak LED briefly blinks.
Turning the Gain Control back a little bit to the left sets the optimal signal
level for this channel.
12. Set the fader of channel 1 to the 0 dB mark in the upper third of the fader
path.
13. Press the FX1 On and the FX2 On buttons on the right bottom, above the
blue faders.
14. Position the FX1 and FX2 faders at the “-I0 dB mark".
15. Increase the output level by carefully pushing up the master output
controls (right bottom), while at the same time speaking into the microphone.
Your voice is reproduced through the loudspeakers, being enhanced by a echo
and reverberation effect. You can change the intensity of either one effect,
according to the desired amount, by re-adjusting the FX 1 and FX2 faders. You
arc also able to change the reverberation intensity or the delay time by pressing
the Up/Down buttons below the display to select another effect Within one
group of effects the intensity and depths/delay increases with the increasing
preset numbers. Individual settings for each input channel are achieved
through the use of their separate FX controls
16. Once you have followed all instructions mentioned so far, your sound
system should function without problem and sound decent, without the
need for further adjustment.
17. In case the sound does not fulfill your expectations, it is because of the
quality of the employed loudspeakers or microphones. How to find out, if the
speakers or the microphones are the cause for the degraded overall sound?
18. Connect a CD Player to the 2Track Input (RCA type jacks on the right
top of the front panel). Play some tracks of different CDs. If the sound is natural
and clear, your loudspeaker systems do not cause the trouble, but the connected
microphone. In case the sound is still either damped, screeching or nasaling,
test the PSX with another speaker model.
19. When testing the equipment, trust mainly your owm pair of ears and not
just an analyzer-no matter ifit is a cheaper or an expensive model. Adjusting
sound reinforcement installations with analyzing equipment is not only
extremely complicated and time consuming, in most cases actual acoustical
results are far from being satisfactory, since normal measuring and analyzing
equipment is not capable of computing all the necessary parameters at the
same time. The human ear on the contrary does it all in real-time and without
additional expenses.
20. Now, feel free to test the effect that the sound shaping controls of each
channel provide you with. Turn the bass and the treble controls carefully and
listen to the changing sound. While the bass control changes “resonance” and
"body" of the human voice, the treble control alters its “vivid character" and
“intelligibility". Normally, only minor adjustments are necessary to match the
individual personal taste.
21. Mid controls are provided between the bass and treble controls of the
microphone channels. The mid-EQ controls are useful to provide more
“presence" to the voice of die lead singer. But be extremely careful. A wrong
setting results mosdy in a dramatically “bad" sound. Try to experiment with
this control to get a feeling for the way it lets you influence the sound.
22. The master channels embody a graphic equalizer to match the overall
sound to varying locations. Normally, minor changes in the setting will provide
you with the intended improvement. Extreme positioning of the EQ-faders
mosdy results in a degradation of the overall sound.
23. A note on the microphone selection. Vocals are best picked up, using
dynamic microphones with cardioid polar pattern. These models provide a
high proximity effect and good off-axis rejection. Additionally, they are
relatively insensitive to popping sounds and feedback. On the other hand,
when recording acoustical instruments, such as an acoustic guitar or for the
overhead pick-up of a drum-set, vocal microphones are the wrong choice.
Here, only condenser type microphones will provide a useful solution. This
means, you need at least two different microphone models when recording
the performance of a band, including vocals, horns and drums. The only way
to find the right choice of microphones is testing, since the degradation in
sound, resulting from a wrongly chosen microphone can not be compensated
on the mixer.
24. Finally, a word on incorporating external third-octave or octave equali¬
zers. They are mainly used in major sound reinforcement installations to
compensate for acoustical problems within multiple speaker systems or to
eliminate acoustical feedback. Adjusting these equalizers is not only a very
complex matter but also extremely time consuming and the overall sound
improvement is mostly minimal. If a system does not sound right, testing
different loudspeaker systems and microphone models, until a proper soun¬
ding combination is found, will provide you on the long run with more
satisfaction. On the contrary, if external sound shaping equipment is used, the
risk of faulty adjustment causing overall sound degradation is by far greater
than the chance for improvement