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Microphones Problems and Solutions

Guest post by: Edward Primeau

Article Overview: If you speak professionally or not, microphones are an important tool. This article will give you a better understanding of microphones and how to use them effectively. This article will also help you understand which microphone to purchase based on your usage.

Microphones Problems and Solutions

Microphones: The #1 tool for the voice and your bottom line I bet if you are a professional speaker reading this article you have had some sort of microphone problem in the past right?

I remember Tom Winnenger's experience while speaking at an NSA convention awhile back. His microphone was cutting in and out. He did what any pro would do, he took advantage of the adversity and made a houmourous bit out of the experience. He said, "Ten million dollar hotel, ninety nine cent microphone".

Following is some valuable information for you regarding todays modern microphone; wireless and wired. Live and in studio.

When speaking live, always have a back up plan.

The most important back up is a microphone check befopre you step on the platform.

Should you feel uncomfortable with the sound quality of the meeting facility microphone. If you are not, you should use you own.

If you speak professionally, travel with a diversity (two antenna) UHF wireless microphone and XLR microphone cable as a back up.

There are three types of wireless microphone transmitters, all have a receiver that connects to a sound system. Various transmitters include a headset, a hand held and a lavalier.

My personal favorite is a headset microphone made by Countryman. They are small and barely noticable and because they wrap around your ear, never move and always stay in the same place.

My second favorite based on sound quality is a hand held.

My least favorite is a lavalier. They are hard to clip on unless you are wearing a tie or lavalier friendly outfit.

In live applications, professional speakers should avoid wired microphones unless you need one as a back up.

Back when wireless microphones began populating the convention scene, we were producing a conference in Las Vegas and Jeannie Robertson was our opening keynote. A David Copperfield performance with several wireless microphones was in the room next to ours. Their wireless frequency was interfering with the frequency Jeannie was on.

After ten minutes of intermittent microphone problems, Jeannie (being the pro she is) walked to the lecturn (podium to some) and took the hand held mic off the clip, corregraphed with percission, (although on the fly with grace and ease), ripped the mic cord free from the grip tape holding the wire to the floor and received a standing ovation once she said, "can you hear me now?".

If you speak professionally, you should own a wireless microphone. Before you use it on the road, check with the meeting facility's AV department for the wireless frequencies they use in for their wireless microphones to make sure your frequency is not one of them. Your wireless frequency is written on the barcode serial number either on the transmitter or the bottom of the receiver. Write down your frequency number and keep it handy for quick reference. Store it as a number in your cell phone.

Best wireless systems are diversity (two antenna) because they have the best reception.

Shure, AKG and Audio Technia are my personal favorites.

By the way, If you are ever concerned with the sound quality of a facilities speaker system, call their audio visual department and ask to add a powered speaker system to supplement the pie plate (ceiling) speakers; it's about $100 to rent and well worth it. If the facility does not have an AV department, outsourse a local AV company to come to the rescue. A few hundred bucks can make or break a great speech.

You can record your presentations easily by adding a digital recorder to your live microphone package. The easiest way to record live audio is to purchase a digital audio recorder; Olympus makes a great series of digital audio recorders that record up to 5 hours of CD quality sound for under $150 (with wired direct plug in lavalier microphone).

Olympus recorders come with software that will easily help you load the digital recording to your computer.

You can also use your live microphone system to record audio dialogue on your computer to supliment your live recording and add value! All you need is a microphone pre amp (ART makes a great tube pre amp that adds a nice tone to a in home or studio recording for about $125) or small audio mixer (again, Sweetwater Sound in Indiana for help). The output of that mixer or preamp will connect directly into your computer. When purchasing the preamp or mixer, ask the clerk to sell you the wire you need to plug into your audio sound card on your computer. Most likely it will be a mini (1/8th inch jack to XLR).

If you decide on the Countryman headset or lavalier, ask Sweetwater for the wired adaptor to connect your headset or lavalier, absent the wireless devices, directly to your audio mixer or preamp. It is a small pin adaptor to XLR cable.

If you need cheep, Audasity will work nicely, for a small amount, Sound Forge does a fine job recording, editing and mixing music. I strongly recommend to my coaching students they have an in home system to record audio programs. Today, more than ever, it is important to have both audio for sale (MP3 and ITUNES) and free mp3 samples of your audio message on your website, but thats another aticle.

Take some time and learn more about microphones and recording systems because as the speaking industry changes and morphs into the next generation, you need to be on the cutting edge with your sound quality because like a book can be judged by it's cover, a professional speaker can be judged by the quality of their voice!

One manufacturer, Shure, has announced that while the UHF television band which is where most wireless microphones operate, may become more crowded because some frequencies are being sold.

The FCC is in the middle of a reorganization of the UHF broadcast band, caused by the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting. TV stations will occupy a smaller section of the UHF spectrum (470 to 698 MHz). The remaining frequencies (698 to 806 MHz) will be auctioned to companies that will use them to provide new nationwide wireless services, while others have been reserved for public-safety communications.

Even with packing the digital TV stations into a smaller section of frequencies, there will still be unoccupied UHF channels in every market. Remember, these frequencies are where your wireless microphones curently operate.

TheseUHF frequencies are curently used by wireless microphones, in-ear monitors and production clear com intercom systems. The FCC is considering selling and deligating these frequencies to wireless broadband providers for Internet service to consumer wireless devices.

"Wireless microphones will not stop working on February 18, 2009," says Edgar Reihl, Shure's technology director, advanced development. "Any consumer device that the FCC allows to operate in the UHF frequencies curently in use by wireless microphones must include circuitry and software that allows it to detect and avoid both TV broadcasts and wireless microphone signals." According to Shure, the FCC is currently testing this avoidance technology.

More than likely, we will begin to see Bluetooth wirereless microphone channels. Providing interference-free, high-quality audio will be even more challenging in these bands, where wireless microphones compete with other signals such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth."

Shure has been actively engaged with the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology and with legislators in Congress since 2003. The company has provided samples of its wireless products for use in FCC testing, submitted plans for field testing of interference effects, and has arranged meetings between FCC officials and representatives from broadcast networks, sports leagues and other major wireless microphone user groups. "No one can definitively say how this will turn out," Brunner says. "The FCC has to iron out a lot of details before it makes any decisions related to new use."

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Article Tags: audio forensic expert, conventions, hand held, hotel, microphines, professional speaking, video, wired, wireless
Referred by: http://www.rgrondeauenterprises.com



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