Help a teacher out... gym

[moves]

Hey,

I have 2 powered speakers at my school with like a 500 watt amp in each.. I think anyway... and I want to mount them beside the stage about 10 feet off the ground on the concrete wall. I can plug a iPod cord into it but am looking for something permanent. It is plenty loud for the gym but I am looking for some sort of iPod dock or something of sorts to hook up to it... Problem is, if the things are so high in the air, I can't turn the knobs cause it's so high up in the air. What do I need to hook up to it... some control centre... Or a mixing board? I am looking for a cheap solution as we already have the speakers.

Hooking up a cd player would be wanted as well.

Thanks ,

Teach.

 

[shadyJ]

Something from one of these should suffice. Bring that down to a accessible location, and run some cable to one of those. Connect an ipod dock to it.

 

[moves]

Something from one of these should suffice. Bring that down to a accessible location, and run some cable to one of those. Connect an ipod dock to it.

What am I looking at here on the link? Line mixers? Just wondering why I have to be able to access the back of the speakers?

 

[moves]

http://www.parts-express.com/rolls-rm69-mixmate-3-rack-mount-6-channel-mic-line-mixer-1u--245-1158 Something like this? Plug the iPod into it and ad a cd player.... 6 channels but wtf.

 

[shadyJ]

The speakers are probably using balanced inputs, firstly, so you need an adapter. These line mixers also allow you to control volume at an accessible point instead of having to access the back of the speakers. You will want the mixer to stay put so you can hook anything you want up. Something like this should work fine for your application.

 

[moves]

The speakers are probably using balanced inputs, firstly, so you need an adapter. These line mixers also allow you to control volume at an accessible point instead of having to access the back of the speakers. You will want the mixer to stay put so you can hook anything you want up. Something like this should work fine for your application.

What you suggested will also take an iPod ?

The speakers we got are balanced. So each speaker runs a single XLR wire into that mixer you recommended?

Why do i need to be able to access the mounted speakers? To shut the power off? Or can that be done from the mixer thing?

 

[shadyJ]

Yes, connect the speakers to the mixer via XLR, and use the mixer to control and connect what you want. You don't need to access the speakers after you have connected them to the mixer. The mixer will not shut the speakers off. They are live audio speakers, it will not hurt them to leave them on, but if you want to shut them off, put them on a circuit with a power switch.

 

[shadyJ]

And yes, it will take an ipod, but you will need an adapter like this to connect an ipod directly to it.

 

[moves]

Yes, connect the speakers to the mixer via XLR, and use the mixer to control and connect what you want. You don't need to access the speakers after you have connected them to the mixer. The mixer will not shut the speakers off. They are live audio speakers, it will not hurt them to leave them on, but if you want to shut them off, put them on a circuit with a power switch.

The 2 knobs are volume for each speaker connected VIA the 2 XLRs? So there is separate volume knobs for each speaker? The red and the white inputs? what are those? What can you hook up to this thing besides speakers?

 

[moves]

Oops problem.... I need to hook a mic up to it as well. We usually hook it up to the back of the speaker but this won't be possible since it'll be on the wall

 

[shadyJ]

Yes, the knobs are for volume control. The red and white inputs are the RCA inputs, they are what you connect your ipod or CD player too. The ART CLEANBox Pro should be able to handle a both a consumer level RC input and Mic input and mixes them into the output. From the product page: "You want to mix your voice (and/or instrument) with a CD and record the mix on a cassette deck or computer. Now you need to interconnect three pieces of equipment; two consumer level and one balanced pro audio level (the mixer). You have to go from unbalanced RCA to balanced XLR and from balanced XLR back to unbalanced RCA. Solution: Simply use both channels on your CleanBOX"

 

[highfigh]

Oops problem.... I need to hook a mic up to it as well. We usually hook it up to the back of the speaker but this won't be possible since it'll be on the wall

The Rolls mixer from Parts Express will do what you want, you won't need any adapters from the mixer to the speakers and it will work with most mics.

Look at the audio path from source to speaker, not speaker to source.

How large is the room and how loud does it need to be? In a large space, the last thing you want is a small number of speakers blasting because the room is already an acoustical nightmare and high volume sound makes that worse. More speakers spread around the room works a lot better because it covers more area with a consistent level and it doesn't need to be loud. EVERY word will be more intelligible at a lower level, without echo and reverberation.

FYI- connecting an iPod to any receiver or mixer via the headphone jack isn't the best way- using the port at the bottom sounds better and you'll have a higher level signal because the 3.5mm jack is made for headphones or ear buds, not a line audio input.

 

[moves]

The Rolls mixer from Parts Express will do what you want, you won't need any adapters from the mixer to the speakers and it will work with most mics.

Look at the audio path from source to speaker, not speaker to source.

How large is the room and how loud does it need to be? In a large space, the last thing you want is a small number of speakers blasting because the room is already an acoustical nightmare and high volume sound makes that worse. More speakers spread around the room works a lot better because it covers more area with a consistent level and it doesn't need to be loud. EVERY word will be more intelligible at a lower level, without echo and reverberation.

FYI- connecting an iPod to any receiver or mixer via the headphone jack isn't the best way- using the port at the bottom sounds better and you'll have a higher level signal because the 3.5mm jack is made for headphones or ear buds, not a line audio input.

You mean the Rolls I suggested earlier for $150 US? I already have 2 powered speakers that is loud as hell... we use only one outdoors to blast music in the school yard during events. I agree more speakers would be better but lets face it... it's going to be used to hear the Principal and other presenters talk and listening to YMCA in gym class. Okay, maybe not YMCA but ya.... We don't need anymore speakers. The room is about 20 feet high X 30 feet long X 30 feet wide.