PA questions for public speaking ASAP!

[gabeygoat]

My friend wants to get a better set up for lecturers/speakers at the local HP campus.
the current set up is a shure wireless system (w/lapel mic and hand held mic)
this goes into a fender passport (pd 250)
and, well, that's it really.

Her issues are due to user error (on the lecturer's part) and limitations of the equipment (ex: i think the passport only can have two speakers and has no mute buttons).

What she wants to accomplish is:
prevent popping sounds from lapel mic (the lecturers are for whatever reason insulted by hand helds)
have four speakers (two on stage, two in the back of the room)
wants to have control board away from stage so she doesn't have to run up to the stage to make adjustments
control to mute individual mics.
cables to connect laptop to pa system, and speaker cable of course.

I no very little about sound, so here's as far as I've gotten:
scrap the fender passport
A. Mic --> Receiver -->Powered Mixing Board -->four un-powered speakers
B. Mic --> Receiver -->Un Powered Mixing Board -->four powered speakers
C. Mic --> Receiver -->un powered Mixing Board --> power amp (or two?)-->four un powered speakers
I think lapel mics are just gonna pop because of what they are, but if you have recommendations, please let me know

Does any of this make sense? which is a better option? other options?

[jhharvest]

In my opinion if you and your friend have very little knowledge of sound, you should hire a professional.

Popping sounds from the lapel mic are usually due to mounting issues. A foam cap might help some or changing the mic itself.

Other than that it would be pretty tough to say anything definitive without having specs of the venue, budget etc.

[Gregg Juke]

Yes, just a little confused:

* Why do you want her to scrap the Fender? You should be able to use more speakers (just daisy-chain from spkr. to spkr., but I wouldn't necessarily put them in the back of the room).

* Getting the controls/Passport to the back of the room is simply a matter of long speaker cable properly installed (out of the way).

* As JH said, try adjusting and properly strain-relieving the lapel microphone (make a loop in the cable and tape it to the presenter's shirt).

* I would argue that the presenters should be told to use whatever works and sounds best, and not be "offended" by anything!

GJ

[Gregg Juke]

Unintentional double-post removed!

GJ

[Gregg Juke]

PS-- Just took a look at the Passport... If the Fender speakers only have 1/4" speaker input, rather than a parallel pair of in/outs, she could just get another set of speakers rated for the Fender amp that does have two 1/4"s, and use those as the first set of speakers, then come out of those into the Passport speakers as the second set.

In any event, I would ditch the powered speaker idea entirely. If she/you want control, then adding four more places to run and adjust settings is not going to be a better option (not really a fan of the whole "powered speakers live" thing myself, but while two might be pushing it, four would just be totally counter-productive to what you are trying to do).

A laptop cable could be either a cable with a mini / 1/8" stereo on one end and an RCA pair on the other, or a mini on one end and a 1/4" stereo on the other, depending on the laptop and what kind of available inputs there are on the Passport (it looks like channels 5 and 6 have a stereo RCA input, plus there's an auxiliary RCA in, if I found the right picture!).

GJ

[LowG]

When you say "HP campus" do you mean Hewlett Packard?

[kayagum]

What's your budget??

[The Scum]

Do you know what is causing popping with the lapel mic?

As others mentioned, if it's a physical/mounting issue, look into solving that. Sometimes a bobby pin or piece of tape can make a difference.

If it's electronic, you'll have to try some different things. It could be interference on the wireless channel, a frayed wire between the pack and the mic, or any of a dozen other things.

The lapel mic I've been using most recently doesn't have any issues with popping, and it's fairly easy for the speaker to know how to use. It's got a hatch on the side the covers the battery and power switch. We turn it on, and then put it on the speaker. On the top of it, there's a clearly labeled mute switch, so they can silence it, but not power it down. It's a midgrade Sennheiser of some sort.


As for the remote control aspects of things, you might look into whats around in terms of modern digital mixers. I've seen some that can be remotely controlled via an iPad. That might help avoid running to the stage to control it.