Tech Notes

In the 1970s, Hartley Peavey’s commitment to excellence and building the best possible sound reinforcement equipment led to the creation of a division dedicated to revolutionizing professional speaker design. Known internally as “The Spider Works,” Hartley led this team to develop numerous patented speaker designs, the most popular of which was Peavey’s legendary Black Widow™.

Last time I suggested how to interpret power-amplifier specifications. This issue, I'd like to delve into mixers. Since mixers are usually marketed by features rather than specifications, there is a little less hype-but still enough to shed some light on. Before I get into the actual discussion of mixer specifications, I'd like to review what a mixer does, and what, from a design point of view, the hard parts are.  

The use of sound reinforcement systems is common place in today’s churches, boardrooms, meeting rooms, auditoriums and other facilities. In fact, it is hard to imagine what it was like before their widespread use. With advances in the sound quality in the entertainment industry, television, CDs and home theatre for example, the expectation of quality sound reinforcement has risen as well.