Now that the 4 day class has ended, I am left with my class notes and Sound Systems : Design and Optimization Second Edition to revisit the information Bob presented in class. One of the statements Bob made that seems vitally important is that he places the mics where he wants the speakers aimed. This is a much different concept than what I normally get to do which is tune the system AS IS. Where I put the mics where the speakers are already aimed. One means your speakers are aimed correctly when you’re done and the other (my current method) is a wild card left up to the previous installer / sound provider / etc…

Many times I have zero control over anything but system tuning via the console output EQ. Some times I am provided with zone control and have the option to adjust delay times between front fills and mains, underbalc delays and mains, etc…

The only time I have the opportunity to control the entire system is when I build it myself. This may be an install I’m working on or it may be a temporary system I’m providing for an event. Regardless, 75% of the sound systems I use are not mine to aim. I guess in that 75% section of my opportunities, tuning the system without the option of aiming it is all I can hope for.

What Bob provides in his book but explains in a way that I understand it better via his class is how to understand whether things are done correctly or not (regardless of whether I can do anything). If I can analyze a system and understand what is right and wrong while still having a successful audio event, that is a valuable experience.

Bob repeatedly states that the goal is to anticipate what you want to see when you measure something and be able to recognize (via a library of IF / THEN experiences) what is causing a different measurement result. In one case we fought trying to time align one speaker to another and the results kept on changing in the extreme HF range. Eventually Bob pointed out that the HVAC had recently came on and now we were seeing the results of a temperature change and air movement in the room. “A moving target” of sorts. Bob would adjust the time between the speakers for near perfect phase and then things would move the slightest amount. He would readjust the delay time and then it would change again. What to do in a case like this? Optimize as best you can and move on.

I am looking forward to trying what I witnessed Bob do in class on my own. I have a feeling Bob makes it look real easy. Hopefully between his book, my class notes and having watched him, I’ll be able to adopt the various protocols he follows to design and optimize a system. A system could be as simple as (2) speakers. Bob stated that once you understand how to combine (2) speakers correctly, a more complicated system is tackled using the exact same concepts and procedures.

I’m sure this post will continue to grow and divide so I’ll stop here and get back to reading Sound Systems : Design and Optimization again.