Future Sonic Atrio in use at Norah Jones Concert

If any of you were fortunate enough to catch the Norah Jones concert at the Ryman Auditorium this past weekend in Nashville, TN you know it was a great sounding and looking show. JSS owner Jason Spence caught up with friend and JSS client Steve Baird, Lighting Designer and operator for Norah Jones after the show.

“Steve approached me last year about getting a pair of custom ear monitors but was having a tough time justifying spending between $700 or over $1000 on them,” says Spence.

Steve monitors the shows he lights using an in ear monitor system like those used by the artists and band members on stage. Doing so allows him to follow cues from musical directors and stay in perfect sync with the music. Steve’s resume speaks for itself, designing and touring with artists such as YES and Julio Iglesias to the Canadian Country Music Awards. With that experience he knows how important it is to be able to accurately hear and monitor the music. Whether executing cues in faced paced shows like that of Dream Theater or enforcing subtle moods during Norah’s concert, Steve does so listening to his custom Future Sonic Atrio with Softwear Sleeves.

I proposed the Future Sonic Atrio to Steve. This would allow him to use an amazing sounding universal fit ear monitor to listen to the show. And at a fraction of the cost of customs in-ear-monitors but still allow him to customize them if he really liked them. After trying the Atrio, Steve ordered a pair and a  pair of Custom fit Softwear Sleeves that allow the Atrio to fit and sound like custom ear monitors. Custom sleeves are molded and the Atrio just snap into them. Brilliant and affordable. Even after customizing the Atrio, your investment will be well under $400.”

Steve has this to say about his Future Sonic Atrio, “Thanks again for the headphones..These things Rock.” Steve also points out they are great for more than just the stage. “I had a baby crying all the way home from Atlanta, and couldn’t not hear a thing with my ears in. LOL….”

Steve Baird - Lighting Designer for Norah Jones pictured with his Future Sonic Atrio

Steve Baird – Lighting Designer for Norah Jones pictured with his Future Sonic Atrio and custom fit Softwear Sleeves

You can order your Future Sonic Atrio online by clicking here. Or for more information on Future Sonic Atrio and or Softwear Sleeves contact:

Larry Bicknell
Senior Account Manager
(615) 534-1190 Ext. 3
Email Larry
www.JSS.net

The PSM®900 Wireless Personal Monitor System with SE425 (clear) Sound Isolating™ Earphones (P9TR425CL) is now shipping!*

Place your orders now!

The PSM®900 Wireless Personal Monitor System adds to the unmatched suite of professional wireless products and microphones that makes Shure the one-stop shop for all on-stage audio.

• PSM®900 Wireless Personal Monitor System without Earphones (P9TR) $1099.00
• PSM®900 Wireless Personal Monitor System with SE425 Earphones (P9TR425CL) $1330.00
• PSM®900 Transmitter (P9T) $649.00
• PSM®900 Body pack Receiver (P9R) $450.00

In addition, Wireless Workbench 5 (WWB5) now has PSM®900 frequencies included.  This update is accessed while in WWB5 (no new download required).  Wireless Workbench 5 is your wireless command center for frequency coordination of any Shure Wireless product. WWB5 takes the guesswork out of frequency coordination and provides a graphic display of your RF environment.

PSM®900 offers the most premium set of features and ease of setup ever available in a personal monitoring system.

Unsurpassed Audio Quality

Robust RF Performance

Category-Leading Feature Set

* Orders are shipping first come, first serve and in the order in which they were received.

Update: Shure PSM900 will now ship March 24.

That means the Shure PSM900 Pre-order Sale at JSS has been extended to midnight of March 23, 2010 CST

Be one of the first to get the new Shure PSM900. The units will ship first come first serve so get your order in now to ensure prompt delivery and to take advantage of our pre-order sale price.

Contact Jason Spence for pre-order SALE pricing at (615) 534-1190 Ext. 2 or Email Jason

The Shure PSM 900 wireless in ear monitor system is now available and ready to ship!

I am excited to report that I received word that I can start taking orders for the new PSM 900 and that the units will start shipping on March 1, 2010.

We design and build In Ear Monitor Systems. Call (615) 534-1190 Ext 2 or Email Me
to get started on your system today!

Although it is new to the market you will not be ‘rolling the dice’ on this new IEM system. I had the privilege seeing and listening to it at NAMM. My initial response was that it was extremely quiet, very tight low end and smooth high end. An already proven and rock solid RF technology based on the UHR wireless system, the PSM 900 will combine this reliability and a sound quality to propel this system to the new industry standard for in ear monitors.

I also had the privilege of testing the new Sennheiser 2000 series wireless system while mixing monitors on the 2010 CMA Awards. It was certainly one of the best sounding wireless in ear monitor systems I had ever heard to date. However, the price point on the system makes it out of reach for most users and a tough justification for most production companies. Mean while, there are rumblings going on about Shure’s new IEM system…

Let’s face it, Shure in my opinion has not come out with an in ear system that has sounded good since the PSM 600. Which I still use and spec the P6HW for a wired IEM system today, it still rocks!. Fast forward to NAMM 2010 and the debut of the PSM 900. I stop by Shure to take a look and listen. The RF, features and functions are no doubt impressive but how’s it sound? Since then I personally know that it has been used by Creed, Pete Townsend on the Super Bowl and many, many others. In the words of Frank Sgambellone (FOH for Godsmack, Monitors for Alter Bridge, & many more) “Shure’s knocked it out of the park with this one.”

The new Shure PSM 900 is $1099.00 and we’ll ship it to you for FREE!

The PSM 900 system is currently available to ship with the following components.

P9T Transmitter

P9R Body pack receiver

SE425CL Sound Isolating TM Earphones shown (not included)

Hear are list of Features and Functions that will set it apart from the rest of the IEM systems on the market. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to Email Me.

PSM®900 Technology

CueMode (patent pending): Hear what the performer hears, with the touch of a button! With CueMode a monitor engineer can, with a single bodypack, flip through and audition up to 20 different mixes to check levels, balance or anything else needed to keep the show running smoothly. IR sync makes it easy to set up the different mixes the engineer wants to link to, and once set up the channels are easily stored, replaced or deleted for quick and efficient set up.
Scan and Sync: PSM®900 systems utilize Scan and Sync technology, which vastly improves efficiency and ease of setup. Group Scan analyzes the RF environment for interference and identifies the group with the highest number of available compatible frequencies. Sync communicates the results of the scan to the TX over IR link and assigns the identified group and channel. Channel scan can then be performed to find the next clear channel to use, which can then be synced to the next TX in your set up. The whole operation can be done within a few seconds, and results in the clearest channels to use for your monitoring set-up.
Robust Front-End RF Filtering: A feature of the bodypack RX, and based on the premium filtering technology of UHF-R® wireless microphone systems. PSM®900 systems use an extremely precise RF filter that rejects potential RF interference from signals outside the RX’s bandwidth BEFORE traveling to the RX itself.
Active RF Gain Control: Just like how too much audio input gain can distort an audio signal, too much RF signal can cause distortion or dropouts on a wireless PSM® system. Active RF Gain Control automatically reduces the receiver sensitivity for 31dB of additional RF dynamic range before an overload can affect the system, reducing dropouts due to receiver overload and preserving audio quality.
RF Mute Switch: A convenient on/off switch for enabling RF transmissionlocated on the front panel of the receiver. When switched to the off position, the user can perform set up operations, such as adjusting audio level and signal flow, or other actions without disturbing the current RF environment.
Audio Reference Companding (ARC): Companding is the process of compressing the audio signal prior to transmission and expanding it after reception. All pro audio wireless needs companding to deliver a wide dynamic range. Audio Reference Companding is a more efficient, level-dependent companding scheme. Instead of companding across the entire dynamic range like most wireless systems (causing a whooshing audio artifact known as “breathing”), companding only occurs at high audio levels. These levels are high enough to make the companding artifacts inaudible. The result is an improved wireless sound quality that sounds more natural, with less noise and greater dynamic range than other wireless systems – no artifacts, lower noise floor, clearer sound at all audio levels.
MixMode® Technology: Shure MixMode® Technology enables you to balance the level of two separate channels while simultaneously listening to both signals in both ears. Use the controls on your bodypack to set your own levels and create the mix you want—without affecting anyone else’s.
Separate Level and Clip Indicators: With personal monitor systems, audio signal can be too hot as it comes out from the mixing board and into the TX, and/or when it is sent from the TX to the RX, making it difficult to tell why the signal is distorted when it gets to the artist’s ears. PSM 900 TX’s have separate clip indicators for both level input and TX output to help determine if the signal needs to be adjusted at the board or at the TX.
Loop Out: Handy L/R outputs on the back panel of the receiver that can be used with MixMode to daisy-chain signal from one unit to another, out to monitor wedges, recording devices, or any other audio input.

This past week, Shure debuted it’s new PSM 900 wireless personal in-ear monitor system at the 2010 winter NAMM convention. Boasting better RF performance and sonic quality than any other wireless in-ear monitor system on the market. I spoke with Geno, a Shure engineer at NAMM about their new system. He described the feature packed bells and whistles of the system. Of which many of us have become spoiled with; allowing us to efficiently program multiple wireless systems. Features such as infrared sync and group/channel scanning. The PSM 900 takes these features to another level. In under 5 seconds, I was able to scan the entire group and lock in those frequencies! Another 2 seconds and it was synced via infrared, very cool!

I really like the P9R bodypack. It’s small and lightweight but does not feel fragile. It is actually made of metal! According to Shure it’s the thinnest personal monitor bodypack available. One feature which is worth the price of admission alone, especially to us monitor engineers is CueMode. CueMode can be enabled on any bodypack and gives the ability to select and monitor up to 20 different mixes without the need of additional equipment. You can actually monitor the audio you’re transmitting without the coloration of a consoles cue section electronics and yes, that means you’re also monitoring the RF! Another cool feature is the ability to mute the PSM 900 RF. This allows you to scan and program your system while other bands are performing. Without interfering with other RF systems being used. The effects of inter-modulation are greatly reduced by the precision front-end RF filtering of the PSM 900. Up to 20 compatible frequencies per 36 Megahertz frequency range are possible.

I haven’t had a chance to field test it, which is the only true way to give a piece of gear the thumbs up or down I did however take a listen to it at the Shure booth during NAMM. The program being played was unfamiliar but in trying to focus on the sonic quality of the system my initial reaction was that it did seem light years ahead of previous wireless PSM systems. The low end seemed tight and punchy and the noise floor was very low. The price point for the new PSM 900 is about $1000.00 and should start shipping mid-2010.

Not having network capability is a HUGE drawback with today’s coordination that is required for multi-RF systems. Despite that, the system can be managed quickly and easily so all and all it seems to be a great system.  I can’t wait to take it for a test drive to see what it sounds like out in the trenches. Stay tuned…

Jason Spence – Owner

jason@jss.net

(615) 534-1190 Ext. 2

Feedback. Well…it is probably the most disliked word in professional audio other than “ground hum” or “power outage.” For our sake we will focus on feedback so as not to create any additional heartaches for our blog readers.

Feedback is created by a loop of audio signal. As shown in the attached picture, the signal enters in the path from the microphone and is then passed into the mixer. After the signal leaves the mixer it enters the amplifier and in turn the speaker cabinet. Out of the speaker cabinet, the same exact signal is “fed back” to the microphone…thus, creating a loop, or that awful sound we like to call “feedback.”

If you don’t already, assume that we highly dislike feedback and we want to get rid of it completely. There are some very easy practices that can help provide the highest gain in your audio system before feedback. In order to have an effective system or process to eliminating feedback we have to focus on reducing any unnecessary gain in your signal path. Here are 4 of the most basic practices that will help eliminate feedback:

1. Make sure that your main speakers are in front of your closest microphone to the audience. This way you are not battling the powerful high frequency drivers in your main speaker cabinets; trust me, those things always win no matter how much of a rockstar audio engineer you are.
2. Do the research, find out what the polar pattern of your microphone is so that you can place your monitor wedges accordingly. For instance, a directional microphone with a cardioid polar pattern (such as a Shure SM58) picks up sound in one direction. Therefore, placing the monitor wedge directly behind the microphone is the best option when trying to eliminate feedback. If you are unsure what polar pattern your microphone uses, call myself or the JSS Team, we are always happy to help. After all, it is what we do.
3. Move the source of sound as close to the microphone as possible. This will help reduce the amount of unnecessary gain in your signal path. Remember, we are focused on creating the most gain before feedback.
4. If the first 3 tips don’t work or you really want to go the extra mile, try “wringing out” your monitor wedges. “Wringing out” is an industry term for using an equalizer, generally a graphic equalizer to attenuate problem frequencies in your system. The simplest way to describe how to do this is install a graphic equalizer in between your mixer’s monitor output and your monitor power amplifier. Make sure that the equalizer is not bypassed and all of the available frequencies are set to zero. Turn the problem sources send all the way down or off. Set the problem sources gain to unity gain. Now slowly raise the send level of the source and you should begin to hear your problem frequencies emerge from the wedge(s). Find them on your equalizer and attenuate them as needed.

If you are experiencing an extreme feedback situation, please contact JSS. We are a full service company that can tune your system and provide maintenance that will help ensure that you do not have those same feedback issues. If you have any questions, please contact me. We’ll wring out your monitors!

Forrest Colegrove
Account Manager
fcolegrove@jss.net
615.663.4481
www.JSS.net

In the past several years, audio technology has evolved to the point where audio designers, installers and touring professionals have a wide array of software and hardware to help analyze, predict and solve almost all types of audio problems that may arise in any situation. One would think that all our audio troubles would be over. But this is far from the truth. In churches, clubs and live on many touring stages around the world volume is still the number one problem. No new measuring device, software-analyzing program or state-of-the-art digital console can solve what a simple turn of a knob can do, Reduce Stage Volume.

The answer to volume issues in a live situation is always the same. Turn Down. Removing the stage monitors and instrument amplifiers is the number one way to drastically reduce stage volume and dramatically improve sound quality at the front of house. Simply replacing the floor monitors with a personal monitor mixing system like the Aviom Pro 16 Personal Monitor Mixing System is a sure fire way to reduce stage volume, increase performers monitoring ability and clean up the look of the stage.

The Aviom Pro 16 Personal Monitor Mixing System transports line level audio from a mixing console to a 16-channel A-16II personal monitor mixer. Each musician gets an A-16II mixer and with a pair of personal in ear monitors, headphones or ear buds has the ability to create a full stereo monitor mix independent of all the other musicians on stage. The A-16 II personal monitor mixer allows musician to control level, pan and stereo spread along with save and recall.

Integrating an Aviom personal monitor mixing system into a church, performance space, club or a touring bands production system is low stress and affordable. Aviom makes a wide array of system cards for Yamaha digital mixing consoles along with cards for Digico, Digidesign, Innovason and Soundcraft digital mixing consoles. Aviom also manufactures the necessary input and output devices and accessories to help customize or augment existing or new systems. Please contact JSS and we will be more than happy to answer any questions or design an Aviom system to fit your needs and solve any volume issues you may be having on stage

Ed Frebowitz
Audio Engineer
www.JSS.net