Theatre Sound on Cheap

mperloe · Post by **mperloe** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 10:33 am

I sold a perfectly fine mixer because our theatre had one. Unfortunately, it disappeared. We plan to use Sound Cue to program overlapping sound cues, but not to control lights or Midi devices. I have a 1000watt two channel amp and monitor speakers. If I only need two channel sound, can I patch the line out from my laptop or desktop into the amp.
Despite the laptop/desktop sound board outputs being unbalanced, the run will be less than three feet. Our long run is from the power amp. Do I still need the conversion unbal to balanced or a separate mixer?

Mike Daniell · Post by **Mike Daniell** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:44 pm

Not necessarily assuming your two-channel amp accepts the unbalanced inputs. I've run SCS for years with unbalanced connections until I bought a sound card with balanced outputs. Sometimes (frequently!) I had to ride the sliders or mute buttons on the mixer to avoid hum when no sounds were playing. I also ensured my audio files were recorded at a reasonably high level so any noise on the line wouldn't be too noticable during playback. Another consideration is to try to keep the unbalanced leads away from mains power leads - not always possible.

The setup you are describing is OK as a short-term solution, but normally (as you may well be aware) the 'long run' is usually from the mixer to the power amps, with the power amps being near the main speakers. But if you are working without a separate mixer then some compromises will need to be made.

jmgordon · Post by **jmgordon** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 2:12 am

Without a mixer in the chain it will be trickier to match the amplifier sensitivity/gain to the computer output to give you the ultimate output level you want. However, at least with the amp close at hand you will be able to keep an eye on the clip lights (clipping = death to speakers).