Wireless Mic Delay

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jokerswild

Chief Bottle Washer
Feb 11, 2007
18,776
1,288
Elkhart, IN
www.totalimpactdjs.com
I fully understand that the further you get from your wireless mic receiver the longer it will take for you mic signal to get to it causing a delay in when it is amplified through the system... but I never expected it to be so pronounced at what I'd consider a short straight shot..... maybe 70-80'. But, that is what I experienced at Saturday's show....

I'm using a Shure PGX 24 with SM58 mic.... is this normal or am I doing something wrong.
 
The problem is NOT the time it takes for the signal to get from the mic to the receiver / amplifier / speakers.

All of those things happen at the speed of light, which is about 186,000 miles per second. That's the same speed as if it was a wired mic.

The problem is the speed of sound. At normal atmospheric conditions found in a banquet room, it's only 767 miles per hour, or 1125 feet per second. At 75 feet, the sound takes .067 seconds to reach you.

While that doesn't seem like a lot, it IS noticeable, to the point of being distracting to the person on the mic.



This delay is why bands use stage monitors. The delay, from speakers only 30 feet away is too great. Add the delay from the echo off the back wall, and you get the point.
 
The problem is NOT the time it takes for the signal to get from the mic to the receiver / amplifier / speakers.

All of those things happen at the speed of light, which is about 186,000 miles per second. That's the same speed as if it was a wired mic.

The problem is the speed of sound. At normal atmospheric conditions found in a banquet room, it's only 767 miles per hour, or 1125 feet per second. At 75 feet, the sound takes .067 seconds to reach you.

While that doesn't seem like a lot, it IS noticeable, to the point of being distracting to the person on the mic.

You ain't just whistling Dixie.... I think I knew that but just needed the confirmation. I just didn't expect it to be so pronounced at such a short distance is all.
 
What speakers were you using, front and remote? If you're mixing/matching spherical and line array, it will be more than usual.

An engineer explained it a long while back on the BOSE forum. I'll try to find the post .
 
It's also the reason folded horns require a delay of the signal to the tops either by a processor or by placing the tops a little bit further behind than the mouth of the horn. You got to love physics :D:D:D:D:D

Watch a contractor hammering away 300 ft from you and you'll see him hit the nail or board or whatever but you won't hear the sound until the hammer is already back up in the air and about to strike again ;)
 
This delay is why bands use stage monitors. The delay, from speakers only 30 feet away is too great. Add the delay from the echo off the back wall, and you get the point.

And wired Mics :sqwink:
 
What speakers were you using, front and remote? If you're mixing/matching spherical and line array, it will be more than usual.

An engineer explained it a long while back on the BOSE forum. I'll try to find the post .

For this large room and audience of 224 I was using just the 1 L1/ 2 B1 setup... which btw sounded awesome! :sqbiggrin: I centered the L1 on the stage so that it was pointing right up the middle of the room but it I was situated in such a way that I was pointing the long way.
 
Sorry, Rob. I totally misunderstood and misintrepreted your post. I initially thought you were talking about the delay issues from one speaker set to a second speaker set in a remote/distance situation. What I now see you're describing seems to be mic echoing frequency delay.

What sometimes helps in those circumstances is to back off on your mic's eq bass frequencies. Those long slow waves are the culprits.
 
Cap's got a point.

I tend to forget that sound of different frequencies travels at different speeds.

yes, but the average voice isn't that deep so I don't think that would be noticeable.

I have experienced the delay too, and it's not your microphone. The music is having the same delay getting to you as your voice does, the difference is that you can hear yourself talking (no delay) along with the projected sound as it reaches you (with delay). The music is all with delay.
 
Another reason I can't out run the cops in the US. My cars may have them on top speed by a lot, but I'm nowhere near as fast as Motorola :D:D:D:D:D:D
 
used to DJ a gig at an old dance hall in the mountains...
they put the DJ booth on one end...
but the dance floor and speakers were at the other.
you literally had to wear ear plugs when you talked...
so you couldn't hear the delay.

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