Quote:
Originally Posted by Rex Anderson
Can't remember what year, but we bought a Crown RTA2 when it first came out. One of the guys on my team had an early version of SMAART (maybe version 5?) that we used to dial in a pair of JL Audio F112's with some Lipinski L-707's in one of our control rooms. That was a great full range monitoring system.
We hired Doug Jones (Heyser award winning acoustician) to help with room treatment in our facilities and he used TEF so I got to learn a bit about that.
I always wanted to get further into it, just didn't have the time before I retired. I need to do some work tuning the PA system at the church where I mix live sound, but they need to buy a crossover/processor to make it possible to do any further adjustments. If they want to lay out the money for gear and send me to a training course, I'm willing to put forth the effort and learn more. We're meeting in a few days to discuss plans for next year and it's on my list.
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I think (but I'm hazy, memory being what it is) that the RTA2 was the device that replaced the BADAP in Crown's line. None of the old RTAs hold a candle to a TEF or SMART rig and then there's always MLSSA as a further option. All of them can get it done. Ultimately it's about the knowledge, ears and experience of the person pointing the speakers and turning the knobs than it is which measurement package. That said, I think SMAART is the most common and universally used software when discussing large scale PA, as at your church. I believe they are on V8.0 now. We had one of the original JBL/SIA packages on a dedicated PC...all the reps were given the software... but sadly I never took the time to learn it thoroughly nor have I kept pace with the latest developments. Npw that I have the time, taking a full course would be great fun
The requirement to get both good sound and maximum gain before feedback makes tuning a big PA an art as well as a science and perhaps an even greater challenge than tuning a home playback system, though the basics and science are identical. Having said that, I am NOT the man to get it done, but I know where to find him!
I received the SB16 today. I'll report on it in a week or two after I've had a chance to push it around bit. Initial impressions are: big box, looks nice.