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Author Topic: Hearing impaired signal? Tom Wienholt Master Film Handler Posts: 371 From: Towson, MD, USA Registered: Dec 2002 posted 01-20-2005 09:58 PM                     I am installing a hearing impaired system in my theatre. Where should the signal be tapped? There is no H.I. output on my processors or monitors.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-20-2005 11:33 PM                     Depends on the system: Phonic Ear's Starsound system uses two types of inputs: The units that require a separate driver box can accept up to 4 channels of speaker-level input directly from the amplifier outputs. The ones with the 1/4" jack in the side use a line-level signal, best taken from the preamp take-offs between the preamp and NR modules. USL's infrared H/I device can take line or speaker level signals at its input, just one channel though. Other brands may have different drive/input arrangements. -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Tom Wienholt Master Film Handler Posts: 371 From: Towson, MD, USA Registered: Dec 2002 posted 01-21-2005 02:11 AM                     I am using a Williams Sound FM transmitter with an RCA input. Can I use the signal from the center channel amp output?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 01-21-2005 02:15 AM                     ..tap in from your center channel preamp out to the amplifier is the most common terminal to use.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 01-21-2005 12:03 PM                        We have a mixer that is fed the screen channels (L,C,R); the output feeds the booth monitor and the infrared unit. It allows you to mix all screen channels equally, which is what I prefer in the booth, but Center channel is dialoge-heavy which makes it ideal for infrared. For most people with hearing impairment the more isolated dialogue is from lots of other complex waveforms, the better. Of course you don't want to totally eliminate L & R channels completely since there can be location-specific dialogue occasionally panned into those channels as well. We settled on a mix of all three channels but pulling the L&R down approximately 6db lower than the Center. It seems to work nicely. I only do that when I know they are actually using infrared (I know when that happens because all the headsets are kept in the booth and the House Manager comes and gets them when someone asks, which is once in a blue moon). The rest of the time I keep the mix straight up even.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-21-2005 01:24 PM                        I thought you worked in a state-of-the-art arthouse theatre. What processor do you use for "MegaSound"? Doesn"t it have a center-weighted HI output?  |  IP: Logged Tom Wienholt Master Film Handler Posts: 371 From: Towson, MD, USA Registered: Dec 2002 posted 01-21-2005 05:55 PM                     If I tap the signal from the center channel processor output, will it affect the signal level to the amplifier? So, will I have to adjust the output to keep 85 dbc in the auditorium?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-21-2005 07:22 PM                     What cinema processor are you using? Dolby processors (except CP500 and CP650 which have a H/I output anyways) and USL processors have 'pre-amp out' terminals which are an ideal place to connect a Williams H/I system. Do NOT connect the Williams to speaker level signals. -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Tom Wienholt Master Film Handler Posts: 371 From: Towson, MD, USA Registered: Dec 2002 posted 01-21-2005 07:39 PM                     I have CP50's and 55's.  |  IP: Logged Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 01-21-2005 07:40 PM                     What is "MegaSound"?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-21-2005 11:33 PM                     quote: Tom Wienholt I have CP50's and 55's. Then look on the backplane of the processor, you will see terminals labeled 'pre-amp output' L, R, and E (or the ground symbol on the '55). Simply connect the hot lead of the H/I cable to either the L or R terminal (NOT BOTH!!!) and the shield to E (ground) and you will have a nice signal for the H/I system. -Aaron [ 01-22-2005, 12:57 AM: Message edited by: Aaron Sisemore ]  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-21-2005 11:40 PM                        Connect the hot lead to L and E?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-22-2005 12:57 AM                     Post corrected- Thanks Mike  |  IP: Logged Tom Wienholt Master Film Handler Posts: 371 From: Towson, MD, USA Registered: Dec 2002 posted 01-22-2005 01:41 AM                     Thanks for the help.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 01-22-2005 03:01 AM                        I didn't mean to be anally over-correct here, I just wanted to point out a potential misunderstanding! Most of our older locations with CP55 I found set up with the HI simply tapped into the center channel output, and I decided to leave them that way. Ideally, an actual HI output with a centerweighted sum of L,C,R is best, but I found that most of the Hi customers just want to be able to understand the dialog properly. To answer Tom's erlier question, no, it does not influence the C channel level negatively. At this point, it is just a voltage anyway, and even if it had an effect on levels, you would set up levels in your system as it is completely set up anyway.  |  IP: Logged

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