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Post subject: Passport connection to House system
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 3:10 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:55 pm
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Hey guys new here and just have a question that I can't seem to figure out. I use the an ole school P-250 and it has done me well for 12 years now.

I have gig at a place with a house system that uses a XLR-F/.25 input that plays throughout the restaurant, with small home audio type speakers, and a Mackie 402 mixer. The first time I played there I used the tape out RCA from my Passport to the Mackie board and worked fine. The last time I played it didn't work though. My question is, if I only use 1 speaker, can I plug the XLR-F cable into one of the speaker connections directly into the Passport. If you have any other suggestions let me know.

Thanks


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Post subject: Re: Passport connection to House system
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:42 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
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If the RCA connection worked once, it should work again, unless you or the home system's owner have made a human error, or unless the home system is broken. If any of these things are true, plugging the home system into the wrong plug is not going to fix things.

The speaker outlet is for the speakers that came with the Passport. Period. Do not EVER plug ANYTHING except those speakers into the speaker outlet plugs. Doing so will always be a mistake that could cost you whatever you plug into either end of that cable.

Speaker signals are LOUD. Nobody makes an amplifier designed to take speaker level signals. Amps GIVE speaker level signals. They start with weaker level signals and then AMPLIFY the weak signals in order to create speaker output. That's why they call them amplifiers.

An amp's speaker level signal is designed to fit specific speakers. Using them on anything else risks the amp and whatever gets plugged into that output (including the wrong kind of speaker).

So, next time, use the RCA connection again, and if it doesn't work, start out troubleshooting the problem by isolating it. Do you have some other sound source that can connect to the home system? Maybe you've got an iPod with an adapter that can connect to the home system where your RCA cable connects?

Maybe the RCA cable is cheap and broken?

Maybe the home system has the wrong sound source selected?

Maybe you've got the tape out volume level turned down?

Maybe they've got the tape in volume level turned down?

Maybe someone else has used a similar connection to this system and blown out the home system in the restaurant? If they plugged into a speaker outlet, that's quite likely.

The point is that your RCA connection worked once. Troubleshoot it. Don't try to switch to some other connection.


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Post subject: Re: Passport connection to House system
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 10:56 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
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Just to be clearer:

Dynamic microphones are like tiny alternating-current generators that convert sound into AC power. Very puny power. This is a "mic level" audio signal. Professional PA mics use XLR cables for mic level signals.

Synthesizers, electric guitars, and most other audio components transmit audio signals through wires at a more powerful level called "line level". Your RCA "tape out" uses line level signals. The mixer in your Passport has a "mic pre-amp" which brings the mic level signals up to line level before mixing them with your line level sound sources.

The output from your mixer is line level, but in the same box as your mixer, the Passport has a power amplifier. It takes the line level signal and jacks it up to speaker level, which is what your speaker out port transmits to your speaker signals. So, in the Passport, the pre-amp (to bring mic level to line level) and power amp (to bring line level to speaker level) all happens in the same box. The speakers are separate.

Some sound systems have "active speakers". All that means is that they put the power amps in the speaker cabinets themselves, so you use a mixer with line level output, and you use XLR cables to connect the line level output from the mixer to the speakers.

The good news is that it stops anybody from being able to make the mistake you were considering making. The line-level to speaker-level conversion happens in the speaker.

The bad news is the speaker is heavier, bigger, and it heats up a lot, and it needs its own AC power cable. Like you don't have enough cables to deal with already.

So, passive speaker design like your Passport is easier to live with, so long as you NEVER plug ANYTHING into the speaker out ports except the speakers.


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