Speaker Types

Speaker types

What are the different speaker types, generally?

You can get woofers, to sub woofers. You can also get in-wall or mounted speakers. These will all have slight differences in them.

Professional speakers are essential for musicians, entertainers, DJs, and business owners. If you do not have good quality speakers, your music will not be played at its best quality. With this you need good quality speakers and for their purpose. For example if you are a DJ you will need better speakers so it will emit the best quality sound. This will also make your music have a bit more sparkle to it rather than having a bad quality speaker that makes your music sound dull. The same occurs when it comes to live sound.

Full-range

What is a fully-range speaker?

A full range speaker is a speaker that has a wide range of frequencies level output, without damaging the speaker itself. For example a monitor speaker is good for emitting different ranges of frequencies without damaging. You can also get a low frequency speaker that could be tailored more towards bass frequencies. This will also mean that the diaphragm is heavier making it more durable and less likely to break and last longer. Whereas you get sensitive speakers that are not tailored to handle low frequencies such as deep bass, so they may “pop”/ break super quick. Especially when you are playing at loud volume.

A Woofer or sub-Woofer for example ear really good at handling bass frequencies. The most common design for a woofer is the electrodynamics driver, which typically uses a stiff paper cone, driven by a voice coil which is surrounded by a magnetic field.

Bi-Amp

What is a Bi-Amp speaker?

Bi-amping is the use of two channels of amplification to power each loudspeaker within an audio system. You use on amplifier for the low frequencies. You also then sue a second amplifier for the mid and high frequencies. This will give access to the advantages of the strengths of each amplifier in its interaction with the speakers. To do this successfully the power for the amplifiers must be balanced and the frequencies must be well within. Also the power limits must be within the speakers.

However often this can be confused with bi- wiring. These are not the same and they should not be confused. Bi-wiring is using a single amplification output source, but connects separately to the low frequency driver and to the midrange/tweeter.

To successfully bi-amp, you need to link the amplifiers to electrical crossover. This crossover should be active.

However if you don’t want to bi-amp or bi-wire your speakers, you can simply connect your amplifier to one set of binding posts.

Tri-amp

What is a Tri-amp speaker?

This is very similar to bi-amping a speaker. Tri amp breaks the audio signal into three discrete frequency ranges. This happens while being amplified and delivered to the speakers. It delivers audio frequencies to at least three different drivers, or speakers. These are optimised to reproduce the frequency ranges that they receive.

The electrical crossover is used to break the signal into three parts. Then each of these three parts are then sent to their own amplifier and speakers.

A benefit from tri-amping is that even when one frequency is overloading and distorting, the others, in their groups, remain clean and clear. This can greatly improve overall clarity under high power.

Active speakers

In an active speaker the crossover components are involved. This is why it is commonly known as an active speaker. This is because the crossover components in an active speaker split the frequency band of the audio signal into smaller parts. These are then sent to individual speaker drivers designed to handle those frequencies.

These speakers are known, because of their electrical crossover components and powered amplifiers for each driver, are self-powered. This is a good thing because you don’t need extra equipment.

Active speakers are more suitable for a theatre, such as a home theatre. This is because you need less equipment, you can mount them around and are easy to use. Or you could also use these ones for any entertainment in the environment of a home.

Another thing to add is that regardless of an active speaker having built in amplifier and crossover components, you may also see these speakers with amps or anything outside of the speaker itself. You may also see these speakers with a bi-amp or tri-amp set up. Referring to active crossover and two or three separate amplifiers for the separate drivers.

Passive speakers

In comparison to the active speaker, the passive speaker, has slightly different features, such as:

- Passive crossover components, which split the audio signal and send each band directly to the loudspeaker drivers

- Audio signals that are driven by a separate, individual amp

- Components that are typically an arrangement of resistors, capacitors, and inductors, which split the signal and send each frequency part to the drivers

- A separate power amplifier that sends the full audio signal to the speaker

“Passive crossover systems dissipate heat, and can lose as much as 30-percent of the amplifier’s power, And as the crossover components heat up, the performance of the speaker changes. So a movie may sound differently toward the end than it did in the beginning” said by - LoPiccolo.

(http://www.electronichouse.com/daily/home-audio/active-vs-passive-speakers-use/)

Passive speakers are generally known not to have built in amplifiers or crossover components, which is why you will need the space for outside equipment.

Overall an active speaker is the one to go for however they are both tailored to their own kind of work. One speaker could be better at one thing than the other so you might just go with what you will need it for.

For example you may not go for the passive speaker for a home theatre or any type of entertainment within the home.

Another difficult thing is that you will have to find a matching amplifier for your chosen speaker. If not you could have some sort of complications. Connecting the right ones just makes it simpler and easier. This is an advantage and a disadvantage though. This is because one has the freedom to upgrade the amplifier, or swap it out at any time, whereas an active speaker, the amps are park of the speaker itself. So less equipment needed. But as mentioned above they are both worthy just may be more suitable for other things more than the other.

Foldback

What is a fold back system?

A fold back system is also known as the monitor system. This is a monitor set up that you point at the performers while they are performing in a live performance. This is so that they can hear what they are doing rather than not being able to hear that well from the speakers facing the audience. This will also mean that they can keep in time with their own strumming while singing at the same time. This just makes sure for a better performance. The general idea is for the performers to hear the same thing as the audience.

For example, the vocalists might hear a mix with their own voice louder than everything else to help them monitor their own sound.

They lay on the floor near the performer, in the direction in line with them so they can hear the direct sound. They are usually wedge shape that will sit at the front of the stage. However other ways that the performers can hear what they are doing is by wearing a headset instead that is a wireless connection to what the onstage speaker monitor would have been connected to.

Health & Safety

To be safe with moving the “PA” system (which will include the fold back system of the on stage monitors for the performer) from location to location or even room to room, it must be light and compact as [possible. This will ensure that nobody will get injured while carrying them, and also that the equipment will less likely be dropped and damaged by the person carrying the equipment.

Some pieces of equipment should state on them if the weight of that object is suitable to be carried by one person. If it is not then by no means should you try and carry it by yourself. This would put you at risk of hurting yourself or others around you, or dropping the equipment and then breaking it. So be safe while you are setting you the PA system.

You will also need to make sure that leads are safe. By this I mean make sure that there is no risk of being electrocuted. The wires must trill be in tacked and making sure they have not split down the casing for any reason. You will also need to make sure that when you are setting up the wires that they are safely put around the edges of the placing which you are setting it up in. outside the room is a good place because it is then not a trip hazard.

Wedge monitor

Wedge monitors are very simple, but there are two main components to it: power source, and signal type. A wedge monitor is something that a performer will have in front of them while they are on stage performing. This is so they can hear what they are doing. The idea behind them is so that the performer can hear what the audience would hear.

Advantages- the costing of them are cheaper than their rivals, and in ear monitors. They are cheaper for two reasons. One being that they are just generally cheaper, and the other reason being that if you have a lot of people on stage they can actually share monitors. Also unlike sound isolation headphones, the monitors allow you to interact with the audience more.

These types of monitors however are known to be more popular, this is because they are simple and easier to use.

Disadvantages – the size is a problem. Not one that can be handled and dealt with, but they are a pain to move with being the size of a normal speaker. This will also take up room on stage and could be a possible trip hazard if you, for some reason, was to be walking backwards, you could trip over this. The size also makes it more difficult to travel with and carry.

Feedback can also be an issue. When you have more speakers on stage, you will get more stage noise. It is only natural that more stage noise will produce a higher chance of feedback.

What is feedback?

Feedback is unwanted interaction between the speakers and microphones of a PA system

Other disadvantages-

Noise pollution can also be a problem. While you are on stage, and the more speakers/monitors you have, the more the microphones will pick up. So it will just be a vicious circle. This is also a form of feedback. If this maybe the case, and those noises are being producing through the mains. I suggest using gates on the mics, to help control that noise from being heard through the house.

What is a gate?

A Gate will have similar dials to the compressor, Threshold, Output gain, and ratio. They work similarly too. The Threshold controls the amount of input required before the gate turns on. This again should be started at 0 DB and adjusted from there.

Side fill monitors

What is a side fill monitor?

These monitors are similar to the floor wedge monitors however they stand up right rather than laying on its side on the floor which is what the wedge monitor does. These monitors are speakers that are located in areas in which the floor monitors (wedge) are not covering. This provides extra sound for onstage performers. Side fill monitors are also known as drum fill. Drum fills are typically large 2 or 3 way speakers with one or more large woofers capable of extremely high volumes.

Advantages – the one advantage is that it is less costly than other methods of monitoring. In ear monitors are pricier as they are wireless and are more complex.

Disadvantage - Communication has to be very good between the mixer and musicians. This puts a heavier load on the FOH mixer.

In ear monitors

While performers are up on stage, they will sometimes have anon stage monitor called the wedge monitor. This allows them to hear what is being played exactly the same as the audience. However some people will prefer to use in ear monitors.

The in ear monitors have many advantages, and some disadvantages too.

Advantages-

If they are used correctly, they can prevent from hearing loss. Hearing loss is caused by being exposed to a level of decibel for longer than you should be. This can also cause tinnitus which is a form of hearing loss that can be irritating. This is also known as ringing in the ear that some may have to use white noise at night in order to drown out the sound so that they are able to sleep.

The in ear monitor can also allow for a more specialised monitoring mix. For example to keep in time, a drummer might have a specialised metronome in the in ear monitor so that he can ensure that he will stay at the same tempo throughout the whole of the performance.

Another good thing with having the in ear monitors, is that the risk of feedback is brought down by a vast amount. This is good because it is beneficial to our set up.

Disadvantages-

Can be more complicated for the engineer and therefore have a higher risk of mistakes during the show. This means that the performance may go wrong and the sound may not be as at its best quality that it could be.

One of the other problems is that the performers loos the ability to communicate with the audience and interact. This can be a problem because it means that it isn’t the best ability. You don’t get eh same feeling as if you are able to interact and have fun, almost being submerged with the audience.