OPERATIONAL NOTES
SWITCHING ON
The power switch and fuse are located on the remote power supply. Do not hot plug the station while
the power is on. It is possible to get temporary contact of non-compatible pins while aligning the
power connectors. This can short out the supply, or cause a positive voltage where a negative
voltage should be.
The only things you have to be warned about are few.
Upon power-up the LED next to the MUTE switch will light. Generally it will be GREEN
and the unit is not muted. If it is RED or mixed red & green then it will be necessary to push the
MUTE button a few times until the LED indicates GREEN. RED indicates both channels muted,
mixed red & green indicates one of the two sides are muted. The primary function of this button
is as a "PANIC BUTTON" to prevent hearing damage in case of an accident. The secondary
function is to mute a side for those who prefer to listen to only one "cup".You should explain this
button first to the musicians. This is a unique and important feature.
One reasonable thing to worry about with any Cue system is feedback. Feedback can hurt
an otherwise friendly musician. It can even happen when a musician hits the TALK button when
the volume is very loud and the phones are not well sealed. Feedback can be complicated due to
having several communication mics in separate rooms being switched into control room monitors,
Studio Loud Speakers and headphones. The solutions for feedback is use your ears to be aware of
hints of feedback and be ready to turn the volumes down. One suggested practice is to grease pencil
mark what you have found to be good settings on the TB mic and Studio Speakers. These controls
are the hardest to be aware of in the control room because we rarely hear them there thus they are
most likely to creep to Murphy's settings. If the headphones are simply on the verge of feedback
into the vocal mic the only answers are to have the musician turn down their volume or wear better
sealed phones or both.
There are other potential problems created from excessive volume. Musician fatigue is
directly related to volume. The long-term name for this is deafness. The short-term name is burn-
out . If you expect the players to lay down scorching tracks all day or all night then make sure the
phones aren't also scorching. When a drummer listens too loud to the drums - they hit them softer
and sorta timid. The playing is technically right but the drums just aren't singing. Vocalists tend to
lose pitch accuracy. Most of the time the best approach is a "normal" headphone mix and the best
time to get it is during a playback. This tends to help dynamic correctness and pitch and musical
communication. The "MORE ME" feature can get way out of hand unless some guidance is
suggested early on. There is always a catch - "MORE ME" easily becomes "more volume" & less
music. Check what the musicians have given themselves - Avoid extremes.
