Using the audio and video system in the Truslow Commons

The Upper School / Truslow Commons has a permanently installed audio-video system that is well-suited for speakers, showing videos, even playing music at an appropriate volume. The system was designed for ease of use - just turn it on and go. However, in reality this ability seriously depends on the state in which the last user left it. Below are the full instructions for use in case they're needed.

INITIAL STEPS:

STEP 1 - ACCESS THE EQUIPMENT:
Open the black metal rack mounted on the wall, stage left. If locked, the key is kept at Katie McCallum's desk.

STEP 2 - POWER ON THE EQUIPMENT:
Turn on the master power switch, located on the black Furman M-8x2 device mounted 2nd from the top in the rack. This supplies power to all of the equipment in the rack and the speakers hanging overhead.

STEP 3 - PREPARE THE EQUIPMENT FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO DO:
Ensure that the Behringer Feedback Destroyer (the silver piece of equipment mounted right below the Furman) is also powered on. If using the wireless microphone, rotate its large black knob until the display reads "3."

If NOT using the wireless microphone, rotate the Behringer's large black knob left to zero ("- -").

USING THE WIRELESS MICROPHONE:

To use the wireless microphone:

1. Ensure that the Line6 XD-V55 wireless microphone receiver is turned on, and that the knob is set to channel 1.

2. On the mixing board sitting at the bottom of rack, make sure the white volume knob for channel one (all the way to the left) is turned all the way down.

3. Set the master fader on the right of the board to zero.

4. Turn on the wireless microphone (stored in the rack) by holding down the button with the power icon (labeled "mute") until the LCD screen activates.

   1. NOTE: The wireless microphone should always be set on channel 1 - if it's not, hold the "select" button down and use the two buttons in tandem to set the channel. The Line6 XD-V55 wireless microphone receiver's "Transmitter Signal" meter will light up green when both it and the wireless microphone are on the same channel.

   2. If the wireless microphone will not turn on, or the battery icon on its LCD display flashes, replace the two AA batteries. The base of the mic screws off to allow access to the batteries.

5. While speaking into the wireless microphone, slowly turn up the white volume knob for channel 1 on the mixing board until the desired sound level is reached.

PLAYING AUDIO FROM DEVICES:

To use the system to play sound from a phone or computer (or anything that has a headphone plug):

1. Turn the master fader on the right side of the mixer board all the way down. Locate the auxiliary (headphone) cable connected to the mixer board (usually coiled next to the board), and plug it into the device's headphone socket.

   1. Play the desired audio on the device and set the device's volume to around 80%. Slowly turn up the master fader on the mixer board until the desired volume is reached.

   2. NOTE: If you'd like to use the wireless microphone and play audio from a device, you'll have to find the proper balance between their two volumes, as they must share the master fader.

SHOWING VIDEO FROM A COMPUTER:

To show a computer's display on the digital projector:

1. Use the Epson projector remote (stored in the rack) to turn on the projector hanging in the middle of the Commons.

2. NEW! You no longer have to do anything to lower the projection screen. The screen will lower automatically once the projector is powered on and ready to project. (NOTE: This can take ~45 seconds.) The screen will automatically retract when the projector is turned off.

3. Connect the HDMI cable (usually coiled on the top of the rack) to the computer.

   1. HDMI is a standard high-definition connection used in everything from conference centers to TVs. All MVS-owned computers have an HDMI video out port.

4. NOTE: HDMI also carries audio in addition to video, but we do not use that functionality. If you'd like the audio from the computer connected to the projector to come through the rack's audio system, plug the mixer board's headphone cable into the computer, and select it as the audio output on the computer.

   1. This is done differently on different computers, and is beyond the scope of these instructions.
      

WHEN FINISHED, PLEASE RETURN EVERYTHING TO THE STATE THAT YOU FOUND IT (OR BETTER).

Below is a picture of the rack's equipment, as mounted in the rack. On the top shelf is the Line6 XD-V55 wireless microphone receiver, set to channel 1. Below that is the black Furman master power switch. Below that is the silver Behringer Feedback Destroyer set to "3." Below that is the bottom of the rack, which holds the mixer board, the wireless microphone, the auxiliary headphone cable, and the Epson projector remote.