We have a small auditorium with seating for 60 people and a raised platform in front. We also have a field staff that we wish to include in meetings.
We use AdobeConnect to setup a virtual meeting room for that allows us to share any presentations as well as video from a ceiling mounted camera. We use a conference call for audio. We run a softphone on the auditorium pc so that we can use an Azden UHF wireless microphone for the presenters connecting the wireless receiver to the PC’s microphone input. This has worked relatively well but having only the one microphone has been problematic.
What would be ideal is to have a wireless unit that can support 4 wireless lavalieres to use for the presenters and then using the existing wireless handheld for audience questions. It would be nice to be able to mute the lav’s rather than depending on the presenter to turn it on or off. There is almost no need for amplification in this small auditorium, this is being done for the benefit of the field staff and for the recording of the meetings.
My problem is that I am not an audio tech but just an IT guy trying to fill a gap with almost no budget. I know there are 4 channel wireless units out there and I can certainly search Amazon or B&H but I don’t enough to know what’s good or at least good enough for my application while still being inexpensive.
I assume a small sound board will need to be involved to help level volume levels between mikes and to merge the inputs from two different wireless receivers. It would be nice to have an input to play wait music for those on the phone conference and it would have to have a PC compatible output to supply input the voip softphone running on the PC.
I would be interested in any suggestion folks may have to offer.
Comments
Usually Voip software will transmit sound through the sound card
Usually Voip software will transmit sound through the sound card mic input. You could certainly use the line in as a source too.
Why I'm saying that is that my first approach would be to buy those mics and a mixer then buy an external audio interface like a Focusrite 2i2 or a presonus with 2 inputs to the computer.
One thing you don't say is ; are those mics be sent to a PA in the room ? If so, a common risk is to have feedbacks. If a person doesn't speak loud enough and you push the gain to much or if a person turns the mic toward a speaker, it could turn to disaster quickly.
If it's not a big room and everybody hear themself and you don't need to amplify the mics, you could put an omnidirectionnal mic in the center to capture everyone.
Please add details on how it's gonna be (PA or not, size of the room, environement noises etc...)