How to Soundcheck Microphones Before an Event

A microphone can work perfectly when it is plugged in and still perform poorly once the room fills with people and the programme begins. Checking that a microphone produces sound is only the first step. A useful soundcheck confirms that the microphone, mixer, loudspeakers and the person using the microphone will work together under conditions that resemble the actual function.

This does not mean every wedding, presentation or party requires an elaborate professional soundcheck. For a straightforward PA setup, a few methodical checks before guests arrive can prevent many of the most common problems: a microphone that is too quiet, feedback when someone moves around the room, an intermittent cable, a wireless transmitter with a weak battery, or a speech that cannot be understood clearly at the back of the audience.

The important principle is to test the complete signal path rather than individual pieces of equipment in isolation. The microphone is only the beginning. Its signal needs to reach the mixer or PA equipment, pass through the sound system and arrive clearly at the audience. A good microphone soundcheck therefore starts at the microphone and finishes in the listening area.

Set Up the Complete System Before You Test It

Soundchecking a microphone before the loudspeakers are in their final positions tells you relatively little about how the finished system will behave. Speaker placement affects coverage and the relationship between the loudspeakers and microphones, so the main PA should be positioned before meaningful microphone testing begins.

The same applies to the rest of the equipment. Connect the microphones using the XLR cables that will actually be used during the function. If wireless microphones are involved, connect the receivers in their intended positions and install suitable batteries in the transmitters. Set up any microphone stands required for speeches, performers or fixed presentation positions.

Powered loudspeakers and other equipment also need access to suitable electricity. Extension leads may be required depending on the venue and equipment positions, while cable covers can be appropriate where leads cross areas used by guests, presenters or staff. It is much easier to identify an awkward cable route during setup than when the room is already occupied.

Once everything is connected, turn the system on in an appropriate sequence and begin with sensible operating levels rather than immediately pushing the equipment to high volume. Confirm first that each microphone produces a clean signal through the PA. Listen for obvious problems such as crackling, intermittent connections, excessive noise or a microphone that is not reaching the system at all.

If a wired microphone behaves intermittently, check the XLR cable and connections before assuming the microphone itself is faulty. If a wireless system is not producing sound, work through the signal path methodically: transmitter, battery, wireless link, receiver, cable from the receiver and mixer input. Randomly changing several controls at once can make a simple problem harder to identify.

Soundcheck With a Real Voice

Tapping a microphone or saying “check, one, two” can confirm that sound is reaching the loudspeakers, but it does not tell you whether a speech or presentation will actually be intelligible.

Whenever possible, test the microphone with a voice that resembles how it will be used. If the microphone is for wedding speeches, have someone speak normally through it. If it is for an MC, test at an appropriate speaking level. If it will be used by a singer, the soundcheck should include actual singing rather than spoken words alone because a singing voice can place very different demands on the system.

The person testing the microphone should also hold it realistically. A Shure SM58, for example, is a handheld vocal microphone intended to be used relatively close to the source. Testing it from a long distance and then setting the PA around that unusually weak signal can create unnecessary problems later.

Conversely, someone shouting into the microphone during the soundcheck can lead to a system level that is inappropriate when a quiet speaker begins the first speech. If you know who will actually use the microphones, hearing those people during the soundcheck is much more useful than relying entirely on somebody else.

This becomes particularly important where several people have different speaking styles. A confident MC may produce a strong, consistent microphone signal, while an inexperienced speaker may naturally hold the same microphone farther away and speak quietly. Where practical, checking the principal speakers beforehand gives you an opportunity to identify those differences.

Our microphone technique guide explains the practical relationship between microphone distance, handling and the resulting sound in greater detail.

Listen Where the Audience Will Be

One of the easiest soundcheck mistakes is standing beside the loudspeakers or equipment while making every decision about what the audience will hear. The PA exists for the listening area, so someone needs to listen from the listening area.

Have one person speak into the microphone while another walks through the space. Listen near the front, through the middle and towards the back of the intended audience area. If the room is wide, check both sides as well. You are listening for more than volume. The important question is whether speech remains clear and intelligible throughout the area where people will actually be sitting or standing.

If the microphone is difficult to hear in one part of the room, immediately increasing the microphone level may not be the best solution. The problem can be related to loudspeaker coverage or placement. Making the entire system louder to solve a local coverage problem can result in excessive level elsewhere while doing relatively little to address the underlying issue.

This is why microphone and loudspeaker planning belong together. Audio Hire's approach to PA hire in Adelaide begins with at least two loudspeakers rather than treating a single speaker as a complete audience sound system. Appropriate placement of those speakers helps distribute sound across the intended listening area and reduces the temptation to solve every problem by increasing volume.

Room acoustics can also become apparent during this process. A highly reflective room may make speech less intelligible even though the system is producing plenty of sound. Increasing the level can sometimes make that situation worse because more amplified sound excites the room. Clear speech depends on the relationship between the microphone, PA and acoustic environment rather than volume alone.

Check for Feedback Under Realistic Conditions

A microphone system that is stable while the microphone is sitting unused on a table may behave differently when someone picks it up and walks around. The soundcheck should therefore reproduce the positions and movements likely to occur during the programme.

If an MC will move through the room, walk through the areas they are likely to use while speaking normally into the microphone. If a presenter will stand near a screen or lectern, test from that position. If audience Q&A is planned with a wireless microphone, carry it into the audience and check the locations where questions are likely to be asked.

Pay particular attention to the relationship between the microphone and the main loudspeakers. Walking directly in front of a loudspeaker with an active microphone or pointing the microphone towards it can increase the likelihood of feedback. Establishing sensible movement areas before the programme starts is preferable to discovering the problem in front of the audience.

Do not deliberately force the system into extreme feedback simply to find out how loud it can go. The objective is to establish an appropriate operating level with useful stability for the way the microphone will actually be used. A system that only remains stable when everybody stands in exactly one location may need its setup reconsidered.

If feedback occurs at normal operating levels, investigate the cause rather than automatically reducing everything until the microphone becomes difficult to hear. Check loudspeaker position, microphone direction, microphone distance and the amount of gain being used. Our guide to stopping microphone feedback examines these factors in greater detail.

Test Every Microphone and Every Role

If several microphones are being used, test all of them. Do not assume that because the first microphone works, every other microphone, cable, receiver and mixer channel must also be correct.

For a conference or panel discussion, test the microphones in the combinations in which they will actually operate. A moderator and several panellists may need microphones active during the same discussion. An MC may need to introduce a presenter while another microphone is ready on stage. Audience Q&A can add one or more roaming microphones to the system.

These situations are different from testing each microphone individually because several open microphones can change how the complete PA behaves. They can also introduce unwanted room sound, handling noise or conversations from people who are not currently addressing the audience. If the programme involves multiple microphones, the soundcheck should reflect that reality.

Our guide to microphones for panel discussions, conferences and Q&A sessions explains how the programme format affects microphone quantities and allocation. Working from a running order can be particularly useful because it shows which microphones need to be available simultaneously and which can be reused later.

Wireless microphones deserve an additional check. Confirm that each transmitter corresponds to the expected receiver, check the battery condition and make sure the microphone remains reliable throughout the area where it will be used. If several wireless systems are part of the production, they should be tested together rather than individually and then assumed to coexist correctly.

Leave the System Ready for the First Speaker

Once the soundcheck is complete, the system should be left in a state that makes the beginning of the programme straightforward. Microphones should be where the people using them expect to find them, wireless units should be ready, cables should be properly routed and the initial operating levels should be established.

Make sure the MC, presenter or person coordinating the programme understands which microphone they are using. If microphones are allocated to particular people or roles, identify them clearly. At a panel discussion, for example, knowing which channel corresponds to each participant makes the system easier to manage than discovering this during the conversation.

Give inexperienced speakers a short explanation where appropriate. They generally do not need technical information. Telling them to keep the microphone reasonably close to their mouth, avoid covering the grille and speak normally is usually far more useful than explaining how the PA works.

It is also worth checking what happens immediately after the soundcheck. Equipment can be moved when tables are rearranged, venue staff may need access to an area, or somebody may unplug an extension lead without realising what it supplies. A final visual check shortly before the programme begins can catch simple changes that occurred after testing.

A soundcheck cannot guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen, but it removes a large number of avoidable problems. More importantly, it changes microphone setup from “the equipment turns on” to “the audience can hear what they need to hear.”

If you are still choosing the equipment, begin with Microphone Hire for Events: A Complete Guide to Choosing the Right Microphone. You can browse current options through Microphone Hire Adelaide, or explore Sound System Hire Adelaide when microphones form part of a complete PA requirement.