Feeding Audio from Laptop into Chapel Sound Systems

I regularly Stream my Ward's Relief Society and Sunday School and am often asked to show videos during the lesson, I normally just grab one of the hand held mic's from the chapel and set near the tv speaker to pickup the audio, what would be the cheapest and most effective way to get the audio feed directly into the microphone hookups in the classroom (which are the same type as the chapel). so that the sound is good quality.

I know there are devices (Audio Mixers) of some sort but not sure which one would be best or most cost effective to use and have with me at all times just in case.

I usually play soft inspirational Sunday Music before the classes start as a way to bring the spirit in before the classes start and would love to be able to do it through the ceiling speakers easier than just using the hand held microphones.

Your meeting house should have a "crab box" that has a number of connectors that will adapt any headphone or line level out to an XLR microphone connector.

I'd suggest hunting the library, clerk's, and bishop's offices for a zippered case.

Example: EJ-10

Would something like this possibly work, to simply play audio through the ceiling speakers/Audio system in the classrooms via the mic input in the walls.

We do have a Crab Box of sorts but it's not available nearly every time I need to use it, if something like this would work instead I could have it on me at all times and be able to use it at the drop of a hat if needed for any class I happen to be streaming and they need audio from something played through the speakers in the celiing.

brandonm35 wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 3:04 pm Would something like this possibly work, to simply play audio through the ceiling speakers/Audio system in the classrooms via the mic input in the walls.

No. First of all, I think you'll find the 1/4 inch diameter plug far too big to connect to your laptop.

Second, if you switch to a 3.5 mm plug, you'd still need some kind of attenuator to step the laptop's headphone output down to mic level. Otherwise, you're going to get some loud noise that will ruin the mood.

Lastly, you probably want some kind of isolation to prevent introducing hum or buzz.

Looking over past threads, I see where people were looking at devices running $50-80.

Note about what a crab box is. Each meetinghouse should have one.
https://tech.churchofjesuschrist.org/wi ... x?lang=eng

Here is a more modern version
https://www.emtechelectronics.com/produ ... /ej-2plus/

Perhaps purchasing parts (cable to your computer, isolation transformer, switchable attenuator) Be careful the audio processor is looking for mic level signals, not line level or higher signals.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... iew?sts=pi
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https://www.amazon.com/tisino-3-5mm-Ste ... 36&sr=8-26
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https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... l/overview

My recommendation is to use the Crab box that your building has or purchase one from Emteh if you don't want to share.

One more note. The isolation transformer also protects your laptop in case someone programmed phantom power on that microphone input.

dave.swartz wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 12:29 pm One more note. The isolation transformer also protects your laptop in case someone programmed phantom power on that microphone input.

I'll have to check the mixer the next time I'm there. I know the podium and sacrament mics are phantom powered. On some mixers, phantom power is "all or nothing".

TLDR; there's a very good chance the mics are phantom powered.

So there are several ways to get audio from a laptop (or projector) into the chapel sound system. For most of them, the FM group can provide them for you--just put in a FIR request.

1) Easiest way. If you don't have audio input jacks on the side of the pulpit, have the FM group install some (see attached image). Also, you should have an ethernet jack installed at the pulpit if you don't already. (I had to ask the FM group to install them at my building and they did). Once that is installed, then you can play audio from a laptop, phone, ipad, etc You just need a 3.5mm-to-3.5mm cable (also called aux-to-aux cable) or 3.5mm-to-RCA (RCA are the red and white connections). 2) Have the FM Group deliver an Emtech EJ-2 to your building. (I had the FM group deliver one to each of our buildings). This is the updated (and much less confusing to members) version of the "Crab Box" (which is the EJ-10). This makes it easy to take sound from a laptop or phone and connect it into a microphone (XLR) jack.
You can see it here (https://www.emtechelectronics.com/produ ... /ej-2plus/) You want the "Plus" version that has a ground hum switch (that has come in handy to me many times) and the volume control. 3) If you are purchasing something on your own, I like the Rapco Horizon LTIGLBLOX Laptop Interface (Link on Amazon)https://www.amazon.com/Rapco-Horizon-LT ... B003MLBEYK. They've been on back order for a while, but I just purchased one myself. Again, I wanted the one with the ground lift switch and the volume control knob.

Usually the laptop is used to play a video or broadcast. I plug in a projector into the HDMI output port on the laptop. From the projector audio output I then go into the RCA input pictured above. What works nice about this setup is that when the HDMI cable is plugged in Windows recognizes the new device and routes video and audio to it. I then advise the presenter that they can control volume on their computer and by turning the knob on the side of the podium.

Note the volume on the projector needs to be turned up for the audio pass through to work. Also chapel audio is mono so while you are plugging in a left and right rca connector the transformer in the podium jack converts the right and left unbalanced audio to a balanced mono audio signal which is sent to the audio processor.