Glossary of Essential Terms

• Microphone– A piece of equipment that collects sound to be amplified. 
  • Lavalier Microphone– A type of microphone with a small, thin capsule. This is designed to attach to the actor’s shirt, or be taped to their face. The easiest type of microphone to hide beneath clothing, wigs, hair, or hats
  • Earset Microphone– A type of microphone that attaches over the actor’s ears, with a small arm extending the microphone towards their face. This type of microphone can be attached without the use of clips or face tape
  • Headset Microphone– A type of microphone attached to a headset that goes over both of the actor’s ears, with a small arm extending the microphone towards their face. The ones we rent have a “cardioid” pickup pattern, which means they are designed for the microphone to be placed directly in front of the actor’s mouth 
• Transmitter– A piece of equipment that wirelessly sends the microphone’s signal to a receiver. This is what allows a microphone to be wireless. (aka “mic-pack” and “tx”)
  • Bodypack Transmitter– Most of what we offer. This is a small box, which is then connected to a lavalier or earset microphone
  • Handheld Transmitter– What you picture when you think of a microphone. It’s meant to be held in front of a person’s mouth, and can be easily passed from person to person. These come with the microphone unit built in.
• Receiver– A piece of equipment that collects audio signals coming from the transmitter, and is then connected to a mixer and speaker.
• Rack– A piece of equipment that houses the receiver, loom, power supply, antenna distribution unit, and sometimes the mixer (for our Creative Audio kits). All of our wireless equipment comes pre-built in a rack unit
• Mixer– A board with volume, gain, and EQ knobs that allows you to sound engineer your production. Different microphones can be muted, turned up, etc. live during the show
• Loom– Cables that connect the receiver to the mixer (aka “snake”)
• Channel–  The number of audio inputs that a system is able to accommodate. Each wireless channel has its own unique frequency that matches up with a transmitter/receiver pair.
• Frequency–  A radio wave that allows a transmitter to match up with a receiver channel. When the transmitter and receiver are set to the same frequency, they’re able to connect and send sound wirelessly to the receiver 
• Antennae– Attached to the receiver to pick up radio waves from the transmitter
  • Whip Antenna– A small, rod-like antenna (comes standard in all rentals)
  • Paddle Antenna– A paddle antenna does a better job at picking up the radio waves, which allows the transmitters to be even further away from the receiver. Without this they can be about 50’ apart, but a paddle antennae can extend 
• Antenna Diversity–  All of our racks come with two antennas. The receiver will constantly and automatically flip back and forth between them to give you the clearest and best sound
• Belt Pack– A piece of fabric worn under costumes that can hold a transmitter safely