Sports Sounds Pro Tech Tips

The following is a collection of technical tips sent in by users. Some of their techniques and solutions might be of value to you.
 
SOUND SYSTEM BUZZ OR HUM PROBLEM
 
If you are experiencing this, 99.9% of the time the problem is caused by a ground loop. To find out more about ground loops, read this article by Whirlwind USA.
 
Up to this point, I have been using the setup I describe under the Information section on "How to hook up to a Stadium Sound System". This has worked for me for a couple of years until I recently had a very embarassing situation. During a state championship game, I was unable to play any sounds. The problem turned out to be a bad cable. This led me on a search to reduce the number of cables I use. I wanted to minimize the possibly of one going bad and to reduce the number of spares I need to carry. (I did not have any spares with me during the competition which was a major mistake on my part, never to happen again).
 
I had been using a Ground-Loop Isolator from Radio Shack (part number 270-054) that retails for around $15.00), it comes with a 1/8" stereo plug to two RCA jacks "Y" cable and the Isolator. This setup worked well for a couple of years but involved the "Y" plug, the Isolator, an adapter to bring the two RCA stero plugs back to a single mono RCA plug, and a cable to adapt from RCA to XLR to plug into my mixer.
 
On one of the forums that I view frequently,  (It is a Yahoo Group called Spors-Music_Programming), I found mention of a product by JK Audio called a Pureformer. Here is the link to JK Audio Pureformer. It retails for around $59.00 and uses RCA input and output jacks which still means adapters or conversion cables. It is really a Direct Box.
 
Another post on that forum directed me to a product called a "Direct Box". Using Google, I found several manufacturers but I liked the one put out by Whirlwind. It is called their pcDI Direct Box. It has a .5mm (1/8") mini TRS stereo input jack and XLR output jacks. This means I only need two cables. A 1/8" stereo mini cable to plug into my pc's sound card and a standard mic (XLR) cable to plug into my mixer. Two cables, very simple. The unit is designed for professional use and is a little expensive (around $130.00) but well worth it if it prevents what happened. I have ordered it and will let you know how it works out. If it does what I think it will do, I will redo my instructions of "How to hook-up to a Stadium Sound System".
 
SPORTS SOUNDS PRO WORKS ON A MAC!!!
 
..."Here is what I did to get your program to work on an Apple Powerbook running OSX.
I installed Vitrual PC for Mac 7.0.
After that I installed Windows 2000 (you can install any Windows you want).
I went to the Windows Update center and downloaded all updates.
After all updates were installed, I launched Sports Sounds Pro and it worked!!!
I thought this may help you with other customers asking about Mac OSX."
 
TOUCH SCREEN
 
"...I run Sports Sounds Pro on a laptop with a special attachment over the screen that turns it into a touchscreen. I am able to "play" the software like a piano. I have split second access to all the sounds in the system... no mouse or keyboard needed. This is the one I use: http://www.magictouch this way I truly have an "instant replay" but on steriods.
 
USB AUDIO OUT OPTION
 
The Edirol UA-1X, http://www.edirol.com/, is a very professional and inexpensive laptop audio out option. The author of Sports Sounds Pro also does Sports Announcing at both the high school and college levels and personally owns this unit and has used it for over a year without problems.
 
ANOTHER AUDIO OUT OPTION
 
"...Something I've been playing with (and having good success) is running two copies of Sports Sounds Pro on a single PC with a $47 Turtle Beach Santa Cruz card. The sound quality out of this card is superior to the Creative Labs Sound Blaster/Audigy and the price is do-able for even the worst A/V budgets. The card has 3 stereo outputs and you can address each of them as a separate .wav device in Windows. Because of this, I get 3 separate stereo feeds on our audio console, which makes playing multiple sounds easy and also gives me the ability to cue/edit tracks during the event. Dual monitors is a HUGE plus here. This also gives us a "spare" audio output, which I have routed as the Windows default device. This gives me a dedicated cue channel for programs other than Sports Sounds Pro and also allows us to browse the 'net during the game without worrying about an embedded audio clip in a webpage going out over the PA. The bad news is that the Santa cruz card isn't in production anymore, still waiting to hear if their new Catalina card does this."
 
MORE AUDIO OUT OPTIONS
 
I was just informed of this product from a user of Sports Sounds Pro. It appears very interesting and very affordable. It is called the "HIFI-Link" and it is located at http://www.xitel.com/USA/prod_hflpc.htm. It uses the USB port rather than the sound card for increased sound quality.