Setting Up a PA for the First Time: A Running Order for the Day

In this guide:Before you go · Positioning · Cabling · Power on · Gain and line check · Before the doors · Picks · FAQ

Setting up a PA is not difficult, but the order matters. Do things in the wrong sequence and you get thumps through the speakers, cables run twice, and a soundcheck that starts twenty minutes late because someone is looking for a DI box under a stage that is already built.

This is a running order for a small system in a room you have not worked in before.

Before you leave the workshop

• Check the input list against the kit. Count microphones, DIs, stands and cables against what the band actually brings.
• Charge everything that charges, and pack spare batteries.
• Pack spares of the things that fail: an XLR, a jack lead, a DI, a stand clip and thread adaptors. See stand threads and adaptors.
• Know the power situation at the venue, and whether you need extensions or a distro.

Position the speakers before anything else

The speakers decide everything else, so place them first, before any cable comes out of a bag.

• Tops on stands, at a height where the drivers clear the heads of a standing audience.
• Ahead of the microphones, not behind or level with them. A speaker upstage of a vocal microphone is a feedback loop waiting for gain.
• Angled in slightly so the coverage meets in the middle of the audience rather than at the back wall.
• Subs on the floor, near the centre if the room allows, because a sub either side of a wide stage causes cancellation down the middle.
• Wedges pointed at the performer and, critically, at the null of the vocal microphone’s pattern rather than the front of it.

Cable the room, then the stage

Run the long cables before the stage fills up. Once the drums are built, nothing goes under them.

• Power first, and keep it on one side of the stage.
• Audio second, crossing power at right angles rather than running alongside it. See balanced vs unbalanced.
• Tape or mat anything crossing a walkway, including behind the stage.
• Leave a service loop at each end. A cable pulled tight is a cable that gets pulled out.
• Label the multicore ends or work to a written input list, so channel 7 is the same channel 7 at both ends.

The power-on sequence

This is the part that protects the equipment.

• Power on from the source end towards the speakers. Desk and outboard first, amplifiers or active speakers last.
• Power off in reverse. Speakers off first, desk off last.
• Have the main faders down when anything switches on.

Doing it the other way means any switch-on thump from the desk arrives at a live amplifier, which at best startles the room and at worst damages a driver.

Line check, then soundcheck

Line check is proving every channel exists. Soundcheck is making it sound right. Doing them together is why soundchecks overrun.

• Go through the input list channel by channel. Someone talks or plays into each source while you confirm signal at the desk.
• Set gain on each channel as you go, aiming for a healthy level with the fader at unity. This is the single most important step, and it is covered in gain staging.
• Engage the high-pass filter on everything that is not kick or bass.
• Then, and only then, start balancing.

Ringing out and last checks

• Bring up the monitors and the vocal microphones and find the frequencies that ring, then take them out. See how to stop feedback.
• Walk the room. It sounds different at the back, at the sides and under the balcony.
• Check the limiter on the main output is set as a ceiling.
• Save the show file if the desk has one.
• Tidy the cables and clear the floor before the doors open, because you will not get another chance.

Frequently asked questions

What order do you turn a PA on in?

Sources first, speakers or amplifiers last. Turn off in reverse. That way any thump from equipment switching on does not reach a live amplifier.

How high should PA speakers be?

High enough that the drivers are above the heads of a standing audience, so the sound reaches the back rather than being absorbed by the first three rows. On stands, that usually means the top of the pole.

Should speakers be in front of the microphones?

Yes, always ahead of them. A speaker level with or behind a microphone is feeding the microphone directly, and no amount of EQ will fix that geometry.

What is the difference between line check and soundcheck?

Line check proves every input works and sets gains. Soundcheck balances and shapes the mix. Doing the line check first, methodically, saves time overall.