Sound Reinforcement Handbook Second Edition | Comprehensive Audio Engineering Guide for Live Sound and Studio Systems | Professional Acoustics Reference Book for Audio Technicians and Educators Paperback – January 1, 1988

I am a musician and songwriter who needs to address performing and recording issues. So I became an amateur sound engineer. I am writing this review in 2013, almost 25 years after this book was published. The reason I got an interest in this book was a reference in the Yamaha mixer manual.That got my attention and I decided to give it a try. This book was written by Gary Davis and others, Mr. Davis was an adviser and manual writer for Yamaha USA. I have a deep respect to Yamaha instruments and music products and I thought it cannot be a bad choice as I was looking for audio engineering primer. It came true and that was the best bet I ever made for purchasing books online. What hit me that right off the bat is an excellent introduction and explanation of the headroom, the concept that was struggling for sometime and even after discussion the subject with professionals and reading multiple articles and manuals. What digital clipping is. Very practical, methodical, not too simple - a lot of technical lingo or physics concepts, but answered pretty much almost all my questions. So just to give an example, this book provided a criteria for specification for golden plated vs nickel plated connectors. I just got a call back from one of major US supplier salesperson regarding specifications of 1/4" connectors and - surprise - they don't know it. Or for instance why you don't want to use mic cable for unbalanced signal. Books has many practical advises, explains conceptual schematics, provide an advise on the cable construction, to level of details to how to build cable from balanced output to unbalanced input; or why do not use stereo cables on mono signal. Lots, tons of useful information. MIDI explanation leaves nothing behind. Clear, precise language. Some items are dated, no doubt, no new OFC cables for instance. No modern digital processing obviously. But it is astonishing the level of industry 25 years ago. Folks, pretty much all gadgets we have today were invented long, long time ago!!! Again, information provided covered all my needs for live performances and studio building; this book is a keeper for an amateur and no doubt for many professionals too. Excellent, timeless, with a lot of depth reference. Thanks and the best regards to the authors for their excellent work!

I purchased my first copy of “Sound Reinforcement” in the 80s. I learned a lot from it and it’s fair to say that doing so helped me obtain gainful employment as a musician and A/V Support guy when I was getting started. It’s been 40+ years since then, so “Sound Reinforcement” has stood the test of time (only one revision since then too) without a doubt.The reading gets technical because of the depth of various subjects, but there’s plenty of down to earth/practical information too. Case in point: Section 15 — Cabling. Not only did this information help me obtain work, it has served me well over the 40+ years since I first read it. “Sound Reinforcement” is a “must have” for people who set/strike for a living, and a great way for everyone else involved with music in some way to expand their skill set/knowledge to the next level.One caution: Check all the pages first thing if you do purchase it. I received a copy where 4 of the pages are “creased” (I don’t know what the defect is called), making it hard to read. I don’t know how many copies made it past QA like that and I always check pages on new book purchases. Still, I thought worth mentioning so they don’t “slip a Micky” past the unsuspecting souls out there.

I am a volunteer sound person at church and with a biblical theatrical group who was shown by the previous volunteer who was shown by the previous....get the picture? This book has helped translate and educate in the areas where it is needed. It is full of information for the novice and the pro. It has good definitions for terms and help in applying sound techniques. Friends have already asked to "borrow" the book which I responsed "Get your own" because I cannot afford to lose it for future reference. I wasn't disappointed and I hope you won't be either. It has a frequency range chart of typical instruments and singing voices which someone said in the past I should have but could never find. I rad a little at a time so it can soak into my brain without overloading my circuits. Great Table of Contents and Index so you can hone into the area you want to investigate.

Great book. Tons of information. This thing is huge. 416 pages. Definitely not a pocket guide. I purchased the spiral bound version. The copying is not perfect. All black and white. A few of the photos have lost some of their quality. Possibly copies of copies. Text and line drawing are fine. When they printed the first few pages of Table of Contents and List of Illustrations, they didn't shift the info over to the right a bit. Subsequently the binding holes take out a lot of the page numbers. Other that those complains I highly recommend this for anyone interested in this field. Will read thru the whole thing and submit an update if needed.