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Book Review: Sound Reinforcement Handbook November 9, 2009

Posted by ConnorSmith in : General Announcements, Project Studio, Troubleshooting , trackback

In my opinion, this book is a must-buy for any audio engineer, whether you are in live sound, studio recording, etc.  This book is also known by names like “The Yamaha Book” (and similar names), as this was originally written for Yamaha.

What? A technical book written in 1987 (last updated in 1990) is a necessity??

Answer – yes!  This book is chock full o’ great information.  Although it is technically a “live sound” handbook, it covers a huge range of topics that are also relevant to the studio engineer.  Best of all, the book sells for just over $20 on Amazon.com (which is significantly less expensive than my other favorite, Handbook for Sound Engineers).

The authors, Gary Davis and Ralph Jones, have an excellent style – the very technical information is presented in such a way that even a novice engineer can grasp.  That being said, this book is a great reference for even the most experienced engineers.  I noticed when reading even the basics chapters that I learned a few new tidbits.  There are great charts/graphs/illustrations in every chapter (which, in part, is why the book is such a great reference manual).

Here’s a list of selected chapter subjects -

The chapters on microphones, amps, mixers (etc.) all contain technical drawings and/or block diagrams to help with the explanation.  For anyone not comfortable with reading those types of drawings, there are chapters and sub-sections on how to read them (as well as charts with what standard symbols look like).  This book will help you better understand the principles of audio and acoustics, the inner-workings of your gear, and will help you troubleshoot (non-computer or software) problems more efficiently and effectively.

This is an excellent book.

C

The Studio Files

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