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james wrote: " Sometimes you need a flat head screw driver. Next time you are working and the "boss" is not, look. "

I know what you mean. I'm sorry, I thought I mentioned earlier in this thread that the PA equipment and main server are behind a locked closet door accessible only to managers/asst. managers.

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On Tuesday, July 8, 2014 5:56:11 PM UTC-4, wrote:
james wrote: " Sometimes you need a flat head screw driver. Next time you are working and the "boss" is not, look. "



I know what you mean. I'm sorry, I thought I mentioned earlier in this thread that the PA equipment and main server are behind a locked closet door accessible only to managers/asst. managers.

At this point you're wasting our time. This is a technical forum and you have an organizational issue. If you can't get the manager to see the light then I suggest you just forget about it. Trust me, it's highly unlikely this is the last ignoramus boss you will have. As I get close to retirement I find looking back I mostly worked for idiots with the occasional exception. But then again I'm a federal employee and most managers in the federal sector got their job by having their noise so far up their boss' butt that they could smell their toothpaste flavor. Maybe other's mileage varies :-)

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James:

I could use the soft approach: Mention to him that the music in our other stores(which I visit occasionally on my off time) is a 'bit louder' than ours, and see what he says.

Don't know how I'm wasting your time, but I do get that it's an interpersonal issue rather than technical. I also have the same hard time convincing owners of TVs that calibration will enhance their enjoyment of their displays, so I admit - the problem is really ME.

I have 10 years combined corporate and hotel audio-visual experience, and have laid hands on the best of the best of analog and digital audio & video equipment, something I could mention to him.

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On Wednesday, July 9, 2014 10:49:28 AM UTC-4, wrote:
James:



I could use the soft approach: Mention to him that the music in our other stores(which I visit occasionally on my off time) is a 'bit louder' than ours, and see what he says.



Don't know how I'm wasting your time, but I do get that it's an interpersonal issue rather than technical. I also have the same hard time convincing owners of TVs that calibration will enhance their enjoyment of their displays, so I admit - the problem is really ME.



I have 10 years combined corporate and hotel audio-visual experience, and have laid hands on the best of the best of analog and digital audio & video equipment, something I could mention to him.



I breached the volume subject to my store mgr once more when we were both on break, about two weeks ago. I put it that I had visited half-a-dozen of our sister stores over the past two months and ours is the only one you can't hear the music in.

His response: "Good. I can't stand half what they play anyway and those silly jingles about weekly discounts."

#2 and #3(asst managers) in line set the volume slightly higher than it should be when it's their turn to open in the morning, which might also have something to do with the way #1(General store mgr) sets it.

All I know is, it bridges my work day and I love hearing customers singing along as they absent-mindedly fill up their carts and baskets with merchandise!

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I had to help my asst manager turn back on
the background music in our store today.

I also got a good look at the device that mixes
together the music and POP announcements,
it sits on top of the mixer/amp I mentioned above.
It looks sort of like a fancy cable box, with a
scrolling backlit LCD display, a couple of buttons,
and a round wheel which either scrolls through
menus or controls the device's output/volume.

I tried turning it counterclockwise, hoping it
would lower the devices output level so we could
get the amp "Aux" knob out of 1 into a useful range
(4-5) but it was in a mode other than volume
mode, and did nothing.

I did not pay attn to the make/model of this 'thing',
and could describe it only as a 'music server',
with cat5 connector, power, and audio out
connections on the back. Very Star Trek
looking box! The brains of the music system.

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April 2015:


We had since switched managers with another branch of our store
chain(something my employer does every 6-12 months it turns out).
This manager kept the music at a more normal level.


I came into work and the music sounded somehow *different*. A couple
weeks later, the telecommunications expert and chief trouble-shooter for
the American Telegraph and Telepheeun compagnie came in to do some
rewiring, and the server rrim door was left open while he was going
around the store snaking new wires. I thusly got a look at what was a new
music brain-box on top of the mixer-amp.


This new box was slim, plain black rectangular, with one blue indicator
LED indicating it was alive and functioning ok. But what really caught my
eye was the position the amp's 'CD/AUX' volume knob was set at: 11-12 o'clock,
but the volume in-store was just right! For heaven knows what purpose, the
Treble knob was fully clock-wise(I had set both Bass & Treble set both to
1 o'cock during a previous visit when the door was not fully closed by a
manager one day). I returned Treble to 1 oclock, and the sound was
perfect, if only slightly louder than I would have set it.


My point is, this new music modem was set to feed a proper level to
the store's main mixer-amp, unlike the old one which was so hot the
Aux pot had to be kept below 8 oclock, lest we blast the speakers out
of the ceiling!


Now if we could do something about the MUSIC! Major major decade
creep: Old service played music from 1960s - 2013; the new one,
1980 to present with only one or two 1970s hits per day! And a lot
of stuff I would play in a club at peak crowd, but never in a retail
environment! Bummer..


At least it sounds better.

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June 2015:


The music quality had been starting to sound like a slightly mistuned
slide rule FM radio, with static and some distortion creeping in. Strange,
for an IP based network music player.


Last week, it just cut out altogether, and a day later the network guys
came in to remedy it. My next day of work, music was back on.
Iwas able to access the closet again - a manager did not full shut
it after turning the music on for opening.


Now get this: the volume in the store was decent, but on the amp beneath
the network player, the AUX, BASS, and TREBLE were fully clockwise.
Guess this would prevent playing it too loud(!) But I backed off the tone
controls a bit, and all was normal again.


My question is: HOW could music fed digitally, via internet, sound like a
staticky FM stereo tuner?? Sounds like something at the receiving(dish?)
end - wherever that is.


All of our stores in this district are fed the same music and POS(point of
sale) jingles source.