"The Sound Reinforcement Handbook" by Gary Davis

rosa alvarado: Good.

United States on Oct 26, 2023

TheJohnnyK: Arrived on time and in shape. Couldn't be happier!

United States on Jul 05, 2023

Artemis: Great book fully informative…

United States on Jun 25, 2023

Kay B: The book was a high-quality. The pages were all intact only some slight bending in the corners. Half priced for a very old book can’t ask for better than that.

United States on Mar 10, 2023

Terra: Liked everything!

Canada on Oct 21, 2021

Marco Tabacchi: Very detailed and well explained. The images are also of big help. The book is a reissue of its original copy released on the 80's. It is still very actual since it explains the general rules of Live Audio which can be utilised in any applications. For other aspects might be a bit dated, like newer digital equipment and so on.
Overall I am very satisfied with it. Seems like a milestone for every audio worker.

Germany on Oct 21, 2019

RLikness: A great book for the beginner or even as a reference guide for the experienced hand. Lots of great information in here. I had one before and gave it away to a beginner so I bought another just to keep on the shelf.

Canada on Jan 14, 2019

Ashley: Because this is a thick book (over 400 pages), I initially assumed this was an academic textbook, and I worried whether the writing was practical enough. But this isn't true at all: as the title states, it is a Handbook. The preface explains that it started life as a manual to accompany Yamaha's first console (the PM-1000), and went much further than just explaining how to operate the console, instead dealing with the much wider topic of the basics of sound reinforcement. It was very popular - more popular than the console - so the authors eventually expanded the material into this book. The writing is extremely practical, with a some supporting theory. I find the writing extremely clear and unambiguous, helped by the hundreds of supporting diagrams. I see no mention of computers - this second edition is from 1989, so you'll need to look elsewhere to understand that aspect, but analog audio (mics, speakers, cables...) is of course still massively important. Finally - I really like this quote from page 313: "Combining basic principles in creative ways to solve individual problems is the essence of professional sound".

United Kingdom on Jan 24, 2017

Mr S J Henderson: I got this for part of my music degree. I noticed it sticking out my lecturers bag and bought a copy. The book is written in a very technical way, but it is aimed at engineers. What it doesn't cover isn't worth knowing. I also purchased Paul White's Basics of Live Sound book which helps translate a lot of the same basic info into a more understandable format. That said, the basics book is simply just basics. This book is packed with diagrams, equations, and technical in depth advice. Very informative yet easy to read. Great if that's what you need.

United Kingdom on Oct 02, 2014

V. Kositsky: 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...

United States on Mar 07, 2013