Equipment guide
You need one laptop that hears the speaker. Most venues already have everything else. Listeners need nothing except their own phone.
Your setup in four steps
What you will see on the day. Most mosques are ready in about ten minutes.
Step 1
Connect the sound desk
A USB cable from the sound desk — or a small USB audio adapter — into the laptop. The imam keeps using the same microphone.
Step 2
Start the session
Open the session on the laptop, choose the sound desk and run the 5-second audio test. Then press Start.
Step 3
Put up the QR poster
Print it once and put it at the entrance and on the wall. The code never changes.
Step 4
Worshippers read or listen
They scan the poster, choose their language and follow on their own phone — with earphones to listen.
What you need
- One laptop (Windows, Mac or Chromebook) with Chrome or Edge, plugged into power. A tablet or phone works for shorter talks.
- A way to get the speaker's voice into the laptop — see the options below.
- Internet for the laptop: venue Wi-Fi, a cable or a phone hotspot. About 0.5 Mbit/s upload is enough.
How venue sound usually works
Most wired microphones go into a sound desk (mixer), which feeds the speakers. The desk almost always has a spare output we can use, so the speaker keeps using the microphone they already have.
Ways to connect, best first
Sound desk with a USB port
Many Yamaha MG-XU, Behringer Xenyx USB and Soundcraft desks; digital desks such as Behringer X32 or Yamaha TF
- What to buy
- Nothing — just a USB cable
- How to connect
- Desk USB → laptop. In the console, pick the desk as audio source and “Sound desk / mixer” as input type.
Sound desk without USB
Most analogue mixers
- What to buy
- A USB audio interface (for example Behringer UCA202, about $30, or Focusrite Scarlett Solo, about $120) and a cable that fits the desk's output
- How to connect
- Desk AUX, REC or line out → interface → laptop USB.
No sound desk
A microphone or wireless receiver plugged into a small powered speaker
- What to buy
- A USB audio interface, plus a microphone splitter if the speaker has no line out
- How to connect
- Receiver or speaker line out → interface → laptop.
You can't touch the venue's system
Hired halls, hotels
- What to buy
- A USB microphone or a clip-on microphone with USB
- How to connect
- Place it close to the speaker (clip-on is best) → laptop.
Nothing else available
Small rooms
- What to buy
- Nothing
- How to connect
- The laptop's own microphone near the speaker. Fine in a small room; poor in a hall.
Tips
Never use the headphone jack for a sound desk
Most laptops, including all recent Macs, have no real line input there. The sound distorts or is very quiet. Use USB.
Ask for speech only
If you can, ask the sound person for an AUX send with only the speaker's microphone — no music.
Pause during songs, nasheeds and music
Silence and paused time are never billed.
Hum or buzz?
A ground-loop isolator (about $10) between the desk and the interface fixes it.
Only one side has sound?
Some interfaces put the microphone on the left channel only. Leave “Channel” on Auto, or choose Left or Right in the console.
Always run “Test audio” first
The meter should reach the green when the speaker talks normally, and the test text should match what was said. If it is too quiet, turn up the desk's AUX or output knob.
Using a phone or tablet instead of a laptop
- Keep the screen on and the page open. Phones stop the microphone when the screen locks or you switch apps. The console keeps the screen awake and warns you if audio stops.
- Keep it plugged in — a one-hour talk drains the battery.
- To connect a sound desk, use a USB-C or Lightning audio interface.
- For weekly use, a laptop is more reliable.
Before your first live talk
- Do a 10-minute test with your real setup and two or three phones.
- Print the permanent QR poster and put it where people sit.
- If you have a TV in the hall, open the display link on it once — it stays on that link.