In this course, you’ll learn an overview of the theory, components, terminology, and methods that apply to all sound reinforcement systems. This course is essential for anyone working with audio gear. Learn principles you’ll be able to apply immediately on the job.
This was a good course. It went through what took me ten years to figure out on my own.” C.C. Took years ago, but still use concepts I learned every day! - L.M. This is a good step into audio. It gave me the knowledge I need to keep learning and growing! D.K. The information was high quality and the website was easy to navigate. W.W. Thank you! I really enjoyed the course. It helped give me an actual understanding of the basics which I really needed. M.I. I loved the course. Especially the sounds effects of what was being discussed like hum or feedback. B.S. I thought the analogies were really good. M. J. This is my first training. I gained a lot of valuable knowledge. T. G. I like the demonstrations in the videos. B.D. Thank you! It was fun. I’ll be back to take another course. J.P. It was great, can’t wait to continue with the other courses. S.V. Great at covering technical terms and explaining the material using the terms. E.L.
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This course had a major update in March 2020 which now includes the “active demos” – 25% more videos!!!
If you are fairly new to audio or do not have any formal training, this is a good place to start. The course will lay down the principles and terminology that apply to all sound systems. It will help you understand how things work so that you can choose the right cable, connector, mic, or loudspeaker to get the job done. Potentially complicated topics are explained with graphics and animation, with liberal use of analogies to principles from daily life.
This course will answer these questions and more.
The last lesson in this course “connects the dots” between all of the concepts presented by walking through a portable system, fixed-installation system, and a conference room system.
The principles are universal and apply to any brand of equipment.
View or download a detailed course outline.
Course Materials for you to keep include video transcriptions and lesson graphics. Both are great resources for reviewing what you have learned.
Check out an example video in the next tab.
Watch two example videos from “How Sound Systems Work” online training.
Instructional Video
Demo video.
Pat Brown is a 1978 graduate of the University of Louisville with a degree in electrical engineering technology. With a background as a musician, sound technician, retail music store owner, contractor, and consultant, he is familiar with the many aspects of audio. He served as an associate instructor to audio legend and SynAudCon founder, Don Davis. Pat along with his wife Brenda own and operate SynAudCon and have been providing training for the audio industry since 1996. Pat, the main instructor for SynAudCon, has the unique gift of being able to share his knowledge of complex technical topics in an easy-to-understand real world manner through multi-media demonstrations. SynAudCon is recognized as an industry leader in audio education.
SynAudCon offers both in-person and online audio training. There are regularly scheduled in-person seminars and special one-time events on audio-related topics. With the release of the online training in 2010, SynAudCon training is now more accessible worldwide.
Pat writes articles for several publications. He authored three chapters for Glen Ballou’s “Handbook for Sound Engineers”and is co-author of Sound System Engineering 4th Edition. He considers SynAudCon online audio training courses as his most complete “book”, being able to explain the concepts and principles with animations and demonstrations.
He was chosen as NSCA “Educator of the Year” in 2005 and NSCA “Mover and Shaker” Award in 2011. He received Great Britain “Peter Barnett” Award in 2012.
SynAudCon has given private seminars to many companies and organizations, including the Kennedy Space Center, Disney World, Sea World, IMAX, Purdue University, the US military, Siemens and many audio manufacturers. He has conducted seminars in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, South America, Australia and Canada.
Pat and Brenda Brown founded a second business in 2005 – Pro Sound Testing, Inc. Pro Sound Testing measures loudspeakers to produce data files for use in room acoustics modeling programs. Pro Sound Testing was the first company of its kind in the USA. The experience of developing a measurement facility and measuring hundreds of loudspeakers from dozens of manufacturers has allowed him to develop some methodologies and specifications that have influenced a number of industry standards.
How long will it take me to compete this course?
I hate to use the words “it depends” but is really does. It depends on your level of experience. The more experience people will complete it in a few hours. Those new to audio may take weeks as they may rather learn in bite-size pieces.
Here is a brief layout of the course.
How Sound Systems Work consists of 9 lessons. After each lesson, you may take a quiz. Each quiz has 15 questions. The questions help you apply the principles that are taught.
After completing the lessons and quizzes, you may take a final exam. The final exam is about 30 questions. With a passing score, you will receive a certificate of completion and CEU’s.
You will have 3 opportunities to pass the final exam. 80% is the passing score.
We are developing an educational path for our employees. How does SynAudCon fit into this?
You will love this feature. SynAudCon online training is part of a Learning Management System which allows for tracking. Education supervisors may check the employee’s progress, along with their quiz and final exam scores.
Is there a time limit on watching the online training?
You will have 45 days to complete the course. The 45-day clock begins on the day that the course key is activated. If you need more time, no problem. Brenda will gladly extend it for you.
We want you to get the most from this learning opportunity. We would much rather extend it than for you to rush through the course.
What course materials can I keep after the course?
Training video text.
Lesson Graphics which are great for note-taking.
These resources are comparable to a course manual if you were attending an in-person seminar.
Will I receive a certificate?
Of course. After passing the final exam, a certificate of completion will be emailed to you within one business day. The certificate will include the information that you will need for the Continuing Education Units.
How do I ask questions while I am taking this training?
We have created a support forum for our online training. You may post your questions there.
If you are little uncomfortable with this approach, please email us directly. We will make every effort to answer your questions within 24 hours.
Tell me about the purchasing process.
The online cart will request the credit card information. Add the name on the credit on the card, (not the person taking the training.) An automated email will be sent to the email address used in the purchasing process. If you do not get the confirmation, check your SPAM filter. The message will be coming from bbrown at prosoundtraining.com
The email will include:
✅ Credit card receipt
✅ Activation key to the training
✅ Directions to activate the key.
Forward the activation key with the directions to the person taking the training. The directions are quite easy but the learner can always call 812-923-0174 if help is needed.
May I share the video content I buy with others?
Purchased online training content is intended only for the learner who will be taking the course. Sharing SynAudCon online training is a violation of the terms and conditions of this site. All actions are logged and monitored, and this policy is strictly enforced.
We appreciate your cooperation in this as it allows us to actively develop new material and keep the price low for everyone.
With respect to their privacy, we will only list their initials.
This course was fun to go through it gave me a refresher on the things I have learned in school. S.S.
The level of information was appropriate for the course and the course requirements. J.P.
This was a very in depth class for being introductory level. I learned a ton and there were many things I do with installations where I knew the “how” and but not the “why.” This course answered a lot of the “why”s for me. P.M.
I love the way Pat makes complex ideas easier to understand by using visual representations and analogies. I would like to see this teaching style applied to things that are physically hard to grasp like DSPs and Digital mixers. A.T. One step a head of you. We have a DSP course using these principles – Course 120: DSP. 😉 Brenda Brown
Worth the money? Most definitely. I can take the course at my own pace. The downside of online is you don’t get to interact with other students and the instructor insi de and outside of the training. The human part of the interaction is gone. W.B.
I think the visuals through the videos helped me a lot. E.H.
I really enjoyed this course. I found it super helpful in my job as I was going through it. I do admin work, mostly helping with purchasing, but it’s been helpful to actually understand what I’m buying. C.K.
The course was very well presented, easy bitesize videos easy to digest. S.B.
I love the video clips. They are short and informative. Much better than having to read through a bunch of text. Also, the demos were cool too to see the concepts come to life. J.G.
It was good. As general low voltage installer of 5 years the level 50 course had a good mix of nuts and bolts information that I already knew and programmer side information that was new to me. Video graphics are very helpful and appreciated information is explained very concisely. Printable text transcripts of the videos will surely come in handy in the future. N.F.
I enjoyed the course and definitely learned a lot, as someone who is fairly new to sound. I have a fair amount of experience on some simple sound systems at my school and my church, but I never really new much about basic sound principles. The course explained these well, and didn’t go too in depth for a beginner to have to understand. I liked a lot of the demos of different kinds of equipment that became more common as the course went on, they were not only interesting, but helpful to understanding the subject matter. M.M.
Course was very useful and generous in depth information. R.A.
Overall, this was a very good course. I do prefer in person classes as a learning style preference, but this has been one of the best online courses I’ve taken. I particularly liked the long sections showing each of the connector and wire types, and the speaker and microphone demos.
I might like more diagrams in the study material? I was a little bit overwhelmed by the final, “putting it all together” sections, so perhaps a visual (or bullet point?) overview that I could follow along would help me keep it all in my head? G.K.
I like the videos and sample videos. Also, the quizzes at the end of each section. L.C.
I enjoyed the course. I have worked in Radio for 10 years and just got a new job and needed the refresher and I even learned things I didn’t know yet. Thank you. J.S.
Thorough. D.G.
Its very good course and helpful. L.S.
My appreciation goes to SynAudcon team, for this wonderful training offered to us to boost our skills. F.M.
It was good, with videos clarifications. F.M
The demonstration videos were great. They did a good job of reinforcing the concepts of the lesson. J.N.
The courses have been awesome and this is definitely a great time to learn. S.G.
My overall thoughts are that the course was helpful. I especially appreciated information about the applications of various equipment (loudspeaker types, dynamic vs condenser microphones, etc). In my role, I am not engineering these systems myself but I need to understand the engineering a bit and I really need to understand the customer/end-user needs. So knowing not just how the equipment functions but why a person might choose one piece of equipment over another is a big plus.
Thank you very much for offering courses like this. I found it very helpful! K.B.
This course is great. Very easy to follow. Videos are accurate to the written material. G.L.
The class was great and it was extremely helpful. I am looking forward to starting Course 100. S.G.
I loved the course. N.W.
Very good beginner course. C.S.
I enjoyed the creative video clips. K.A.
I thought it was well done. G.D.
Very concise and professional. The imagery and analogies were helpful. S.S.
This is a great course. Being able to pause and think about the material was so very important. J.S.
The course was great! S.B.
The training is helpful. D.F.
SynAudCon’s Online training course was effective and helped me overall. V.T.
This course was great and really helped me learn the bigger picture. P.G.
It’s good and easy to learn material. Thank you. R.L.
I think the course is very thorough. It’s a great introductory course that covers almost every aspect of sound & sound systems for the complete newbie. It also fills in the gaps for the person who has some experience but could use further explanation. Awesome awesome awesome course! I will recommend this to my colleagues at my place of employment, Vision Technologies, as well as the volunteers who run sound at my local church, The MACC. D.D.
Thank you very much for the extension, very appreciate it. I learned a lot from the course “050 – How Sound System Works”, it is truly an eye opening for me.
For all this long I have been searching for answer for the basic and Pat Brown is doing a great job in putting everything through a small and precise video for all the explanations. Thank you to Pat Brown and Brenda Brown for this opportunities. T.S.
Very informative. G.W.
I think the instructor was good and not boring. Topics weren’t too easy and kept me interested. D.K.
I found the trainings excellent and plan on doing more. D.C.
This was very informational. It helped me build more professional level terms and add to my own knowledge. S.J.
I have no technical knowledge about audio, that’s why I enrolled on your online training. I have done the first online lesson yesterday and it is very informative and educative. I.H.
Thank you very much! It was an awesome course and I learned so much! D.F.
I really enjoyed taking this course. It reinforced and helped me review what I’ve learned in the past. R.W.
Very Informative. K.S.
It was definitely fun and full of information. For me personally though, would have liked to attend in person, only because I get caught up in work and its hard to take my own time to take this test online. I need to get away from work. A.E.
Really enjoyed it. A. B.
There was a WHOLE LOT of information in this course. T.G.
I am really excited to get through them all. This was the first one and it was very insightful. The only reason I’d want to do something in person is to demonstrate some of the conclusions, but this was great. P.F.
“Really enjoyed the course.” E.M.
“I enjoyed this program, it was concise and to the point. I wish my classes at school were this well organized.” D.F.
Pat’s wisdom in audio and electronic concepts has been very enlightening. Z.K.
For someone who is new to the field, your information is easily delivered and understood. D.D.
I found this course to be very informative. I really enjoyed it. I plan on going back to review again. B.S.
I really liked the videos in this course. Often at times when Im reading I may nod off but with the clips I found them informative. V.Y.
Thanks so much! I really enjoyed the course – it is laid out and presented well. S.L.
Like most of the people I meet who work in live sound, I’m largely self-taught through a pinball approach of missteps, feedback, and the begrudging tolerance of others. Time and time again, as I worked through these courses I thought, “I wish I had taken this course years ago.” And often I thought of others who could benefit from them. S.H.
The videos are clear, I suggest adding some practical exercise. M.S.
This course gives you valuable information and terminology on how sound systems work. Whether a beginner or a review for others, you will learn and understand how sound systems work in a very logical way. S.S.
I thought it was great even as a refresher. M.W.
I think it was a very good course. P.W.
This is a good step into audio and gives me the knowledge I need to keep learning and growing! D.K.
The materials are useful. R.N.
The graphics and charts are nice with the video. I wish they were also with the text notes for review. I’m a very visual learner and those would be nice to have in front of me as I reread the information. J.B.
The information was quality and web site was easy to navigate. W.W.
“The course terminology tends to be American focused.” S.B. I agree. I would estimate that eighty- five to ninety of our training is sold in the US. However, you made a very good point. I will bring this to the developer attention. Brenda Brown
It is very enlightening. Y.L.
Very complete. I like it because it touches the important points and does not waste time. O.H.
Great course for beginners. S.K.
I attended the “Sound System Design” course last year and really enjoyed it. I wanted to take one of your more basic courses to test my knowledge. This course was a little too basic for me at times but I still enjoyed it. Regarding the printout of the notes that are provided, I suggest that a better format would be an outline rather than word for word. This would allow space for the student to insert their own notes. I.H.
I am a total novice but came out feeling as if I learned enough to understand the terms that are commonly used in the office as well as the basic setup for a system. J.H.
The video’s and layout were fantastic. I would like a general glossary of terms I could download so I could pause the video and look up the term. J.F.
Thank you, I really enjoyed the course. It helped give me an actual understanding of all of the basics which I really needed. M.I.
Thought everything was very good. R.L.
This gave me the basic understanding of what is needed to have a good sound system, especially where there is a microphone involved. R.D
I like the real life examples used to depict audio distribution scenarios. K.M.
The training was awesome and helpful. J.G.
It was very helpful! Thank you again for this helpful tool! J.R.
Very informative. Perfect mix of notes and videos. BB.
It was good. B.S.
The course was very informative on exactly what the course is called “how sound systems works.” T.N.
Good course, although the final exam had a couple of questions that weren’t specifically covered in the lessons. G.S.
I learned a lot about Audio with this course. C.A.
I thought it was good. The only improvement I can think of at this time is the section on mixing where it would have been helpful to hear the mix as the section was explained. I will be back for more training. J.G.
Well I would say I enjoyed it. It was really interactive with the videos, helping me to visualize all the terms in the text. A. A.
I’ve just switched over to the pro audio/visual industry from accounting and have been searching for a good introductory course to get a basic grasp on what it’s all about. So far so good, loving the intro course I just bought and hopefully your guy’s other online courses are just as good! D.W.
I loved the course and that you included the sounds effects of what was being discussed like hum or feedback. B.S.
I feel the graphic aids that are shown in the video’s greatly help me understand the matter far more than than just reading the text alone. Having printed the accompanying text , I do feel some graphics could have been added for future reference. I do understand that there needs to be differentiation between text and video but having the printouts include some of the graphics would help them a great deal in making these reference documents later on, especially for a newbee like myself.
As a sidenote: at first I felt some of the graphics were a bit 90’s clipart BUT their simplicity and immediate understanding proved to not subtract from the matter that was thought while they were shown. So I understand these choices made 100%. Pat has a great and compelling voice to listen to so I never got bored with any of the video’s. As a non-native English speaker the speech was always clear and never felt I was missing or had to google translate anything :). Pat is now on the list of ‘top-teachers’ that I had the pleasure of listening to. Too bad that flying out to attend physical classes is a bit too expensive. Virtual classes are the next best thing though. Keep it up! C.P.
What I learned in audio I either experienced in live corporate set ups or was taught it by other who had gone through former training and had much more experience. That being said, if I had taken this class when first getting into audio, it would have made my learning and grasping of these concepts much easier and the time to do so much shorter. I think this course lays out concepts and presents Audio system technical know-how in a very understandable way. Even for someone who has never set up a sound system themselves, I think with this course and relating to any personal experience (i.e. going to a movie theater) anyone can grasp most concepts in this course. G.C.
I’ve really enjoyed the training videos. J.M.
I am so thankful for these courses – you guys do such a great job and make audio so approachable. J.R.
It was slightly akin to taking a big sip from a fire hose. For someone coming from the I.T. realm, it was extremely difficult for me to wrap my brain around some of the concepts. I was thankful that the course was online and I was able to watch the clips multiple times, pause and take notes. I grossly underestimated the length of time it would take me to digest all the information (given my lack of experience in this area). The instructor was wonderful and did a super job of explaining some complex subject matter. I truly appreciate the terminology shift and am trying to replace my vague vocabulary with the much more precise terms learned in this course. N.Z.
This course provided valuable information in an easy to understand format. It is a wonderful asset for new audio professionals. S. P.
I thought the analogies were really good. M. J.
This was a great refresher course for me. It would also be a great course for those just starting out in the AV industry. B.H.
The video clips where great to visualize what is being learned. P.V.
The course was very basic for me, however it had more things to offer than what I had anticipated. What I found to be the more important topics were in regards to the electrical aspect. Additionally, I think the course was through and well-constructed. J. P.
Having an audio background, I felt I was able to move through this pretty quickly, and it provided some helpful information regarding particulars of placement and clarification of Q which I still am looking into. All in all, I felt the course was well built and reminded me of things to look out for. D. C.
I’ve taken many online courses, this was very effective. Incorporating more of the images from the videos into the course text would be helpful as there are many useful diagrams in the videos. N.W.
I really liked this course. Please don’t change the format. B.W.
Videos were very concise and clear. So much content packed into a few short minutes that rewinding is mandatory if full attention is not given. Great quality of presentation. P. K.
I always wondered about this course material – nice to finally learn from it. R. S.
Found the course very information but possibly a little more depth to the mic-line level-impedance and the connections thereof. B.M.
This is my first training. I did gain a lot of valuable knowledge. T. G.
The videos were very informative. E.S.
I had questions that I didn’t even know to ask answered the day after I finished a unit. I’ve found it extremely helpful to day to day work in A/V installation. Extremely helpful and in depth, while still managing to keep things concise and to the point when they really need to be. J. S.
I appreciated that it basically only covered what you needed to know. That being said, I felt the final exam was definitely more difficult than the practice tests after each lesson. J. C.
I took “Principles of Audio” first, so I thought I would fly through this one. Not so much lol.
I liked it very much. D. B
Great lessons and very informative. M.S.
Felt that some of the questions on the Final were not covered well in the course but as a whole, this training exceeded my expectations by far. T.F. A comment about the exam questions: Audio troubleshooting requires intuitive reasoning, so I integrated this into some of the questions. You will not find all of the answers spelled out in the lesson text, but in every case the required principle was presented in the course videos. The student should be able to deduce the answer from the information given. Pat Brown
Good refresher for me, and I imagine this would be a good starting point for someone unfamiliar with audio systems. J.B.
I like the demonstrations in the videos. B.D.
The videos were up-to-date and relevant for me. B.H.
It was great. W.S
It was hugely beneficial for me, and I loved the layout of the course material. I absolutely plan on moving on to the next few sessions. A.C.
This was great! I have had a lot of experience in the field, but I didn’t realize some basic principles that you guys explain so easily. Definitely worth every penny! G.M.
I truly enjoyed the presentation, the graphics, documentation and the oral presentation. I felt the quizzes were relevant to the topics covered. I truly enjoyed the course and look forward to taking more courses. Thank you. M.W.
I enjoyed the course D.C.
I found the material and the configuration really well thought out. R.C.
I’m very excited for this course because I’ve always been passionate about technical audio and this course is exactly what I need to better myself as an installer and technician. I am enjoying it a lot. J.S.
I really liked the challenge. I learned new things. D. T.
Excellent Course! D.C.
Thank you very much. The training was very informative and allowed me to look at the aspects of audio from a different perspective. There were many new points I picked up regarding mixers and loudspeakers I hadn’t dealt with before. E. C.
I love the examples used comparing sound to real life applications – like the water faucet example for gain. Videos are fantastic – I’ve taken other courses that are entirely text, with no video examples of anything, and I much prefer the style of SynAudCon. Text & Video are both provided, and I can go re-watch them at anytime for review. I much prefer the style of SynAudCon, because of the videos, and the humor that’s mixed into the course. T.H.
This course was very informative and easy to follow! S. H.
Thank you! It was fun. I’ll be back to take another course. J.P.
This is my first audio course online and I thought it was pretty good. S.F.
Course was great just the way it is laid out. D.T.
Honestly, this was one of the best training I have taken. The interface is very user friendly and providing the script for each video has greatly helped me take very detailed notes. J.M.
The courses were easy to go through, while being very informative. The animations presented are very helpful to learn many of these concepts. Thank you. T.I.
This course is very good for people who learn my means of note taking, and repetition… then the videos also help to really meld it into your memory. I think the course could be improved by becoming more interactive with things such as games, or activities, to help people stay engaged and challenged. H.E.
I thought it was very thorough and a good pace and depth for an audio beginner like myself. S.R.
It was great, can’t wait to continue with the other courses. S.V.
The material and interface was excellent. Having the content in both text form, and video form, made it easier for the info to sink in. R.D.
Great course. Informative. D.R.
The material and the way it was presented was wonderful Great text, videos, audio and graphics.
My only hang ups come with some test questions where the answers could have a couple of right answers. It was a bit confusing but I also understand it gives the flexibility to get some points for a semi-correct answer as opposed to an pass or fail, all or nothing outcome. D.F.
I loved your course, I just began in the a/v industry about 3 years ago and this connected a lot of dots and filled in a lot of blanks. It was really great. I look forward to taking more courses with you guys. B.P.
Course flow is excellent, but the same music at the beginning of every video is tedious, would be nice just to hear something different. Focus to flow diagrams, schematics, and systems is great. More time on physical differences that one would see in real-time system installations would be great. Reinforcement is good. A.M. (You will see more of the real-time system installations in our “Principles of Audio” online course. Brenda Brown)
First of all, I just want to share again just how practical and informative the 050 course was. I was able to put it to work IMMEDIATELY in my job and began sharing some of the knowledge with my volunteer team. M.H. Worship Tech.
“This was a good basic course went through what took me ten years to figure out on my own.” C.C.
When Considering candidates for employment
When we’re considering candidates for employment, anyone with SynAudCon training goes to the head of the line.
Zki Pszenitzki, Owner ZKI Communications
I was impressed while being educated.
Thanks for the Certificate. The course was actually hard, but that makes you think, and requires you to learn. I was impressed while being educated. 🙂 I like the the way the course is presented. I’ve taken online courses before, and to tell you the truth I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to grasp the info, but it is well laid out and presented nicely. I am going to take three of the courses eventually.
Bill Talley
I recommend that anyone who is involved in audio/communication systems have this knowledge.
Thank you for making me aware of the audio courses being offered by SynAudCon. I started the Course 100 course prior to attending the training seminar on Airport Communication Systems at IED. The information presented in this course provided me a foundation to better understand audio systems and the terms and concepts used to explain Airport Communication Systems. Through the Course 100: Principles of Audio course, I have a greater ability to manage the system at DFW International Airport.
I have read several books on audio systems and audio engineering. If I had taken this course first I would have been able to comprehend the information presented faster and more completely. As the use of audio systems in life safety systems continues to grow, it is very important to understand the science these systems are built on in order to use the systems most effectively. I recommend that anyone who is involved in audio/communication systems have the knowledge presented in this course. The information was presented in a manner that facilitates learning even though some of the concepts are not intuitively apparent.
Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in this training.
Joe Collins, NICET Level IV Fire Alarm Systems
Testament to online training.
Good work. Your work is testament to the value of the web as a learning and training medium.
Joe Booher, AVISPL
This course challenged me.
It’s great to actually do an online course that
a) challenges you.
b) isn’t boring.
You will have to listen and makes notes of what is said during the videos. If you don’t, you certainly will not pass the final exam. Looking forward to starting the Course 100.
John Handy
I thought I knew everything.
I’ve been a sound Engineer for the past 28 years, I thought I knew everything. Boy, was I wrong. It’s got me thinking and thinking really hard. It made me love it and respect it even more. All I have to say is “wow”.
Sound Engineer
Feedback from Course 50 – How Sound Systems Work
Did this course meet your expectations?
Yes
Was the course worth the price?
Yes
Phone: 812-923-0174
Synergetic Audio Concepts, Inc.
Located in Southern Indiana USA
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