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Audio equipment?

My friend's mother is organizing a dance. I am DJing. She has never organized one before and I've just been a bedroom DJ for the mostpart. My question is this:

What sort of sound equipment will we need? How many speakers? What about amplifiers, etc, or will my mixer do the job of amplifying the sound?

You will definitely need amps with speakers. I would say at minimum two PA-type speakers for decent sized room. If it's too much, you can always turn them down.

I'm sure there's a way to judge speaker power by room size, but I don't really know too much about it so I'll let someone else handle that.

hey thanks for input, but i dont know if volume knobs turn counterclockwise?

I think the correct thing to do is to have the signal coming from the mixer fairly low, and then use the volume control on the amp to get the volume where you want it.

The size of the room isn't the only factor, how many people are you expecting to have in there? bodies deaden sound so the more people the more power you will need. Adding a sub is an easy way to give more punch to the sound in a room.

Be aware of where the speakers are pointing, the speakers putting out high and mid will need to point where you want to sound to go but bass is omni directional(goes in every direction)also the last party I played at the speakers were set up in a bad spot so the sound bounced back from a wall on the other side of the hall and made it almost impossible to hear anything from where my gear was set up so keep hat in mind when picking a spot to put them...heavy curtains are a good way to fix that sound reflection if you have that problem.

quote:

I think the correct thing to do is to have the signal coming from the mixer fairly low, and then use the volume control on the amp to get the volume where you want it.

This depends on the mixer I think you will find, different equipment has different "sweet spots" some mixers sound better with a low signal coming out and other with lots of signal, even so far as the first bar of the red but remember you don't want the signal to clip.

When I have my mixer going straight into an amp without the levels set up properly by some one who knows what they're doing I like to set the master signal of my mixer coming out to 0 db and then adjust the amp to what I want the peak volume of the night to be that way when I'm playing later on I can see how much room I have left to go up in volume and have a good idea about how the volume on the floor is...if that makes sence though I have no idea if that is how I should be doing it.

we're going to need a little more info here

size of the room
how many people expected
where will you be situated? on a stage, floor, etc.

most likely you'll be able to get away with 2 jbl eons, it's what i use for my mobile gigs and packs enough punch to fill a small to medium sized room, i've even done big rooms with just the 2 of them

the biggest thing to fill a room with sound is to get the speakers up at head level so the sound doesn't get too deadend by the crowd, i usually set my stands at chin height then put the jbls on top

because of your inexperience i recommend this route, it's simple, easy and takes no time to set up, you won't have to worry about getting your amps set properly or running the cables the right way

you'll want to set your speakers far apart and aim them towards the center of the back of the room

for setting your levels during soundcheck, run your mixer at the maximum volume you'd expect to encounter during the night (+2 reds on a pioneer mixer for example) then set your amp or active speakers accordingly, when you've found the maximum volume before overload or clipping turn it down a little to allow some headroom in case you have a stray peak (usually happens mid-mix)

once you have everything set, head to the back of the dancefloor or back of the room and stop and listen for a little bit to guage the sound and see if any further adjustments need to be made, if it seems too loud, turn it down a bit but keep in mind that once there are people in the room the sound will naturally deaden a bit

i have some gig experience with speakers, ive had a party of 400 in an auditorium and 2 10" JBL Eons didn't do it for me,

as said before, until we get the info about the room size, speaker size and how many people will be there we cant really help as much.

i guess i forgot to mention that i use 15" eons, they work fine, but it all depends on the room and acoustics

of course the 10" wouldn't do it for you, they just don't push enough power

the 15"s should work for about 300 people right?,

they work for me, i don't even run them near full volume either during shows

you just have to get them up high so the sound travels over the crowd instead of through it

yeah, i learned that the hard way haha,
before i got my b-52 matrix 1000 i was using a friends 10" jbl eons, it didnt do the job right and they're so fragile, couldn't blast them, i've used the 15", they're pretty powerful.

We too use the Eon 15s, and a JRX sub . It gets too loud. 300-400 shouldnt be an issue if you follow Morello's guide on speaker placement. The Eons pack a mighty punch.

Quad Eon 15s in the front stage would rock the house! Dont forget, you would need some muscular booth monitors at that point. (pretty cheap to rent too. My local store has em for $50 a night/pair)

yea, you could chain a couple if need be

one more eon is perfect for a monitor, especially with that angle placement, i just recorded a cd like that

and no, i don't work for jbl

i just recommend stuff that works in a practical setting

Not trying to hijack the thread but would a JBL Eon 10" be a good monitor?

I have one, usually use it to play out on. But recently i've decided to hook my surround sound system up (don't worry it packs a good punch,7.1 system, 70rms per satellite, 200rms into a ported sub) Fine for my 15x20ft room.

Anyway was going to use the jbl as a monitor.. Was thinking the fact it doesn't give off that much low end is a good thing is this situation?

i went and checked out the room. it's about 19 x 9.5 meters, 3.5 meters high. capacity is 250 and i will be on a raised platform, about 35 cm above the floor. there are four pillars situated about 3 meters apart in a square if it makes a difference.


edit: the room looks like it's primarily hardwood. might i need a basstrap?

quote:

Originally posted by n3lly Not trying to hijack the thread but would a JBL Eon 10" be a good monitor? Anyway was going to use the jbl as a monitor.. Was thinking the fact it doesn't give off that much low end is a good thing is this situation?

I spun at a friends house that had Eon 10s. I was wondering why he had the monitors quite a distance from the booth (at least 6 feet away Id say). He then mentioned:

The issue is, its a horrible nearfield speaker in terms of quality of reproduction. They are loud.. too loud to have so close to you. Its meant for a minimum distance of say, at least 8 feet to blend properly. Yes it can get loud to compensate, but a proper nearfield monitor will net huge advantages over them. The sweet spot for nearfield is around 2-3 feet. On your table where your decks are, aimed at you, will own. In other words, he likes my setup better . (KRK 8s btw. Nearly have 1000hrs on them. Nice and warm).

One of the nicest sets Ive ever heard, was made by BlueSky. It was a 5.75" with a tweet. It sounded beautiful, and got damn loud. The price tag was a little much for me ($499/ea). Take a listen @ ur local GC.

quote:

i went and checked out the room. it's about 19 x 9.5 meters, 3.5 meters high. capacity is 250 and i will be on a raised platform, about 35 cm above the floor. there are four pillars situated about 3 meters apart in a square if it makes a difference.

Yanno, your room is very similiar to ours! Actually larger. Ours measures 30' x 50' x 15' peak with 1' vaulted roof. 1500sq/ft here (yours nearly 2000sq/ft). You will be fine with 2 Eon 15s if you are considering overall volume. Sub would kick hard on that hardwood and recommended (it actually makes the Eon 15s sound fuller. The JRX or SRX subs crossover the Eons). We have never used any basstraps. Seems to naturally sound ok (given its an industrial building with plenty of insulation). If you have no issues with noise, get another pair of Eons (spread them out). Anymore and... its an official rave!.. so you gotta make flyers, get supplies, fly in Tiesto ... lol

Our exact setup gets nearly too loud. Like.. 6-8 feet away from monitors, you can feel the bass punching in your chest. We usually tone it down though.

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