in a club, it usually goes like

Mixer --> Master Out --> Main Amps / Speaker setup
Mixer --> Booth Out --> Booth Amp / Monitors

So, to mimic the proper setup, you will need 2 amps (or 2 places of amplified sound). 1 amp will connect to the master and the master speakers will connect to this. The speakers facing you will connect to the 2nd amp which connects to the booth out.

The booth speakers will play what the master out plays, however, you can adjust the volumn of the booth and even turn it off w/o affecting the master volumn.

someone correct me if im wrong...

basically, monitors are an alternative to headphones, or you can use them both at once for more ease. i dont really like the monitors idea when its an open air DJ booth, because when people walk by it, it sometimes sounds like youre trainwrecking, or screwing something up, where as with your headphones its so much cleaner in that aspect...

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I'd rather have the few people who pass by think I'm trainwrecking than the entire club hearing an actual trainwreck. But for the most part I don't think it sounds like a trainwreck cuz if it does, isn't that the fault of the mixer? Both booth out and master out should be outputting the same signal, no?

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quote:

Originally posted by Inertia someone correct me if im wrong... basically, monitors are an alternative to headphones, or you can use them both at once for more ease. i dont really like the monitors idea when its an open air DJ booth, because when people walk by it, it sometimes sounds like youre trainwrecking, or screwing something up, where as with your headphones its so much cleaner in that aspect...

In general, monitors are NOT an alternative to headphones. The sound playing out of the monitors is the same as what's playing out in the club and NOT the track that's cued up in the headphones. The reason for having monitors is that they are designed for the DJ to listen to, whereas the club sound system is designed for the club patrons to listen to. Furthermore, the DJ can control the volume of the monitors independently from the master volume for the club sound system.

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CURRENT TUNES

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yes, if you notice, most setups, the dj booth is behind the speakers, making it difficult to properly hear what is playing, that is why you have a booth monitor. if you were spinning directly in front of speakers, you wouldnt really need your monitors. also, if you are setting this up at home, you dont really need monitors. what i usually do, is hook the master into the computer and the booth into the main speakers, that way, when i spin live, stream, record, whatever, i can adjust the booth volumn w/o killing the mix i am doing.

A monitor is used so you can hear what the dancefloor is hearing plain and simple. The difference being that the monitors are usually much clearer as they are smaller speakers and it's facing one of your ears and wont have any club interference.
In a club there are so many other things going on in terms of sound depending on how full it is and so on. So the sound from the dancefloor even if you were infront of the speakers would not always tell you what you needed to know.

A club system can be a very overwhelming experience first time you play on it due to it's loudness. Also make sure you have good headphones as none of those cheapo ones will be able to block out enough sound to help you.

Cheers
Nem

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Thanks alot all...I think what was screwing me up in figuring this all out was the fact that I thought you could preview your mix using the monitor speakers when in turn whatever is coming out of the monitor speakers is also coming out of the rest of the system that the club is jammin to. There basically a means to get a perfect perseption of what the fuck your playing. It all makes good sense now. Thanks.

hmm, ive seen a few DJs play with the monitors to cue up.
Saeed did it when he was here, and once Palash took the decks, he
shut the monitors off and was only using his phones. thats where
i got that conception from. guess its just their style of mixing...

(i know Saeed was screwing with the monitors to cue up because
standing beside them i could notice it was playing a diff tune than
the ones in the club were. struck me as strange, but what the hey)

excuse my mistake, as few venues here ever have monitors.

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check out my guest mix for OndaSonora Podcast (aug.2009)