As a DJ are you "Sound Obsessive"?

Yep, I’m almost OCD with this too. I have actually trained as a sound engineer, and while I only use this training occasionally, it makes a huge difference to the vibe in the venue when I give a damn. Having the wrong sound will usually drive the crowd away, not to you and the dance floor.

As a general rule I like to get there before the place opens and have a listen to the house system playing a couple of songs I use for soundcheck, so I can tell if there’s any major problems with the sound. This way I can fix thing with the house lights up, instead of trying to fiddle with cabs in the dark. Also I’ll get to know where the house mixer is, to I can adjust it when the venue is full of people, as the bass tends to be drowned out.

But yes, I do my best to make sure that the venue sounds good before I play, as one night of bad sound could ruin your reputation…..

Yes, although I’m not “hi fi” obsessive – I want to sound clear, and warm, and thought about, but if I can make a ropey old 192kbps MP3 sound OK, I’ll play it whatever!

I’m 100% sound obsessive. I NEED good speakers, and really appreciate when a rig is properly setup and used right. It makes the night so much better.

Many people, and some DJ’s included, dont understand audio fatigue caused by pushing a system too far or bad quality music. Its quite subliminal, you’ll feel tired, ears hurting from the music, you’ll want to get away and take a break or whatever. Even if you really like the tunes being played.

So by not doing your part as the DJ and making sure youre bathing your audience with quality audio, you could actually be pushing people away from the dancefloor and maybe even the venue!

Ive seen too many dj’s pushing equipment way harder than they should. Cranking the gain and EQ is a classic. The red lights arent a target, theyre a warning!

I am sound obsessive as far as getting the sound in the club right… I don’t care what kind of shitty system I have to work with – there is a way to make it work. I played a gig at a buddys house using a spare guitar amp he had – don’t get me wrong, there was some crazy EQ work that had to be done but it’s always manageable. I constantly check the sound at any venue – my biggest peeve with DJs are when they have a monitor by their ears blasting and think that sound is exactly what the dancers are hearing… It’s not! and the red does NOT mean turbo!!!!

I cant believe how many times ive gone to set up and found all the EQs on the mixer turned up full. What was the last guy doing?! First thing I do is zero the mixer and start from fresh.

I think it’s good to see the overall picture – getting everything more or less right results in sound that’s more or less right, thus pretty much everyone has a great time. To do that takes far less effort than obsessively getting everything perfect, and frees time up to concentrate on what’s really important – in this case, music and fun!

A 192kbps MP3 that was mastered OK but not brilliantly, played through a sound system that’s reasonably well maintained on gear that’s just about up to the task, by a sympathetic DJ who’s tweaking the system to sound as good as he can make it, is fine – if he’s having the time of his live and the music is dope! after all, it’s a party, not a damped hi-fi auditioning room.

If all the things above are perfect (WAV file, brilliantly mastered, top-notch gear and PA, perfect signal path) but the track is poor in the first place and the DJ is obsessed with stuff the crowd don’t care about… well, I know which gig I’d rather be at. 🙂

That’s no excuse for pushing everything to 11 out of ignorance, mind… that makes me as angry as you guys too.

I got complimented by a sound engineer when I was playing at a competition, for caring about the sound levels and quality! ::)