Colin Brown
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Colin Brown
ParticipantScotte, post: 10285 wrote: Ok thanks, if I were to buy the Rokit 8 or 10-3, do you need a pair of these or is one sufficent? does this mean you don’t need an amplifier?
What connections are required for the iPad?
You could just use one if you want, although most people go for a pair (if resale value is a concern, a pair would be easier to sell on than one).
Correct, no amplifier required.
The Rokit’s have an RCA (phono) input connector, so you should be able to use your mini jack to phono (High-Performance Twin Phono Interconnect) cable to hook things up. You might want a long one though, since it needs to reach from your iPad to wherever you put your speaker(s).
ParticipantIf its just for home use, a set of active (powered) monitors might suit you well. The KRK Rokit series seem well liked by DJ’s. Quite a lot more money than the Maplins kit but your ears will thank you and should you change your mind you’d have no trouble selling them on.
Now if budget was really not an issue I’d suggest something like these
ParticipantMy recommendation would be to look for some better quality pro audio kit, second hand if you are on a tight budget.
That will be difficult to source really quickly though.
If you need something for a gig this weekend I’d suggest hiring something. What do you need the kit for (what size of event – number of people, size of room etc).
ParticipantScotte, post: 10238 wrote: Hi,
Hope you can help.I have purchased the Numark iDJLive device along with 2 x speakers & amp from Maplins.
Amplifier
http://www.maplin.co.uk/200w-power-amplifier-47371Speakers
http://www.maplin.co.uk/100w-8-inch-loudspeaker-473801 x Griffin DJ Cable
1 x High-Performance Twin Phono Interconnect
http://www.maplin.co.uk/high-performanc … ect-2202032 x Gold-Plated 1/4in Mono to Phono Adaptors
http://www.maplin.co.uk/1-4-6.35mm-plug … ptors-12802 x Mono Jack Leads
http://www.maplin.co.uk/mono-jack-lead-224841I have attached the Mono to Phono Adaptors to the High-Performance Twin Phono Interconnect so that they will insert into the Input connections on the amp and the High-Performance Twin Phono Interconnect is connected to the speaker connection of the Griffin cable.
The sound is only very faint coming out of the left speaker and nothing is coming out of the right speaker. If I pull the Amp input connector half way out the volume increases dramatically but the sound is still not perfect.
Something is not compatible somewhere I assume it’s the Mono to Phono Adaptors & the High-Performance Twin Phono Interconnect.I have tested a direct connection via the Griffin cable to my portable Bose docking station and this appears to be fine.
Please can someone help me out.
Regards
ScottOk.
First things first, you don’t need the pre-amp. That is designed for connecting the output vinyl record player to an amplifier. It contains a filter that will screw up the sound if you use it with a line level device like the iPad. If the guys at Maplin advised you buy it, I’m afraid they either don’t have a clue what they are talking about or didn’t understand what you were trying to do.
Secondly the ‘Mono Jack Leads’ you linked to are designed for input level signals, not speakers. Are you sure those are the ones you have? Maplins also sell speaker leads that look similar:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/quarter-inch-jack-heavy-duty-speaker-leads-224810
Hopefully those are the ones you have.
So, on to your set-up.
You should not have to pull your input connector part way out to make the amp work.
Try the following test.
Hook up the iPad directly to the amplifier using your mini jack to twin phono lead ( ‘High-Performance Twin Phono Interconnect’) and the two phono to mono jack connectors. Connect the mini jack directly to the iPad’s headphone socket. Play something using the normal iPad music player (i.e. not the DJay app).
Does this give you proper sound out of both speakers? If not, it suggests the jack sockets on the amplifier are faulty.
ParticipantScotte, post: 10238 wrote: Hi,
Hope you can help.I have purchased the Numark iDJLive device along with 2 x speakers & amp from Maplins.
Hi Scott… I’d say first off consider taking the speakers, amp & interconnect cables back to Maplins for a refund if you can. The amps and speakers they sell are (and I’m being kind here) fairly awful.
If you really want to stick with the gear or getting a refund isn’t possible I’m sure I can help you get it working assuming nothing is broken. I’ll have a quick look at the specs of the kit you’ve bought and will post again in a bit.
If you can get a refund I should also be able to point you towards some better kit.
ParticipantNitronic, post: 10129 wrote: I currently have a really good sets of cans, Sennheiser HD 25 1-II’s
but as good as the sound quality and isolation is, I have a lot of complaints about them.
Mostly about the physical design and comfort and the abundance of extra cord length.Is this for general listening or for playing out at gigs?
I used the HD25-SP for many years, which are comfortable, but don’t have quite the isolation of the HD 25 1-II’s mainly because they don’t clamp so hard on your ears.
I’ve just bought a pair of HD 25 C-II (coiled cable option – like a telephone handset cable) – they solve the long cord problem but have the same clamping force as your HD 25 1-II. For me that is actually a benefit when playing out at gigs – the benefit of the extra isolation outweighs the reduction in comfort.
You could buy a replacement coiled cable for your 25-1 II’s which would fix one of your gripes. If you really need something more comfortable you’ll probably need to look for an over the ear rather than on the ear design – perhaps something like the Shure SRH-840. I considered those but the isolation was better on the HD 25 C-II which was more important than comfort for me.
ParticipantYou should be able to get any multichannel soundcard to work.
I’ve just seen your other post about owning a Mixtrack. I’m not sure how much djing you’ve done.. if you are trying to started and see if djing is for you, you could start off with a splitter cable. There’s another good article on the main site that explains how these work:
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2011/07/djs-guide-to-splitter-cables/
A nice cheap option to get you up and running.
As Phil says in the article, this isn’t a permanent solution for the pro DJ, but it’s a great starting point for new DJs.
ParticipantYou might also find
http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2010/11/6-budget-dj-sound-cards/
useful. Phil liked the Mixvibes unit; I couldn’t find any output specs for that one. The Reloop Play unit quotes a reasonable +7.5dBV output so looks good to me. I’ve never used any Reloop kit though so I couldn’t tell you how well built etc it might be.
ParticipantSomething to bear in mind… if this is for DJ’ing, it can be useful to have a soundcard with a reasonably “hot” output, especially if you might be taking your kit into clubs.
The M-Audio Fast Track Pro unit quotes a max line level output of +1.8dBV. The NI Audio 2 has a much “hotter” max output of +7.4dBV, so might be a better bet for club use, although it has less output options.
ParticipantI can’t say what is best as I’ve only tried the (concorde version) Arkiv, but I’ve been happy with the quality and it was easy to set up and easy to switch back to the Stantons that go on when my decks go out to gigs.
ParticipantSome time ago I conducted a blind test amongst a fairly large sample of sound engineers, 192kbps MP3 vs WAV. Many of them were convinced that they would easily be able to tell which was which.
Results were conclusive – they couldn’t tell the difference.
Funktion one make some good products but in my opinion there is more marketing hype than science in that video.
Of course, there IS a difference between MP3 and WAV, but if you are concerned about sound quality, it should not be at the top of your list of things to be worrying about.
Personally, I choose WAV when I can, but I don’t worry if I can only get a track as a good quality, first generation MP3. I think people who condemn MP3’s as inadequate don’t really understand the physics of audio.
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