bob6397
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bob6397
ParticipantI wear glasses most of the time but I do take them off for DJing (I’m short sighted but only in one eye for some reason) as my headphones are quite uncomfy if I keep them on. I don’t like the ear-squishing effect of on-ears though so I decided that I would live with it when I bought my headphones..
Maybe try contacts? That’s what I would do if my eyesight was bad enough to warrent wearing glasses when DJing..
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantDepends on the room size – when I have run disco’s at my school I have always wanted a sub just so that I didn’t have to drive the speakers so hard (though the tops leave something to be desired and practically need a sub when run full range anyway – they are pathetic for 15″ (Carlsbro Speakers 🙁 – the school owns them and I didn’t have my own kit when I did the last one).
Anyway, If the room is big enough to have a dinner party for 100 people, you are going to want decent speaker power and probably a sub just to fill the room – 4 tops in full range mode and miles of cable would also work.. 🙂
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantKeep the first one.. thanks 🙂
bob6397
ParticipantMy bad.. 🙁
Thought it was changed to 3? Or am I imagining things??
Won’t let me edit it so just leave it.. 🙂
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantWon’t make any sort of difference – the video requirements for running Serato will be minimal and not much above running window itself!!
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantYou could be right – it’s not mentioned on this page unless I’m going blind..
bob6397
ParticipantI would agree with Malsidious – with a couple of other points.
In a DJ laptop, what I want is:
– Decent processor – that means Intel i5, 3rd gen or higher, at least dual core and a processor speed somewhere above 2.0GHz.
– 4GB Ram – the more the better. I run 8GB and have never had any issues. Bear in mind that this is sometimes not upgradable (mainly in apple hardware but watch out)
– Decent Cooling. A DJ booth is often a very hot place and many laptops will start to slow the processor down if they get too got – not ideal during a DJ set. The measure of “Decent” will change depending on where you live (hot/cold) and where you gig.
– High(ish) res screen. Screen resolution is more important than screen size in my opinion, although I wouldn’t go smaller than 13″ – I use 15″ at 1366×768 and which it was higher resolution sometimes – this is where Full HD or Better-than-HD displays come in handy.
-Backlit keyboard. Many higher-end laptops come with this and it is really useful in an often dark DJ booth..That’s it. If you are a video DJ, you may want a higher-end graphics card in there as well but if not then it is unnecessary..
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantDepends on the speaker setup.
If, like I normally do, I am just using a pair of speakers to fill a room and they are positioned at one end down the dance floor, I use stereo. Things sound better (your music has more space in it – it’s how it was mixed after all) in stereo.
BUT – If I am DJing at a venue that doesn’t use pair’s of speakers down a rectangular shaped room, I use mono. Just to make sure that everyone can hear everything – who knows how it is wired up if it is any more complicated than run Left down one side of the floor and right down the other…
If in doubt though, use mono. It’s the safer option.
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantHere is mine for this week..
Track: They Don’t Know (Radio Edit)
Artist: The Disciples
Genre: HouseLove it .. bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantDepends on the size of the room. I use 2x500W RMS 15″ speakers (no sub) at my weekly gig in a room which is approx 30 x 20m big. I have plenty of volume and never hit the limiters (unless I really push it lol). If I had a 400W sub, I would want 2 x 400W tops and simply adjust the volume on them until it sounds balanced. It the sub active or passive?
If it is passive, you will want to run through a crossover (which splits the audio so that only the low frequencies got to the sub and only the high frequencies to the tops) – and this is where it becomes tricky. No company (that we know of – it comes up fairly often) makes a crossover that will just split between a sub and tops.
As you couldn’t use a crossover becuase of that, I would recommend that you just get a decent pair of active speakers and forget about using the sub – it isn’t powerful enough to compete with any pair of decent active speakers anyway. You might as well just get decent speakers..
What I would do (and indeed what I did do) is to get a pair of decent 15″ speakers that can cover the whole frequency range without needing a sub. Or you could get a system such as the LD Systems Dave series, HK Audio Nano 600 etc. instead – these are cheaper, smaller systems which incorporate a sub with matching tops as a set. Best of both worlds and easier to move around than a sub..
Besides all that, the system will sound better with just a pair of tops than it will with a behringer speaker in there imho.. I used to use a behinger mixer and that was alright, but it started changing the volume without me touching it and definitely coloured the sound.. My new Yamaha is much better than that ever was!!
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantI would always use at least 2 tops – with 1 sub or 2 if I was using a sub at all.
In terms of power, is that 1600W peak or RMS? If it is peak, it is meaningless as a number as RMS is the one you can actually compare things with..
If I had a 1600W (RMS) sub, I would want 2 x 1000W (RMS) tops..
If I had a 1600W (Peak – roughly 2 x W(RMS)) sub, I would want 2 x 500W (RMS) tops
BUT power is not actually the main means of comparing speakers – it is actually most useful when matching amps to passive speakers – but actual volume produced (measured in decibels (dB)) is a much more accurate way of matching up speakers.
Do you have the make/model of your sub? If you do, it will be easier for us to recommend you something.. 🙂
bob6397
ParticipantSo when you say “Large House Party” how many people do you mean?
For this, I would (probably depending on size) get a pair of active (the amps are built in) speakers, 12″ in size and not bother with a sub.
I would consider the following speakers:
Mackie Thump 12 – Approx £460 for a pair – Low end but decent speakers, will sound pretty good.
Mackie SRM450’s – Depending on age, anywhere from £500-£800 for a pair. These have been around for ever and we are now on V3 of these. Decent speakers from any age and they are the go-to speakers for many DJs.
Yamaha DBR12’s – approx £700 a pair – Decent mid range speakers. Fairly new design but good reviews.
Mackie SRM550 – Approx. £900 a pair. Decent speakers, mid range. Big brother to the SRM450s.
Yamaha DXR12’s – Approx. £950 a pair. Similar to the SRM550s, Decent speakekers, upper-mid range. Big brother to the DBR12’s.
QSC K12’s – Approx £1200 a pair. High-range speakers. Well known and used worldwide.
Yamaha DSR112’s – Approx £1300 a pair. High range speakers.
JBL PRX612M’s – Approx £1400 a pair. High range speakers.
Mackie HD1221’s – Approx. £1600 a pair. High range speakers. Older now and therefore quite heavy..
QSC KW122’s – Approx £1800 a pair. High range speakers. Newer version of the K12’s..
Pick one from that list – depending on your budget. You get what you pay for though – but don’t spend too much if you aren’t DJing professionally with them enough to earn your money back within 3-6 months..
bob397
bob6397
ParticipantErm… Terry?

bob6397
ParticipantI would have taken the residency despite what your agent says – if, as you say, there is no conflict then why not? As a new(ish) DJ, to be offered a residency would be awesome (As long as it was for your kind of music).
BUT if doing that second residency would mean that you might not be able to continue with the first then I would say pick the one that A) Will do the best for your reputation – IE Which bar is better known, which are you more likely to land more gigs from etc. or B) Will pay more (if you are bothered about that..)
However, if your agent has instead got you a gig at a smaller bar – maybe he just wanted that other gig for himself? Maybe he is jealous?
Whatever it may be, he has not acted in your best interests if you were offered a residency at a bigger bar and he instead got you one at a smaller bar which has now decided to close..
Have a check to see if they still want you at the bigger one?
Hope this helps,
bob6397
bob6397
ParticipantIt’s not uncommon for more jazzy/bluesy music to slow down at the end – a minute is a long time to slow down over though – they normally only slow down over the last couple of bars..
If you want to beatmatch it, you’re going to have to listen and do it manually with the pitch slider i think – Traktor isn’t great at handling BPM changes 🙂
bob6397
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