Mackie Speakers

[mg ents]

We're looking to DJ, Karaoke and do some Cabaret Sets. I've been advised to buy a couple of Mackie powered speakers, which don't need an amp. Would thsese suffice for all of the above? Or would we need some Base Bins aswell?

I've spotted some Shure lead mics and boom stand and XLR leads for £30 a set...is that cheap or does that mean the equipment is crap?

Any help would be great.

Mike

[Sapphire Disco]

Hard to say really but for me I would always go passive speakers, with a spare amp and yes there is no doubt that tops & subs are best, but 2 pairs of full range speakers can sound good.

[mg ents]

Do you know exactly what wattage we'd need, we've heard 600watt is the usual? When you say passive speakers do you use them, or do you have bins with them, or do you use the full range ones?

I've a vision of the little mackie speakers sounded like an old radio!

[Candybeatdiscos]

i have found that a 600 watt amp, a couple of wee 15" speakers on stands (remember top hats) and a couple of the sunfly CDG/DVD/VCD players, and make sure you get wireless mics - people still swing the bloody mics...- anyway yeah where was i, oh yeah that should suffice....if your using laptop then www.sax-n-dotty.co.uk for fantastic hosting software

[Paul James Promotions]

I know a few people who use the SRM450's from Mackie and are very happy with them.

Might be an idea to start off with a pair of those, then buy a single matching sub.

[Sapphire Disco]

Not sure what you mean really, but I would think if you had 300 to 350 watt base bins & tops with 700 to 1000 watt per channell amp @4 omhs going into your base bins then out into your top full range speakers you should be ok for most venues.

[abyssdjhire]

just sent you a private message, mg_ents

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

We're looking to DJ, Karaoke and do some Cabaret Sets. I've been advised to buy a couple of Mackie powered speakers, which don't need an amp. Would thsese suffice for all of the above? Or would we need some Base Bins aswell?

I've spotted some Shure lead mics and boom stand and XLR leads for £30 a set...is that cheap or does that mean the equipment is crap?

Any help would be great.

Mike

I use Mackies, and they would be ideal for what you need them for. Depending on the size of the venue, the SRM450s would normally cope with upto 150 people on their own.

For bigger gigs, or gigs playing a lot of bass heavy music, then add a 1501 sub - these can be had on the net for £599.

With regards to the mics, if you are using them for singing, karaoke and Djing, then I would go for the SM58, which is industry standard.

The switched version retails for between £90-£130 and non-switched cheaper.

The Mackies are great sounding speakers for the size, but different people have different views on what speakers should sound like.

[Sapphire Disco]

Yes Mackie are very fine speakers, but they do run a bit hot!
I got the idea by the sound of the post that they wanted to spend £500-£1000.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Yes Mackie are very fine speakers, but they do run a bit hot!
I got the idea by the sound of the post that they wanted to spend £500-£1000.

Yeah, erm Mackie speakers run hot because they have an amp module in them - the heatsink is on them for that very reason!

And I'm not quite sure where you get that budget from Paul?

[abyssdjhire]

i thought that too, daz, to be honest :) i cant see any indication of budgetting anywhere

[Sapphire Disco]

Just thought if you were thinking of spending £30 0n mics, you are not going to want to spend more than a grand on amp + speakers, ask them if I'm wrong I stand corrected.

[abyssdjhire]

bit of a strange theory there though... i'd happily spend £4k on speakers, but not a chance i'd spend more than £50 on a mic... £150 on a wireless mic set, at a push!

although if it was a mic to be hired not used by myself, then fair enough, i'd use a decent one... but still without going ridiculous

[Sapphire Disco]

So you're going to have your 4 grand speakers with a £50 mic, so some chav can shout & scream down it, then put the mic in front of the speaker causing extreme feedback ?

[abyssdjhire]

now ask yourself why i would let ANYONE use my mic, nevermind a chav? come on, be reasonable here.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

bit of a strange theory there though... i'd happily spend £4k on speakers, but not a chance i'd spend more than £50 on a mic... £150 on a wireless mic set, at a push!



To me Liam, that's even more of a strange theory....

But then we've learned to agree to disagree on that.. :)

[abyssdjhire]

indeed ;) but then at the same time, you know yourself that we dont use mics :)

[Sapphire Disco]

Original post: They want to do some Karaoke.

[abyssdjhire]

yes, they do, but i dont... so whats wrong with me having a £50 mic? i was merely saying that your £30 on a mic = £500-£1000 on speakers theory was a bit daft.

besides, what difference is using a £200 mic going to make to a chav shouting and screaming, then placing it infront of the speakers as opposed to a £50 one? theyre still both going to bugger things up.

end of the day though, if you're doing (or planning to do) karaoke gigs, then you have to take that risk and maybe put some form of protection in place to help prevent damage

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Liam, you've already agreed in another thread that you would need the mic in certain scenarios, so would it not be better to use a decent mic to match your decent sound system?

[abyssdjhire]

of course, but £50 doesnt necessarily mean crap :) as i said above, you know yourself that we use a mic extremely rarely... so theres no real need for an expensive mic for it to not get used.

but then again, thats just me - others will use them more, and therefore would benefit from a better quality mic.

[mg ents]

It's not that we are going to get a mic for £30, it's just that I saw the offer with the boom stand, and though that I would get the mics just for karaoke, but wanted to know if they would be crap, they are made by shure, but I know that the sm58 are good, I saw those with the stands at £69, would it be better off getting those then. As for the Mackies, we've got a budget of £1000. Moving on....ha ha! I've been advised to get a yamaha mixing desk, cause I'll be singing aswell - not karaoke, but cabaret - (but will be paying a couple of hundred for a good mic).
I saw 2 Kam Scanners and a kam GOBO or sumthin, with a lighting desk for3£350- again, is that a good price, or are we better off just geting some falcons - saw a couple of baby falcons for £98 are those any good?

Mike

[BeerFunk]

Don't see why you would need scanners and a lighting desk for karaoke - it's not even necessary for disco. A few decent DMX linkable effects produce a good self-automated show - the Abstract Twister 4's look great when linked together

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Agree with Beerfunk.

Or you might be better off with some LED pars, colour changers or colourfloods.

[Paul James Promotions]

A pair of Mania EF3's and a pair of LED pars would be a good place to start.

[abyssdjhire]

most led pars need a desk to function in any kind of linked manner

[Paul James Promotions]

most led pars need a desk to function in any kind of linked manner

Well, yes, but they work pretty well on their own too.

[ian8limelight]

I know a few people who use the SRM450's from Mackie and are very happy with them.

Might be an idea to start off with a pair of those, then buy a single matching sub.

I've had a pair of Mackie SRM450's for a couple of years and am very, very pleased with them.

[abyssdjhire]

Well, yes, but they work pretty well on their own too.

not in sound to light they dont... well, the ones we supply dont anyway. in all honesty, theyre ****e in sound to light. very good for ambient lighting when theyre in fade mode, but theyre absolutely excellent when controlled by a dmx controller :)

[Paul James Promotions]

not in sound to light they dont... well, the ones we supply dont anyway. in all honesty, theyre ****e in sound to light. very good for ambient lighting when theyre in fade mode, but theyre absolutely excellent when controlled by a dmx controller :)

I have the Showtec Par 64 ones (new version with black back plate as opposed to white). Stand alone is a bit better on the new version. Used all 4 on a large show last weekend, looked really nice behind a band, even in just a single colour with dimmer chases etc...

[dj_ags]

Looking good Jamie :thumbs_up :teeth:

[abyssdjhire]

yep they do look good.. theyve obviously updated the s2l programming in them. the first version dont even link together without a dmx controller! i'll have to see if our suppliers have got the new version yet.. would think theyre pretty much the same

very smart setup there though :)

[Paul James Promotions]

They don't link as Master / Slave, even the new versions :(

There were problems with the old version, most developed a fault where a line of the green LED's would fail (probrably poor solder joints).

[abyssdjhire]

yep i know of the fault... all the ones we supply are void of that one now though :) have been for a while.

its an easily repairable problem though, but dont ask me how, i cant remember off hand!

[Paul James Promotions]

yep i know of the fault... all the ones we supply are void of that one now though :) have been for a while.

its an easily repairable problem though, but dont ask me how, i cant remember off hand!

Probrably just go over all the solder points....

[abyssdjhire]

no it was a little more in depth i think, but not much more...