PDA

View Full Version : sound limiter



Sapphire Disco
09-08-2006, 09:05 PM
Have to do a wedding soon where there is a sound limiter, never had to deal with this before, some advice please. Is it worth taking subs or shall I just use tops ? any tips on keep sound reasonable without tripping limiter it's set at 98 dbls apparently, not sure I would have done it had i know before, I will worry all night I will go over the top without realising. I do tend to go louder as the dance floor fills.

DMX Will
09-08-2006, 09:12 PM
Never had to deal with this at a wedding, or hotel before, but when I have we've taken power from a source that isnt protected by the sound limiter.

Another thing to do is before you start keeping turning it up until the limiter kicks the power off, make a note of the levels on your mixer/amp and make sure you don't go above these levels again (NB take note of the level on the monitor on the mixer too (the LEDs ;))

Alex - Cream Ents
09-08-2006, 09:21 PM
I would be inclined to say leave the bass bins at home as you will find yourself cutting the low end out on the mixer all night. 98dB is not very loud, when you talk normally its 45-50dB, so you have to keep a close eye on them. Normally there will be a set of LED lights that warn you when its getting too loud, sometimes even crowd chanting or clapping can push the level too high so its just a case of being vigilent and not pushing your luck too much.

Adam_F
09-08-2006, 09:25 PM
As Will said, use a power supply thats no where near the limiter, (take a long extension lead with you) that way you'll be safe from cutting out.

Alex - Cream Ents
09-08-2006, 09:29 PM
Well yes you could do that, but I'm sure about 25 people will now tell you why and how that's illegal and upsetting residents et al...

Sapphire Disco
09-08-2006, 09:30 PM
As Will said, use a power supply thats no where near the limiter, (take a long extension lead with you) that way you'll be safe from cutting out.

Don't think I will get away with that at this place :sad:
Sounds to me I will have to keep an eye on the base :mad:

Alex - Cream Ents
09-08-2006, 09:33 PM
If that's the case just do what you have to do and if anybody complains either point them to the box on the wall with the lights in or if you think that's too technical for them - the venue management...that's what I always do.

leighinstoke
09-08-2006, 09:48 PM
As Al says, leave the subs at home and also Will says check your levels, etc, before you start - sounds ideal but to be honest, that's pointless as you will have an empty room of which the characteristics will change once the guests arrive, so any early setting you made and level you discovered will usually have changed.

Also kids screaming, balloons popping, the crowd singing along, sudden sounds, etc, can trip these systems. In this age of double glazing and UPVC, they serve little purpose and should be outlawed but they are often tied (sometimes ficticiously!) to licences....

The old "I'll take the power from elsewhere" - good luck - venue staff are known to police these systems as it their life depends on it - so trying to pick up power from elsewhere either works if you don't get spotted or they will treat you like an idiot and insist you MUST use the power points controlled by the system.

(You will probably get stories told of people who tried, the last DJ who did this, that and the other.....)

Remember - once you do get your sound levels set - your mic also contributes - so take that into account too.

Happy warning light riding!

Leigh....

Corabar Entertainment
09-08-2006, 09:49 PM
Unfortunately, as alstewartle has said, it's often the crowd singing along, or clapping, or jumping around that pushes everything over the sound limit..... other than pulling your volume right down so it looks like a cheesy sing-a-long, there's not a lot you can do about that.

leighinstoke
09-08-2006, 09:59 PM
Only revenge is, once you've had a night riding the limiter lights (keeping in the Yellow as most are 'Sound Control' manufactured units I've discovered), play a good sing-a-long as your final 'going home' track and get the crowd to trip the system - then start packing up and get off home, happy in the fact that it's not just you who can trip it.

Leigh....

Alex - Cream Ents
09-08-2006, 10:03 PM
Ah yes plus if you get "Play one more mate", oh no the power has tripped.

£5 says its a "Formula Sound" unit. Sad I know but unfortunately we've had to start doing "Sound Mapping" in night clubs to measure levels and somehow alter the system to make it comply with the unrealistic HS laws.

Example

It can be (these are not exact as I cant remember exact figures) 105dB on the dancefloor, but only 75dB at the bar...in most venues the bar is NEXT to the dancefloor. YAY. FUN.

A1DL
09-08-2006, 10:07 PM
You could always take your own genny :lightbulb

But some venues have their limiters set to put all the house lights on if the limiter trips :omg: so that woudl kill the atmosphere :embarasse



On a serious note, what sort of venue is it? If it's a hotel you may find a 32 tucked away somewhere in the function room, the limiters I've seen are only ever on the 13s

So that COULD be a legit way around said problem :lightbulb

Alex - Cream Ents
09-08-2006, 10:11 PM
Its not a problem as such, the client booked the venue, you're complying to the requirements of the venue. Therefore if they want full on dancefloor effect - tough!

Have a disco
09-08-2006, 10:56 PM
Bah humbug to limiters am doing wedding booking next monday and it has one feel like smashing it up as it goes of at anything even people walking accross the wooden dance floor

DMX Will
09-08-2006, 11:42 PM
If your wanting to take power from another place, and the hotel staff catch you, tell them you'll blow the fuse if you take all your power from the one circuit, if you ramble aload of other technical rubbish along those lines about power consumption and use lots of figures like "if i draw the 8kw of power I need from that socket...". Then you simply run spare extensions from the limiter power, and hide them somewhere unused, with nothing plugged in :D

Failing that, remember the level being low isnt your fault, and its not a rave, its a wedding so there shouldn't be too many requests for volume increases.

A1DL
09-08-2006, 11:45 PM
If your wanting to take power from another place, and the hotel staff catch you, tell them you'll blow the fuse if you take all your power from the one circuit, if you ramble aload of other technical rubbish along those lines about power consumption and use lots of figures like "if i draw the 8kw of power I need from that socket...". Then you simply run spare extensions from the limiter power, and hide them somewhere unused, with nothing plugged in :D




done that a few times over the years :teeth:

dolly
10-08-2006, 12:22 PM
Is there a 'noise limit' for us mobile dj's?

Corabar Steve
10-08-2006, 05:52 PM
Is there a 'noise limit' for us mobile dj's?
Only in venues whee limiters are installed for some or other reason, usually moaning neighbours

leighinstoke
10-08-2006, 06:23 PM
Only in venues whee limiters are installed for some or other reason, usually moaning neighbours


.....who, as I said, probably moaned before their uPVC windows were installed. :sad:


Leigh...

paul2309
11-08-2006, 12:59 AM
If I know there is a sound limiter, I usually introduce the guests to it during my welcome, and let them know that if everything suddenly goes off, it will be Mr. soundlimiter that is responsible.

Paul James Promotions
11-08-2006, 02:11 AM
Welcome to the forum Paul. Why not introduce yourself in the 'newbies' section? :D

DJ Spinko
28-08-2006, 01:28 AM
Sound limiters, don't you just hate them.

Just finished a gig at the Ex-Servicemens Club in Wymondham.
They have a limiter and only tripped it once during the evening, however if I had been clever this would not have happened, see below.
The real pig is that throughout the whole of the evening you are constantly looking at the damm thing to see it's warning lights
Also as it was Sunday they pulled the " we've only got a Music license to 11pm and it must finish by then" angle.
The people whose party it was were not happy as they had been told a midnight finish. I'm certain if they had known that they would not have booked the place.

Now, the people who fitted the limiter seemed to be a bit cleverer than the average installer. It has a 'limiter' on the limiter whereby you can plug your speaker comnnections from your mixer, into a technical box, and if you go over the noise level on your mixer, the limiter box will only allow the maximum noise level to go to your speakers.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough length/correct connectors on the leads I had to go to the box and then to the speakers but if booked there again will make sure I have the leads I need.

Cris
DJ Spinko