here is a good one.

[gaza]

I was doing a Wedding at the Priory in Hitchin last night in the Marquee and on arrival i was told that i have to connect my mixer to the venue amp and speaker system that was installed, so i did this and set up and did a quick test. There were two speakers on the floor either side of me and 4 x smaller speakers fixed to the marquee ceiling, when i tested what they sounded like the larger speakers on the floor did not work and the overall volume was not that load, also there was some information attached to the marquee just behind where the Djs set up and on this bit of paper it stated that if i tried to push the sound levels above the level set by the venue the sound would start to distort and would shut of, now the limiter that they had was in another room of the marquee that i could not see ( really clever idea ).
Anyway, after testing the sound and thinking to myself that the sound was not that loud i went to see the lady in charge and told her and she said " what the other Dj does is to use one of his own speakers along with the venue system and position it at the far end of the dancefloor":eek:
So i told her that i either use all of my equipment ( amp and speakers or none of it), in the end i just used the venues system.
What is the point of having all this stuff installed in a venue when it is not up to the job.:Censored:
The sound on the dance floor was just about ok but the guests siting further away could barely hear the music.

[Jonathan Ford]

Nightmare...sounds like you did your best with a bad situation though.

I had a similar thing a few weeks ago, again in a marquee. Not with their sound system, but with a limiter. All day wedding, and I'd already done background music and speeches, and am just ready for the first dance, when the marquee owner walks in and informs me that I have to run the output from my amp through some box linked to his limiter, then on to the speakers! He was under the impression that they were just having an iPod!

I explained to him that I'd have to massively de-rig to do that, and I have to say it got quite heated for a while. The owner claimed that the B and G knew about the limiter, they claimed they didn't, and I certainly didn't!! Anyway, connected the damned thing up, and the noise coming from my speakers is dreadful. I suspect it was a wiring issue...the box had speakon connectors, whereas my output is to 1/4" jack. Anyway, I refused to play on with the sound so distorted, as covered by my terms...so there was a bit of a stand off, but he agreed that I should play on without the limiter rather than ruin the wedding.

The best part was that it turns out the limiter doesn't cut power, it's just a traffic light indicator and requires the DJ to respond to red lights. We worked out after an hour or so of playing (after a delay of around 45 mins due to this faff) that the thing has a microphone and doesn't need to be plugged in at all!!

[Spirits High]

Agree totally if they're going to get an inhouse system please spend some money on adecent one.





I had a similar thing a few weeks ago, again in a marquee. Not with their sound system, but with a limiter.

The best part was that it turns out the limiter doesn't cut power, it's just a traffic light indicator and requires the DJ to respond to red lights. We worked out after an hour or so of playing (after a delay of around 45 mins due to this faff) that the thing has a microphone and doesn't need to be plugged in at all!!

Osmaston Park by any chance?

[DeckstarDeluxe]

I really think something has to be done with venues like this because I reckon in my experience when I've had a gig at a venue like this I've only been told 10% of the time before the day (usually when I spot something at a pre event meeting).

[Jonathan Ford]

Osmaston Park by any chance?

Bingo.

[Andy Goodtimes]

I used to do a venue regularly but then after a few awkward situations with clients I refused to do it again. It was the thistle at Heydock. The Race Course suite inside was fine but outside in the marquee they had an Ohm system through a QSC limiter. The system was useless for the job, I know who fitted it and I reckon they just wanted to shift some kit they already had in stock so they took the mick.

The limiter was one fo those that had no adjustment as it was set using a PC and needed passwords etc. It was in the prep kitchen of the marquee and stashed behind the amps. It got so bad that I used to nip in and just take out the XLRs from the rear of the limiter and connect them into themselves thus bypassing the limiter. One of the managers knew I was up to something and said he didn't care what I did as long as I left it working again as it should at the end of the night, he was so fed up of the clients complaining that the kit was rubbish and nowhere near loud enough for a party. Thing is another manager came and he wasn't playing so I told them to find themselves another DJ. The main problem was that the speakers were the wrong type and poorly sited, for a start they were suspended in-between the marquee roof lining and the actual roof itself and they were rear vented so obviously all the noise went outside, it was actually louder outside the marquee than it was inside and the sound was totally lacking in bass.

The hotel never told the clients about the system and I had no end of unhappy clients telling me the sound was rubbish and to turn it up and so on and it just made it awkward for me to have to deal with them on the night so after trying to talk to the revenue department and offering to sort the system out for them at a resonable price and them refusing I pulled out of the venue completely.

[djdave01]

ive got a venue near me that insists DJ's use there inhouse system too. When it was first installed it was fine, 4 decent speakers on the walls and 2 subs.

ive only been there a couple of times, each time a speaker has stopped working. First one sub, then the other. Last time i has just 2 of the wall speakers on. It sounded terrible and wasnt loud enough, but no one seemed to care

[katman]

When it was first installed it was fine, 4 decent speakers on the walls and 2 subs.

ive only been there a couple of times, each time a speaker has stopped working. First one sub, then the other. Last time i has just 2 of the wall speakers on. It sounded terrible and wasnt loud enough, but no one seemed to care

Wont be long until none of it is working by the sound of it. For something to stop working it wasnt up to the job andhas obviously been overdriven. As soon as something gives out and volume drops a little the DJ who was playing at the time would just push his levels up a bit to compensate ( totally involuntary action) thus driving everything else a bit harder then something else gives....

Just like old fashioned Christmas lights, one bulb goes and it keeps working but if you dont fix the first problem a second goes, then a third and before long it just packs up completely :(

[DJ Jules]

I've been lucky - the only time I've been asked to use a Venue's in house system so far has been in a pub in Clifton where the "In house system" was a pair of Mackie SWA1801's with a pair of SRM450's on top -and it was all working :D

Julian