Good Gig, Bad Gig.

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Originally Posted by Nakatomi

So, NOBODY is making mixers with mic channels suitable for mobile DJs anymore then. With the possible exception of ADJ...

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I wish one of the manufacturers would actually sit and gain feedback from Mobile DJs on what they want from a controller. In this day and age it can't be too difficult. I know the mobile market is relatively small, but would surely be worth their while.

The Numark NS6ii is what has caught my eye at the moment - although it still won't play direct from a usb stick, it has mic controls and you can plug 2 laptops in via usb, which I think is a necessity. I think I am right in thinking the controllers out there where you can play from a usb stick does not have any input for a keyboard or search facilities which makes it kind of useless for mobile work.

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Originally Posted by Nakatomi

So, NOBODY is making mixers with mic channels suitable for mobile DJs anymore then. With the possible exception of ADJ...

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My Numark C2 works very nicely with wired and wireless mics.

But as you say, a new thread probably required.

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Originally Posted by Nakatomi

Looking at Denon's specs they're designing mic preamps for a studio rather than a live environment. The MC6000 MK1 has a mic input sensitivity adjustable between -54dBV (5.6mV) & -34dbV (56mV). The MK2 goes between -60dBU (2.6mV) and -16dBU (347mV). The DN-X500 on the other hand... -54dBV (5.6mV), same as the MC6000 - very very easy to clip if you don't know what you're doing. An excitable DJ on a wired dynamic mic is probably going to produce something in the region of 50mV so the usable range of your mic gain control has been reduced to OFF < Just a hair off OFF. This needs its own thread really.

So, NOBODY is making mixers with mic channels suitable for mobile DJs anymore then. With the possible exception of ADJ...

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Interesting.

I'm selling my mk1 just now and have a pal who is interested but a bit wary of the mic issues.

I told him it takes a bit of tweaking but once youve got it sorted it's not an issue. I need to mess with the eq quite a bit at every gig but I've not got the mic gain stages at a point where I've not clipped them for 18+ months.

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Originally Posted by Jim - Scotland's Party DJ

Interesting.

I'm selling my mk1 just now and have a pal who is interested but a bit wary of the mic issues.

I told him it takes a bit of tweaking but once youve got it sorted it's not an issue. I need to mess with the eq quite a bit at every gig but I've not got the mic gain stages at a point where I've not clipped them for 18+ months.

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The trick I found is to start with the mc6000 master volume at 12 o clock. Set the mics to 0 and enable a channel. Talk into the mic & increase the input level until you reach a point where your speech is peaking at 0 or 3db on the output meters.

Then go to your playout & adjust the master volume (not the mc6000 volume) so you have a reasonable amount of travel on the channel fader and be able to keep the output out of the red.

Voila! Works for me every time.

Of course early doors when very loud microphone use isn't needed I 'dial' myself back but leave the input gains where they are.

If you go the other way & try to adjust the mic gain to reach the level of the music channels you'll never get there without clipping. That's quite a nasty flaw if you haven't figured out how to work with it.

The soundcard side of the controller is very hot - if I was to leave vdj's master full on, even with the mc6000 master only at 12 o clock the music easily hits 0db on the output meters well before the channel fader has even reached halfway up.

To get this thread back on track, last night I had a annual charity fundraiser I do, quite a prestigious event with a few celebs etc.

Anyway, nothing really to write home about apart from the auction where one item was a football top (signed, authenticated etc) which went for £6.5k. Now I have auctioned many items which have reached 4 figures but never to this amount and I can safely say I have never felt so much pressure in my life. I was :Censored::Censored::Censored::Censored:ing myself for any last second bids when ending the auction, but luckily all ended well.

As a thank you I also got myself a sports car weekend (which I do normally receive from them) which is a nice bonus and a 'same again next year' from the organiser which was lovely too :)

Next Monday sees me doing the a Mayors Ball for 1200 people, which is the first time I have totally hired myself out to purely host an event, no doubt I will be as nervous as hell during the build up but really looking forward to it. Only agenda I really have is, turn up, say a few words, hand over to mayor and any other speakers, introduce band, eat, auction, band second set, auction, thank you and goodnight. Sounds simple ;);)

This is starting to feel like a full-time job...third time out in a week :)

Local primary school disco tonight - 180 kids literally bouncing and cheering all the way through....if only adults could behave that way :confused:
Just two more gigs to go before the big Ho Ho Ho :)

Last night was the first of three Christmas Parties.

I decided to go away last week for a week away in Tenerife, so wasn't around for the first week of Christmas Parties.

One company, with about 50 staff. Always a bit risky when it's one company and not a larger joiner party - especially on a Thursday!

Turns out that today is a 'team building day' for the company, so they weren't in a rush to go home thankfully.

Background music started at 6pm as guests arrived, but they didn't serve desert until 9:30pm as there had been a delay with the main course! But guests had already got up and had a dance between courses!

So at 10pm as the coffee was being served it was time to turn it up - 2 hours to cram in the classics! Went down well, although the typical Christmas Party issue of a mix of guests all with different requirements.

The 'young girls' (in their 20s) who wanted modern music, but didn't want to dance when it came on!

The sign of a good night is when you go from hero to zero after the last song ends, and you then become the world's worst DJ for not playing another song!

I was glad to still have a full dancefloor at 12 midnight on a Thursday evening Christmas Party!

As it was a smallish venue, and there were known issues with a nearby resident with noise, I took the Maui 5s, and was pleasantly surprised with how well they performed. Ideal for the situation, as they don't produce any of the very deep bass that travels, so all in all went well.

Tonight and tomorrow are in the same venue, but different to yesterday's venue.

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Originally Posted by rth_discos

As it was a smallish venue, and there were known issues with a nearby resident with noise, I took the Maui 5s, and was pleasantly surprised with how well they performed.

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It's always surprising how well they perform. They have no right to do so. Mine coped with 150 sixth formers without cries of " turn it up ". They'd reached their limit at that point, although still no red lights.

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Originally Posted by rth_discos

Ideal for the situation, as they don't produce any of the very deep bass that travels, so all in all went well.

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I don't ever feel they're short of bass, although it's not the type that shakes glasses off the bar.

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Originally Posted by Excalibur

It's always surprising how well they perform. They have no right to do so. Mine coped with 150 sixth formers without cries of " turn it up ". They'd reached their limit at that point, although still no red lights.



I don't ever feel they're short of bass, although it's not the type that shakes glasses off the bar.

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I've been feeling like I'm trying to get too much out of mine this week....may be just me getting deaf in my old age (may also be due to the MX7000 being a bit hot and showing reds on the main output despite the Maui's sounding just fine).

Going to take the DXR15's out tonight just for a bit of fun ;)

Tonight then was yet another corporate function in one of the majestic Cambridge colleges.

Now...those who have worked in these places will understand what I mean when I say they're not designed for mobile DJs, bands or anyone else needing to get large and bulky equipment into the place....even with this particular function room which is only a couple of years old.

Access once at the function room (which was downstairs via a lift which travelled at a quarter of the speed of smell), was a piece of cake.....once you'd got from the van to the building. THAT was where the problem was with this one.

As usual, I arrived, reported to the Porters Lodge (it's all very old fashioned and official) and told where to drive via a nice little coloured map. Basically follow the road to the rugby pitch and there's a "hardstanding" which I needed to drive onto....followed by some of that matting stuff that goes under grass. The problem....the matting stopped at the edge of the rugby pitch and it was then a 200 yard dash with the Rock 'n' Roller over said pitch to reach where I needed to be....

Now I KNOW why I purchased the all terrain jobby!

Got into the function room in good time, set up, sound checked, and waited.....and waited....and waited......

Now I'm well used to these events. They go for a sumptuous meal in the great halls where various famous and noted people have dined before them (Prince Edward in this case amongst others), and then eventually retire for drinks and dancing. I was supposed to start work at 9pm....I actually hit play at 10:45 - so a grand total of 1 hour and 15 minutes of actual DJ time.....hey ho.

BUT - the 1 hour and 15 minutes consisted nearly entirely of 70s classics and absolutely no sign of any of the modern day rubbish! With a full dance floor the rugby pitch suddenly seemed like a worthwhile struggle - I enjoyed this one :)

Home time came around....lots of thanks and handshakes and the bar manager even assisted me to the van with the kit....nice chap and on a bitterly cold night with the grass crunching beneath the boots.....I wasn't going to refuse.

So....time to defrost myself with a couple of quick Christmas brandies before a night off tomorrow, then Sunday afternoon is a child orientated family function which I've done for the past several years, usually involves a lot of winding up with sleigh bells and ho-ho-ho stings before the arrival of a chap in a red suit with a bag of presents....then that's it until Valentine's :)