Equaliser/Mixer

[ThomasPM]

I had the chance to compare my Alto Blacks against another system on Saturday as there was a band performing too,besides the fact that their set up made mine sound like toys (8 year old HK Deacon)i did notice that the highs through my Altos where ear bleedingley awful,i turned the controls on my DDJ-SX2 down to about 9 o'clock which is a Quarter on,however this does not leave me much room for mixing in tracks etc do any of you use a sound mixer like a band would? as i feel i don't have enough room manipulating the sound from my controller,can you recommend a good one which is easy to transport and use?

[RobKennedy]

I've always used Allen and Heath ZED mixers for the bits I've done as they are fairly straightforward analogue mixers and have never let me down.

The other option would be to consider a DSP unit like the Dynacord DSP260 which does pretty much everything, although its quite expensive.

I've done work before where I've had to use a band type mixer to DJ and its doable but I didn't really get on with it personally.

Right tool for the right job would be my thought.

[Excalibur]

Sorry to pour cold water on this, but the only time I'd ever start plugging a live ( band type ) mixer in would be to gain mic channels, or add tone controls to existing mic channels without control built in.
In my very humble opinion, if you're having to apply that level of correction, then something somewhere is wrong.

The Alto Black rig we heard at Coalville wasn't harsh at the top end, in fact it could have stood a little more top end.

Just telling you I think something is wrong doesn't help you a lot, sorry I can't be more help. You're using high end kit, it ought to sound acceptable enough without sticking equalisers in the chain.

As always, my suggestion is to substitute kit to track down errors. Get a mate with a full rig, and feed your Altos from his playout. If that cures it, your playout's at fault. If not, stick his PA on your playout. If that sounds good, then the fault's in the Altos. At least doing that will stop you buying something which may be no use.

[Nakatomi]

Peter's absolutely right Thomas. In audio as with so many other things, in, out. Something is amiss somewhere. In addition to what Peter said, make sure you haven't unknowingly left effects on any of your deck channels in your playout software (which wouldn't last through a restart anyway), and maybe even try other software to make sure it's not the program mucking up the sound. It could also quite easily be a driver issue - I dunno if you use a Mac or Windows machine but if it's a Windows machine the audio driver for your DJ-SX could be messed up somehow.

[ThomasPM]

Thanks guys great advice as always

You have all given me some food for thought i switched from my Mac to my windows machine on Saturday as it was a Gala type affair with lots of background music,i used VDJ instead of Serato as i like the auto mix feature on VDJ for background music,so maybe the windows drivers are messed up i have had problems in the past with VDJ and my pioneer controller so ill do some swapping about and have a good read of the manuals for my Altos see whats going wrong.

Thanks

[DazzyD]

Did I not just read that you're comparing the sound of your Alto's with that of the HK system? HK are renowned for making fabulous-sounding kit and, although I've never heard your Alto Blacks, I'd be surprised if they were comparable. I used to think my old Kam 12in speakers were great until I got my E-1115s! Now they act as a printer stand in the corner of my room!

[Excalibur]

Did I not just read that you're comparing the sound of your Alto's with that of the HK system?

No you didn't.

besides the fact that their set up made mine sound like toys (8 year old HK Deacon)i did notice that the highs through my Altos where ear bleedingley awful,

It doesn't say " in comparison ". I think Thomas is of the belief that the magical FOH mixer used by the band is responsible for the mellifluous tones of the HK, and would make his Altos sound equally sweet.

For what it's worth, I did a gig before Christmas where I took my full LD PA in. Set it up, cranked it up, and thought " Hah. Let's see the band beat that. "

They rocked up with the mother of all HK or RCF touring grade rigs, I forget which. And do you know what? Mine sounded less bad. Not better, just less bad. The acoustics in a huge gymnasium were appalling.

[ThomasPM]

HAHA No i was not comparing them in that way,just thought that the altos sounded harsh overall and the HKs highlighted this and got me thinking,I dont expect my Altos to be any where near the bands set up with or without a mixer

[DazzyD]

No you didn't.



It doesn't say " in comparison ". I think Thomas is of the belief that the magical FOH mixer used by the band is responsible for the mellifluous tones of the HK, and would make his Altos sound equally sweet.

For what it's worth, I did a gig before Christmas where I took my full LD PA in. Set it up, cranked it up, and thought " Hah. Let's see the band beat that. "

They rocked up with the mother of all HK or RCF touring grade rigs, I forget which. And do you know what? Mine sounded less bad. Not better, just less bad. The acoustics in a huge gymnasium were appalling.

HAHA No i was not comparing them in that way,just thought that the altos sounded harsh overall and the HKs highlighted this and got me thinking,I dont expect my Altos to be any where near the bands set up with or without a mixer

Ok, then! Fair enough! I read in to the post that the Altos had been alright up until hearing the HKs then they didn't sound so good hence looking at alternative ways to improve the sound. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong!!

Wait a minute!!

Maybe it was this bit that made me think the way I did!

I had the chance to compare my Alto Blacks against another system on Saturday

[ckpr2]

A live band usually uses microphone mixers which work with low level signals.
The guitars are usually just plugged straight into their amps.
The drummer might be mic'ed up though.

I built my own valve based mixer, it has a single mic channel with high gain and I have 2 stereo line level inputs to the mixer.
It works fine for my needs for a disco.