I recently attended a New Year's Dinner where a DJ was used. The sound was just terrible, No bottom end or even Midbass, just a "honking" resonant sound that was highly distorted.
Earlier in the summer I also attended a wedding and was treated to sound that was just as bad.
Has anyone ever heard good sound from DJs? Why do they choose such wretched speakers!
A few years ago, at the last minute I decided to add some music to a dinner for approx 300. I simply rounded up my Larger VMPS subs, put a pair friend's Cerwin Vegas with 15" woofers and a couple of tweeters from the late 70's on top. Dropped in a crossover at 80 Hz, Pooged Magnavox 582, Borbeley 60s for the top and a Leach Low TIM for the bottom. Folks were contnually commenting how good the sound was! Are DJs deaf?
Earlier in the summer I also attended a wedding and was treated to sound that was just as bad.
Has anyone ever heard good sound from DJs? Why do they choose such wretched speakers!
A few years ago, at the last minute I decided to add some music to a dinner for approx 300. I simply rounded up my Larger VMPS subs, put a pair friend's Cerwin Vegas with 15" woofers and a couple of tweeters from the late 70's on top. Dropped in a crossover at 80 Hz, Pooged Magnavox 582, Borbeley 60s for the top and a Leach Low TIM for the bottom. Folks were contnually commenting how good the sound was! Are DJs deaf?
Actually Cerwin Vega are DJ Speakers. 
They are definitly not Home Audio, and no way close
to Touring Speakers.
As with any speaker, you have top of the line, and, low
line brands.
Also, keep in mind, not everyone knows what sounds good
and what doesn't (Customers buying Stereo's at Circuit
City, Best Buy, or Radio Shack is a prime example)
So, the next time you go to an event and the DJ sounds
terrible, try to educate him/her. If that doesn't work, go
to your nearest Sam Ash, or Guitar Center, and purcahse
ear plugs.
They are definitly not Home Audio, and no way close
to Touring Speakers.
As with any speaker, you have top of the line, and, low
line brands.
Also, keep in mind, not everyone knows what sounds good
and what doesn't (Customers buying Stereo's at Circuit
City, Best Buy, or Radio Shack is a prime example)
So, the next time you go to an event and the DJ sounds
terrible, try to educate him/her. If that doesn't work, go
to your nearest Sam Ash, or Guitar Center, and purcahse
ear plugs.
Yes..I have heard good sound from a DJ...every time I play a gig.Mikett said:
Seriously, a lot of them have no clue as to how to set a system up, they are in it for the living..and a lot of the systems they can buy are just boxes with a woofer, some piezo tweets, and a midrange horn. Major headache, lots of those boxes.
I have found over the years, that the best thing that could be done for their systems is to boost their eq at 40 hz about 12 dB..boost 10 and 20K about 12 dB...Drop the entire rest of the audio band about 6 dB... and then stuff a bar napkin into the ******* midrange horns.
And a lot of the DJ's clip their amps too much, and if they had a decent non piezo tweet....it's long gone...
Many also eq the system so the handheld mike doesn't feedback...sometimes they have to use an omni because anyone who has to use the mike generally keeps it too far from their mouth to use a decent cardoid...
That, unfortunately, makes the system unintelligable...there are songs from late 70's that I can identify from the first drumbeat, and when it takes me 15 seconds to figure out that they're playing "Disco Inferno" instead of "Born to be Alive".....that's bad..
It is an unfortunate fact that most of those "wretched" speakers are that way either for cost, or robustness...as their customers..people like me...abuse the crap outta them..
My small speaks are eminence delta 12's with a selenium dt201ti 2" compression driver x'overd at 5Khz, 3rd order..good for 300 wrms all day and night..even handles ME while I watch the BPM indicator on the amp face (the red one that blinks)
Cheers, John
reply
Whilist your on the topic of bad sounding dj speakers,hence the long page.........
Well every year i go to Notting Hill Carnival in London,UK and there is always one stack which sounds so terrible.
Treble stinging your ear with ear bleeding hsssssss sounds,midrange sounding like it's through a megaphone and bass all distorted and you can hear the drivers hitting the back plate.
Just shows the DJ cares more about their top notch mixer,amps and decks and eqs and use lousy speakers--100 piezo tweeters in a large array,6 inch and 8 inch mids in an array and about 8 scoop bass bins and w bins[all old,with rusty metal grilles,and squashed in dustcaps].
The only reason i hang around this soundsystem is because of the rare roots reggae being played ain't played anywhere alse in the carnival and watching them blow up speakers also can be funny. 
Now about good sounding dj/pa speakers-- i own a pair of Behringer Eurolive B1520 pa speakers, 260w rms, 50hz-18khz not the most pro but they sound very good.
Opening them i discovered they have very good quality components inside.... Beyma 15 inch bass driver,Selenium 1 inch titanium horn on custom made behringer fiberglass horn,custom made crossover[ two inductors 1 air cored,1 iron cored,4 capacitors all polyproplene 600v,1 resistor 20w and a miniture lightbulb all on blue PCB board]And crossover point is 1.8khz.
And the dual speakons on metal plate has a biampable switch to bi amp them.Only downside is the weight cos they are made of 1 inch thick E1 MDF instead of 3/4 ply,at least it ain't chipboard thank goodness.
And driven with QSC RMX1450 power amp 280w rms into 8 ohm.
They sound excellent in the treble,very good in the bass end ,and fairly good in midrange although boosting upper midrange with 31 band eq helps.:
Whilist your on the topic of bad sounding dj speakers,hence the long page.........
Well every year i go to Notting Hill Carnival in London,UK and there is always one stack which sounds so terrible.
Treble stinging your ear with ear bleeding hsssssss sounds,midrange sounding like it's through a megaphone and bass all distorted and you can hear the drivers hitting the back plate.
Just shows the DJ cares more about their top notch mixer,amps and decks and eqs and use lousy speakers--100 piezo tweeters in a large array,6 inch and 8 inch mids in an array and about 8 scoop bass bins and w bins[all old,with rusty metal grilles,and squashed in dustcaps].
The only reason i hang around this soundsystem is because of the rare roots reggae being played ain't played anywhere alse in the carnival and watching them blow up speakers also can be funny.
Now about good sounding dj/pa speakers-- i own a pair of Behringer Eurolive B1520 pa speakers, 260w rms, 50hz-18khz not the most pro but they sound very good.
Opening them i discovered they have very good quality components inside.... Beyma 15 inch bass driver,Selenium 1 inch titanium horn on custom made behringer fiberglass horn,custom made crossover[ two inductors 1 air cored,1 iron cored,4 capacitors all polyproplene 600v,1 resistor 20w and a miniture lightbulb all on blue PCB board]And crossover point is 1.8khz.
And the dual speakons on metal plate has a biampable switch to bi amp them.Only downside is the weight cos they are made of 1 inch thick E1 MDF instead of 3/4 ply,at least it ain't chipboard thank goodness.
And driven with QSC RMX1450 power amp 280w rms into 8 ohm.
They sound excellent in the treble,very good in the bass end ,and fairly good in midrange although boosting upper midrange with 31 band eq helps.:
Cloth Eared DJ's..........
"Has anyone ever heard good sound from DJs? Why do they choose such wretched speakers! "
Very rarely have I heard good DJ sound.
The typical home/small function DJ systems are typically rotten to the core.
A notable exception was an outdoor rave running per side 2 Mackie active subs and 2 mackie FR cabs - 10,000W total system power.
This system cranked bigtime and was clean, clear and pleasant in the middle of the dance area, and also away from the system anywhere on the property.
In my experience typical DJ's run their systems much too far into overload, and would not know good sound if it were to bite them.
Letting a DJ loose on a club system without limiters is just asking for breakages.
Eric.
"Has anyone ever heard good sound from DJs? Why do they choose such wretched speakers! "
Very rarely have I heard good DJ sound.
The typical home/small function DJ systems are typically rotten to the core.
A notable exception was an outdoor rave running per side 2 Mackie active subs and 2 mackie FR cabs - 10,000W total system power.
This system cranked bigtime and was clean, clear and pleasant in the middle of the dance area, and also away from the system anywhere on the property.
In my experience typical DJ's run their systems much too far into overload, and would not know good sound if it were to bite them.
Letting a DJ loose on a club system without limiters is just asking for breakages.
Eric.
yes, my school (middle school) has these dances where the DJ is my math teacher. hes got the crappiest stereo i have ever heard. all it does is distort, no bass, and piercing high-frequncies. the brick walls of the gym don't help matters either, it echoes so much.
thats why i never go to them anymore. and crappy justin timberlake songs aren't what to play to get people there...
I think my laptop speakers sound a whole lot better than his system...and thats saying something.
-Mike
thats why i never go to them anymore. and crappy justin timberlake songs aren't what to play to get people there...
I think my laptop speakers sound a whole lot better than his system...and thats saying something.
-Mike
Yes, at a friends 21st she hired a DJ, the sound was quite horrible. Trebel that, as Bull said, just grates at your ears, no bass and a midrange that wasn't exactly decisive. They looked like the premade 'party speakers', just a woofer and a horn.
I preferred her brothers band playing instead of it, i think the DJ liked sitting there doing nothing as well.
I preferred her brothers band playing instead of it, i think the DJ liked sitting there doing nothing as well.
I've experienced this at all the bars/clubs i've went to (ok, few of them since i don't like them, but still). The sound system is absolute horror. You get this droning "beat" that's loud and as distorted as it gets, no mids, and no highs. So in the end the only thing you really end up making out is the distortion.
Even a local piano lounge (when it was open) had what could only be described as a below average system at best times.
On top of that, our arena where most of the concerts are held at has HORRID sound (still haven't been to the centennial hall where the more prestige and classical concerts/operas/etc are held, but i've heard good stuff about it).
Even a local piano lounge (when it was open) had what could only be described as a below average system at best times.
On top of that, our arena where most of the concerts are held at has HORRID sound (still haven't been to the centennial hall where the more prestige and classical concerts/operas/etc are held, but i've heard good stuff about it).
This maybe shoud move to everything else....anywho...
I mix sound for a band with some crappy peavey speakers and peavey amps.....sounds as good as they can...I am amazed when I go out on an off weekend and see some band with a rig of jbl's and crown amp's and it sounds like crap. Basically what it comes down to is, some people no what they are doing and some people don't. Every rig has it's place (for the most part) and the people who don't know what they are doing try to get little rigs to to big things. anywho, later.
I mix sound for a band with some crappy peavey speakers and peavey amps.....sounds as good as they can...I am amazed when I go out on an off weekend and see some band with a rig of jbl's and crown amp's and it sounds like crap. Basically what it comes down to is, some people no what they are doing and some people don't. Every rig has it's place (for the most part) and the people who don't know what they are doing try to get little rigs to to big things. anywho, later.
Reply
As a fact I am myself a DISC JOCKEY and even a DIYER
As far as the sound is concerned,NOT every DJ is sound specialist.
But IF u ever got a chance to see my setup at parties then u can bet it upon , it will not lack in any detail according to AUDIOPHILE STANDARDS.
MY DJ setup gear includes
GEMINI Dual CD Changer
GEMINI PM3600MX DJ MIXER with effects processor
GEMINI 16 Band eualizer
STUDIOMASTER Active 3 Way CROSSOVER
and now comes my own made stuff.
4 X Dual 18" Pushpull ELF Subwoofers
4 X DUAL 15" MIDBASS THUMPER Coloumns
4 X 4"x15" High FREquenCy HORNS
1000WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for mids
500WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for highs
3200WRMS IGBT CLASS-D amp for Subs
This setup doesnt sound harsh instead of it sounds with extra Low end soft bass response with clean mids and crisp treble
As far as MACKIE is concerned they are just making money
they offer no sound Quality in their Subwoofers
MACKIE is NOthiNG bUT a CRAP!
All Peaveys are averagers although
As a fact I am myself a DISC JOCKEY and even a DIYER
As far as the sound is concerned,NOT every DJ is sound specialist.
But IF u ever got a chance to see my setup at parties then u can bet it upon , it will not lack in any detail according to AUDIOPHILE STANDARDS.
MY DJ setup gear includes
GEMINI Dual CD Changer
GEMINI PM3600MX DJ MIXER with effects processor
GEMINI 16 Band eualizer
STUDIOMASTER Active 3 Way CROSSOVER
and now comes my own made stuff.
4 X Dual 18" Pushpull ELF Subwoofers
4 X DUAL 15" MIDBASS THUMPER Coloumns
4 X 4"x15" High FREquenCy HORNS
1000WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for mids
500WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for highs
3200WRMS IGBT CLASS-D amp for Subs
This setup doesnt sound harsh instead of it sounds with extra Low end soft bass response with clean mids and crisp treble
As far as MACKIE is concerned they are just making money
they offer no sound Quality in their Subwoofers
MACKIE is NOthiNG bUT a CRAP!
All Peaveys are averagers although
mikees gripes!
im living in new zealand,and there is only ONE event on a year i thought about going to,but it isnt my style of music....and its 1500km away in Auckland,, <its cheaper to travel to Australia ! >
so be thankful you can listen to music you like - ( on crappy speakers albeit )
hehe.
Id like to set up my own event
=eg an oversized party with my own hornsubs
30hz exponential horns coming up this month,im so excited for it LOL
below=my first basshorn (40hz with an 8" )
Cheers all!
im living in new zealand,and there is only ONE event on a year i thought about going to,but it isnt my style of music....and its 1500km away in Auckland,, <its cheaper to travel to Australia ! >
so be thankful you can listen to music you like - ( on crappy speakers albeit )
hehe.
Id like to set up my own event
=eg an oversized party with my own hornsubs
30hz exponential horns coming up this month,im so excited for it LOL
below=my first basshorn (40hz with an 8" )
Cheers all!
Attachments
Re: Reply
Originally posted by amp_man_1
As a fact I am myself a DISC JOCKEY and even a DIYER
As far as the sound is concerned,NOT every DJ is sound specialist.
But IF u ever got a chance to see my setup at parties then u can bet it upon , it will not lack in any detail according to AUDIOPHILE STANDARDS.
MY DJ setup gear includes
GEMINI Dual CD Changer
GEMINI PM3600MX DJ MIXER with effects processor
GEMINI 16 Band eualizer
STUDIOMASTER Active 3 Way CROSSOVER
and now comes my own made stuff.
4 X Dual 18" Pushpull ELF Subwoofers
4 X DUAL 15" MIDBASS THUMPER Coloumns
4 X 4"x15" High FREquenCy HORNS
1000WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for mids
500WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for highs
3200WRMS IGBT CLASS-D amp for Subs
This setup doesnt sound harsh instead of it sounds with extra Low end soft bass response with clean mids and crisp treble
You're using Gemini and you are bagging Mackie ???????.
As far as MACKIE is concerned they are just making money
they offer no sound Quality in their Subwoofers
MACKIE is NOthiNG bUT a CRAP!
All Peaveys are averagers although
The Mackie highest quality gear is well engineered and good, and goes seriously loud for its intended purpose.
peavey should stay with guitar amplifiers.
Originally posted by amp_man_1
As a fact I am myself a DISC JOCKEY and even a DIYER
As far as the sound is concerned,NOT every DJ is sound specialist.
But IF u ever got a chance to see my setup at parties then u can bet it upon , it will not lack in any detail according to AUDIOPHILE STANDARDS.
MY DJ setup gear includes
GEMINI Dual CD Changer
GEMINI PM3600MX DJ MIXER with effects processor
GEMINI 16 Band eualizer
STUDIOMASTER Active 3 Way CROSSOVER
and now comes my own made stuff.
4 X Dual 18" Pushpull ELF Subwoofers
4 X DUAL 15" MIDBASS THUMPER Coloumns
4 X 4"x15" High FREquenCy HORNS
1000WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for mids
500WRMS n-channel mosfet amp for highs
3200WRMS IGBT CLASS-D amp for Subs
This setup doesnt sound harsh instead of it sounds with extra Low end soft bass response with clean mids and crisp treble
You're using Gemini and you are bagging Mackie ???????.
As far as MACKIE is concerned they are just making money
they offer no sound Quality in their Subwoofers
MACKIE is NOthiNG bUT a CRAP!
All Peaveys are averagers although
The Mackie highest quality gear is well engineered and good, and goes seriously loud for its intended purpose.
peavey should stay with guitar amplifiers.
with all this talk of crappy dj speakers, does anyone have any plans/links to some diy speakers I could build for dj use? I've heard good things about both eminence and selenium drivers, but am still too much of a noob to design something myself. If I ended up going active, how easy would it be to toss some drivers in a box and get them to play nicely together?
well, I do PA quite a bit and I have some stories about horrible sound, and all of them are my miskates!
When you are biamping, ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU GOT THE CONNECTIONS RIGHT!! 'Cos if you're using crappy peizos like me and you get the tweeter/woofer connections backwards... oh MAN it sounds bad!
Horn tweeters are your friend, but NOT peizos! Peizos sound horrible all the time, as far as I can tell! Go with horn tweeters that have, y'know, voice coils and magnets on them. They weigh more, but they sound more too!
Woofers are very important... if you have no bass, you will have all kinds of complaints about it. My favorite woofer recipe for PA is to have a 15" woofer mounted in the center of a 19" cube dipole, crossed over at 100hz--this gives the -6dB rolloff below ~70hz, which really tightens up and accentuates the "chest-thumping" reigon when the volume goes up.
Beware, however--this configuration sounds worse and worse as the volume level gets lower and lower. It proves beyond a doubt that high-volume and high-fi are truly antithetical!
Another thing to look into, if you decide you don't want to DIY, is the number of Mackie and JBL --active-- speakers with the LEDs on front... they are almost guaranteed to sound good (until you drive them to clipping) and they're easy as pie to set up. (They're hella expensive though.)
hmm. Maybe now would be a good time to clone these babies.
When you are biamping, ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU GOT THE CONNECTIONS RIGHT!! 'Cos if you're using crappy peizos like me and you get the tweeter/woofer connections backwards... oh MAN it sounds bad!
Horn tweeters are your friend, but NOT peizos! Peizos sound horrible all the time, as far as I can tell! Go with horn tweeters that have, y'know, voice coils and magnets on them. They weigh more, but they sound more too!
Woofers are very important... if you have no bass, you will have all kinds of complaints about it. My favorite woofer recipe for PA is to have a 15" woofer mounted in the center of a 19" cube dipole, crossed over at 100hz--this gives the -6dB rolloff below ~70hz, which really tightens up and accentuates the "chest-thumping" reigon when the volume goes up.
Beware, however--this configuration sounds worse and worse as the volume level gets lower and lower. It proves beyond a doubt that high-volume and high-fi are truly antithetical!
Another thing to look into, if you decide you don't want to DIY, is the number of Mackie and JBL --active-- speakers with the LEDs on front... they are almost guaranteed to sound good (until you drive them to clipping) and they're easy as pie to set up. (They're hella expensive though.)
hmm. Maybe now would be a good time to clone these babies.
Most DJs (I am one, and know a lot) have not the first idea about sound, in any respect. I constantly try to eductae them on the concepts - but quite frankly its an utter waste of time.
DJs just want to play loud for as cheaply as possibly. If they see a cabinet, then they automatically assume that because it has a 15 inch driver in it its automatically going to be incredibly powerful with great low end. As we know, nothing could be further from the truth.
But at least if you book me, I do care about the sound and I would like to think that people dont go away from my gigs faulting it. Every gig involves a sound test when practical, levels are always carefully watched, equipment is not clipped.
If you ever lend PA to a DJ, make sure theres a limiter first thing in the signal path!!! Thats my tip of the day.
DJs just want to play loud for as cheaply as possibly. If they see a cabinet, then they automatically assume that because it has a 15 inch driver in it its automatically going to be incredibly powerful with great low end. As we know, nothing could be further from the truth.
But at least if you book me, I do care about the sound and I would like to think that people dont go away from my gigs faulting it. Every gig involves a sound test when practical, levels are always carefully watched, equipment is not clipped.
If you ever lend PA to a DJ, make sure theres a limiter first thing in the signal path!!! Thats my tip of the day.
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