Remote music in another room

[RobbieD 0]

I though some of you may be interested in this.

 

Occasionally customers ask for me to provide music in another room.

 

The simplest way to provide this is with a discman (or Ipod) plugged in to a powered speaker. This works well for pre-event drinks in a reception area before the guests come through in to the main hall for a diner dance, for example.

 

But sometimes it may be that the bar is in a different room, and the client would still like the disco to be audible. The obvious solution is to run a long length of speaker cable to the other room, but this can involve lots of time (and gaffer tape!) and may not be practical if there is a hall in between.

 

My solution has been to use a radio mic type UHF link. I have a Sennheiser "plug-on" type transmitter which is designed to convert any normal mic to a wireless mic. By switching in an attenuator, this can be plugged in to any XLR line output to send your sound.

http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/9620/transmitter3dq.jpg

 

Then the receiver can be plugged in to a powered speaker, and your good to go!

 

For background applications I use a small "belt pack"/"camera mount" type receiver clipped to the back of a powered hi-fi speaker as it is small/discreet/low-cost when not much volume is required.

http://img431.imageshack.us/img431/6089/receiver29uw.jpg

 

A standard rack mount receiver on, say, a Mackie SRM450 would work well if more volume were needed.

 

If the main disco can also be heard in the remote room, then it helps to "time align" the remote speaker with the main system by using a digital delay. Use 1mS per foot, plus an additional 5mS, for best results. This prevents the remote speaker being out of time to the bass coming from the main room. I use an output on a DBX Driverack 260, but you could use something as simple as a Behringer Shark (around £60).

 

I've found this type of link to to work well at 30M with the Sennheiser kit. A diversity receiver would probably give a little more range.

[brianmole 0]

Nice one, good to hear a pro solution to a common problem. Have you had any issues like steve's taxi bleeding all over the remote speaker for example?

 

Good to hear someone talking about using delays too http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/cool.gif I now know the formula and how to implement it! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

[FDDJ 0]

Carlsbro had a new wireless solution at PLASA. The only drawback was the price....£499.99... http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/fear.gif

 

This seems a much more sensible option!

Edited October 11, 2005 by StevJam

[Gary 0]

Whats the price, frequency and "by the book" range of this solution?

[FDDJ 0]

If you are referring to the Carlsbro product Gary full details can be found here:

 

Liberty Wireless System

 

The spec is:

 

2.4GHz (License Free), Full Range Uncompressed Audio Wireless System

 

Stereo Transmitter With Left And Right Receivers ; Multiple Receivers Can Be Used With One Transmitter

 

Dual Diversity, Twin Antenna System

 

50 User Selectable Channels

 

Receivers Have Frequency Scan Fucntion To Fine And Lock On To Transmitter Signal

 

Output Level Control On Transmitter

 

Mute Button On All Units

 

Large, Backlit LCD Display Showing Selected Channel And Signal Strength

 

Balanced XLR/Jack Input And Output Connections

 

DC Power Supply Included

 

Rugged Steel Casing

 

Easy To Use, Intuitive User Interface

[Gary 0]

ah, I meant the first one mentioned. Sorry, I should have clarified that.

 

[RobbieD 0]

QUOTE (brianmole @ Oct 10 2005, 08:12 PM)

Have you had any issues like steve's taxi bleeding all over the remote speaker for example?

Nope. At least not that I'm aware of - the remote speaker is normally in another room, so I can't be certain that this has never happened. But this is a UHF radio mic system, which are generally solid links. (As opposed to VHF radio mic systems which are more prone to interference.)

 

QUOTE (Gary @ Oct 11 2005, 09:33 AM)

Whats the price, frequency and "by the book" range of this solution?

This is a Sennheiser EW100 system that can be set to over 1000 different UHF frequencies 836-870MHz by going in to the menu - but many would need a licence to use. However it comes preset with 4 frequencies that are licence free in the UK, and I have never changed these.

 

Sennheiser say in the manual that the range is dependent on location, but can vary between 10-150M - quite a wide variation! At 30M through a couple of walls I find that the signal strength on the receiver it at around half, but the sound is fine with no audible noise or interference (they quote a 110db dynamic range). The transmitter is 30mW.

 

There are several different transmitters - plug on (like mine), belt pack (for use with a tie clip mic, but can also take a line input) and standard radio mics. Receivers can be rack mount diversity (ie two antennas for improved reception) or belt pack (as shown in my pic).

 

The system I have has been replaced by the G2 series which sell for around £300-£400 for a transmitter and receiver set.

 

Older sets like mine can be found used on Ebay for around £150-£200 transmitter and receiver.

 

Similar systems are available from Shure and Sony. At the budget end Samson, Audio Technica, AKG and JTS also have similar systems for under £200, but these are generally fixed frequency.

 

Unlike the Carlsbro product Steve mentions, this is only a mono solution (unless you buy two!).

 

[Digital discos 0]

Hmm a cheaper option would be to get the sky transmitters/receivers for sending sky round rooms in a big house. They work v.well up to 50 metres away.

[YourBigEvent 0]

NEVER go for the cheap option, go for the best option, if it means spending a couple of uid more than it will be worth it.

[FDDJ 0]

QUOTE (ADS Entertainments @ Oct 16 2005, 10:37 AM)

NEVER go for the cheap option, go for the best option, if it means spending a couple of uid more than it will be worth it.

I agree with Andy on this one, I bought a cheap TV/Audio sender thingy from eBay and it is a pile of http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/pooh.gif

 

Although I balked at the price of the Carlsbro unit, having now actually read what it does and the flexibility it has it looks like a good bit of kit!

 

I'm sure in a years time it will be a bit cheaper and worth a purchase.

[RobbieD 0]

Just an update to this:

 

To set the scene...

 

A hotel that I do occasionally has the bar in a seperate room to the disco.

 

Anyone who has worked in a similar venue will know what effect this has. - When ever I had played there in the past, at various points in the evening, particularly if I "lost the floor" for any reason, the majority of people would disappear in to the other room. Then, it would be very hard to get them back, as however good/popular the music I was playing, they couldn't even hear it.

 

So the last couple of times I played in that function room in the summer, I put the remote speaker in the bar, set to a lower level than the disco - loud background type level so it could be heard above all the talking in the bar.

 

The effect to me seemed to be more people in the function room with the disco all night, and no mass disappearances to the bar.

 

So, to the update....

 

I had a several more functions at this venue in December. When I arrived for the first, the function manager remembered me as "the DJ that put the speaker in the bar". He asked if I would be putting a speaker in the bar again, saying that due to the fact the Disco could be heard in the bar, they took much more money over the bar.

 

I shrugged this off, because my perception was that people must have spent less time in the bar, as they has been in with the disco more.

 

However at the end of the night he said the same thing - that the bar takings were higher as people could hear the disco in the bar. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

 

I did a few more functions in this room during December and they had other disco's on the nights I didn't do. Each time the manager was enthusiastic about my speaker in the bar. (Not to say he wasn't enthusiastic about my DJ'ing as well!)

 

After a few nights of watching the customers more closely, and talking to the function manager one night it seems that this is what is really going on:

 

Normally (ie. no speaker) in the bar they get big rushes of people, that the bar can't cope with, followed by long spells of hardly anyone in the bar. At the same time I had experienced (without the bar speaker) times where almost everyone left the room and went in to the bar. Apparently it was a long time before they came back, because it took them a long time to get served.

 

With the speaker in the bar, the bar experienced a more even, continuos, flow of people in and out of the bar all night, and I didn't get the "room emptying" effect. My theory is that people didn't wait for a song they didn't like before going to get a drink, as they knew they could still hear the music in the bar.

 

So if all the above makes sense, I wanted to point out that the remote speaker wasn't only a benefit to me, as I thought, but was also a benefit to the venue that they remembered!

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

(Sorry for the long post.)