Let me paint you a mental picture...

Winter wedding
Friday night
65 guests
DJ (me) is MC/Toastmaster
Reception room that comfortably holds 120 seated guests

So, what would you bring in and set up for the reception? OK, if you've read any of my posts here, you'll know that the topic title was a leg pull. Here's the sum total of my rig for the night, which went excruciatingly well:



(Click on the thumbnail)

Comments?

Looks very chic Richard.

how long befor we start to carry oor equipment around in a case like they had on the jetson (he carried his car in it)

I was veeerrrrrry close to only having 4 loads to get the entire system in! Now if I can only make that lighting tripod disappear.....

I would have no problem using this show, I think it fits the bill perfectly.

Top man Richard - Very classy

Did you run the other speaker or just one mono?

Vinnie

Agreed, looks good; but I can imagine the gear-heads going into overdrive with their dismissal of this 'cheap', 'sparce' system .
Richard you do realise this is gonna cause major consternation to any "DJs "attending any of your events

Looks good and probably very functional . I couldnt use it because of the computer. We are getting nailed to the wall by the norwegian authorities if we are seen to have computers with music on and cant produce an original cd\record.

Richard, you're slipping - theres room on your console for at least another 6 inches width to be "taken in".

On a slightly more valid point, do the majority of venues in which you perform, have any of their own lighting (other than the plain ol' white lights)?

A few comments that would really make your show 'pukka' (as they say down here in England). I think the word best could be subsituted also.

So:

Main complaint: Sort the lead out to the acrobat!! Have the power lead, running up behind the acrobat and along the top of the bar.

Extend the leads so that the extension block can be hidden at the very bottom of the tripod. Out of sight.

Get a black mouse! The white on black carpet looks yuk!

Use a rubber walk to keep the leads down behind the PAS.


BUT OTHERWISE GREAT SHOW!!! Just my critical eye!

Oh Dear.........Lighting + Amount of debates

always =






But aside from that, I agree that you don't need a setup which takes 2 hours to assemble and fairground amounts of lighting to be a good (or successful)DJ - Richards availability checker confirms this. Although, I personally would have perhaps used a couple of moonflowers aimed at (and filling) the dancefloor rather than a scanning 'in yer face type of effect - assuming that is what the effect on the right is

Out of interest, and purely for educational purposes, do you ever get to work venues with large / wide stages and if so do you use the same amount of gear or do you just set up in another corner of the room, and ignore the stage?

I think that although Richards setup is cool and well thought out, it is really minimal and I would be afraid of turning up to an event with that lighting. The Speakers really look fantastic and I can't believe you get the sound out of them but as they are bose I would really like to hear them one day (maybe at the plasa show in London in Sep.)

To hide the tripod, why not paint it black and/or put them right behind the bose speaker so at a distance it might look a bit hidden?

But I'm probably going to start a long thread here and I suppose it depends on how much you are charging clients, surely, if you get a lot of recommendations, it is becuase of your MCing, Music and style which is the important bit but surely having a lot more of a lighting setup will maximise the atmosphere that you create too.

When I first started, I used to hire my lights like you have (barrell type scanner and twister) and what you have would be what I started with - I got described as a tin pot dj when the clients looked at my light show before I had even started which made me nervous even more at the start of the evening. That put me off simplistic lights since and lighting symmetry became important.

For a show in that venue I would have used

16 Chameleon 4's
8 MAC500's
4 MAC250's
3 1500w strobes
3 lazers
6500w bass bins
8000w tops


OR


2 Chameleons
2 Powered speakers



Point to fact

Last Saturday I used the usual meduim set up of 6 Chameleons on a lighting rigs, 4 speakers etc etc etc, on the Sunday I used 2 Chameleons and 2 powered speakers. The best night by far was the latter.

very nice and compact set up you have there.

Richard i like it....

now where can i buy a dozen.....

Easy way of getting rid of the lighting tripod...

Chuck some ballast in the bottom of the console/pulpit and have a 6ft pole mounted on the top, behind the laptop - pop a light on the top of that.

Mount the other lamp on the top of the PAS tower...nice tight G-clamp should do the trick...

a mono setup sounding cool - now that is just way cool - where do I buy one of these!!

Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention this. The Bride's family is English, so there were quiet a few made the trip over to NZ for the wedding. One of the guys said something to me that I just had to write up here. He said:

Having the sub behind the skirting made no noticeable difference. I was VERY impressed.

roflmao @ the accent ;)

Here's my review:

Well this was the big test I'd been looking for to help cement my decision to buy the PAS system. I had a wedding last Friday night in a room I've played many times before. It was an intimate reception, with only around 65 guests, many of them older. I borrowed a single PAS with the single sub from my local Bose commercial agent, Ian Hull-Brown from the Golden Horn Sound Company.

I usually play the room with a pair of Mackie SRM450s up on tripods and I was keen to see if a single Bose PAS would suffice. I also wanted to find out whether I would have problems with the full-range sound hitting my ears at close range.

I set up the L1 Cylindrical Radiator slightly in front of my console, so I’d not be blasted all night. The initial sound check showed a spectacular spread of full-range sound compared with my more conventional Mackies. I could hear almost every single detail no matter where I was in the room and typically this room has dead areas and hot spots for sound. Later in the night the venue’s owner commented on how elegant the speaker was and specifically how nice it was not to have her head ‘blown off’ as she walked past the speaker. At this venue, the staff has to pass close by the speakers several times a night and even my Mackies can tend to reach out and shout at you…

I used inputs 3 & 4 as I couldn’t easily set my mixer to mono and I did all of my EQ work from the laptop and mixer, so the Bose remote wasn’t required. I had much better bass response at lower volumes (just 1 sub, hidden under my console behind the skirting) than my Mackies, although at party volume I’d certainly prefer a 2nd sub. The music throughout the night sounded consistently impressive, and I really only ran the system at 40% to 50% at most. I really couldn’t tell that the sound was in mono and every lyric was easily heard throughout the room.

The best way I could describe the sound is to say that while every other system I’ve used sounded like a PA system, this one had a real HiFi feel to it, like a powerful, elegant home system. I found that hearing some of the full-range sound all night helped me EQ the night and also encouraged me to keep the volume down, which just has to be a good thing for everybody. I was concerned about microphone feedback, although this never occurred on the night, so it wasn’t something I have to worry about.

The set up was quick and painless, as was the pack down. I could certainly get a smaller, more fuel-efficient car if I was running a PAS! I had the sorts of comments that I had expected from guests at the wedding and they were all positive and incredulous. I truly believe that owning and marketing a Bose PAS would help me book clients that were keen, but undecided. I think it would be enough to tip the balance in my favour and I’d certainly be promoting the Bose name well.

I really only have two complaints worthy of mentioning about the PAS.

1. It’s too expensive here in it’s 240 volt version (70% more expensive than it’s 120v sister)
2. It makes my lighting rig look ugly and bulky.

Luckily my DJ console looks the part next to the PAS!

Does your little P.A mixer have PFL?

What's a PFL?

Err Pre Fade Level? Or Pre Fader Listening.


So you can listen to one channel, without playing it live. So say in ots you want a cue channel on one channel, you keep teh fader down but can listen to the 'cue' in your headphones.

Oh, a cue channel. Yes it does, but the big challenge is that laptops usually only have one soundcard, so you need an external USB soundcard to enable cueing. I hardly ever use it, because I pre-mix my beatmixed tracks in the studio using Mixmeister, then load them into the laptop for instant recall when required.

For the sake of a maybe 50 pounds (whatever that is in NZ Dollars) wouldn't you get a better quality sound than your existing sound card in your laptop?

Just a thought...

But anyhow I really like your setup, I might try something similar at some weddings I have coming up. And see what the reaction is like.

The soundcard in my laptop is actually very good and is certainly no worse than my Denon 2500 twin CD player for sound.

I can see the way you are going Richard, and I think it's great that you take as much care in thinking about your set-up and how it impacts on the type of events you do and the potential for picking up the new business that you want to do. I'm sure you are right in the assumption that the PAS will open up markets for you and that it is certainly a talking point. Personally I still think its ability to play at the same volume up close or at the back is witchcraft and black magic, but maybe I'll get the chance to hear one some day.

The big anomaly for me is the quality of the sound source. Not only are you playing MP3s through this top end, very expensive bit of kit, but you are using the internal sound card, which really wasn't designed to play music to the kind of quality you like to play. Then to top it all, the compressed music (90% of the data having been removed) played from a sound card costing pennies, is sent to the audience in mono. If I were doing this I just wouldn't bother using an amp and speakers that are designed for a top notch sound source. It's the "weakest link in the chain" argument. Have you carried out the same comparison using CDs and a stereo set-up? I'd have thought that through the PAS the difference would be like chalk and cheese.

However, you have carried out your tests and comparisons and think that the expense is worth it in terms of both sound and image, so who am I to gainsay you?

If it works for you - then it works for you!

Cheers,

Jack.

Any sound system can be improved by the additional of a sound enhancer such as the Behringer MDX1600 or Behringer MDX4600. or even the Behringer MDX2600.

Whether you use a soundcard or a CD source the difference in quality when using one of these between your Mixer and Amplifier is often noticable on almost all sound systems, and this has been backed up in various posts in the past. For those who use external sound cards and wish to simply enhance the output from their Laptop or PC Sound cards, then the enhancer can simply be placed in the chain between the Sound Card output, and the mixer channel input.

I have no idea how much the Behringer range cost in NZ compared to the UK, but I would highly recommend them. After all, if you can get a little bit more from your system for a one-off reasonably small outlay then why hesitate?.

These enhancers will also boost the lower, bass frequency range without consuming as many amplifier resources as simply turning up the bass EQ on your mixer!. So for example when you increse the bass control in the usual manner, then often the VU level on your Amp will also jump towards the red area pretty quickly in response!. I find that this consequent power rise is far less, when adjusting the bass via the signal enhancer when compared to adjusting it in the usual manner. In other words, you get more from your wattage .

There are two reviews of Behringer Processors on the forum if you are interested in further information.

Behringer Pro EX3200 Review

Behringer Pro MDX-2600 Review

I wonder if Pose will be at plasa so we can experience them?

A deliberate bit of fun! We used to 'alter' the logos on systems in pubs we used to visit with a black pen!

I do rate Bose though, and look forward to hearing the PAS, hopefully at PLASA just out of interest for now. When I can justify that kind of expenditure I will consider my choices

I'd love to hear them too - just to experience the voodoo "not getting louder as you walk towards them" effect. Personally I'd never shell out that kind of money for the gigs I do, but I also think that if Richard can use the look and sound of them to develop a competitive edge, then he is to be commended.

Chris - I use the MDX2600 more to protect my amp and speakers than anything. However, as you say, it can also make things sound a little better if tweaked.

Cheers,

Jack.

Thanks for that Robbie.

I think the Pas looks good! Whats the power rating on it ? I dont know if i would feel comfortable using it. Although i think very highly of Bose equipment.
Maybe invest in another acrobat ? Or a couple of Scanners. I use the scans on the 1st dance to light the dancefloor, or position them onto the mirror ball. They are week worth the money!

BUt think your setup looks smart and very professional.

MP3 is horrible quality compared to wav or cd. I work in radio and as we are going digital we are banned from playing anything that is (or has ever been) in MP3 format.

"MP3 is horrible quality compared to wav or cd. I work in radio and as we are going digital we are banned from playing anything that is (or has ever been) in MP3 format."

Not really have you ever heard a 320cbr recording? Only inaudible sounds behind other instruments etc are taking out.. With a slight tweak of eq i can't tell the difference, so I don't know how my punters can!

You weren't allowed to play mp3, but I'll bet the station went to air through a hulking great compressor....

Go figure.

i though radio used mp2 format, which is better quality

Thats very powerful for its size! Imagine having 2 of the, PAS towers! That would be more powerful than my Peavey's Which I run at 500watts per channel.
How much did you say the Pas works out at ?