50% music and 50% distortion

joeparaski

Yep, went to a wedding today and there they were, the dreaded, standard issue, powered jbl speakers, on tripod stands, sending mp3 music at distortion level settings, so all the guests can dance, oblivious to just how bad sounding the music really was. Yet they all seemed happy and had a good time.

Has anybody ever been to a wedding where the sound was actually "decent"? I won't even use the phrase "good sound" when referring to wedding hall acoustics and the gear typically used by "rent-a-dj" outfits.

I did the mobile dj thing in the 80's. I had to rent a large U-haul truck to move my lighting and sound equipment and really worked at getting some good sound out to the dance floor. These guys can fit all their gear in the trunk of a Toyota Yaris it seems and are getting big bucks to do these gigs.

My my...how times have changed.

Joe

Midnite Mick

I went to a social recently and I can tell you just how painful what was playing was. It really interfered with me having a good time just because it just annoyed the hell of me. It was absolutely stupid..literally painful loud with the top end totally smeared with distortion. How anybody found that enjoyable is beyond me. I can attest to what you were experiencing.

Regards,
Mike

kawizx9r

This one probably doesn't count but it just bugged the hell out of me. Took the wife to six flags 1 1/2 weeks ago and some areas had michael jackson playing split up between PA speakers and those horn-type loudspeakers....it was god awful.

nguyendot

You guys should focus on what's important at events like that. The quality of music.... probably not one of them.

mutelight

I agree, it is sad to have poor audio quality and it does dampen the overall aesthetic of the event.

joeparaski

nguyendot wrote: »

You guys should focus on what's important at events like that. The quality of music.... probably not one of them.

It's kind of hard to focus on what's important when your ears hurt and you have to shout at the person next to you in order to be heard. That's probably why a good 20 people were outside chatting when the dj went full throttle on the volume control. (or would that be full distortion?)

Joe

obieone

There ARE good PA speakers out there- I've heard them. I can't remember the brand, but they sounded good enough for me to say WTF?!
These things sounded REALLY clean.
It was at some classic car club gathering in Myrtle Beach, SC. And they're not easy to find- I tried googling them, and it was a bit of a treasure hunt to find the brand.
Just can't remember them now.

nguyendot

So an easy fix for that - go ask the DJ to turn it down.

seeclear

At our wedding reception, the DJ got there hours ahead of time to take tiles out of the suspended ceiling, in order to hang his table from the ceiling, supposedly to isolate the turntables from vibrations coming up through the floor. Once the reception started, he felt the need to punctuate the music with sound effects like automatic gunfire, etc. Needless to say, I made him stop that right away. I guess he got somewhat offended by that, and started drinking so heavily that he kept bumping into his suspended table and making the records skip anyway. So much for acoustic isolation.

joeparaski

Dj's don't like being told what to do.

Joe

bklynNupe

joeparaski wrote: »

Yep, went to a wedding today and there they were, the dreaded, standard issue, powered jbl speakers, on tripod stands, sending mp3 music at distortion level settings, so all the guests can dance, oblivious to just how bad sounding the music really was. Yet they all seemed happy and had a good time.

Has anybody ever been to a wedding where the sound was actually "decent"? I won't even use the phrase "good sound" when referring to wedding hall acoustics and the gear typically used by "rent-a-dj" outfits.

I did the mobile dj thing in the 80's. I had to rent a large U-haul truck to move my lighting and sound equipment and really worked at getting some good sound out to the dance floor. These guys can fit all their gear in the trunk of a Toyota Yaris it seems and are getting big bucks to do these gigs.

My my...how times have changed.

Joe

You are so right Joeparaski, these “dj’s” are horrid.
I am happy to report that among my late “30-something” friends, I know folks that are still about supporting party music with good sound quality. Sure these guys will dabble in some pop stuff on mp3, but believe in strictly vinyl for classic Soul, Rock, World, etc. They use quality speakers, 1200 Technics and Crown amps. I have one dj friend who is Ivy League educated and formal pharmaceutical rep. For the past 10 years, this guy circles the globe playing vinyl in trendy clubs where some people still appreciated this stuff. His contract Rider, stipulates that he will only provide records, headphones and needles. These guys make some nice cash.

unc2701

I had a small wedding, so my krell kav-300i & a pair of LSI9's did the trick.

zingo

I still DJ weddings and other events from time to time and use the Mackie SRM450 or SA1521 for smaller gigs, with matching SRS1500 subwoofers. They are pretty decent powered speakers for being 2 way, you just can't over drive them, or any speakers. I also drive everything off of two CD TT with NO mp3s. For larger events we can bring out the four JBL SRX725 with four matching JBL SRX728S and 25,000 watts worth of Crown amps.

So yes, you can have good sound at a wedding as long as you choose a smart and knowledgeable DJ who doesn't think his DJing is the most important part of the evening.