SourceRaver Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 (NOTE: This topic can get pretty technical so I’ll try and keep it simple. For the purposes of this post, the word signal refers to the electrical current that is generated by your mixer and sent to your amplifier. The word gain will refer to the strength of that signal)Like most things, mixers and amps have a ‘sweet spot’ in that they perform best under certain conditions. Amplifiers for example, are designed to receive a specific signal strength and then reproduce it as sound. Your job as a Dj is to use the mixer to create the best possible signal. To help you do this, all mixers have a series of LED that light up with the beat of the music (a VU meter). Different mixers have different coloured LEDs but Green generally means ‘OK’, yellow may mean ‘best’ and red = BAD!Think of the signal as a sine wave with each peak and trough representing the smooth movement of the speaker in and out of its surround. However, when the red LED’s on your mixer are flashing, it means that tops and bottoms of the signal are being clipped and the resulting signal is more of a square wave form. The amp will try hard to reproduce this and move the speaker out, hold it, and then bring it back in and so on. Basically the signal is distorted and so too is the sound coming from the speaker. This situation is refered to as 'clipping'. In extreme cases, the amp will try and push the speaker further than its physical limits resulting in damage to the speaker (i.e. the dreaded ‘POP!’).GAIN CONTROLTo get the best signal, adjust the Gain control on each channel of the mixer so that the LED’s stay in the yellow (or with some mixers, have the red LED only blinking occasionally). Use the master volume control to do the same with the output from the mixer. In short...STAY OUT OF THE RED!(NOTE: when using vinyl, I always do a ‘test drop’ before I cue and play the record. Just play a ‘busy’ part of the record and adjust the gain accordingly before you start mixing it in)SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIOAll audio equipment produces noise just by simply being switched on. A high signal to noise ration means the audio signal is nice and strong and the noise is at its lowest. If for some reason the signal coming from your mixer has a low signal to noise ratio, the amplifier will do its darndest to amplify the music...and the noise! To guarantee a good signal to noise ratio...STAY OUT OF THE RED!GAIN STRUCTUREGain structure refers to a series of audio devices connected together. Imagine if you had the following hooked up:CD player – Mixer – amplifier – SpeakerNow if they ALL had a VU meter, the aim would be to have the yellow LED on the speaker bouncing up and down at the same level as that on the CD player. In other words, the strength of the signal being received by all the pieces of equipment is correct for that bit of kit. If the gain on ANY piece of equipment is incorrect, the end result is distorted sound so...STAY OUT OF THE RED!I’ve been a bit ‘simplistic’ in some regards so I apologise in advance to those folks who are a bit more technically minded.Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBG Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 It's nice to holiday in 'the reds' but you wouldn't wanna live there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyB Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 some good information here. good to know the reasons of it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupe Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 This guy deserves loads of +rep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SourceRaver Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 So bored at work!Gotta keep my mind active otherwise I'm gonna go nuts.(...and by writing it down it also helps me understand it a bit better!?).Any other suggestions for beginner Dj's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupe Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 probs make a new thread for that questiona good 'requests' section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBG Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 feel free to use my little quote in the OP SR .So when heapphones are plugged into my speakers, they make a soft humming noise, does this mean the speakers have a low signal to noise ratio? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psyEDk Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Humming is generally indicative of a ground loop somewhere in the audio signal path created by all your gear being interconnectd.Can be caused by faulty leads, badly earthed equipment, or something as simple as a plug not being inserted into the socket all the way.Depending on the amp you're using, if it's particularly old there can quite possibly be a background hum behind the audio it's sending to the speakers, made more evident by the clarity of your headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBG Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 k thanks. they're only 5500 logitechs. Im not too concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapimp Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 nice write up source raver.however for certain genre of music like hardstyle and some hard trance, i reckon it sounds better when playing in 1 red on the djm800. same goes for the volume as well. i guess sometimes u want the "loud" sound in a club, and quite alot of DJs then to play in the red as well.of course this only applies for playing live. i can see it being better for loud banging music. i do still believe that yellow or below red would be much better for recording purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SourceRaver Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Mmm...Some sound systems can accomodate a bit of 'holidaying in the red' as someone has probably taken a lot of time to install good amplifiers and speakers and 'balance' the system. I personally wouldnt make a habit of of it just in case you play on a system that isnt so robust.I suspect a lot of Dj's play in the red for a number of reasons:a) In some cases you can get degree of hearing loss as your set progresses and unconsciously up the gains to compensate. Some Dj's 'fight the system' by thinking that upping the gains will result in greater overall volume. Not so if someone has installed a compressor/limmiter over the PA. All they end up doing is playing distorted music at the same volume and only turning down the gains will fix the problem.c) They get excited or just want their sound to be louder and more energetic than the last Dj.d) They just dont understand gain structure and what sort of damage can result.e) They dont own a PA and have never paid to have it repaired.f) The sound comming from the monitor speaker is fine but they cant hear the distortion over the FOH system.f) The'yre just plain wasted and/or drunkBut like I said, every mixer is different and I havnt had a chance to use an 800 so I'll take on board your first hand knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapimp Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 yea what i said is based on playing in a club. but like u said they probably 'balanced' the system for it.also i was watching a video for pioneer mixers, i think it was the djm1000. they were saying they made it sound better in the red to accomodate for djs playing in the red coz that seems to be the trend. for all u know pioneer might have just changed the color of the led lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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