I'm old school I don't get it (DJ using IPod) *

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by taters, May 28, 2007.

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  1. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX

    I've had the displeasure of seeing a similar set-up twice in recent memory.

    Once at my kid's "spring fling" (a yearly outdoor event at their grade school) and again at a local mall.


    In both cases, the result sound was beyond horrible. In both cases,
    the person running the sound turned up the volume to a level where
    the noise to signal ratio (sic) should have been apparent to all - but
    apparently wasn't because people didn't seem to be listening.

    It would be easy to blame the MP3 files - but I suspect the big culprit
    was the soundcard output from the laptop.


    What's disheartening is that I'm sure that the people who showed
    up with laptops and speakers were paid a fairly large sum of money
    for doing a horrible job. I didn't care about the money spent by
    the department store in the mall - but it did bother me that my
    kids' school wasted money on a horrible MP3 jock.
     
  2. Jay Casey

    Jay Casey New Member

    Location:
    City, State
    Really. And what data do you have to back up your statement?? I notice you skipped right over answering my questions.

    ------------------------------------------------

    Consider the following statistics:

    The average cost of a wedding in 2002 was over $22,000.*

    The average cost of a reception in 2002 was over $7,000.*

    72% of all Brides say they would have spent more time choosing their reception entertainment.**

    Almost 100% say they would have spent more of their budget on the entertainment.**

    During wedding planning, Brides say their highest priority is their attire, followed by the reception site and caterer and that the reception entertainment is among the least of their priorities. Within one week after their reception, 78% of Brides say they would have made the entertainment their highest priority!**

    When asked, 81% of guests say that what they remember most about a wedding reception is the entertainment.**

    65% of all couples that chose a band to entertain at their wedding reception said, if they had it to do over again, they would have chosen a disc jockey.**

    *source: "American Wedding Study 1990-2002"
    **source: "St. Louis Bride & Groom Magazine in 2003. Sources include: Simmons, 2001; USA Today, 2002; National Bridal Service, 2001; The Knot, 2002; Brides Magazine, 2001."

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Pay extra attention to the FACT in BOLD above.

    It is very clear that you have no idea what you are talking about.

    It is very clear that facts, as well as how much work goes into a successful wedding reception, are concepts that you just can't grasp.

    It is also very clear that the only reason you are posting in this thread is to drag it DOWN to your level. Bitter and ignorant is no way to go through life.
     
  3. Dave D

    Dave D Done!

    Location:
    Milton, Canada
    I agree. I recorded my own tapes for our wedding, and had a kareoke guy as well. I gave him a play list of what was on, with the breaks outlined for him to do kareoke songs. Saved a few bucks and had great music! How many weddings have The Cult and Ac/Dc!:)
     
  4. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    I don't understand all of the vitriol directed at DJs.


    It's an honest profession. The cost relative to
    a live band is typically less - but it's extremely
    unfair to assume "why?" someone would choose
    one or the other.


    I never went through this.

    My wife and I eloped. About three months later
    we took some close friends out to dinner at
    a restaurant - and I have fond memories of
    that evening. It was something LIKE a
    reception... but minus all of the hassles


    My main beef (as noted above) is when someone
    expects to use the analog output from a laptop
    (and then controls the volume using the slider on
    windows).

    If someone is going to use a laptop to avoid
    dragging around a bunch of discs, he or she
    should at least have the decency to get a
    digital output and run it into some sort of
    receiver or pre-amp where volume can be
    adjusted properly.
     
  5. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    When a friend of mine and I use a laptop for DJ, we do use the analog line-out and put it into the mixer via RCA cables and control the volume with the mixer's sliders and gain controls just like everything else. A good laptop can go a long ways. When my boss uses a laptop, he does the same thing.
     
  6. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX

    Around 1997, even before I remember seeing things where PCs on the
    internet could automagically get song title and artist information , I got
    excited about being able to type in the artist and song information
    on my work laptop - and I started putting some CDs on my computer
    with the idea that I could connect it into my receiver - and use it as
    an (auxilliary) uber component...

    My excitement quickly dropped after I tried it. The sound was
    abysmal.... nothing like what I got when I hooked a CD player
    to the same spot on my receiver.

    I did some reading - and I quickly understood that the output
    (and input) jack on a computer are mostly there for convenience.
    Imho, there are some serious problems that are easily noticed
    if you try to use a PC to send sound to something above and
    beyond little baby computer speakers....


    I don't fault people for using a laptop - if the person who hires
    them doesn't seem to care - but I would absolutely, positively,
    100% guaranteed refuse to hire someone who used the analog
    output from a PC soundcard at an event I sponsored. I've
    heard too many good examples of bad sound to look the other
    way...

    I'd consider someone who used a digital output from a
    computer - but I'd want to hear how it sounds (at loud
    volumes) before I commit money.

    I do realize - my opinion may be in the minority with
    respect to most people.
     
  7. toptentwist

    toptentwist Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX

    Just to clear... I want to make sure I describe what I considered
    abysmal.

    It was roughly the same sound you get when you take one of
    those big "boom box" radios to the beach or to the pool and you
    try to crank the volume so that everyone within fifty yards
    can hear the music.

    Yes - I can tell what song is playing... and maybe if I'm doing
    something else at the time - I don't care... but its definetly
    not the kind of sound I would expect from someone who is
    being paid to provide music.
     
  8. Walt

    Walt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    You can get that sound using cd players and/or turntables. The (audio) levels should be mixed right otherwise the sound will be muffled. Sometimes people have the Spinal Tap mentality and try to push the levels as far as they go - resulting in a clipped or over-modulated sound.

    Not anymore. :)
    We use PCs at the commercial radio station where i work (there goes my forum cred.) to broadcast everything. We use wavs for most of our music and commercials (sometimes we get our music and commercials via mp3 - and there is a difference in quality - i can tell, but the average listener probably won't - not that i'm assuming but... ok, maybe i am... :angel: ). Granted, the station's soundcards are a wee bit "bigger" than consumer-type cards, but not by much.

    Even the public/university station where i volunteer uses a computer's soundcard output to playback public service announcements and station IDs with mp3s (and that soundcard is consumer-level). New music will sometimes come in on mp3s too but they're burned onto cds for cataloging purposes.

    If everything is connected, mixed properly and amplified right - there really shouldn't be a noticeable change (except when the bitrate is horribly compromised).
     
  9. gloomrider

    gloomrider Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA, USA
    I'm not a DJ, but that song is on my iPod. But wait, I had the 45 back in the day, so I'm off the hook? :winkgrin:

    And it's the Rhino 25 Disc "Have A Nice Day, Super Hits Of The Seventies" collection, thank you very much. :p
     
  10. dgstrat

    dgstrat Senior Member

    Location:
    West Islip, NY

    Do you take issue with the term "Disc Jockey"? You still need more than a disc. Same thing, no?
     
  11. XMIAudioTech

    XMIAudioTech New Member

    Location:
    Petaluma, CA
    You just ended the discussion right there. All Tull could do was come up with the 'save a buck' cop-out to save face, as he knows his repertoire is limited.

    -Aaron
     
  12. 33.3rpm

    33.3rpm Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philly
    Gotta weigh in here.

    DJ and live band...two entirely different mechanisms and TALENTS, both aiming at the same goal...to entertain the audience. I am fortunate (or unfortunate) to have a little of both talents. I've DJ'd weddings/bars for 20 years and play bass, keyboards and guitar (not very well mind you, but OK enough to play for people)

    The hours of practice, sweat, trial and error of playing live music makes the live band thing a more "noble" undertaking, and yes I'd much rather be a great musician than a great DJ. However none of this means a hill of beans to a crowd who just finished their chicken cordon bleu and wants to dance to "Who Let the Dogs Out" for the 400th time.

    I don't like the "DJ" music...never did and never will. After gigs I can't wait to get home and play something I like. But reading a crowd, pacing a crowd, mixing genres up back and forth and keeping them interested in what's being played absolutely requires "talent". A band sweats like hell in order to present their music on stage, and is very limited to what they know. The audience is "stuck" with that. A DJ has a whole other set of challenges because he/she does NOT have those limitations! You can have almost any song ever recorded in history at your fingertips. One of the challenges is to know what to play, when to play it, what to avoid like the plague, and know that all of that changes next week!
     
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