Karaoke Forums

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Hi,

I am a KJ/DJ and would love some techical help to get a better sound without spending a fortune .

My equipment:

TAPCO JUICE 2500 AMP
MACKIEMKII 12 CFX
YAMAHA BR15 X 2
VAIO LAPTOP
DCD-PRO400 AMERICAN DJ CD PLAYER
WIRED MICS......GETTING WIRELESS ASAP.

My cd player is connected to my mixer via the two line in imputs....I can equalize them there and fade in and out.

My laptop is now connected straight from its headphone out to the tape in on my
mixer, it sounds fine. I did try to have it connected to a line in but the sound was terrible....I am thinking an external soundcard would be better and a much better sound than the tape in yes?

I want the vocals improved..I am not a great sound engineer I do my best...have not had complaints but I know I could do much better....

Also I have basic yamaha br15s one year old, I cannot afford to get a sub as yet....how could I add more bottom/boom for when I am playing dance music?

Should I keep the mackie or move to a yamaha that has built in compressor knobs? and which would be the best for my applications...as I do know there is no equalizer on some of them like I have on my Mackie.

Thanks so much.....

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"Never a bad singer! Just a good time!" [font=Garamond][/font]

I don't know about much better, but it might be a bit better.

There is no reason that the tape in should be better than a line in that I know of. I wonder if you had a bad cable.


The Mackie mixer is just fine -- I wouldn't replace it. You can easily add compression to it by buying a dbx 266 or Behringer MDX1600 and connecting it to the inserts.

The best way to improve vocals is with a better microphone -- it is going to make much more difference than anything else. You say "wired mics -- moving to wireless". Which wired mic? For karaoke I recommend the Shure SM-58 or Sennheiser 835. If you move to a cheap wireless mic, you certainly aren't going to be improving your vocals.

If you move to a decent wireless mic (and I don't count the VocoPros in that bunch) then you may find that the compander they use will make compression less necessary.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Hi Mckyj and thanks for your reply.

I have a sm58 wired.....just wanting reasonably priced wireless for use for those who tend to want to swing my wired mics round!!!!! Which bugs the hell out of me...and for use for the bartenders etc.......

I have been researching all day for things to add to this system....which BBE would you recommend? and would one help the sound any?How would I connect it to the system?

Also are these compressors easy to mix?......where do I connect them to ?

Sry I have so many questions.......and thanks for your help.

Dee

_________________
"Never a bad singer! Just a good time!" [font=Garamond][/font]

The SM58 is a good mic. If you buy a lifetime-guaranteed mic cables, the swinging shouldn't be a problem. Get the $7.00 windscreen replacement if they get dented -- the mic will not fail.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend the BBE. It might make things sound a bit better, but EQing the system well can usually do about as much.


They are easy to use. I use the MDX 1600 connected to the insert of the microphone channel. They are pretty much set and forget if you use 2.5:1 ratio, -10db onset, and auto attack/release. You do need to buy an insert cable for each channel:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--HOSSTP20

The black goes to the mixer, the gray to the input of the compressor, the red from the output. (I guess that could depend on the mixer, but I believe that should be correct for the Mackie.)

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Ok so no BBE.....even with plain old yamaha br15s?....
I would love to get powered speakers...just cant do it now...what would be best for reasonable price.......comparing them to my yamahas now which really are not too bad......
Ok I will def look at a compressor then.....

Maybe an external equalizer?...would that do a better job than just the mackies equalizer.

All the knobs down each channel I just never know what they mean and how best to set them......I go by my ear.....

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"Never a bad singer! Just a good time!" [font=Garamond][/font]

They can't make your speakers sound better. Some people swear by the BBE, but I don't think even they would say they make vocals sound better. More the bass end of music.


The Yamahas are just fine. The amp you have is quite a bit more power than they need. There is no reason that setup can't sound good.


By your ear is what you should do.

If you want better EQ, and you want the same type of function as the BBE gives, you might consider the dBX DriveRack PA. I just picked one up for $320 on EBay. It gives you crossover, eq, and BBE-like aural excitation. Getting it set up is fairly easy with the wizard -- you will want an RTA mic like the Behringer ECM8000.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I don't mean to sound a pest sry.

Yes I have thought about my amp being too powerful for my speakers....will that hurt my speakers?
Also the knobs on the amp...should they be put all the way up?.....
What size amp should i really use?

Thanks so much......great help thx...

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"Never a bad singer! Just a good time!" [font=Garamond][/font]

If it's setup & inserted on the vocal channels only, the BBE can bring out vocals, however it's kind of a waste for that unit as it's meant more for overall mixes.
Give us a description of how your 9 band eq (how far up or down is each slider) is set & the channel eq's for the vocals & music (example high 1 oclcock, etc...). That system, even with the BR speakers should sound fine by itself. Sounds like you got the eq's set incorrectly.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

The amp is too powerful for those speakers, however as long as you aren't really pushing them to the limits, you should be fine. A better speaker match would be the Yamaha S115V.
I would still keep the amp wide open maybe a little less. Just watch the volume from the mixer.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Hi,
For the vocals channel the knobs are usually set as follows......from bottom to top

low at 1 oclock

low mid at 1 oclock

freq at noon

mid around 1 oclock

eq about 1oclock

efx about 11 oclock and the efx are set to delay 3.

the equalizer as follows...approx.....I tweek it also depending on music etc....room etc...

63 = +10
125=+5
250= between 0 and +5
500=0
1k= between 0 and +5
2k=around 0 give or take up a tweek
4k=again the same as 2k
8k=+5
16k=+10

slight tweeking done at gig....

music channels are set similar to vocal knobs except maybe more on the low....Am i making a mess of the eqs?

thanks so much...
Dee

Dee

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"Never a bad singer! Just a good time!" [font=Garamond][/font]

First of all your 9 band eq looks like a smile face. You are boosting lows & highs. All the midrange is pretty much very low - midrange is where the primary vocals are. Set this eq all to zero to start with.
On the channel eq's you are again boosting highs & lows. And since it's a swept mid you are barely boosting the frequency about 800hz.
I am guessing you have the music channels on 9-10 or 11-12 correct?
Alright lets see what we can do here. Set the vocal channels so the highs are about 1-2 oclock.
The mid is about 1 oclock with the frequency at about 10-11 oclock.
Low about 10-11 oclock. This works well for someone who needs a little fullness to their vocals but will cut through in most mixes. If you find the vocals sound a little muddy, the reverse the mid & frequency settings & boost the highs a tad - sometimes just turning the mid down a little in that case will help.
On the music try the high at 1 oclock
High mid at 10 oclock
Low mid at 12-1 oclock
Low at 1-2 oclock
This still gives the 'smiley face' illusion for the music but isn't as drastic & will allow for the vocals to cut through a little better.
On the main 9 band, you may not even need to do any more adjusting - but if you do you want to do as little boosting as necessary. MAYBE a little in the 63 by no more than 1 notch (+5). Drop the 250 by 1 notch (-5). Also drop the 2K & 8K by maybe 1 notch (-5).

As far as the effects if the effects are overpowering - where you HEAR ALOT of effect on top of the vocals, then you should be ok, with effects you don't want to 'hear' the effect, but would notice if it wasn't there.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Thanks so much...I am going to try this tonight at a gig......Will let you know.

Very much appreciated Lonman thx.

Dee

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"Never a bad singer! Just a good time!" [font=Garamond][/font]

Belive me, you will notice the difference. If you see that smiley face on a powered mixer at karaoke, you know the sound is going to be mud.

Once you have it set as Lonman said, *tweak* from there. If you find an EQ slider at +10, most likely something is wrong. You should be *nudging* those things, then listening. A little bit goes a long way.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

As you increase compression the RMS will increase. It becomes more apparent at low frequencies and the lower you go and the greater power applied the greater the RMS. The high end will phase shift and get muddy under the reactive load of the speaker. The higher the more muddier. This is where a Sonic Maximizer (e.g. BBE type) is typically used. The low end is delayed properly with the high end. So they are well within a few milliseconds of each other. The result: a clean, tight punchy sound. An EQ may help somewhat but with some technique.