Karaoke Forums

No, not boobies!, I'm talking about your gear racks.

Let's see who here has the best rig, not the most expensive or elaborate, but the smallest and most capable thats easy to set up, transport and tear down.

To make it interesting, It's gotta have a non powered mixer, outboard effects(at least 1), player(PC or component), amp(s), and rack or rack cases.

What I am trying to do is to get you guys to share your selection of equipment and discuss how you got a true rig assembled in the smallest space and for minimum bucks.

Your speakers ain't included, just your rack.

Hmmmm, you just got out of jail and want to see everybodys rack. Sounds kinda fishy to me. Well since ya don't know where I live, I don't guess it would hurt. Anyhoo, welcome back and Merry Christmas.

It ain't the most compact, or the best, but meets most if not all of your requirements.



Mojo

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"It looks just like a Telefunken U47 !"

Honestly my footprint is a 4' folding table, so not the smallest, but it's probably one of the easiest (especially weight wise for load in and out). Below is my rack, nothing more than an O1V mounted in a mixer case with a doghouse. All effects, compression, EQ, and everything built into that one unit. Technically there is a second 4-U rack that goes on the table next to it which has all my wireless equipment plus a Rack Rider strip for the mixer to plug into. All the cables live either inside the doghouse or in the other rack, 5 mic cords from the wireless to the mixer, 2 - 1/8" to dual 1/4" Y cables to the laptop, pull the mains and Aux 1 send out of the doghouse to the speakers or amp for the night (depending on which system I'm using) and to the monitor and it's ready to roll. Takes me longer to route and tape down cords than to get the whole thing patched together.

** I'll see if I can get a pic of the 4U wireless rack at some point, I had one but lost it with a HDD crash. I'll also see if I've got a decent shot of the full rig, since I use both powered and passive speakers, I don't always have an amp rack.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I like the 'doghouse' for your mixer. Looks like it offers protection plus helps keep things organized. Does it cause the board to get too hot?

I also like the fact you broke it all up into several rack cases allowing you flex to tote only what you need.

I ain't supposed to comment on gear quailty, but that Yammyhammy 01V makes me drool. You don't often see that quality of a board toted round gigging. Most guys lock it safely in their studio and watch the sliders dance. I know I would!

No the mixer doesn't over-heat, the vents are actually on top and I designed that doghouse (I had to custom build it myself) so that it wouldn't block any venting. I got the O1V specifically to limit my footprint and the individual weight of the equipment I had to load in. I used to use a 10x12 slant top rack with the mixer, effects processors, wireless, amps, compressors and all mounted in it. It weighed in at over 300 lbs so loading it into the back of my mini-van by myself was a major pain. Going to the O1V I was able to replace all of that (except the amps and wireless) with this one item that wieghs a combined 83lbs. Splitting up everything else into racks also gave me flexibility for other gigs. I use the O1V on to mix certain bands. When I do my acoustic duo gigs, I use the wireless rack (my wireless instrument receiver is in there too) but don't need the amp or console. Having the amp in a separate rack means I don't have to drag it along if I'm at a gig using active speakers. It's worked out really well for me. The other benefit of that dog house is that not only does it protect things, it also hides things. It's big enough that I'm able to tuck most excess cables or other items in there rather than having them laying about on the table.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

DJMOJO has got it going on too....Looks like he's got the whole rig in one simple to tote rack....He put a lot of planning into it. I can't blow the pic up, so he might wanna describe how it's stacked and racked.

Hey Rip,

You know, it makes a lot of sense spending big bucks for a desk like that when you consider all the heavy crap it replaces, and the fact there is so little patching cause it it all built in.

Nice tits, I mean, nice rack!

Thanks Keith, my main mixer is my weak point. The system is really a DJ system that does karaoke. Sorry the pic was so small but the rack consist of-

1 Sony Vaio laptop
1 Numark C3 mixer
1 Denon 2500
1 Numark Controller
1 Alesis multimix 6 mixer
1 DBX driverack
2 Crown XTI 1000 amps
1 Crown XLS 802 amp
1 PG/SM 58 wireless mic

Mojo

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"It looks just like a Telefunken U47 !"

The other advantage for me is the ability to save the scenes on the desk. Since it is so multi-purpose for me, I've got a scene for each Karaoke or DJ venue I play (complete with house EQ and all) and for each band that I regularly mix with it as well. Being able to walk into any of those gigs and immediately recall the entire config makes sound check a really quick process.

Agreed regarding Mojo's rack. Not the typical rack I'm used to seeing and a very nice example of ingenuity and fit for purpose.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Sorry...... totally misunderstood the title of this thread.

(and was just about to upload those cell phone pics)

Another place, another time.

(by the way, nice racks guys)

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♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

Go ahead and upload the pics. We seem to have a lull in the conversation anyway.

I'm sure the guys would like to compare your rack to theirs. Someone will win this competition. it might as well be you!

Bewarned that letitrip's mixer has slider knobs that dance automaticly. They can put on quite a show. I'm thinking your knobs can dance and bounce too, so yeah, let's see them... may the best rack win!

Small with many options.

How's about I just text them over since this is pretty public? Everyone will just have to trust your personal judgement:)

(sorry, didn't mean to be offensive... just read you have a new GF... hope she don't come up here to kick my a$$, you'll just have to explain that I'm an old flame)

Go back to talking about your KJ stuff.

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♥ Laugh your heart out, dance in the rain. Cherish the memories, ignore the pain. Love and learn, forget and forgive. Because you only have one life to live. ♥

I really like the O1V option, what does that mixer cost you?

Will t5he other smaller digital mixers work as well?

You can find an original O1V (like the one I have) for around $600 used on eBay right now. There is a learning curve if you're not used to digital desks, so be aware of that. Also the weight and physical size is larger than that of a 16-Channel analog desk (which the O1V is really only 16 channels, the other 8 are on an option card are lack most of the features of the first 16).

I'm not sure what smaller digital desk you'd be referring to, the 16 channels is about the smallest I'm aware of (Presonus makes a 16 channel Studiolive desk and Yamaha makes a 16 channel LS-9 but both are far pricier). However, just about any digital desk would have the same benefits in terms of on-board features.

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Ok, so I really wanted to post the x-rated rack, but thought better of it.. HAHA..

Anyways, here is mine. Heavy as H-E-double hockey sticks.

nothing special really, just big.

I finally figured out who you are. You are Charmin and you changed your name here. What do you mean 'old flame"? Hon, you still burn me up! i just dumped the new GF, ok? Yes, txt them pics over and I'll add them to the ones I've kept of you forever.

This is like coming back to your home town and discovering your high school sweetheart is still a sweetheart, you know? I like your gain structure! I just emailed you my cell number.

Here's my current home built road rig I pieced together after years of trial and error.

Rack contains my Mackie VLZ mixer, a USB hub, Berringer USB audio interface, 30gb iPod (used for fill/voiceover music), Digitech DSP effects, BBE Sonic Maximizer, and a Phonic XP amp I picked up recently that powers a pair of Yamaha BR15's nicely.

To get it up and running, I just sit the rack on my custom built collapsible DJ booth, sit the laptop on the stand, plug in the laptop AC adapter and the USB cable into the laptop, connect the speakers to the amp, and then plug the rig into a 110 wall outlet.

I can have the whole rig in the club and have music playing in less than 15 minutes.

The only 'outboard' equipment is the wireless mic receiver, which sits on the fold out table area on the right side of my collapsible DJ booth.

Everything (including light tree) fits nicely in my 3 series BMW.

Cheese, it's got my vote. It's all there in one easy to tote and setup package.

Now, that's what I'm talking about!

I was hoping to see a rig like that so all here getting started could see it too....That is the greatest thing about this forum, you know, it's the experience we share here.

For the gear snobs, this rack is still a great example. They can substitute higher dollar components if they want, but it's the concept that counts.

Thanks, man.

Everybody has their own idea of 'best' system.. for me, it was something that was bulletproof, reliable, quick to set up, and easy to upgrade/service.

While this rig isn't as small or light as my Yamaha EMX312, it actually sets up quite a bit faster, and unlike all in one rigs, I can update or change individual components, like dropping in a more powerful amp when needed, stuff like that.

I was going to add a pic or two of my DJ booth, but it appears i've reached my maximum upload quota of 1mb