Whats the difference between a DJ PA system and a large scale PA system?

Curious about how large PA systems work? This video explains the considerations and setup of a large PA system in dealing with power, protection and also thermal issues.

[@magikjoe3789]

When i worked in live sound we always overspecified the rigs we put out. It was all JBL speakers, 4-way active, HH VX series amplification. The rig was essentially in 2KW 'modules', a module being 2 off 2x18" reflex folded horn bass, 2x10" horn loaded mid, 2" upper mid compression driver, 1" compression top. If a venue demanded, say, 8KW we would take 16KW and run the whole thing at -6dB soft limit with -3dB hard limit. Zero stress on any component, zero power compression and sound of an extremely high quality. No going home with ringing ears, never once blew a driver and the punters always loved it. Sadly jn these days of line arrays and DSP a lot of this dark art of sound reinforcement seems to have been lost. Great video

[@evpro_]

Dude this was SUPER useful, esp the section about marquee set up and was enough power. Have some outdoor events and judging how much sound we need is always tough one Sick great video

[@kianmurphy8819]

you don't see many videos like this as a "aspiring" sound engineer with my own system videos like this help, would be good to see more like events etc, subbed btw

[@edtalktech]

That is the intention. Thanks for joining the channel.

[@johnstarks5323]

I'm glad you posted this video, so many utube channels show off their systems. But don't give any explanation, advice or risk associated with these amps.

[@DaftFader]

The classic Crown and Void combo ... can't go wrong with that pair up!

[@edtalktech]

It absolutely rocks. This video is 1/4 of the entire system.

[@onenation6429]

Very informative. I currently run 2 active sets in London, 1 is what you would describe as a PA set using double 12” subs with 15” tops, the other double 18” subs with horn loaded tops. I’m considering a passive set up for larger outdoor events so this was very useful information for me. Subscribed and looking forward to more content from you. Thank you.

[@klubstompers]

Best DJ event system i have ever heard had 4 custom Eagle cabinets hanging from the ceiling built by McCauley for a show at NAF studios in Seattle, each cab had 8 21" drivers. They looked like semi truck containers. Each cabinet wanted 25k watts. This was all added to the house system, which was a wall about 20' tall by 60' wide, with 2 smaller walls in each back corner. Absolutely incredible sound!!

[@edtalktech]

And that's what I would call large scale!

[@klubstompers]

@@edtalktech Yea, most definitely!!

[@edtalktech]

Absolutely loving the feedback thanks all!

[@spooforbrains]

This was really helpful, thanks. Even though you delivered it off-the-cuff you still managed to cover a bunch of useful info I didn't know.

[@edtalktech]

Thanks, at some point I'll do a follow up video with some of the questions raised from this one.

[@WaxerUK]

This was extremely informative. I’ve been DJing for 30 plus years and I currently have a small DJ PA system consisting of a 16 channel desk for multiple sources into a crossover then into 2 amps, one for bottoms and one for mid/top combo speakers. It’s all peavey kit except the crossover. I am an amateur at all this and love to learn. I’m also interested as I am in the south east (Margate, Kent, pretty much the furthest South East you ca get!). Some great tips here, I generally only do small venues and I don’t really do many events even then, I tend to play in venues with in house systems. I just subscribed and look forward to watching your other videos! Cheers!

[@andyb7813]

I’m in Deal…..

[@edtalktech]

Glad you found it useful! This entire system grew from doing small live events. With summer coming up, I'll do videos throughout the season showing the inner workings of it all. I'm Surrey based.

[@jerkrum6518]

What music do you play

[@edtalktech]

@@jerkrum6518 Anything from amplifying orchestras to dance music events and rock bands.

[@samsquid65]

Cool video. Been dealing with that stuff all my life. Semi pro and pro. Not been doing much last few years. It was really nice to see some up to date equipment and have it explained. Very helpful. Keep it up geeza 👍👍

[@mxslick50]

The biggest danger to speakers in this video is those horrendous Crown amps. I have worked both cinema and live sound for over 35 years, did a lot of bench repairs on amplifiers and Crowns were on that bench 7 to one compared to ALL OTHER BRANDS COMBINED. They are unstable, unreliable, prone to DC faults to the speakers, and despite all the hype, don't sound that clean or good compared to most of the competition. The most robust and reliable amps I have ever used are QSC. They have very clean and tight sound, are super reliable, and QSC's support is the best in the industry. Out of over 2,000 QSC amps I installed or encountered in locations I serviced, I have had only 5 failures, and NONE of those ever damaged speakers or input sources, unlike Crown where I had replaced countless blown drivers, (a few actually went up in flames) and more than a few cinema processors and mixers. No, I do not work for QSC nor am I a QSC dealer. Just an independent tech who has done a lot of audio work.

[@edtalktech]

Yep they had their problems when first released. Some of these however came from O2 arena London and have spectacularly high hours and still run fine. Oh and sound great.

[@TheGeryal]

This is really interesting, thank you for sharing!

[@sadface]

I appreciate your 17 minutes of waffling, sound system people will really appreciate this also!

[@sonidoa.c.g3884]

Nice setup brother, my regards from upstate NY

[@jjcoolaus]

Thanks for this, that was great, amp racks have always interested me , to know what drives what and how the audio and the power is fed in, this video is a real education

[@edtalktech]

Thank you.

[@simpletings4919]

well done Ed..good education..

[@RauxMusic]

Thx for sharing! Keep it up ! Cheers from Sweden

[@mobettaspice]

Very informative bruv!

[@andyapple9]

Amazing video! You've said something about a video for a crown 12000i but I couldn't find it on your channel. Thanks!

[@edtalktech]

That's actually on another channel you can see it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rp-2f2ila8tgsMk I will move it over at some point.

[@tigerelectronics5966]

The biggest sound systems I've ever ran across are in the Philippines, their competition sound systems with 40 or more 18 or 21 inch folded horn subwoofers! And usually 20 or more midrange and high end horn loaded aswell :D Often running on over 200kW amp power. Pretty wild :) would love to experience that IRL sometime! It looks pretty menacing on video, hehe. Im into some pro audio myself too, fun to mess around with. I don't do anything on professional level, just some personal loud music. About a 5kW system with 2 horn loaded 15" subs and a pair of ultra -high excursion 15"s with some serious power handling aswell to really take care of everything down to 20hz, and a pair of 15 inch midbass and some compression driver tweets. Everything is based around 15's and it works absolutely fine! It sounds just as good as a system wirh different size drivers., its absolutely wild at home, shakes the whole house aparr :) we get 3 phase supplies here in my country, so i have no problems running that at home. I can run much larger stuff if i want to, but this is more than enough to satisfy my own desire for loud bass haha! I would call my sound system a "medium" sized PA system, between a DJ system, and between a smaller large-scale system. Lovely video, you brought up lots of good and useful things! Thumbs up :)

[@DiamondDog_]

that's right, in Indonesia most people use 18" and 21" and some even use 32"

[@romainepope]

Great vid

[@brenthandycts131]

We can make lots of broad brushed statements. There are some DJ systems used by companies that basically are large scale PA systems, and they could cover a large show and meet tech riders. The majority of the average man's DJ systems are smaller assemblies of MI gear, as opposed to pro gear. Some of it can be very good quality. It just can't do large venues as well. That's what is true in my market. It all comes down to venue size, coverage variances and application. If a DJ does a bunch of weddings in event spaces, he might not have anything more than a couple of 20 amp receptacles to connect to. So having a rack with a distro and feeder cable, etc would be overkill. Again it just depends on the type of venues and whether it's needed or not. It doesn't necessarily mean you have a lesser quality system per se.

[@TimpBizkit]

My system can run a wedding disco subs and all on under 100 watts electrical (at least in a small place)! Down to 19 watts for dinner music (the Driverack actually uses more than the amps). More bass and I connect the Peavey IPR1600 amp (which is 40 watt at idle), but the system gets quite loud on SMSL SA98E matchbox sized home audio amps if the subwoofers are in a corner. I do use speakon to terminal adapters, although I'm thinking some speakon to banana plug leads would be good. They are useful for home because they don't glow blue, there is no fan noise and the electrical consumption of my system is reduced to 20% of what it is with two peavey when at idle or quiet. The mids and highs are horns but I've got a second Peavey, though I don't have enough bass to match them as my subs are only 12" each (most that could fit in the car).

[@isaacsitiakalaabwenje]

Cool teaching! I Like It. Mr. Ed Talks Tech Just brought the Point Home. From the powering of the system To exemplary configuration, Cabling Diameter, And the Amplification of your Speaker. GOOD Training Video. More Expected.

[@moamenhelmy9510]

Very informative Thanks

[@iggysixx]

Thanks a lot for this. Not sure this is meant for me, but I love to learn about this stuff (been in bands for 15 years, now attempting to "produce" some things. My gear is always zero budget now though, so it's good to know what kind of things are needed to amplify things and so on (so I know what to be on the lookout for)) As for 5:21 - (using 2 amps "at medium" instead of maxing 1) - I think that's always the better idea, right? Runs cooler, (probably) draws a little less power (less power is converted into heat), less strain on the amp's circuitry... From what I understood, it's best to "have some space left". (But also not to use an amp at volume 1/10, since it doesn't have the same 'oomph' yet at lower levels... or something... Like.. that's why the 'loudness' button exists on home hi-fi amps too, right? To push some frequencies that would otherwise be unbalanced at low levels - namely the lower frequencies). Small question: The 'crossover' you speak of.. On these types of systems, that would be a physical rack thing, right? (Not a circuit within the speaker enclosures, I mean?) Anyways - thanks.

[@edtalktech]

So at 5.21, yes running 4 subs presents a 2 ohm load to the output of the amplifier. That means it has to provide very high currents. We are talking easily 50+ amps of current, which is hard work on the PSU section. Infact they will current limit and will provide this power for around 20ms before limiting kicks in. however with only one cab per side, the amp is able to provide full unrestricted power without issue, and still have plenty of headroom. Amp volume levels are actually more correctly called antennuators. They are for level matching (gain stage matching) your amplifier to the signal source, the idea being the source would clip at the same point the amplifier does thus giving you the greatest signal to noise ratio and enabling full use of the amplifier. They don't change how an amplifier sounds or what it's ability to amplify is. The loudness button really doesn't come in here other than to say our perception of bass is also a physical one, and it's harder to hear at low levels. As for crossovers, this system uses electronic for 1 sub, 2 low mid, 3 mid+high. however the high mid and hi drives have a passive crossover between them. This saves an amplifier channel rather than running mid and high on independent channel.

[@izzzzzz6]

It's heavier bigger and better. Job done. This looks like the basement in my house.

[@jambodjembe]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@zjzozn]

Nice 👍

[@TimpBizkit]

As far as clipping and speaker damage, the clipped material sends disproportionately more power to the tweeter (and possibly midrange) and those drivers tend to get stressed more (although by this point it sounds horrible to your ears) than turning up a more powerful amplifier the same gain level that doesn't clip. Different types of music have different frequency content and also power handling (in a multi driver system) is band dependent, meaning a speaker can't handle as much at 2kHz (tweeter), as it can at 300 Hz (woofer), but it is usually more sensitive up there so it doesn't have to. It doesn't tend to be the woofers that go, unless the power (clean or clipped) exceeds their continuous rating for long enough. Because of the inductance of a speaker, it doesn't see DC at any frequencies in the audio band (people think it's like connecting a battery to the speaker, then reversing the polarity, then reversing it again, causing the speaker to sit at minimum impedance for extended time).

[@edtalktech]

These amps monitor speaker impedance. You can see power compression happen when driven hard as the coil impedance rises when they get 'hot'. After a full day of festival work, the cabinets on the bass and the tops are noticeably warm.

[@stinkinroger159]

I've got a home-build PA coming along, 2 Subs, 2 kick boxes and 2 tops, I've been wondering about where in the chain to put the limiter because atm my signal in goes straight to my processor (no limiter/compress control). Would it come before or after this? I noticed your bass amp dials are maxed out, do you have the signal attenuated back in the processor to avoid clients fiddling with setups? Appreciate this vid, have subbed.

[@edtalktech]

All the levels are 'maxed' and correct gains set in software. This means that a rouge operator cannot fiddle with anything, they can turn sections down, but not up. The limiters should go directly before the amplifier and any processing before the limiter. That way the limiter always has the final say.

[@CarlBurnss]

mm nice monitor set man 😁

[@madrx2]

Killer system! I'd Love something like this in my man shed....And when the neighbors dogs bark all night, I can play barking dogs louder back ;). As soon as you start getting amplifiers that don't fit into normal outlets, and you need more than a 10A 230v plug I start to think it's large scale. I couldn't imagine loading those sub bins into a back of a van without someone like eddie hall and the rock helping me out.

[@edtalktech]

haha so true. Fortunately the subs aren't that bad to move about, even if they are 130kg odd each. You can balance them nicely on the wheels to move them around. The funn thing is, I have 8 of them, and as yet for the work we do, I've just not needed to take them all out at once yet.

[@madrx2]

Very cool. Would love to see some gig videos one day. All the best! @@edtalktech

[@edtalktech]

@@madrx2 here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIPOaYOadrKab7M Phone doesn't deal with the base very well. 6 tops here and 4 bass.

[@mobettaspice]

I would like to know more about the power supply for all that equipment. Can you only get a good power source from a generator. What’s needed to power it all from a house with no issues?

[@edtalktech]

Simply put, you can get away with two subs and 4 tops from 13amp 240v supply. The main thing with powering it from a house is that really you'd never have any need to, simply as indoors in a residential environment it would be far too much and you'd not want to turn it up loud anyway. If however you really did want to, then the only sensible option would be a dedicated supply connected to the main consumer unit.

[@colourbasscolourbassweapon2135]

yeah this is true dude i agree with your no cap

[@deankeys8185]

loved that, very interesting from a small fry musician.

[@edtalktech]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@davidperry4013]

Active speakers are great for mobile DJing due to ease of setup. However the plate amps in active speakers tend to fail overtime if it’s pushed hard. For permanent installation setups, passive speakers are king regardless of system size even if it’s just 2 12 inch speakers and a 15 inch subwoofer.

[@edtalktech]

Totally agree.

[@elliott7268]

I love that you've got a lovely void system with great amps and then just a shitty old gig bar lighting kit off to the right 🤣 Great video, from a full time audio engineer and LD/lighting op.

[@edtalktech]

Lol. That's for the dj set up. Basic package, not a gig bar just 4 light fixtures on a T bar (x2)controlled by a wolfmix w1. Perfect for small parties!

[@69_MK]

would you say they are digital and cheaper but sound similar are you referring to active speaker boxes, amplifiers, or what? also, whats the differece in sound quality between the two?

[@edtalktech]

Bit of a long post.. Really that modern digital amplifiers (almost any for example even cheap behringer i nuke) can and do sound half decent as long as not being pushed beyond their abilities (which is the same as analogue), regardless of active speakers/separate amplifiers etc, the availability of good but modestly priced active speakers has probably never been so good. For some years class D amps could only do bass duties as they were unable to switch fast enough to produce the full audible range. Background: Amplifiers have really morphed through three stages of evolution in the last 20 years. First pure analogue, with linear power supplies (purists still love these). Basically huge lumps of copper transformers into an analogue amplifier stage with large cooling fins and fans required. Think Crown VZ5000 those things weigh around 36Kg, put a few in a rack and it starts to get very silly. Then we had the so called first generation of what I call hybrid amps with switch mode power supplies but still analogue amplifier sections. QSC Powerlight series for example. These were far lighter, but really not much more efficient than the older generation, although some were power factor corrected, which did raise efficiency in the PSU stage. Often these were criticised as having inferior bass capabilities. Now we have fully switched 'Digital' amplifiers where the input power supplies are small light and highly efficient, feeding a switched digital amplifier stage, that's also very efficient, many also with PFC. All the crown amps in this video despite being around 10 years old have all of this. Along with this powerful DSP also arrived, all of this was (and is) a game changer. At the cheaper end of DJ amplified speakers, this is far more cost effective to make as no large lumps of copper, smaller heat sinks often no fans even required. This has helped the explosion in fairly reasonable active speakers.

[@TimpBizkit]

As far as electricity use, using more subwoofers at lower volume is actually energy saver compared to cranking one or two subs hard.

[@edtalktech]

This is down to efficiently and power compression.

[@rassiniister1152]

Good information. Could you do another on how the distro is used and connected?

[@edtalktech]

What would you like to know? It's pretty simple really?

[@rassiniister1152]

@@edtalktech I have 6 subs and 6 kicks . 2 10,000w amps . Can you recommend a distro?

[@maebeans]

i'm just getting into this with a small passive system with about 2000w rms of amplification, i'm considering my next move and it looks like seperate amp racks so that i can make use of multiple 10 amp circuits without running multiple huge extention leads to my main rack. still tho, that leaves me wondering at what point it makes the most sense to hire a generator rather than rely the venues power? i'd be interested in hearing more talk about 3 phase generators and power distribution in general.

[@edtalktech]

This requires care. Worse case - Audio and 3 phase can lead to stray currents, resulting in audible hums and even potentially very serious electric shocks. Generators join earth and neutral together at the source, and in the case of your kit its vital to check all your earths are good. Also bringing in a generator (at least under UK/EU regs) requires bonding between building earth and generator earth to prevent the potential of large voltages developing in the case of a fault. That being said a 2000w RMS system with typical music will probably rarely draw more than 5-700w of power, even at full output.

[@maebeans]

​@@edtalktech yeah, grounding issues is what i was afraid of, i'm from australia so i'll have to check what our regulations are here but it's likely the same. i will be hand making all of my audio cables anyway, so it's no big deal to make sure those are secure. but i guess it's worth checking all of my chassis and power cables are also grounded. i'm going to be hiring* a venue out in the country next month to put my system thru it's paces next month and i'm suspicious of the state of it's wiring. do you have any best practices for checking circuits are capable of a load? as for 2000w rms i could be wrong on that as well, i just do not trust behringer's specifications on their amps. i have an nx4-6000 and 4 8 ohm loads, so i've just estimated the actual power capabilities. behringer aren't the only ones who's figures i don't trust mind you, that might also be a good subject to touch on? i could build a dummy load to test 500w per channel but how do you verify that your big amps are working as expected after say, a repair? anyway enough rambling, i'm full of questions and i don't actually expect you to answer them, but i am very curious to see what you do with the channel. * they're letting me use it for free

[@ethanblood2908]

You should be able to pull 13amps off any spur and can probably have peaks of 16-20amps. You can get away with 3000watt systems on a single spur. You’d have to be running some fairly huge 1000 people plus gigs to need 3 phase systems. Before getting a generator behringer do battery powered 300watt full range speakers. If you had a pair you can send a fill mono mix to them with delay. A bigger event you’d perhaps be better hiring for because you’ll need lorries to transport such a large system. My local venue I mix at used 3000 on the subs and 3000w on the tops on a single phase for ages but power leakage onto the earth from other sources would cause a trip every 6 months or so.

[@JBF-GST-Tanda]

Since the amplifiers already have DSP processors built in, why it's better (or necessary) to use an external DSP rack?

[@edtalktech]

Good question. The Ma12000i has no DSP processing built in. It's just protection - so that's one reason. The other is quick and simple changes are easier on the BSS than getting a laptop out and connecting to the amp rack over networking.

[@JBF-GST-Tanda]

@@edtalktech Thanks a lot! Maybe the internal DSP would be more useful for larger systems with piles of amplifiers or for pre-installed theatrical systems in which amplifiers were placed elsewhere from A/V control room.

[@edtalktech]

@@JBF-GST-Tanda That's entirely correct. To be fair, I spread the DSP work between the amps and the processor. It's something I could spend days playing with running RTA test and all sorts and then still not being entirely happy with it!

[@petesvideo]

I have Nexo15's and Nexo Base bins powered by 2 x powersoft Amps and I'm a DJ. where do I stand?

[@edtalktech]

Probably behind them usually?

[@valentingheorghe1693]

There's no such thing as a DJ PA system. A sound reinforcement system will be either passive or active or a combination of the two, which is driven from a DJ or PA mixing console. The size of the sound reinforcement system is calculated for the size of the venue to be filled with sound.

[@spooforbrains]

This is a perfect example of knowledge vs wisdom. Knowledge is knowing that everything you said in this comment is correct. Wisdom is knowing that it's utterly meaningless.

[@AdrianJayeOnline]

so where do you get 32amps mains into the setup ?

[@edtalktech]

Usually generators.

[@andyturner4977]

Really interesting. I was interested in the input power: you said that a 13A supply won't cut it. How does this work in the non-commercial sector, let's call them free parties. Some of the rigs I've seen are at least as large as the one you show here, if not larger. Yet the generators they use just appear to be little things from hire shops. Can they really give enough output?

[@christopherdouglas7606]

Have used 4 18" scoops on 13amp outlet hundreds of times cope very well.

[@edtalktech]

I have tried this, as shown in the video above, its too much for 13A. The fuse popped within 30 seconds. However two bass bins works fine with 4 tops works ok, but I always have spare fuses to hand just in case. Worth noting that 13amp fuses blow at 20amps, not over 13, so the rack above was pulling more than 20amps to blow the fuse that quickly.

[@miroslav8817]

Have you try to daisy chain active speakers?

[@edtalktech]

No, I don't own any active speakers other than the monitors in the studio.

[@FOHFILMS]

9:13 I would strongly discourage you from adjusting output trims in this way. By doing so, you affect the crossover point between each section. If you want to tune the system to the room ,that should be done with input EQ, affecting the entire system as a whole.

[@edtalktech]

The crossover point is not changed. The relative band pass of the system in which ever point you are adjusting however is. In larger live configurations where sub is fed separately its perfectly normal that you would adjust the low end independently on an aux send and not use an eq. Different venues call for different approaches. There is no right or wrong one in order to achieve the sound you want. BSS engineers apparently think the same by having the trims so conveniently to hand!

[@FOHFILMS]

@@edtalktech I’m not taking about the LPF or HPF freq or slope for just the one driver/section, I’m talking about the actual interaction between the drivers/sections and the electrical and acoustical point at which the frequencies cross over. It’s problematic, because drivers and speakers are anything but linear phase. By messing with that final output level of a particular section, you are changing that crossover point and thus the phase interaction between your drivers. that is bad, especially in HF, where the wavelengths are much shorter. Phase coherence is what separates the real good stuff from the average.

[@FOHFILMS]

@@edtalktech And yes, it may be a popular method to use an aux-fed sub, but it is inherently flawed for the above mentioned reason. The best system engineers and loudspeaker designers are meticulous about making sure their systems/speakers are phase coherent, and a traditional aux-fed sub setup is not (unless you are sending an audio signal either ONLY to the tops or ONLY to the subs, in which case there’s no phase interaction between speakers in the first place lol)

[@cowboytonydee]

​@@FOHFILMS Gain shading doesn't affect phase or electrical crossover, only acoustic crossover. Of course if you make gain adjustments you need to make them pre-limiter... I personally think gain shading can be a great way to change the tone of your kit unlike EQ which actually messes up the phase. But you have to understand the consequences of what you're doing especially with arrays.

[@FOHFILMS]

@@cowboytonydee did you miss my reply where I mentioned that drivers are anything but linear phase? Acoustic phase is a thing, too. *That’s* where the issue lies with “gain shading”. Look up a phase trace of any complete PA speaker or speaker driver and you’ll see what I mean.

[@johnshaughnessy3165]

Are the crown i-tech amps as good as the older crown macrotech 5000vz amps.

[@edtalktech]

I've not personally used a 5000vz in my rig, they are a bit before my time. What I can say however is the ma12000i I use is seriously impressive. It's an absolute powerhouse.

[@johnshaughnessy3165]

@@edtalktech i have all old crown macrotechs fab amps even after 25 years still going strong.

[@pirateradioFPV]

Your setup is kinda old-school by modern standards, as far as I know most of the bigger setups are all line-arrays nowadays. In fact most of the DJ setups back when I used to rig them were similar to yours; top with 12-15" + compression driver and for bottom one or two boxes with 1-2x18" subs. What you describe as a DJ setup is more of a wedding/school disco setup, loud enough for a few hundred people with the tops lifted with the bars to about head height. Back when I was lifting these everything was AB so you had to be rather fit to lift the amp racks back to the van and the sub amp rack wasn't a one man job for sure! :D

[@elliott7268]

A lot of medium setups are still like this. Line arrays are great but you have to fly them and it's often easier and cheaper to use a system like this.

[@jordanabendroth6458]

​@@elliott7268 not necessarily, there are pole mount and sub mount line array systems that you just put either on sticks or on the sub itself or use the sub pole mount

[@edtalktech]

These mini line arrays fall apart and can't get anywhere near a system like this, when pushed to similar levels. They just don't have the cone area, and cannot handle or dissipate the power requirements to make up for the inefficiencies.

[@rudeboysw9]

Nice set up....always talk to the DJ's who use my set up about gain control good practice never go into the RED!!! Do you ever do gig logs!!?

[@bokajllensch661]

In germany it often goes from speakers on stick to flown speakers but really quickly towards small line arrays. Your really rarely see tops like that.

[@edtalktech]

This is true actually. The practicalities mean flying arrays just isn't feasible in most of the work we do. If I went that route, it would end up being ground stacked mini line arrays, and so might as well use point source.

[@SROClau93]

what type of model is the 4xtop speakers ?

[@edtalktech]

Void acoustics impulse 3

[@SROClau93]

@@edtalktech i have trimotion and i was thinking to change to something similar just because when people see only 2 top they lose the confidence that is enough🙈 ... i have the same type 4 x stasys xv2 and 2x trimotions on vq and v9

[@DiamondDog_]

crown macro tech 😍

[@lifeintornadoalley]

Easy answer: your needs dictates your setup. People rush to get the biggest speakers, biggest amps and call that good. But that's not even scratching the surface of what you should know while looking. DJing is more so for small venues, once and awhile you'll get a bigger venue show, but rare in the USA since everyone has their own house stuff. Pa= portable audio. But DJing rigs are more portable than PA systems 😅😂 makes sense! Lol Always wear ear protection! I'm stuck with tinnitus

[@edtalktech]

Firstly very good point on ear protection. Being deaf is not fun, so many audio people I know have hearing damage. secondly, in the UK at least most venues don't have their own PA.

[@lifeintornadoalley]

@@edtalktech thanks for sharing that! It's pretty common here for them to have a house band and pa. Usually venue owned, but some rent out from local bands.

[@ThatGuy-he8yx]

I need this in my apartment

[@dustinscharf3668]

nice video, first i thought the system you show is the dj system since on large scale events you see kinda this system as dj monitor for real xD but when you said you made 700 people happy with this setup i was wondering what kind of event this was? i can't belive this is enough preasure in the last row for a 700 person techno event (maybe indoor in a smaller room) but maybe for pop or something?

[@edtalktech]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIPOaYOadrKab7M this system but with 4 bass... if you actually used this as a dj monitor at full power you'd have permanent hearing damage by the end of your set, but that's stating the obvious. No one really needs the systems you see on festival stages for monitors. It's just showing off and DJ ego.

[@aaronho4242]

Man I would use a line array for a 40x30m room just for coverage.

[@edtalktech]

Yep, there is some merit in that. There is no doubt line array will happen at some point.

[@WaxerUK]

I’m also about to pull mine out of storage and give it a test, wake it up… where are you based? What’s your company details?

[@wylatron]

I run my decks out to a small live mixer, and into a dbx driverack2 that sits under my standalone 4 channel dj controller in the case. From there out to 4x21” subs with 3000 watts each and 4x15” 800 watt top cabs. All active speakers. I’d take the Pepsi challenge with this system configured as you have here, and feel pretty confident I wouldn’t come up short given my amps are designed and matched by engineers at the factory to work together. Actual engineers, not just sound engineers. Further, my setup loads and unloads easier, sets up and tears down easier. With the driverack I can set it and forget it, none of your coil melting, driver damage worries. My active cabs have protections, and fans… as does the driverack. I don’t know what sort of ‘dj systems’ you’ve seen… but I sort of think they must have been pretty poor, because this setup doesn’t impress me. Looks very 1980’s to me.

[@christiansoldier1118]

My back has just twinged!

[@edtalktech]

thats also a difference between small scale DJ and this kind of system!!

[@christiansoldier1118]

@@edtalktech Yeah I used to lift the D&B P1200 Amps - glad I don't have to do that anymore #ihaveaglassback

[@seanrucksounds]

Get yourself 2 x powersoft X8 and reduce your weight and stage L+R racks size, armonia + DSP is also a dream 🤘🏻

[@edtalktech]

I'm in powesoft usergroups, and frankly that's enough to know I'd rather stick with what I have! Plus I understand have all the schematics for these amps so can repair them if the need arises.

[@Jorn2024]

@@edtalktech i would do the same. What you have now are by far the same class. Save the money for repairs or something rather than buy powersoft

[@edtalktech]

That's my view. Powersoft won't release any tech service data, and I've read way more than my fair share of Powersoft suddenly bricking it.

[@peniku8]

I thought you were showing the system in the picture as an example for "DJ PA"... "Large scale PA system" is line arrays in stadiums, not this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this PA is bad, it's just.. if you're calling this "large scale" then what do you call a K1 rig?

[@Jimbob_Offical]

Your clearly making assumptions that aren’t true, most sounds systems and speakers aimed at DJs highly likely to be active (powers) they have a small built in mixer capable of controlling two to three channels. The size of the tops ( the speakers that go on a tripod) are normally 15inch but can sometimes be 12inch depending on the size of the audience. Some DJs now will use a subwoofer normally between 15 to 18 inch in size. And in recent years column array speakers have become very popular with DJs like the RCF evox series. I know all of this because my hobby is DJING and I have my own equipment. I know a lot of weddings DJS because I work in a wedding venue and will often chat to them regarding their equipment. Last one of friend works in a small theatre and has a collection of different sound systems.

[@edtalktech]

Thanks for your opinion!

[@retro80s80]

Nice. Most people think loud is a LG system from curry's which claims 2500 Watts lmfao 🤣🤣

[@edtalktech]

Its been done so many times I'm sure, but it would be fun to bench test something like that, actually I did have a 12inch really cheap active speaker in a few months ago for repair which claimed 300w or something, and inside was a 40w amp module...

[@nightblood9462]

Those are not large scale since it is not a line array that is a stacked medium scale sound system, Difference between the large scale vs a DJ PA System is that large scale is a line array and has a lot stuff then a standard DJ PA System, This is a medium stacked scale Sound system which it is Bigger Large DJ PA System that has much stuff that large scale has than a Standard DJ PA System that has less. My Sound System has A lot of speakers that are Big like larger Sound Systems that Large scale does have too and it is also an DJ PA system so it is in mixed of those.

[@vadimmartynyuk]

The main differences between DJ and Large Scale PA are: the mixing board, amount of input channels, and monitors. Not the power.

[@edtalktech]

You could have a massive yet simple DJ festival setup, with one perhaps two monitors and 100kw of FOH speakers. that by your definition would be small scale, so on that basis I must disagree.

[@Loui0581]

All that talk about watts ... the only specs that matter is spl

[@edtalktech]

Too simplistic. If only spl mattered then you could tune a system specifically for a frequency, it would be loud but sound rubbish. Frequency response and efficiency are just as much a consideration.

[@Basscouch]

This is a small DJ system....

[@Josh-wu7kz]

I don’t understand what’s so special about a driverack, can’t you make all those adjustments in a digital mixer? It seems completely unnecessary.

[@wylatron]

If you're a mobile guy, a one person performer, slogging it out in the trenches every weekend at different locations, inside and out, do you want to shlep a digital mixer around with you everywhere? Because I can promise you, my driverack fits INSIDE my 4 channel standalone decks case under the decks. I rock up, do a measurement of the venue or space I am in with the mics pluggged into the driverack, set it, and I am good to go. That's why.

[@Josh-wu7kz]

@@wylatron still makes no sense. A behringer x air 18 is tiny and lightweight and to have it in a rack which is it’s purpose you would only have a big system thus bringing a large desk wouldn’t be an issue

[@wylatron]

@@Josh-wu7kz pretty much the same sort of functionality, limit output with a brick wall limiter, time alignment. Usually when people are talking about a digital mixer they aren’t talking about a rackmount Behringer🤷‍♂️ Which isn’t *just* a digital mixer

[@edtalktech]

These units are designed for speaker management. They take a stereo pair in and split it into 6 out. This is not something your mixer can do nicely, or even fudge it. Of course you could fudge it. There are videos such as m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHO7koVojJd4Z6s that specifically mention the limitations of an xe18, and why would you want to tie up so many aux sends anyway? Speaker processors are designed for the job and do it properly, meaning you could plug anything into the rack and it work and sound good, not to mention be protected.

[@tyronenelson9124]

12,000 watts through a single 16 amp CEE, I don't think so pal.

[@edtalktech]

It's 32Amp.

[@Wok_Agenda]

Aren't those crown amps the ones that mute randomly without reason?

[@edtalktech]

Have used these since 2017, never had that happen!