Hey,
I'm going to record a few DJ's (some who I may not be able to get to talk to) at a few different clubs. I'm not sure of these clubs' set-ups (most likely the usuall djm 6,7 or 800) but I am afraid that the DJ is going to go over 0db and the recording is going to clip.
I feel like most DJ's go far into the yellow-zone (above 0db) when they are spinning? Is this true?
Is there any way to make recording a Liveset more flexible so we don't have to worry about clipping and ruining the recording? Maybe using other outputs on the mixer?
different mixers - different clubs
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Robot Criminal
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patrick bateman
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get there a bit beforehand and have a talk to the PA guy.
As for the clipping, it seems a bit of a strange thing to say, but 95% of the dj's don't know how to work properly with a mixer (and that applies to a lot of well known names btw). Almost everytime I arrive behind the booth I see the leds firmly into the red. Or the EQ's mid and high are three quarters open.
Some promotors seem to think that placing f.e; Funktion One is a garantuee for good sound but they are afraid to tell a dj to adjust the sound a bit (or pay a bit extra for a good pa guy who monitors the sound).
As for the clipping, it seems a bit of a strange thing to say, but 95% of the dj's don't know how to work properly with a mixer (and that applies to a lot of well known names btw). Almost everytime I arrive behind the booth I see the leds firmly into the red. Or the EQ's mid and high are three quarters open.
Some promotors seem to think that placing f.e; Funktion One is a garantuee for good sound but they are afraid to tell a dj to adjust the sound a bit (or pay a bit extra for a good pa guy who monitors the sound).PsyTox.
Coincidence Records.
www.coincidencerecords.be
www.myspace.com/coincidencerecords
www.myspace.com/djpsytox
Coincidence Records.
www.coincidencerecords.be
www.myspace.com/coincidencerecords
www.myspace.com/djpsytox
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damagedgoods
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Re: different mixers - different clubs
On most pro DJ mixers you can go well into the red before the signal actually clips. Of course the amplitude of the signal will be greater than whatever voltage gets translated to -0dB full-scale - but the top and bottom won't be cut off, so as long as you attenuate the signal before it hits your sound card then you can avoid a clipped recording.mmm wrote:Hey,
I'm going to record a few DJ's (some who I may not be able to get to talk to) at a few different clubs. I'm not sure of these clubs' set-ups (most likely the usuall djm 6,7 or 800) but I am afraid that the DJ is going to go over 0db and the recording is going to clip.
I feel like most DJ's go far into the yellow-zone (above 0db) when they are spinning? Is this true?
Is there any way to make recording a Liveset more flexible so we don't have to worry about clipping and ruining the recording? Maybe using other outputs on the mixer?
How far into the red the DJ can go is basically a matter of the voltage on the supply rails of the mixer, but I have FOH engineer friends who suspect that hardware manufacturers are also aware that DJs have a tendency to go ragging away on mixers and deliberately attenuate the output....
(FWIW, on a DJM600 I'm pretty sure you can go all the way til "Over" and maybe even further, but it will definitely start clipping not long after that.)
