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[Keith Broughton]

It's the entertainment business, not the sound/music business.  Providing a show at a reasonable price with no feedback on the $ mic is all that's required...that and a killer light show.

The man speaks the truth
The visual aspects of shows seem to be more noticeable.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

To me the source material (usually poor quality .Mp3's) makes more of a difference than the low to mid level speakers in question. Even with a great PA, a .Mp3 or a DJ mixer that is run in the red (happens more often than not) will have a greater impact on the guest experience compared to, say a .WAV file (or CD) and proper gain structure.

~Dave

Amen, Brother Dave

[Ken Bromley]

Amen, Brother Dave

Could not agree more! The source files and running my equipment efficiently is paramount for good sound imho. Your system is only as good as the weakest link....garbage in; garbage out...

[Ken Bromley]

Thank you all for your input; it is appreciated. It's so hard to be objective and unbiased when you have been doing the same thing for so long. Thank you again for your useful insights.

[Ken Bromley]

It sounds like you might be Canadian with your fondness for Yorkville products, good to hear as I use to work there. Long story short, if you want to impress a DJ crowd go with lots of subs.

LOL yes I am in Ontario and Yorkville is common place in my area. I almost always include a sub(s) at all my gigs particularly where most of the music will be bass driven (EDM, rap, top 40 etc).

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Ken...

You seem to have a good attitude and an even keel and that's better for business than ANY gear.

Best of luck.

[Brian Jojade]

One thing to consider is that your equipment is a tool. A skilled carpenter could build a great speaker box using just a circular saw and a hammer, but wouldn't they prefer to have a fully equipped wood shop to do it? Same goes for sound equipment, many sound engineers could get acceptable results on less than stellar equipment, but would be easier and more enjoyable to them to have a tool that gets the results quicker and easier and has a higher ceiling for performance.

I'm not sure I completely agree with this.  A skilled carpenter would have limited abilities based on the quality of the tools provided.  Yes, with skill, they could compensate to some degree for the lack of quality tools, but if you have a saw with a wobbly blade that can't cut a consistent line, the final result is not going to be as good as if you had the right tools.

Now, whether or not it matters depends on the client's expectation.  There's a common expression that my construction friends use, and that's 'Inch on a house, foot on a barn' which refers to the acceptable tolerances for construction.  In a house, you want fine precision, and great carpentry.  When building a barn, as long as there's a roof overhead and the structure is solid, it doesn't matter much if the edges line up perfectly. It's built as well as needed to get the job done.

That being said, there aren't many people that wouldn't be able to tell the difference between barn grade construction and home construction. 

In audio, the differences are far more subtle than that.  Audio has to be pretty bad for most people to think it's bad.  Most of the time, they don't realize the differences.  When it's good, it's not noticed.  When it's great, it simply makes other pieces of the event look better.  Most customers don't relate the sound quality to the improved event.

[Keith Broughton]

Most customers don't relate the sound quality to the improved event.

If that is the case, then why build their barn to house tolerances? 
As far a DJ events go, the capability of the DJ to choose the correct music and provide a good experience outweighs the brand of gear.

I got dropped into a gig recently where  I ended up mixing on a 16ch Mackie with 4 JBL Eons, no subs gates comps or verbs. Not even an EQ for the 2 monitor mixes.
The band was good and played the right dance tunes and the people on the dance floor had a blast.
Client was happy.
Done!
Could it have been "better" ...sure. Could I have had more gear...of course!
 Would it have really made a difference? Don't think so.

[duane massey]

I worked for a number of years (keyboards) and we used Behringer powered mixer with 2 EV speakers on sticks. No drum mics, vocals and keys only in the PA. Did it sound great? No. Did anyone ever complain? Not once.
I also worked with a different wedding band as a sub. Big sound system, IEM's, the works. Great musicians. Constantly got complaints about the sound (it's too loud, etc).

[Brian Jojade]

If that is the case, then why build their barn to house tolerances? 
As far a DJ events go, the capability of the DJ to choose the correct music and provide a good experience outweighs the brand of gear.

And when you are running sound as a business, this is very important to understand.  Better costs more.  Clients that don't care and want to spend less have the option for less.  My JBL EONs make me the most money out of all of my speakers, but certainly aren't the best sounding ones.  When they fit the needs of the client, that's what matters.

Now, on the flip side, knowing which part of the market you fit into is very important.  Someone that builds barns all day probably won't be asked to build a high end house, and vice versa.  If you are in the business of high end sound, you probably won't waste your time on backyard parties.  If you do backyard parties, you probably won't be called upon to do a high end show.  There is profit available (and loss) at both ends of the spectrum.

[ProSoundWeb Community]