DJMickeyk

Some used actives are your best bet and a good used sub. Alternatively have a look at the alto active range. I have never heard them but they get rave reviews and seem to be top of the class in the budget range. I run a pair of 400w Das tops and a Qsc 800w sub at most gigs. Bought all of them second hand in mint condition and they sound great, paid half the normal rrrp. Personally I prefer getting good used gear rather than new budget stuff that loses half it's value the minute you take ownership. There is usually plenty of gear on eBay an similar sites.

Your external hard drive is just as likely to fail as your laptop. I store all music files locally but have all files backed up on two sperarte external hard drives just in case my laptop is dropped, stolen or just frys itself for some reason. If you have all your tunes on an external hdd only i would strongly suggest buying another one and cloning the drive. External hdd's can and do fail.

Never used the subs but had the G2 tops for a few years and they were cracking, extremely loud and great bottom end, sound maybe not as refined as some other brands but it improved significantly when used with a good sub. I don't like the look of the g2 Sub, they use the same cab as the tops and the specs look a little weak, for small gigs i'm sure they'd be fine though. I prefer a sub to be box shaped with the ability to mount the tops via a distance pole. There are definately better options out there unless you are getting a serious bargain.

Just play around until you find a setting you are happy with, I cross my QSC sub at 100.

+1 I have had this too, can't stand it myself but there are people who are really into it.

I bought a used pair of twister 4 hp's a few years back, cleaned them up and fitted new lampholders and they still work like new, that Abstract stuff was built to last. £200-£250 quid should do it, so you should have change for some LED wash effects or something if you don't already have some. There are any number of similar effects to the twisters, like Datamoons etc, I find the inbuilt programs on the 4hp's to be very good, just link them and you're set. I had a pair of datamoons at one stage and they required a bit of controlling. The new LED stuff looks good, like the Acme Cheetahs wh

I have an RMX which I use for playing in clubs and bars with intsalled gear, I use a denon playout system for mobile work. The RMX is very good indeed, it hasn't missed a beat in all the time I have used it and is perfectly adequate for mobile work and basic mixing. It can be mapped to work with other programs, but I use it with VDJ. I would go as far as saying that the RMX is the best value for money piece of kit I own, I bought it used but in mint condition and it still looks brand new. There are far more sexy units now on the market like the DN-MC6000 or the Native Instruments and Vestax co

Great to see the forum back only came across it by accident. OP I'm in a similar situation, I stepped back from mobile work almost entirely and possibly foolishly threw all my eggs in one basket with a busy residency, where I get lots of requests every night and lots of abuse sometimes too if I don't play somebodys request immediately after they ask for it, some people almost expect you to cut the track playing to accomodate them and people are becoming increasing rude and obnoxious. I never let it get to me and just try to keep a packed dancefloor and play all sensible requests etc., no

Problem in Ireland is we don't have many DJ stores, there are none where I live and every DJ I know buys their stuff from the UK or Germany and gets them shipped, there is no RCF dealer in the republic that I am aware of although there are some in Northern Ireland so it may be hard to go have a listen. I have also been considering the K12's when I eventually upgrade my system, Ian (sweetie) has them JB and I know he loves them. Both would be great I would imagine. The JBL PRX 600's also caught my eye, phenomenal specs and would be easier to find a dealer here if you want to buy from a bricks a

Two of these between the DJ IO and your mixer should help, they just go on the ends of regular RCA cables. Like I said I never had a problem with hum thankfully so never really used them but they may solve your problem, I have seen them cheaper elsewhere so best to shop around.

I had one of those as a backup unit but only used it a couple of times, worked flawlessly any time I used it but replaced it with an RMX because I needed MIDI control. It's a pretty stable unit and does exactly what it is supposed to, never had a problem with hum, that is most likely your laptops power supply rather than the connection between laptop and mixer, some are noisy and some are not, a ground loop isolator (pair) should solve the problem, if not post again and I'm sure somebody will have a solution.

Best tip I can give you is read the manual and set it up the way that you like, there are preset mappers available to download on the Denon & VDJ (I think) websites, you can also download a DN-HC 4500 skin for VDJ which is really cool. Also if you are using it with Vista / 7 you need to adjust the jog trans to 12+, think the default setting is 4. It is possible that the previous owner has already done this however, the unit will crash intermittently if you don't. The manual explains how to do this. Best of luck with it, I find it to be a great unit.

Which is perfectly fine, the problem for me arises when you get a lazy band who just hit play on an i-mix and then continue to haul the rest of the gear out to the van, no lights etc (I have seen this with my own eyes, it does happen). This is just greedy IMO and is not a proper disco. Like I said above if a band want to add disco then it is fair game but at least put some effort into it. Cheers Mike

I have been using this week in week out for some time now and it works very well with VDJ, you can switch to CD control on either deck in seconds, even if you are playing a track from VDJ on that deck. I think Pioneer do a similar product within your budget which I would guess is equally as good if not better. Only problem with this system is that if your controller goes down you lose both PC and CD playback, so you would need some form of backup. Never used a HDD based system so can't comment but the denon is a pleasure to work with and has been very reliable for me, I've not heard of any oth

Jeez dunno what kind of bands you've been playing after mate but the ones I play after are superb, and never leave early to do another gig or anything like that, I normally find them very professional with good playlists and good equipment that would take minimum an hour for four people to strip and load in the van. Of course you may have chancers who do cheap weddings with a few mics and backing tracks but that is the exception rather than the norm in my experience to be fair. Like anything else you get what you pay for.

Of course it's easier once you have experience and have built your reputation, I'm a recommended supplier in a couple of venues and am on good terms with all of them but have definately seen bands taking over the DJ bookings, this is also the feedback I've been getting from the venues. I know the events coordinator in one hotel very well and asked her why my bookings have all but dried up and she said that most bands now offer Disco as well and couples are generally happy to go with that. I'm not having a moan here btw. I'm charging almost as much for a party as I'd get for a wedding now anywa

Yep, DJ only weddings are rare in Ireland, most weddings have a band as the main act and a DJ follows with a 2-3 hour set to finish off the night. The DJ has traditionally been a seperate supplier who came in with his own equipment, but more and more bands see it as easy money to do the Disco themselves. The effort and professionalism put into this varies enormously from band to band, from a roadie plugging in a laptop and playing an i-mix to a really good Disco that would match any of us on here. Of course a specialist wedding DJ isn't going to like it but thats life, the band are going after

Don't know if this helps Ray but being a lazy git I have only ripped about 5000 songs to my HDD, these are the "most played" at weddings and parties and my res, most of the obscure or rarely requested stuff that I have stayed on CD and I still carry them to gigs as backup, I use that Denon DN-HC 4500 setup you mentioned above (it's super btw) so can switch to CD very easily, but to be honest I very rarely have to. All new music from CD Pool or download goes straight onto the HDD also so I keep it right up to date. Perhaps your gigs require a wider range of music and genres, but 99.9% of my gig

Barry i recently bought a used RMX as well for use in my res which has an installed PA and it is a superb unit, I've only used it maybe 10 times live at this stage but would have no trouble recommending it. I also use a rackmounted Denon DN-HC 4500 for mobile gigs and that is also terrific. I'd highly recommend either of these, the RMX is probably better value for money, both are solidly built and have been rock steady in use so far.

Well I can tell you where I live it is very very bad at the moment, I normally work friday and saturday nights so the only chance I get to go for drinks might be a sunday night, or possibly a Friday if I'm off. The difference in the past two years is simply staggering, pubs that were quite busy on a sunday night two years ago now have a handful of customers if they are lucky, fridays are ok(ish) buy way way back as well. Saturdays are busy in the late bars (my res is one of these) but the normal pubs are semi-busy, many landlords who are /were leasing their premises have walked away from their

I did that for years, didn't even know what a deckstand was until I joined here, when I think back to what my setup looked like before I joined here I cringe. You can get a basic deckstand here for very reasonable money, the starcloth is the expensive bit, just use black cloth and velcro for a while if money is tight. Otherwise they are on ebay all the time. I must admit I bought a cheapo starcloth off ebay initially, lasted about six months until the leds died so in my experience it's best to buy a proper one, same with the stand, get an ultimax if you can afford one.

Not seen one of these yet but think I understand what they are, and no i don't feel at all threatened by them. If my res tried using one of these on a busy night it would cost them money, I take countless requests on a busy Fri / Sat, and am on the mic constantly wishing somebody a happy birthday or whatever, doubt a machine will ever do that. These things have their place, in fact I can see my res installing one eventually, but for busy nights they will only be used in an emergency (DJ or band not showing up). And how a machine could manage a Karaoke session, I just don't see it working in a

Hey slim, sorry mate sold them this morning, typical! Think you should have no problem picking up a good pair in the UK anyhow, if you spot something on ebay ask about it here before you buy, you'll get great advice, there is somebody coming to collect mine next week apologies again. Best of luck finding something suitable. Mike

I have a pair of JBL Eon 15-P1 (active) that are in absolutely mint condition, as new and they wouldn't be far out of your price range. Not sure what carraige would cost as I'm over on the emerald isle but if you are interested they are a nice speaker. They are 180 Watt (I think) each with 15" drivers and 1" horn, don't be fooled by the 180 watts, they are a match for speakers with much higher power rating. I have them for sale in Ireland linky The rest of the stuff in the ad sold almost immediately but I still have the speakers. Genuinely used less than 20 times, I got them brand n

Did you have a look at the fusions Dave, they look decent even though they are quite expensive. Can you let us know what you think of them if you get to demo them.