Music Between Rooms

[mattmcc 0]

Hi

 

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on transmitting music from one room to another. I'm looking to have music in the dance room and also at a lower volume in a bar downstairs. The idea being that those downstairs can hear the kind of music that's playing upstairs and encourage more people onto the dance floor.

 

Two questions:

 

1 - Is it legal or would we become a pirate radio station

 

2 - What kit would be best to do this? Would the domestic kit you use to transmit audio and video upstairs from your Sky box do or is their something more robust?

 

In case you're wondering, cabling isn't an option. The distance as the crow flies (assuming it could fly through concrete) is quite short. Approx. 20 metres.

 

Also, it's not a permanent set up as we only hire the venue for the night.

 

Hope some one can help.

 

Thanks

 

Matt

[Gary 0]

The increasingly common problem with many of the wireless room-to-room senders is that many of them are on 2.4ghz - the same as many other devices.

 

Therefore the potential for interference is increasing.

 

A venue which I play at from time to time tried several different senders/recieve combo's - all under £100 and all suffered from wi-fi and or other inference - they were even pretty sure that Bluetooth interfered with the signal.

 

The venue ended up spending over £400 on a professional wireless musical instrument transmitter/receiver set or the type that a keyboard or maybe guitar player would use on-stage.

 

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

if Quality is needed then you could try a uhf radio mic transmitter and reciver....

 

is there realy no roof space or external route for cable?

 

 

[x4cs 0]

Firstly, you want an amp & speaker set up in the other room.

 

then get a couple of phono splitters in your master out on the mixer, run on set of phonos to the main amp and the other set to amp in the other room.

 

you now have sound in the other room and a means of controlling the volume.

 

if you want more control over various gains put a small mixer in series with the audio feed from the main room and your amp in room 2.

 

couple of phono splitters will cost you a couple of quid or so, as long phono lead - a fair custom lead specialist will make you a 20m one for around £20 then whatever you wish to spend on an amp and speaker package.

 

you could go down the route of extra speakers running off your amp and 100v line volume controls, but if you dont know what youre doing, dont go down that road. the easiest way to do it is explained above!

 

HTH

[Gary 0]

Firstly, you want an amp & speaker set up in the other room.

 

then get a couple of phono splitters in your master out on the mixer, run on set of phonos to the main amp and the other set to amp in the other room.

 

you now have sound in the other room and a means of controlling the volume.

 

if you want more control over various gains put a small mixer in series with the audio feed from the main room and your amp in room 2.

 

couple of phono splitters will cost you a couple of quid or so, as long phono lead - a fair custom lead specialist will make you a 20m one for around £20 then whatever you wish to spend on an amp and speaker package.

 

you could go down the route of extra speakers running off your amp and 100v line volume controls, but if you dont know what youre doing, dont go down that road. the easiest way to do it is explained above!

 

HTH

 

That's definately a good, or indeed, excellent solution to music in another room - except, the asker has said that cabling is not an option. I like your idea about the local sub mixer

 

 

Firstly, you want an amp & speaker set up in the other room.

 

then get a couple of phono splitters in your master out on the mixer, run on set of phonos to the main amp and the other set to amp in the other room.

 

you now have sound in the other room and a means of controlling the volume.

 

if you want more control over various gains put a small mixer in series with the audio feed from the main room and your amp in room 2.

 

couple of phono splitters will cost you a couple of quid or so, as long phono lead - a fair custom lead specialist will make you a 20m one for around £20 then whatever you wish to spend on an amp and speaker package.

 

you could go down the route of extra speakers running off your amp and 100v line volume controls, but if you dont know what youre doing, dont go down that road. the easiest way to do it is explained above!

 

HTH

 

That's definately a good, or indeed, excellent solution to music in another room - except, the asker has said that cabling is not an option. I like your idea about the local sub mixer

 

[gadget 0]

Most half decent mixers have some kind of second output on them, rather than using a splitter, what if you turn down the master on the main mixer?... Down goes the volume downstairs too! :dan+ju:

 

Or somehow wire up an aux send or use the tape/REC outputs of the mixer (does anyone use these?).

 

But wireless solutions... Hmmn not many dedicated solutions are there?

 

 

Interesting question though!

 

 

David

 

 

[mattmcc 0]

 

 

is there realy no roof space or external route for cable?

 

There's nothing. One room we use does have a window but getting it in downstairs would be a problem. The other only has a door and the ceiling and floor are solid.

 

x4cs: The sound system is already down stairs. That's the annoying thing, all I need is the connection.

 

Thanks to all who've answered. If anyone has any other suggestions please feel free. I've got an awful feeling it will be a pro grade transmitter/receiver if we want to get the quality.

 

 

Thanks

 

Matt

[RobbieD 0]

I've got an awful feeling it will be a pro grade transmitter/receiver if we want to get the quality.

Thanks

 

Matt

Hi Matt,

 

Your right. A pro solution is the only way to go if you want an interference free, reliable link. I discussed the way I do this in this post here.

 

It will cost you around £300-£400 new, or you may be able to pick up something second hand for less. If this is a one off requirement then I suggest you rent a suitable solution from a pro-audio supplier. It shouldn't cost you any more than £40 for a day.

[big mac 0]

 

We do this quite often with no problems.

 

Hi, i might be missing the point, i often do, but cant you just use cordless speakers run from a transmitters taken form aux/rec out on the mixer.

 

I sometime use a bank of 6x 40watts rms built in a flightcase that just plugs in any 240v socket. they were only something like £50 quid a pair from maplins.co.uk

Cheap and easy for background volumes. they have a realistic ditance of 50-60 meters and i often use them in a different rooms and just plug them in behind the bar. Then forget them and go back for them the next day.

I seen a nice blue tooth range but they wouldnt be there the next morning eh and yes im told they do pick up mobiles phones and can be used as a handsfree set ? but i cant think why anyone would want to !

 

Well I probably missed the point again

bigmac :fan:

 

[McCardle 1]

the easiest solution is to use a 5.8ghz video sender. unlike the 2.4ghz system these are not affected by microwave ovens, wi-fi or other 2.4ghz devices and the 5.8ghz spectrum is still very much uncluttered meaning a clean, reliable signal. They are also far more powerful than the 2.4ghz version and will work reliably upto 3 or 4 rooms away from the main set up area.

 

£300 or £400 versus £69.00 errrrr no contest really

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Module...e=1&DOY=2m7

 

just plug the left and right inputs of the tx unit into a spare / aux output on your mixer (or use a splitter) and then the outputs of the matching rx unit into the back of your remote amplifier or powered speaker, and enjoy a reliable, crackle free reception unhindered by microwave ovens and venue wi-fi systems.

 

These are also highly useful for getting your P.A extended to the back of a large room or marquee without the trip risk associated with long wire lengths. No longer will you need to blast out the front area of your audience in order to make your P.A heard at the back, just position an extra pair of speakers at the back of the room and link them using one of these A/V senders.

Edited July 2, 2008 by McCardle

[Spear 0]

the easiest solution is to use a 5.8ghz video sender. unlike the 2.4ghz system these are not affected by microwave ovens, wi-fi or other 2.4ghz devices and the 5.8ghz spectrum is still very much uncluttered meaning a clean, reliable signal. They are also far more powerful than the 2.4ghz version and will work reliably upto 3 or 4 rooms away from the main set up area.

 

£300 or £400 versus £69.00 errrrr no contest really

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Module...e=1&DOY=2m7

Have they fixed the problems with the top and bottom end frequencies now because when I tried the video sender option a few years ago it was the equivalent of using 128kps mp3's .....not good

[McCardle 1]

I find the 5.8ghz to be of perfectly usable quality, certainly far higher than that of a 49mhz 40 watt cordless speaker system. I'm also led to believe that a 5,8ghz signal transmits at a higher quality than that of a 2.4ghz signal which may possibly mean less loss / deterioration of quality during the sending process.

 

Of course even the 2.4ghz quality varies too, depending on build quality and where cost sacrifices have been made to make it affordable, I wouldn't expect a £30 system from dixons to re-produce high quality audio anymore than i'd take a £50 pair of car speakers to a gig. My original 2.4ghz system used prior to investing in a 5.8ghz system was made by philips and carried an £89 price tag, it sounded perfectly fine and the audio was 'all there', at least until somebody turned on the microwave.

 

You have seven days under law in which to try and return an item bought by mail order, why not give it a go and judge the quality for yourself?

Edited July 2, 2008 by McCardle

[RobbieD 0]

Well it's horses for courses. A professional Sennheiser or Shure solution will give you pro quality. A consumer system may give good quality.

 

Personally I can't accept "may" - I need to give my clients quality in all areas of the service I offer.

[mattmcc 0]

A BIG thanks to everyone who has answered. Some very good ideas and advice. I'll talk over the options with the guys I run the night with. If we go ahead I'll post a quick review of how it goes.

 

Thanks loads

 

Matt

[supersound dj 0]

Couldent you just hard wire it on a 100v line array?Less technical and more reliable.

 

Paul

[NRG Roadshow 0]

I have often thought about doing this for weddings......

 

My heart allways sinks when I arrive at a venue and see the bar is in a totally seperate room to the disco.

 

Once they start congregating in the bar area and are no longer able to hear the music they tend to stay their somtimes, and no matter what you play to get them back its just not going to happen!

 

Id love to be able to put a seperate speaker or two in the bar area at a low volume to be able to encourage the guests up for a dance.

[UKHero 0]

I have often thought about doing this for weddings......

 

My heart allways sinks when I arrive at a venue and see the bar is in a totally seperate room to the disco.

 

Once they start congregating in the bar area and are no longer able to hear the music they tend to stay their somtimes, and no matter what you play to get them back its just not going to happen!

 

Id love to be able to put a seperate speaker or two in the bar area at a low volume to be able to encourage the guests up for a dance.

 

I know what you mean about the bar in another room, such a pain. The idea of another speaker though might have the adverse effect and even more stay in the bar lol...

 

Nik

[supersound dj 0]

most ppl go away from source of volume to talk,no matter what you do it will still happen.

 

Paul

[McCardle 1]

i only provide an extension of the pa in other rooms if it is specifically requested by the client. i agree with Paul, at some functions it is important to maintain a quiet room for guests who may just be there to catch up with family and friends they haven't seen for years. There will also undoubtedly be people there who hate discos and music with a passion, in the same way as we would probably hate sitting through a 4 hour seminar from the ladies knitting circle, and we shouldn't force the music onto them.

[RobbieD 0]

Id love to be able to put a seperate speaker or two in the bar area at a low volume to be able to encourage the guests up for a dance.

I know what you mean about the bar in another room, such a pain. The idea of another speaker though might have the adverse effect and even more stay in the bar lol...

This is exactly what I have done in the past.

 

With a remote speaker in the bar, set at a low level, I find you end up with a constant number of people in with the disco, and the bar experiences a more even flow of people.

 

I posted a full report of the effect experienced at one venue over several functions in a previous post here.

 

Coincidentally I've just been asked to put an additional speaker in an adjoining room tomorrow so that people can hear the speeches. A small powered speaker and a (reliable high quality) radio link allows me to say yes.

[UKHero 0]

I used a transmitter last night for a Karaoke gig in a pub up stairs I used one of my Sennhiser Radio mic recievers and a mic pack... Out my mono um into mic pack and pluged the reciever into the pub PA system worked like a dream... The only thing is you loose some bass defenition probably because of the bandwidth of the pack but the punters were more than happy and want me to do it every week... Saved me a lot of humping of equipment and boss was impressed in my ability to put the sound around his whole pub...

 

BTW the gig was one from a member on this site so many thanks for that...

 

Nik

Edited July 6, 2008 by UKHero