DJ Speakers needed for Laptop

fgict

Quick question, have been asked to play the music at a friends party coming up. Got the Laptop and CD's/mp3's - been looking for a descent set of speakers for a while, ones good enough to blast out the sounds in good quality to a large size room and/or pub. Gotten different advise, been told i need some/all the following:
- PA system
- Bose Speakers
- New Sound card
- 300 Watt speakers

Can anyone give me a better insight into what is required please..

Lump

Get a decent sound card, one that cost around 70 - 100 Euro. Then buy a pair of "Active" speakers, these don't require an addition amp, handier for morving around. Something like this might be good: http://www.gear4music.com/index.php?sec=proddetails&pcode=dB500A

John

unklerosco

U'll need a decent amp n speakers, u can hire them. Check the golden pages r have a look on the music boards, someone there can point u in the right direction. U'll need a lead to ouput ur laptop audio into the amp. 3.5 jack(laptop) - phone/xlr(amp) wherever u hire the gear from should be able to help.

wavin

fgict wrote:

Quick question, have been asked to play the music at a friends party coming up. Got the Laptop and CD's/mp3's - been looking for a descent set of speakers for a while, ones good enough to blast out the sounds in good quality to a large size room and/or pub. Gotten different advise, been told i need some/all the following:
- PA system
- Bose Speakers
- New Sound card
- 300 Watt speakers

Can anyone give me a better insight into what is required please..

id say the onboard sound from a laptop would be ok for playing music through a PA system

Lump

You dont need an amp if you get active speakers, as I already pointed out. Buying a sound card with XLR out puts, or at least 1/4 inch Jack out puts would be sensible, for longevity (Spelling?) and also for the ability to Set the speakers a distance from the Laptop. Onboard sound from the latop will work, but will sound poxy the more you amplify it.

If you plan on doing this alot, invest the money.

John

unklerosco

An amp n speakers would be better in the long run, gives better options if u go to upgrade... There's usually a good few amp n speaker sets in the buy n sell, a decent SC would be a good investment tho. Mind u, back in the day i used to use my old pioneer midi system n a cracking set of floor standing spkrs i picked up, they did the job for small/medium sized partys... o the memories.

MorningStar

I might be missing something but are you actually talking DJ in a function room etc... or just in your firends house?
If you are talking proper DJing you do need they something a bit more than PC type speakers. A lot of standrad stereos have and extra imput so feeding the laptop into that is your best and cheapest option.

unklerosco

good enough to blast out the sounds in good quality to a large size room and/or pub

jozi

Try rent some active speakers from a music shop, ones allong the lines of them big ones they have hanging in clubs.
Brother rented them for my 21st. Do think they need a special connection but not sure.
If you know anyone with a very good stereo (amp and good quallity speakers) try get the lend of it, buy a stereo to phone cable that will go from your soundcard to the aux input on the amp.

Best of luck dj-ing

fgict

Thanks for all your help, i have been researching the idea on the web for the past while.. anyone know any sites of similar laptop enthusiast i would be grateful for more information.

I need to do more checking on the speaker side of things. Active speakers look like the answer..but they are quite expensive.. really only doing this as a hobby and not as an investment..
sound cards are still a little confusing.. what am i looking for here.. USB type? and how many channels output do i need.. getting confused with requirements of souind card

Chalk

youd need a 2-channel sound card for stereo mp3s,
usb or pcmcia are suitable for a laptop, pci is only for pcs.

tbh, go to the pub with your laptop and a decent stereo beforehand,
ive used my laptop and a 300eu sony hifi at big enough house parties and its always done the job.
depending on the size of the room using the stereo as an amp and the sandard speakers may be more than enough.

jozi

Have you checked if the pub has a sound system?
Maybe its enough for what you need.
Just make sure you have ways of getting sound from the laptop to it.
If its a laptop i wouldnt think you can put in a pci card so usb would be the way to go.
Check www.overclockers.co.uk for sound cards i remember they have a decent selection (as do other sites i assume)

paconnors

fgict wrote:

Quick question, have been asked to play the music at a friends party coming up. Got the Laptop and CD's/mp3's - been looking for a descent set of speakers for a while, ones good enough to blast out the sounds in good quality to a large size room and/or pub. Gotten different advise, been told i need some/all the following:
- PA system
- Bose Speakers
- New Sound card
- 300 Watt speakers

Can anyone give me a better insight into what is required please..

u need

mixer
amp
speakers

i use this method myself

clint_silver

you do not need an amp.

Rent 2 active/powered 300w speakers. That way you dont need to get an amp. The majority of these have a jack in connector.

You can get any lead made up depending on what way you want to work it.

The first connector you'll need is a headphone jack out of your laptop, on the other end of that lead, have the 2 male jack connectors to go into the speakers for left and right t get your stereo, and thats what I use.

Any half decent music hire shop will have everything you need. If youre on the south side try sound gear in portobello or sound hire in ballymount. Both got really helpful staff.

Lump

And so it goes on.... what I said at the beginning.

John

clint_silver

>> And so it goes on.... what I said at the beginning.
Correct, I was trying to lend a bit weight behind your suggestion, I should have said "to echo what lump said"

He doesnt need a sound card either. The headphone out will do the business. Ok, you wont be able to cue, but then again, youre doing yer mates party in a pub so it wont be that important. If you do want a cheap external sound card with headphone and speaker outs may I recommend the gainward hollywood@home 7.1 USB card from marxcomputers in fairview. 32e inc vat collected. Gigged with it last night and it worked perfectly.
Had a bit of trouble initially getting it to work with traktor dj SW but its ok now so Im able to cue.

Just on that, has anyone used traktor and can compare it to other dj software, Ive been using a trial version and am about to make up my mind about purchasing a full version. I know theres loads out there but Ive been recommended to ableton or pcdj red, Ive heard pioneer have one but cant seem to find any reference to it. Ive tried mixmeister but prefer traktor to it.

Just to go back to the original post, if youre going to be buying active speakers for DJing, go to sound hire in ballymount, ask for Alto 300W powered speakers. 400e each, get 2 of them. Then go to sound gear in portobello and get 2 speaker stands in a sturdy bag for 99e. You'll easily pick up some flashing lights in the buyandsell for 100e and now youre set up with mostly new gear for under a grand!!

Lump

Head phone out will sound like tat. And you intend doing it to any length, you'll want robust connections.

John

DJBERT

Have done this few times myself. I hired 2 speakers and an amp from SOUNDHIRE RANELAGH, and played through my laptop. Very helpful people. You could actually get the full party package reasonable includes lights, mic, leads etc. I'll be back to do exactly same next time too.


Bert

whizbang

You gotta test your laptop before shelling out on any usb sound card.
Find somebody with a big loud stereo, with a line in/aux input.
Run ur laptop till battery= 30-50%. Plug in laptop power in same sockets as stereo. Plug laptop audio out into stereo. Fire it up with your dj software. Pause music. Turn up everything all the way. listen to the noise and decide.
Play the music, listen again.
Its probably going to sound sh*t. or else u dont need a sound card. lucky man.
U need 300w for a pub. Rent first then decide

ED E

This is a necro thread but in case its being read I'll put in my tuppence worth.

U need 300w for a pub

:rolleyes: First off its not just wattage. The High/mid/low config is very important. Also whats a pub? A pub could be a few square meters of it could be a few hundred. What really matters in any case is the number of people. People soak up sound. 300W RMS will do 20-35 people. 700W RMS on 15" Subs will do a small garden of 100 people just about ok.

RE Active speakers, they are more convenient but to get serious power levels you really have to shell out. There is a reason why many mobile DJs still use amps. For small real events two 150W EVs would suffice. Over that go passive.

Renting is a good option. Also, you can get good deals second hand if you shop around.

jozi

This thread died a long time ago...

laptophire

If the situation ever comes up again, or for anyone else, we've got a few different types of event sound systems for hire here.

Someone posted them earlier, but SoundHire is who we use when we're out of stock.

Cheers!