Mobile DJ Invest 1 PA 2 Effects 3 Controller and WHY?

0:00 Go and check that video out, I'll put a link in the description

Alright, recently I did a video on lighting and the pros and cons of buying expensive lighting compared to cheap lighting. Go and check that video out, I'll put a link in the description. This video is about really where you should invest your money. So as a mobile DJ there are three parts to your setup. There are, trust me, three parts. The first part of course... He is the source of the music, which is your turntables, your CD plays, your vinyl turntables, your mixer, your controller, your laptop, any effects units you've got. That's the first part. The second part is the PA because you've got to have something to play through. And the third part, of course, is the effects. The effects you've got, the lighting, the smoke machine, the pyrotechnics, the confetti cannons. So that's the third part.

0:59 Event and there's a DJ

Now without those three parts you don't really have a proper mobile show. That is it, that's what you need. Now in my time as a DJ I've only ever once had a client request for no lighting, no effects, only once and I've been DJing for quite a while. So let's imagine you go to an event and there's a DJ with loads of lights, a great PA system That's it. It's going to look pretty shit, and it's going to sound shit actually. It's not going to look shit, it's going to sound terrible. On the other hand, let's say you've got a DJ who's turned up with £25,000 worth of MacBook Pro and the best CD players out there, and a light show. Yeah, headphones, we can't hear anything. You get the general idea hopefully. So where should you invest your money? In the PA. Period.

3:00 Is the 500 watts PMPO?

The DJ Tutor is a great tool to use in your PA system because today you can buy a cheap controller for say 200 pounds, euros, dollars and you can have a couple of flashy lights. But if your PA system isn't up to standard, for example, if you've only paid say $200, 200 pounds for your PA system and you expect that to work at a professional event in front of 100, 200 people, then you're probably mistaken. Because the sad thing is about today, there are companies out there who will give the impression that this speaker system that is £199 or $199 and it's 500 watts is going to blow people's ears out. It isn't actually, because you always have to be very careful of their interpretation of 500 watts. Is the 500 watts PMPO? Is it RMS? Is it peak power? If 500 watts, if their 500 watts is peak power, then it's highly likely that sound system, that PA, that speaker you bought could only be 100 or 150 RMS.

Which means that that's only going to deliver that amount of power continually during the night. Now, if you're pushing that system at 150 watts its peak all the way through the night for say four hours, that might not last. You need to invest, I'm going to keep this video short, you need to invest in good PA. Cheap controller, no problem. Few lights, fine. Good sound system. Go for it. The last thing you want to happen, the last thing you want to happen is all of a sudden halfway through the night your sound system dies because you've had it. A few lights go wrong, no problem. Your controller stops working. You know, you can get around that because really if you're a professional DJ you should have a backup system anyway. So I hope that's been a help. Practice and enjoy. Thank you.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.