DIY - DJ mixing board CD player case

[J_Dunavin]

I had been hauling around a Berhinger 5 channel board and rack mount cd player. It was .. ok, but big, and not necessary.
I've upgraded to a Denon 2 ch, way better build quality and sounds much nicer, plus two used CDJ 200s.
I needed a case for them and my BDX driverack, and decided to make ny own. Its not perfect, but works good for me!

[Tom Smit]

Well done!

[J_Dunavin]

Thanks!
The flush butterfly latches from penn-elcom help finish it off.

[88h88]

Very neat. How come the DBX is in with the decks/mixer?

[J_Dunavin]

Before i had a seperate rack with two peavey crossovers and an eq. It took time to wire every time.
I wanted simplicity and a clean look. This way, all i have to do is open the box and pull out the harnesses and go straight to the amps.
I also like having sub level control. Some songs are just too bass heavey or some are really light. Aftee initial set up i know that i can't go past... X on the sub out, but at least i have the ability to turn it down or let it rip.

[jimbo7]

I like it.

Did you purposely design it with the cables hidden by the tall back lip? I wanna make one with a connector panel on the back so all I have to do is run my cables and connect it to my amp cases (which I wanna do the same to).

[J_Dunavin]

Yes, i did make the back tall on purpose.
I also thought about a disconnect on the back , maybe something like this:
http://www.newark.com/te-connectivity-a ... dp/44F8388

They make flang mount, in line and multi possition options.

But for now its just a pig tail that comes out. I thought i had made enough room behind everything, but the cables take up quite a bit of room, its a tight fit.

[BrentEvans]

I toyed with the idea of a multi pin disconnect for a while and an old pro have me since advice which I heeded... Multi pin connectors are a pain to fix in the field. Keep everything either speakon (nl4 and nl8), 3.5mmTRS., xlr, or cat5 (ethercon is nice being able to sub in regular rj45 connections if needed). If these connections have a problem, diagnosing and fixing them or wiring around broken connectors in a pinch is much easier. The time saved between connecting one multi pin and 32 xlrs is only a minute or three. The time spent repairing a multi pin is ten times that of an xlr or more and the whole connection is down while you diagnose and repair.

Multi pins are only useful when you have double redundant connections for very large channel counts for point to point connections only in the analog world. Think national acts in the nineties and early oughts. Big acts these days are using optical and cat 5 links for everything except the last link to input sources. Even touring grade amps and powered speakers these days have some form of digital snake protocol built in.

Now... Most of us aren't at that level. My rig is set up with digital stage boxes in the monitor amp rack which stays wired all the time. One cat 5 to foh, two xlrs to main amp rack, nl8s to speaker stacks with breakouts for tops and subs, nl4s to monitor feeds. Sub snakes of needed (which is rare). I can connect everything in 15 minutes once all racks, stacks, and inputs are positioned. Its a 40 channel rig with amps for 6 monitor mixes in place. Very quick setup.

[J_Dunavin]

Good point.
Troubleshooting and fixing a pin in the feild, at the last moment would stink. Where as, i could just have a few extra patch cables, cheap insurance, and easy to swap out.

[NukePooch]

Multi pin connectors are a pain to fix in the field. Keep everything either speakon (nl4 and nl8), 3.5mmTRS., xlr, or cat5 (ethercon is nice being able to sub in regular rj45 connections if needed). If these connections have a problem, diagnosing and fixing them or wiring around broken connectors in a pinch is much easier. The time saved between connecting one multi pin and 32 xlrs is only a minute or three. The time spent repairing a multi pin is ten times that of an xlr or more and the whole connection is down while you diagnose and repair.

What he said... Stick with XLR's.

I spent enough time dealing with analog multipin issues back in the day...one cable Ethercon digital is the best thing since sliced bread. That said, if you did decide to run a multipin setup, do yourself a favor and put XLR's on the back panel as well... there will come a time when you will need to use them.

[David Raehn]

I'd love to keep my analog board and have a digital snake.....

Alas, technology and my available cash prevent it.....

[88h88]

Before i had a seperate rack with two peavey crossovers and an eq. It took time to wire every time.
I wanted simplicity and a clean look. This way, all i have to do is open the box and pull out the harnesses and go straight to the amps.
I also like having sub level control. Some songs are just too bass heavey or some are really light. Aftee initial set up i know that i can't go past... X on the sub out, but at least i have the ability to turn it down or let it rip.

I keep forgetting the DBX pulls double duty as EQ and crossover as I went with the Behringer pair. Makes perfect sense then.

[BrentEvans]

I'd love to keep my analog board and have a digital snake.....

Alas, technology and my available cash prevent it.....

Why would you want that? A digital console can do much more than analog and reduces the amount of gear you tote dramatically.

[rr97guy]

Dave must be old skool like I was. I resisted getting a digital console for years but my advancing years and my very bad back finally convinced me that dealing with a 300+ lbs mixer and road case plus 2 efx racks at FOH position it was time to rethink some things, either I had to ditch some of the weight and equipment or I had to stop mixing. I bought 4 years ago a Yamaha LS9-32 digital mixer. I did not buy the digital snake because it was too much money but anyway, with the LS9, I have 4 on board efx units plus the ability to assign EQs, gates, comp/limiters to any channel or out put. I do still sometimes carry a small rack for FOH with a single graphic EQ and a CD/Cassette player. The added plus of the digital mixer is I no longer have to spend 20 minutes plugging in and patching all the rack gear to the mixer. Going with a digital mixer is one of the best choices I have ever made, totally no regrets.

[David Raehn]

Still tryin' to put the f-u-n-d-s in my future.....