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When playing music from my tablet through my mixer, one speaker top isn't as loud. My computer sounds perfectly even. My phone seems a little hotter in one speaker than the other, too, but it's not as bad. This is not a deal breaker, but I'm hauling out my stuff for a party tonight and obviously want it to sound good.

jimbo7 wrote:When playing music from my tablet through my mixer, one speaker top isn't as loud.

That seems like the stereo connection is producing less voltage on one side than the other. The connection in the tablet, or the connection in the cable are both suspect. The cable is trivial to change....the connection on the tablet may be more difficult.

Switch the cables on the mixer and see if the "problem" moves from one speaker to another.

If possible, run mono from the mixer to balance the signal going to the tops. It is not ideal, but gives you time to work out a better solution.

I've swapped cables, mixer channels and direct to the amps. Still sounds a bit unbalanced. No big deal. My rig will probably be setup in the garage anyways.

Does the tablet have a balance slider available in its sound control menu? ..or perhaps a balance slider on the mixer itself? If it did, that would be a quick fix.

Post gig review:

The halloween party went great overall. Only had one cable repair and one amp channel mysteriously stopped working for an hour. The main "gathering area" was in a single car garage.
The SLA's were perfect. The 2 AT's were overkill but didn't take up much room at all. They were placed stacked against a wall where nobody really occupied. The tops were on the opposite side, tucked against the corner at head level. The "dj booth" was tucked next to one of the tops. I used my mixer, DRPA, and 2 amps. Still had a rat's nest of cables hanging out the back. Music was played off my tablet, iPod, and cell phones. My sound balance issue weren't even noticable since the tops were 12ft apart.
Also had a fog machine, laser (which broke! ), and projector. The laser I just ordered off P.E. and lasted maybe 3hrs. That made me mad. The projector was for playing MusicBeam off a laptop. Sadly, we didn't use it because we didn't have the right hardware to mount it to the rafters. And the monitor cable was a foot too short There could've been a mini-rave in the garage.

This was the first time my gear left the house. It turned out well, I think. Sound what the main attraction, so the visuals issues I had are no big deal. I need a new plan for all that, anyways. Had a few compliments and a few complaints (too loud). Got a x-mas gig out of it. The worst part was loading it all in my car, setting up, the visuals f'ing up, and tearing it back down. Basically everything sucks but the middle part; playing the music. I really need a truck.

Any tips on setup/teardown and things to make like easier?

Any tips on setup/teardown and things to make like easier?

Rack all of your processors and amps and build a rack panel on the back of it. Cuts down on set up and tear down immensely. Also, keeps everything inside the rack pre-wired and offers less chance of screwing something up every time you move it.

I really need a truck.

Duh......everybody needs a truck.

Bruce Weldy wrote:Rack all of your processors and amps and build a rack panel on the back of it. Cuts down on set up and tear down immensely. Also, keeps everything inside the rack pre-wired and offers less chance of screwing something up every time you move it.

I have 2 2U and 2 4u cases. Not sure how I'd use a rack panel with cases. I have to unplug most of the cables since I have the amps seperate of the processors/power conditioners/ect.

jimbo7 wrote:

Bruce Weldy wrote:Rack all of your processors and amps and build a rack panel on the back of it. Cuts down on set up and tear down immensely. Also, keeps everything inside the rack pre-wired and offers less chance of screwing something up every time you move it.

I have 2 2U and 2 4u cases. Not sure how I'd use a rack panel with cases. I have to unplug most of the cables since I have the amps seperate of the processors/power conditioners/ect.

A larger rack on wheels makes transport easier and lets everything stayed wired up all the time. You are having to wire you entire system every time you move it.

A couple of years ago, I took on sound for a rock band using their gear. I brought their rack home and built a rack panel for it. They were reaching in the back of the rack to plug everything in each time they went out. By doing so, at some point they had hit the phase button on one of the driverack channels putting the mains out of phase.

With a rack panel, none of the components get touched.

You can put panels in small racks. Less of a time saver, but it's still better than having to reach in the back of the rack cases in the dark trying to find the proper connection.

jimbo7 wrote:Still had a rat's nest of cables hanging out the back.

Any tips on setup/teardown and things to make like easier?

Make up an "umbilical" with all the cables that you need in the DJ booth. Give yourself 12-18 in of slack...then tie everything together with velcro, or a cable snake. This will give you a "fixed" physical layout in the DJ booth, but a MUCH easier and more manageable cabling setup.

For the signal, speaker, and extension cords, have velcro wraps or bungees or some other cable wrap permanently attached to each cable.

Have some equipment boxes that can hold cables, etc. Make sure these are stackable and sturdy enough to be on the bottom of the pile.

I installed a 24 pair cable that permanently plugs into all the gear in the processing rack. The other fan-out end plugs into the mixer and snake cable; I color coded and labeled the connectors so it all plugs in quickly. The cable gets coiled up and stows in the back of the rack for transport.

All great ideas. Keep em coming.

I think I'll look into making a rolling rack that my mixer can sit on top. Its usually in the "coffin", but I never take my turntables out. Its too big and vinyl is...cumbersome