I listened to a DJ at a hall party for about 150 tonight. He was using two Behringer 15" powered two-ways. It sounded so muddy about 40 ft. back. I wondered why he felt the need to pump so much bass at the expense of the mids and highs. The music was not very recognizable and certainly not pleasant.

I say this because I imagined myself there with my Bose Compact and maybe my EV sub for a little extra carry. I know I could have filled that hall with much better sound. I also was thinking of many of you who have scaled down your amplification and could imagine all of you saying the same thing. Those 15's were a total waste...

My real question is: when I was toting that kind of stuff, did my music sound like that too or was just his EQing that failed?

Although I don't prefer Behringer anything I would say it was human error and EQ is almost always the problem with the mix. So many have no clue how to use EQ properly, I hear that Overloaded Bass problem all the time with Dj's.
Using two Bose compacts in Stereo & a Powered Sub to boost the low end could be an alternative. But with an uneducated DJ it wont matter either way.

Probably an uneducated DJ and / or poor quality equipment. but then again this is what sells to the yonger crowds.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=all+about+that+bass+lyrics

What does it take to play a song and go out to the floor to hear what it sounds like???
I use an mp3 of George Benson's "Breezin" because it has a great range of HI's and LO's ... I play it through the kb and go out and LISTEN ...
But Bill is right in that most of today's music is 'bass' driven -(even though that song isn't REALLY talking about 'that' kind of bass ... it IS however a pretty good song about self-esteem ) -
cass ... I'm not sure the songs would have been identifiable even if the mix WAS clear ...

PS ... a little story about EQ ... MANY years ago (I might have been about 20 years old) I went to listen to a band I knew ... the accordion player had the exact same accordion and amp I had (both SANO) ... his sound was VERY trebley and thin ... he asked if I wanted to sit in and I did, but I asked if I could set up the EQ the way I wanted ... after a few songs he came back and commented on how great the sound was ... he then changed all the settings back to what he had !?!

Cass, Back when I was using a pair of Peavey SP5Gs and a 600-watt Peavey powered mixer, there were always people that came up and said they couldn't understand me when I made announcements. Now, I thought, with my background in broadcast, that my announcements were as good as they get. Well, they were from the source, but when came out those monster Peaveys was unintelligible. It was distorted mush.

Then I switched to a pair of Barbetta Sona 32SCs, powered speakers that would lighten the load considerably from those 79-pound Peaveys. The sound was better, but still not great. And, I know a fair amount about EQ settings for various venues and systems. At least that's what I'm told by my peers.

When I switched to the Bose L1 PAS, which now seems like eons ago, people no longer asked what I was saying during announcements, and the audience response seemed to improve dramatically. I agree, you could have done a much better job with a pair of Bose L1 Compacts, even without adding the EV - no doubt in my mind.

Ironically, nearly every DJ and KJ in my area has switched over to the Bose L1, and every one of them said they would never go back to a conventional sound system. Sure, there are a few that still use monster speakers and play distorted music, but they don't seem to be working very often these days.

Cheers,

Gary

I know "All About That Bass" isn't really the heavy hitter bass driven stuff of most of the dance tunes, just a little joke.
Try to find a DJ doing serious gigs who doesn't have a subwoofer or two. And that is usually under some high end 15" cabs. Even with todays lighter stuff they're still dragging in some big equipment.
And Tony hit it, "how hard is ti to go out and listen to a song" I do it all the time and take a quick sweep around the room. I guess that DJ just didn't know.
Last job I did the bass onstage was overwhelming but when I went out on the floor it was actually a bit weak. You gotta take an extra minute to listen

it's pure ignorance....just because these so called DJ's are working doesn't in anyway mean they know what music should sound like, most are on a corporate DJ companies "need a DJ list" and unqualified get sent out to gigs just to satisfy the DJ company schedule and get paid a minimal wage, all they care about is $$$$$$$.....I see this all the time, ...and who gets hurt the poor "Unaware customer" on their special day when it's too late!.........
my motto is "The more "THEY" play,.....The More $$ I Make!!

nuff said!

One of the things I began doing, especially when at a new venue, is to utilize the PSR-S950's onboard USB recorder. I have several songs that I've recorded directly to the keyboard, so when played back, they sound exactly as they would when performed live - both vocals and instrumentals. This is great feature, and it allows you to go out there and listen to what is coming from those speakers and how it sounds from every corner of the venue. This is a very important aspect of being a top performer, IMO. I want to be able to hear what my clients are hearing, and this, to me, is the best method of achieving that.

Cheers,

Gary

It struck me that EQ was the major problem, but I found it amazing how loud he had to get to get recognizable music out to the crowd. I know the Bose and others can reach the back of a 60 ft. room with no problem; he was muddy at 30-40 ft.

Gary, I like your last post about usb recording - gotta do that.
Tony, I have a great realistic SMF of Breezin that I used to play on breaks, but now I don't take breaks gotta pull it out and use it again.

Afternote: Hope to have my new Nano300 (Thx Frank V) for Thursday's tandem job, two performances at the same NH, in different sections; a first for me... I'm anxious to compare it to my Compact and see which will be my goto PAS.

They both have their advantages. Nano sounds a little better to me up close. Bose covers the back of the room better.