Track volume

[sydj]

Hey guys

so i just played my first full gig at a club in syd and i as well as some of the other djs had problems with the volume of some of the tracks. there were some complaints that it wasnt loud enough but all the levels were maxed out. the individual chanel volume/trim was max and the master level was max as well. i used the eq to increase the volume a little but didnt want to go overboard on it.

90% of my songs are from beatport/djdownload with some from blogs and other online stores and all of them are 320kbps. could the problem be that the club has a shit set up (they had 2x1000s and a xone 60 or something, not sure about the speakers) or was it my tracks?

also, how important is it to have 320kbps of tracks. is it noticeable when u play a 192kbps or a 256kbps?

thanx in advance for your help guys

[Spectrum]

If 'the individual chanel volume/trim was max and the master level was max as well' then obviously you've more than done your part. Mixers should never be driven like that in that type of environment.

Sounds like an amplifier (or system processor) issue. It may even be that it's been pulled back to counteract the tendency by DJs to turn everything up to 11.

[Peakin Pecan]

when playing out i wont touch anything less than 320

[Bracko]

system fael.

perhaps spend time setting up before the venue opens and learn a bit more about the venue's setup....

n.b. only touch that which you unserstand.

[omnipresence]

If you are in a situation where you're not getting enough volume from the system try to avoid pushing your levels too far into the red when possible, even though that is the natural temptation. The mixer and/or sound system will most likely have a limiter in place and once you start squashing your (already compressed / limited) signal it will lose punch. If you hold back so only the peaks are just hitting red it will feel more open and dynamic. That's the ideal situation though... granted sometimes you may feel you need those few extra dbs at the expense of the quality of sound.

[RohanP]

If you are in a situation where you're not getting enough volume from the system try to avoid pushing your levels too far into the red when possible, even though that is the natural temptation. The mixer and/or sound system will most likely have a limiter in place and once you start squashing your (already compressed / limited) signal it will lose punch. If you hold back so only the peaks are just hitting red it will feel more open and dynamic. That's the ideal situation though... granted sometimes you may feel you need those few extra dbs at the expense of the quality of sound.

Correct, as a sound tech in a club we have DSP's that have limiters in place to stop DJ's from maxing out our amps/speakers and blowing some form of hardware, depending on the room the limiter can be from anywhere from -30dB to -10dB. If the club is big enough they should have their own sound tech, ask him/her if theres anything they can do, they are hired to know the sound system and will know how to get a good volume/quality out of the system. Im constantly going between rooms checking volumes and mixer levels, then adjusting the DSP to improve the sound (either volume/quality).

one thing i have found is DJ's that use serato usually have a slightly attenuated output signal (degraded gain/volume). Not sure if you are using serato or not, just a little thing ive noticed.

[Spinning Half]

could be a case of not enough rig for the gig if its not an amp/DSP issue. sound system specs would help...