The things some clients expect you to do…

A few weeks back, I got an email from a client asking me to be the DJ cum emcee for an event in ther premises. So I asked them what kind of sound-system they were using? They said they did not know so I asked them again to let me know by taking some pictures. When the pictures came, they literally floored me. The first picture above shows their mixer, located in a rack some distance from the venue. Now…how was I going to do gain-riding on the faders when the event is some distance away from where the event was? The lady that wanted to hire me had no idea. So I said, never mind. How about the wireless mics (which I presumed they had) and how was I going to play my music? Then came the other picture:

They said that I had to play music from this. This, folks, is a VCD and DVD player that _can_ play CDs. But just like the mixer, it is located some distance away from the event venue. I did offer to bring my equipment down because it will make my job a lot easier but it seems that they had a budget. Oh well. I refused the job. And you can see why

Rolls MX42 stereo mini mixer

I saw someone had posted this for sale in an audio sales group in Facebook and I thought it that it was a mighty fine piece of equipment. First of all, it does not need any power. According to the Rolls website:

The MX42 is a four channel stereo mixer. The unit mixes up to four stereo RCA signals such as CD or cassette players with VCR units, even computer sound cards or MP3 players. All signals are mixed via stereo 100K ohm potentiometers to stereo RCA output connectors. The unit is passive, requiring no power.

These are the specifications of the mixer, for those who are interested.

 

• Input Impedance: 10K to 47K Ohms
• Output Impedance: 2.5K to 10K Ohms
• Gain: -12 dB MAX

That is great to hear and it will be a great and better way of mixing various audio sources at maybe  a small bar or shop. I remember that I used to use a crappy Sony SB-12 back in the day:

This thing is just horrible and after a while, those keys have difficulty in staying down. Bloody POS. But that Rolls mixer looks good. I might get one for bars when I do my installs in future.

Delta Audio powered speaker

A couple of weeks back, while I was attending an AGM, the sound company that provided the audio were using these Delta Audio speakers. They really sounded horrible and there was this low buzz emanating from the speaker. I have a funny feeling that they did not ground them properly or these active speakers were reaching the end of their shelf life. No matter what, it was causing me a headache…that low buzz and the accompanying hum that went with it.

A bit of advice to sound companies…have pride in your job and how you do it. A hum and buzz is a definite no-no when you are providing sound for an AGM. Also, test your equipment before bringing them down to ensure that they are in great condition. This company also had a problem with the wireless microphones, which sounded very crackly. So I will say it again…be professional.

No BMX in the 28th SEA Games in Singapore

One of my friends posted a picture of this pin that is on sale. One thing I am pretty pissed about is the fact that there is no BMX in the SEA Games. Singapore had a BMX track in Tampines, that was built to world-class standards. And before you know it, the track was demolished. They said that the land was needed to build new flats and apartments to house our growing population. But hang on. I will say again…there was a track…so couldn’t it wait for a while before demolishing it, seeing that Singapore was going to host the SEA Games? BMX _is_ an Olympic sport. So is mountain-biking which incidentally, is also excluded from the SEA Games. There is only road-biking. Pfft. Who wants to see spandex-clad bikers racing? I certainly don’t.

Thanks fellas. Thanks very much.

Happy 25th Anniversary Liverpool!

I saw this on the Internet and I thought that I should do my part, as a Manchester United fan, to wish Liverpool a very happy 25th Anniversary! That is 25 years that have gone past without winning the top spot in the EPL! LOL!

Biema speakers installed in a mall

Saw these cheap Biema speakers installed in a mall in the east. I suppose the sound contractor had his margins squeezed quite a lot for him to install these China speakers. Not something I would do but then again, when push comes to shove, I suppose that the thing to do. As for the sound, they are not too bad. These are small speakers and the website did not show if they were 100V line speakers or full range ones.

Rest in peace Errol Brown

Read the news this morning that the ex-lead singer of Hot Chocolate, Errol Brown had passed away. he was 71 years old. I still remember getting the dancefloors packed with Hot Chocolate’s single You Sexy Thing. Thanks Errol for providing DJs like us with those tunes throughout the years. Rest in peace

32A to 16A CEE adapter

There was a time when I needed to set up for an event and when I went to plug my adapter into the wall sockets, I saw that they had a 32A CEE wall socket. The issue was that I only had 16A CEE plugs. So what I intend to do is make a socket like this si that in the future, I can just plug it into the provided slots with no worries at all. I happen to have lots of 16A CEE pluags and sockets but no 32A ones. Looks like I have to raid the electrical shops today and get it to make the adapter. Make yours today!

Transferring music from vinyl to MP3s and WAVs

I love my music but unfortunately, many of the songs I love are only available on vinyl instead of MP3s and EAVs. So that is what I did the last week. I hooked up my trusty Behringer  UCA222, connected the USB to my computer and hooked up the mixer that my turntables are connected to the UCA222 device. After that, I fired up Audacity (you can use any free software recorder but Audacity is free) and recorded the vinyl in real-time. With the exception of a lot of crackle and pop (ok…some of my vinyl needs a good cleaning) I managed to copy quite a few songs across. This is a picture of me transferring the 12″ of Wang Chung’s Everybody Have Fun Tonight to WAV. Yep. That is my trusty Technics SL-1200 turntable and my Stanton 500AL cartridge and stylus

Monster three-wheeled motorcycle

I saw this monster of a motorcycle as I was walking down Aliwal Street a couple of days back. Looks very sleek and powerful too. I wonder what this is classified under…a car or a motorcycle?