Audio Feed From DJ
 

I am just wondering in order to get a feed out of the DJs sound board into an iRiver what kind of cable would you need? I dont imagine tht the DJ has a mini jack output from his board so is there an attachment you can by for the line in cable of an iRiver?

I most likely own every audio adapter that radio shack and or markertek sells. DJ equipment is different...so you never know what you may come up against. Don't have an iRiver...but I would buy a cable that will plug into the iRiver on one end and most likely an RCA on the other.....or 1/4 inch. Then an assortment of adapters will cover you. One thing you may want to consider getting is a Rolls db25 Matchbox(or other direct box). You use it inline between the DJ and your iRiver to attenuate the sound if need be. It has 1/4 inch inputs and xlr out. In the case of my setup I have an xlr to 1/8 plug that goes from the Rolls to my wireless transmitter.....so that cable never changes....just the cable on the input of the Rolls needs adapting to the DJ.
Mark

I just bought the Edirol R-09, mainly for miking the officaint and getting a feed from the dj. The Edirol hs an 1/8" stereo plug, so I'll bring a set of rca to 1/8 male. I think that most of theses dj set ups have rca out, but I'm not sure.
Bruce Yarock

Generally, it's easier to get them to agree to let you tap off their headphone monitor feed...bring a splitter too, so they can use it if they have to. Some DJ's get twitchy if you want to tap the back of the board, but could care less about the headphone jack. They tend to be 1/4" stereo, but beware, they may adjust the headphone volume while the show is going on, so this should only be considered after trying to get a feed off the back of the board.

Adaptors for every possible situation are an absolute must in your kit!

I'd avoid using the headphone jack at all! A good DJ is always using that for themselves and usually cuing up the next song via the headphones, or monitoring the mix. This would cause the audio you get to NOT be consistant with the house mix. Try and get an AUX or tape out from the DJ's mixer. The DJ's board should have either of those features. I'd try to talk to the DJ in advance or BEFORE the DJ starts to work out a solution... thats the best way for both of you to be friends instead of becomming enemies for the night.
The tape out/AUX can be either XLR, RCA, 1/4 or 3/8 so be prepared!
James

completely agree. developing a working relationship with the other folks working the gig is incredibly important. Bring coffee for them too, it'll put you in their good graces right off the bat.

Also agree, phones are not the best way to go, simply a last resort, but still a possibility.

Any dj will have an available rca and/or 1/4" output for you to plug into. Either one is fine. Just be aware that many djs will vary the volume at different times in the reception, so don't set the rec volume too high or you'll get IRiver overdriven. Don't ask me how I know this...;)

James is completely right. The headphone jack will never work.

If it does, they should fire the DJ :-)



I own a mobile DJ business. As mentioned, every mixer is different, but should have some sort of output. In the case of my Pioneer mixer, there is a 'booth output' output I'm not using that works fine for a record deck.

I actually have a 'record out' as well, and am using that to go to a CD recorder mounted in my rack. If someone needed the clean audio, I could just burn them a CD.

Recently I had to deal with an outside DJ (at the same wedding with the high winds!) who had his board sealed inside the case so we couldn't easily get at the "record out" jacks, but he said he had a spot I could tap from, just give him the cable and he'd take care of it. Set my levels, everything seemed OK. Turns out he jacked me into the secondary outputs of his amp, which almost melted my Fostex into a red blob. High winds at the ceremony, extremely clipped audio at the reception - I should have stayed in bed...

massive output problems
 

My December wedding suffered from the same problems. The DJ's board blew out my MiniDisc recorder so that everything was clipped and worthless. I had to do the entire wedding from camera audio. Not fun.

jason

Most modern audio boards have a RCA stereo feed labeled something like "REC OUT" or "TAPE OUT". It is a high impedance audio send of constant signal strength. It is taken directly off the board's main audio out, but unaffected by master fader settings. Its purpose is for recording to tape.

I like to use this connection because it is not often used by DJ's and tends to be a reliable signal feed. However, be sure to test thoroughly beforehand. I recently had this same kind of feed badly broken up by corrosion on the RCA connection. It would not stabilize until I wiped the connections clean of dirt and grime.

If I remember correctly, my iRiver's mic/line IN is a stereo mini plug, so a simple RCA stereo to mini plug sterelo adaptre should work quite well.

Well, I'd dub in the music from CD's, but the B & G dance was an obscure (at least here in the States) German song, and I don't know the title/artist. Perhaps I should contact the DJ.

I suppose I have it relatively easy - virtually all my weddings are with photogs & DJ's from my company, so I know everybody and we actually enhance one another's work. Most of my problems occur when I'm dealing with someone I don't know. Don't misunderstand me - problems like this are relatively rare no matter who I'm working with, but when something does go wrong, it's invariably when I'm with someone outside our circle. That's one reason why our 3-way package is so popular - 2-person DJ show, photographer w/digital equipment (you get all pics on CD-ROM, just choose your album and what goes in it), and video with full edit, all for $3995, and it's not bargain-basement work by any means.