Hello, I record my audio at weddings through a zoom h1. I always set the levels with the dj and they sound great. However, when the dj begins to announce things he/she can get pretty loud and there goes my audio. I get clipping at times. Is there a device that I can place in between the chain of his mixer and my recording device to help compress the audio. Lately, I have been very cautious and really lowering my input level just so that I don't get clipping. But when I do this, the speeches barely come out, but the dj sound fine. I need something that can handle loud peaks. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Check out the Behringer Shark FBQ100 it may be a low cost device that suits your needs: http://www.behringer.com/assets/FBQ100_M_EN.pdf

DJ's stuff around with their levels all the time - I've found there's little point is checking levels, either use auto or look at the tascam DR 60d that records 1 track 15Db below the other

Or you could simply insert an external pad between the DJ's feed and one channel of your recorder.

Of course if the DJ's levels go up by 15 or 20 dB, there is no guarantee that the signal he is sending isn't badly distorted. In that case, nothing you can do with your gain controls will get rid of that distortion. You will just get distortion recorded at a proper level.

See if you can take your feed from an AUX bus on the DJ mixer - the levels there are independent of the main output level.

Steve
If I took the mix from an ax output would i still get speeches and the music?

Steve
If I took the mix from an ax output would i still get speeches and the music?

Depends on the mixer and exact setup but it should be do-able.

We have a very popular local DJ - and all his friends call him Red Light Rogers - no matter what level you set in advance, by the end of the night any device connected, amps, recorders, other gizmos, will have the meters pinned to the stops! At that volume - you can't even hear the distortion.

Steve
If I took the mix from an ax output would i still get speeches and the music?

Yes. HOWEVER, you have to double check it. Some mixers have different outputs.

You want the "Rec/Record" or "House" output. It *might* be labelled "master" but on my mixer, that would mute my XLR outputs. Other (nicer) mixers, like Pioneer will have an RCA Master2, and you can use that.

If there is a "Booth" output, it may not have the mics.

Usually the output you want is RCA, and as long as you check it once and it has the mics, you're OK. My mixer

I would assume DJ's mixer terminology could be strange.. targeted for non-musician, non-audio folks.

"Red Light Rogers " = Laugh of the day.. thanks Paul