DJ Expo - My spin

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steve149

Shine on you crazy diamond
Staff member
Sep 26, 2011
28,175
45,944
Connecticut
OK .. yes, I was there Tuesday afternoon and left at 3 today. My wife came with me .. not to the show, but we did some touristy stuff and ate well.

I did look for Kevin (@adj2ent ) and Brian, but didn't see them. I ran into @Cap Capello on Tuesday and chatted briefly. Didn't see anyone else other than the aforementioned Arnoldo that I talked to for a few minutes. He was freelancing for Blizzard (who really didn't have any DJ level gear there) .. doing "social media" stuff he said. It was a cordial 5 minutes ..

My spin ... like Kevin, I thought it waayy too loud everywhere. I brought hearing protectors and it cut down the SPL, but it all sounded like mush. Similar in the demo rooms upstairs (Avante, RCF, Bassboss and Yorkville). Bassboss was overpowering everything .. all you heard was the walls rattling. They should have been setup outside and we probably still could have heard it indoors .. the stuff slams. A bit much for mobile work .. they didn't even bring any smaller gear this year.

Demo Rooms ....

The demo rooms upstairs weren't bad (except for the overpowering Bassboss) ..

The things that looked nice included the Avante AS8 (I'm sure much to Rocky's chagrin) ... it actually sounded pretty nice .. on par with say a Bose Compact ... and they had them UNDER $400 at the show ... AS8 - (https://www.avanteaudio.com/as8) .

I also liked the concept of the Yorkville Synergy (I had the Unity system previously) .. I didn't get to hear it though as every time I went there they were playing one of the speakers on a stick. Also liked their small battery powered speaker EXM-Mobile ( Yorkville - (http://yorkville.com/loudspeakers/excursion/product/exm-mobile/) ) .. about the same price as the Bose S1 .. and unfortunately, they didn't have it hooked up to listen to it. They also have released a 12" version, but it wasn't at the show.

RCF had basically the same stuff as before (EVOX and HD series), only new speaker .. the HDM 45A ( HDM 45A - (https://www.rcf.it/en_US/products/product-detail/hdm-45-a/1013924) ) .. they were demoing it and it sounded OK, but nothing spectacular, though it did get loud. They also some decent pricing on the HD10A and HD12A (if memory serves me, like $349 for 10s and just under $500 for the 12s).

Show Floor ..

Reiterated .. loud and loud .. and dark (I'm guessing the lighting guys complained it was too bright).

Trends in lighting were physically LARGE moving head spots, beams and washes ... the size that would be tough without a road crew. Almost every booth had them. I did look at the ADJ Focus beam for @prodjay . It was pretty darn bright. When I first got there, they had it pointing at the opposite wall (as in the long end, as in 300+ feet away) and it held a pretty tight beam and was bright enough at that distance. I took some photos with my Canon, so I'll post when I load them. Not much else at ADJ that I was excited by. I wanted to see the Focus Spot 1 and 2 movers, but they only had the smaller Pocket Pro and the larger ones. The Pocket Pro was supposed to be 25w, but it really had a hard time shining a gobo 25 feet away. They did have the myDMX Go set up and I talked to the support guy. He did say an update was in the works "soon" .. whatever that means.

The JMaz booth was pretty interesting. A battery powered mover could be cool, but not sure I'd need it and the cost must add a few bucks onto it. They had the ATTCO Spot 100 ( ATTCO SPOT 100 – JMAZ - (https://jmazlighting.com/product/attco-spot-100/) ) for $440, which was a nice price for a 75w mover with prism and motorized focus.

One cool machine there was the Chauvet Hurricane Bubble Haze ( Hurricane Bubble Haze | CHAUVET DJ - (https://www.chauvetdj.com/products/hurricane-bubble-haze/)). It was throwing these milk-colored balls out that would pop and disappear into a little cloud of haze. It was only $360 at the show and had everyone mesmerized. Could be a cool effext for a wedding and would add a little backdrop for lighting. The balls had a small amount of moisture, but you could barely feel it.

View: https://youtu.be/RpIx4txeKfk


I was also impressed by a little moving head light from Colorkey ( ColorKey Mover Halo Spot - ColorKey - (https://www.colorkeyled.com/product/colorkey-mover-halo-spot/) ). I'm guessing all plastic, but the Halo Spot was $180, was pretty bright (30w LED) and had a separate led ring around the barrel that was also controllable.

View: https://youtu.be/GNvIIlQvSfc


Not a lot of great deals there ... I did buy another Gator bag for 4 PARS for $40. They had the newest all black RnR carts (they were flying out the booth).

The controller booths were all the same as last year ... and you could hear the crossfader fapping and wicka-wicka-wicka EVERYWHERE .... Not much on the speaker/amp side other than what was upstairs in the demo rooms.

It was fun, but kind of disappointing to me ... though I'll probably go next year for the fun ...
 
Being that it's 'haze' in the bubbles, I wonder if it will still be an issue with fire alarms.
Might be .. though it seemed to stay low.
 
It amazes me that bubbles will "mesmorize" a bunch of DJs. LOL I'm not surprised though.

There is no money in purchasing that machine, or any bubble making machine for that matter in my service area.

It seems that the trend from manufacturers is to add the "light ring" around these moving head lights to try to add value, and make it more of a eye candy effect.

..I figured there would be nothing special at the show, it would be a scaled down show, and that that prices would be about the same as what could be had online.

My brother said the Rock N roller Cart prices were nothing special, so he did not buy one. They had $25 folding laptop stands at the show 3 years ago in 2016. The cheapest they had this year was $50. ...So he is just going to order the one he wants online.

It seems that the DJ Expo has been on a downward trend since 2015. It will probably be smaller next year
 
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It amazes me that bubbles will "mesmorize" a bunch of DJs. LOL I'm not surprised though.

There is no money in purchasing that machine, or any bubble making machine for that matter in my service area.

It seems that the trend from manufacturers is to add the "light ring" around these moving head lights to try to add value, and make it more of a eye candy effect.

..I figured there would be nothing special at the show, it would be a scaled down show, and that that prices would be about the same as what could be had online.

My brother said the Rock N roller Cart prices were nothing special, so he did not buy one. They had $25 folding laptop stands at the show 3 years ago in 2016. The cheapest they had this year was $50. ...So he is just going to order the one he wants online.

It seems that the DJ Expo has been on a downward trend since 2015. It will probably be smaller next year
I guess when you encapsulate haze inside a bubble, all hell breaks loose ...
 
I guess when you encapsulate haze inside a bubble, all hell breaks loose ...

They are still bubbles, won;t be able to use in most venues for mid level to high paying events, and most clients are not going to spend money on it. It is eye candy for DJs to hopefully buy into, and essentially waste their money on. Probably less than 5% of the DJs who attended the DJ expo actually performs outdoor kids parties where bubbles might be a thing (of course those events have little to no money involved in general) so purchasing a $360 bubble machine plus the bubble juice involved is really pointless. It's more of a toy to get DJs to maybe purchase.

Then again little kids are not going to care about hazy looking bubbles. They would be fine with regular bubbles to run around and try to pop and catch in their hand.

Might be a better use at a Night Club, but do night clubs really utilize bubbles these days? I dunno.

Maybe it's best use would be a kids theme park, perhaps in a stage show.
 
They are still bubbles, won;t be able to use in most venues for mid level to high paying events, and most clients are not going to spend money on it. It is eye candy for DJs to hopefully buy into, and essentially waste their money on. Probably less than 5% of the DJs who attended the DJ expo actually performs outdoor kids parties where bubbles might be a thing (of course those events have little to no money involved in general) so purchasing a $360 bubble machine plus the bubble juice involved is really pointless. It's more of a toy to get DJs to maybe purchase.

Then again little kids are not going to care about hazy looking bubbles. They would be fine with regular bubbles to run around and try to pop and catch in their hand.

Might be a better use at a Night Club, but do night clubs really utilize bubbles these days? I dunno.

Maybe it's best use would be a kids theme park, perhaps in a stage show.

Somebody asked me something about this last year I had never heard of it at the time and didn't think it existed..And I'm guessing it didn't then because I didn't get any results on Google about it. I think they are really neat but I agree it would be a hard sell to clients and even harder to venues
 
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I like those Colorkey movers, I would like it a lot better without the LED ring, been bookmark for a later day 😄

The bubble/haze machice is neat, my daugther would love it.

Thanks of the write up Steve and providing the links.
 
One cool machine there was the Chauvet Hurricane Bubble Haze ( Hurricane Bubble Haze | CHAUVET DJ - (https://www.chauvetdj.com/products/hurricane-bubble-haze/)). It was throwing these milk-colored balls out that would pop and disappear into a little cloud of haze. It was only $360 at the show and had everyone mesmerized. Could be a cool effext for a wedding and would add a little backdrop for lighting. The balls had a small amount of moisture, but you could barely feel it.

I liked that bubble effect too, went running to play in them too. I thought it went for much more so I didn’t investigate. helluva lot neater than the old regular machine. Hummmm gears are turning.
 
and you could hear the crossfader fapping and wicka-wicka-wicka EVERYWHERE


The EXACT reason I no longer attend.

No one dj's like that but yet they put dj's up there who do that... constantly. No thanks!
Maybe have someone who just mixes music? Nope, they have to have scratching dj's. Again, does anyone, who makes any money, actually do that? I say no.
 
No one dj's like that but yet they put dj's up there who do that... constantly. No thanks!
Maybe have someone who just mixes music? Nope, they have to have scratching dj's. Again, does anyone, who makes any money, actually do that? I say no.

It’s a different type of DJing done as a Art & style. That’s why there’s so many DJ schools and turntables. They don’t do it to make money but to be cool & in style. Its always been that way for over 30 years it’s just now it’s mainstream. Do your really think a turntable is the best way to control music? I remember early scratch DJs would show you a picture of their turntables before a picture of their family.
What the show needs to do is separate things into different tracks & different areas (silent vs noisy). Scratch type DJing is so popular families are getting involved, noticed you see more kids and families at the show now then 20+ years ago. I passed one family who tried to come in to the Hall with an infant and stroller.
 
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They did have the myDMX Go set up and I talked to the support guy. He did say an update was in the works "soon" .. whatever that means.

So did he say what they were fixing? The wifi connection issue is, by far, my biggest headache with that product.
 
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So did he say what they were fixing? The wifi connection issue is, by far, my biggest headache with that product.
NO .. he acknowledged the connectivity issues and said there were also a lot of things people were asking for. I guess the unknown part is ADJ isn't doing the coding, that's Nicolaudie.
 
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NO .. he acknowledged the connectivity issues and said there were also a lot of things people were asking for. I guess the unknown part is ADJ isn't doing the coding, that's Nicolaudie.

The connectivity issue is the elephant in the room. It's stupid for them to working on new bells & whistles when they have such a large part of their user base is pissed off that their devices are flaky. I'm not surprised at all to hear it's an outside group doing the actual programming but it's pretty stupid on their part to admit to it.
 
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The connectivity issue is the elephant in the room. It's stupid for them to working on new bells & whistles when they have such a large part of their user base is pissed off that their devices are flaky. I'm not surprised at all to hear it's an outside group doing the actual programming but it's pretty stupid on their part to admit to it.
Since I moved to a different WiFI channel, and moved the wireless DMX transmitter away from the unit, I have had no issues with connectivity.
 
The things that looked nice included the Avante AS8 (I'm sure much to Rocky's chagrin) ... it actually sounded pretty nice .. on par with say a Bose Compact ... and they had them UNDER $400 at the show...
I have no chagrins that I'd waste on ADJ but I'm pleased you found it enjoyable.
 
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I'll be the naysayer on the new bubble machine. "Small amount of moisture"? True. Dozens of small amounts falling upon silk dresses or other moisture sensitive fabrics will cost you more in dry cleaning bills from complainant's clothing than what was paid for the machine and the profits thereof.

Hark. Listeneth to the voice of experienceth.

Good seeing you Steve (amid the raindrops). Your wife is lovely and it was a pleasure to meet her.
 
I'll be the naysayer on the new bubble machine. "Small amount of moisture"? True. Dozens of small amounts falling upon silk dresses or other moisture sensitive fabrics will cost you more in dry cleaning bills from complainant's clothing than what was paid for the machine and the profits thereof.

Hark. Listeneth to the voice of experienceth.

Good seeing you Steve (amid the raindrops). Your wife is lovely and it was a pleasure to meet her.
Between the champagne toasts and the drunken head table and guests, not sure the added bubble/fog juice will make a huge difference. Also, unlike a simple bubble machine, with the fog encapsulated, the bubbles are heavier and drop down quick .. I didn't see them more than 5-6 feet away, so proper placement will even minimize the minute risks .. my opinion only .. :)
 
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