Speaker went out on my Saturday! Ugh!

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Mack Entertainment

Mack Entertainment

DJ Extraordinaire
Dec 18, 2014
158
108
55
Plainfield,Il
www.mackentertainment.com
First time this has happened to me ever. I was playing my dance set and I noticed the right side sounded off. When I looked at the back of my Mackie DLM8 speaker is showed one message:

ERROR

I thought uh oh that's not good! LOL. I looked up some info online while at the gig and the manual shows how to get to a diagnostic screen. When i looked my "Amp B+" showed 71.2. That seemed low to me but I wasn't sure. I tested the speaker when i got home and it showed 76 when it was plugged into my home outlet. I was in a pretty old building in downtown Chicago so I'm thinking it might have been power spikes that fried it out. I heard several Clips right after. I moved some things around and was able to limp through the night with 1 speaker and a sub. Luckily it was a small wedding in a small room so I had plenty of sound. Most of the people left early due to "old age" and the rest just hung out by the bar. I would have got my backup speaker out of my van but this place had a messed up parking valet system that would have required at least 15 minutes of my time and being that I work by myself it wasn't worth it.

Anyways do any of you know if Guitar Center repairs Mackie speakers? :-/
 
Try their service location finder. http://scl.mackie.com. It didn't find anything near me.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
If it's not a warranty job there may be some local shop that can get it done for you
 
Just a suggestion for next time and don't beat me up. Why not have a speaker inside with you in case it happens again. That way you don't have to worry about going outside. Sorry it happened thou. What other speakers do you have? Good luck with getting that one fixed.
 
Mix, I pull a trailer full of equipment to almost every gig I do. I use about half of that equipment on a full sized gig. No way in hell am I going to drag it all in just in case something breaks down. That would just be stupid.
 
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DJCC said:
Mix, I pull a trailer full of equipment to almost every gig I do. I use about half of that equipment on a full sized gig. No way in hell am I going to drag it all in just in case something breaks down. That would just be stupid.
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It was just a suggestion since this happened to him. I carry with me at private events 2 controllers and 2 laptops just in case something happens to either one of them. The speaker thing might have been a bit much since you wouldn't expect a speaker to just cut out like that at an event. I did happen to me many many many years ago when I was using speakers I bought from Downtown and was using a Sheerwood power amp and pre amp. It really wasn't a amp for DJing with. I just used it for that. It worked well for me for many years and had just one issue with that amp. I had to buy a fan to put in the back to keep the amp cool because it didn't have a fan built inside.
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
Just a suggestion for next time and don't beat me up. Why not have a speaker inside with you in case it happens again. That way you don't have to worry about going outside. Sorry it happened thou. What other speakers do you have? Good luck with getting that one fixed.
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Aren't you the very guy that had to go outside to get a CD because it was not inside with you? .. yet here you are asking him to bring a spare speaker inside?
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
It was just a suggestion since this happened to him. I carry with me at private events 2 controllers and 2 laptops just in case something happens to either one of them. The speaker thing might have been a bit much since you wouldn't expect a speaker to just cut out like that at an event. I did happen to me many many many years ago when I was using speakers I bought from Downtown and was using a Sheerwood power amp and pre amp. It really wasn't a amp for DJing with. I just used it for that. It worked well for me for many years and had just one issue with that amp. I had to buy a fan to put in the back to keep the amp cool because it didn't have a fan built inside.
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I carry enough equipment in the trailer that if, EVERYTHING, failed, I could still do the event, and still have some back up. I'm not talking about some nickle and dime bullshit.
 
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How often does gear fail? How long does it last? (as in replace it before it fails)

I have 2 identical amps, in roadcases. Had one fall off the dolly, no damage to roadcase but the amp wouldn't function. Not great to lose the sub (as one powers the mains, one the sub) but I did the gig and took it in monday for repair.

I've had way too many issues with software so I have backup - since changing to VDJ no more issues but I have my ipod with all my songs and playlists on it, just in case. Only one mixer but could work arouind that if forced to (and it's 3 months old). I want to get a powered mixer for ceremonies and for backup. And i want to get a set of active 15" mains for many reasons. I have a backup mic as well.

A trailer is on the list for this year I hope. I have a trailer for my photobiz that I use at times for bigger gigs, but loading/unloading sucks. Hard on me and the gear (and the doors to my studio).

its only money..you can't take it with you! LOL
 
With active gear, it's less of an issue, as you can usually work with a single sub fairly easily and a single top (not good but at least the music doesn't stop). I will normally only bring a spare top with me and a small live sound mixer as backup. Since I use iTunes to manage my music and playlists, I will also sync anything I think I might need to both my phone and iPad so I don't usually bring a second laptop. If I go the software DMX route (I'm playing with it), I might go to a 2 laptop setup with both connected to the mixer (one USB, one via analog).
 
Lighting is something I'd like to get more into..not had the best experience with DMX, not sure if investing in computer / software DMX is just throwing good money after bad.
I have 3 mini kintas (one died and they sent me a replacement, so 2 work). If I hookup one and an off par on the end of the dmx the kinta works..if I turn on the par, or try a terminated cable it won't, and 2 of them won't no matter what.
One of my pars won't work on DMX anymore either.

So on/off switches and auto sound mode is what I got. Open to an education in DMX.
 
I use a Chauvet Obey 40 DMX controller with my current lights. It's handy to switch them from static displays .. to sound active .. to patterns .. since they are different manufacturers and an IR remote wouldn't cut it. The software DMX would allow me to create show buttons to switch between these scenarios without having to guess on fader position.
 
I bought the cheap SUSHI-DS module for $40 (http://www.dmxsoft.com/) .. seems to be similar to the new ADJ low-end dongle. I think it's limited to 128 addresses, which for me is not an issue as my 4bar has like 17, the revo, another 12-16, etc. Maybe I'll get close, but shouldn't need more, though they're supposed to have the ability to buy additional address space (I guess the dongle supports 512 and you pay for what you need). The free software is basic and there are 3-4 options .. it was to have been my winter plaything, but haven't got to playing yet.

http://www.pssl.com/USB-to-DMX-Interface-with-Lighting-Software
 
IceBurghDJ said:
I see dmx to usb interfaces from $67 to over $500...and free software. Any suggestions on either?
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My thoughts on DMX for mobile DJ biz, it's a waste of time and money. While I can say that, over the years, brides will occasionally say they want to add a dance lighting rig, I'd be hard-pressed to think that dance lighting EVER had any bearing over me getting a job or not. I used to take out and rig up a full truss and full DMX. Not any more. For dance floor lighting, I use a pair of Martin Acrobats and put them on sound active. On proms or mitzvahs I'll rig up 4 flat mirror scanners in addition and maybe a colorstrip or two for wash. Again, all sound active. For mobile gigs, I just don't see it as productive to waste time and money on DMX-controlled lighting. And while I've never once felt like I landed a sale because of a dance lighting rig, I have heard numerous times where a bride was specifically NOT wanting a bunch of dance lights.
 
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I don't sell the lighting .. other than the fact I bring it unless told not to (or the event doesn't need it) .. just part of the package.
 
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