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I had a weird dream last night. I dreamt I was just finishing a gig and was starting to tear down. I look up and see that one of my speakers is above my reach (~8 feet high), sitting on a huge subwoofer. This subwoofer (about 3-4 wide and almost equally tall) was mounted on a stand and the...

I always like to have music playing while setting up. I also have music playing while packing up. This is easy to do with a powered speaker with a BT input and a phone. Plug into the speaker in and start playing. At the end of the gig, do the reverse. Today's gig was an outdoor celebration of...

I was providing some sound reinforcement for a celebration of life today. I just used a single EON Compact for it and ran into an issue during setup where I was getting drop outs. First I thought it was a bad 3.5mm cable from my PC to the speaker. I replaced the cable (twice) and still had the...

Getting new music into the hands of radio DJs was the way artists got discovered in the old days. Radio then lost ground club DJs and then to video DJs and now to streaming services and social media. However, the role of the DJ has never gone away. I was reading an article today that touched...

I saw this discussed on FB and thought I would mention it raise it here. How is your vehicle covered? I know many people use personal vehicles for DJing. This has liability associated with it. If you get into an accident on the way to a gig, your personal insurance may not cover you because you...

I caught this interesting article today about a company looking to get artists their royalties based on what songs are actually played. Think Shazam on steroids in public places. This is certainly big-brother type stuff that I can see being used for nefarious purposes. Of course, maybe it is an...

Next time the noise ordinance police wants to shut you down, just blame a distant volcano. https://www.audiology.org/volcanic-eruption-tops-loudest-sound-heard-on-earth-in-the-past-100-years/

We mostly think of QSC as a pro-audio brand. However, many might not realize that their commercial business is absolutely huge and has been a major focus of their business for quite some time. So, QSC is splitting up their business into Q-SYS for the commercial stuff and QSC for the pro-audio...

I work with a highly competent ~26 year old engineer. This morning we were discussing the nuances of testing a complex fiber optic assembly and in particular how to automate it (his specialty). At one point in the conversation he replies to me "It's tricky, like the song." I tell him I am...

I found this YouTube video quite interesting regarding the history of Georg Ohm and his law. I hope some of you find this pleasing to your inner geek. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=fk_BpXlfZ8U&d

Here is another article on what matters most at weddings. This one is aimed at the millennials and it is from the guests perspective. Discuss... https://www.brides.com/story/what-millennial-wedding-guests-love-and-hate-most-about-weddings Top 8 Ceremony Details Guests Value Most (and Are Paying...

Don't know if anyone caught this news bit about rival gangs at a karaoke bar. One person was stabbed to death and then the bar was set on fire and 18 more were killed. I don't think I have ever seen a cross word spoken at a karaoke bar, let alone it being a gang hangout...

There was a time when customer surveys were rare. Businesses rarely requested feedback and it was a welcoming to see one that did. Today, surveys are automated. Every interaction whether by phone, web or email seems to generate a follow up survey. They have become a royal pain. It has become...

My friend attended a wedding last night and just posted this picture of a sign that was on the table that had the seat assignments. I thought it was a cool idea.

I am providing some background music for a holiday party I'm attending (not working) tonight. I was just going to bring my JBL EON Compact but decided I would bring a 2nd small powered speaker just in case I need it. I have a ~20 year old 10" powered speaker that rarely comes out of hibernation...

One of my neighbors is an orthodox rabbi. He is also a keyboard player and singer. When he found out years ago that I knew a few things about audio, I became his go to resource for every purchase he makes down to his cable bags. He has tons of cables and he never mastered over/under wrapping...

I just picked up the EcoFlow River Pro portable power solution with extra battery from Costco for $699. Normally the basic unit sells for $500 and the extra battery is $400. The Costco deal running through Oct 24 gives you the extra battery for just $200 (half off). While the extra battery...

Buying gear has always been a compromise for me. I have never found the ideal feature set in a single piece of gear. There was always a little too many of that, or a little too few of the other thing. For instance, I never found an ideal DJ mixer, or controller, or DJ cart, or facade. Some...

I got married last year and we postponed our reception till next year. It will be a small affair (~60ppl) in our back yard. While it will be fairly casual, my wife wants some pomp and circumstance. A big thing for her is the processional so her nieces can be flower girls. The processional...

A good friend of mine just moved out of state. He's 78 and hasn't DJed in years yet he still has the bug and really didn't want to part with any of his gear. His wife finally convinced him not to move most of his old stuff. All his 40+ year old carpet covered speakers that he hadn't touched in...

Looks like Mackie has just joined the fray for small battery powered PA speakers with the intro of the Thump Go. Pricing is $399 which is lower than some of its contemporaries. Feature set seems a little shy compared to the JBL EON Compact or Bose S1. No SPL spec mentioned yet...

We have been doing a lot of karaoke at home since the pandemic started. My stereo receiver can take HDMI from one source and audio from a different source which makes it nice for karaoke. It allows me to plug the output of a mixer into the stereo. The receiver also has dual HDMI outputs. One...

Most PA speakers use compression drivers to reproduce high-frequencies. They are highly efficient and since they concentrate the sound into a small area, they are great for feeding into horns. Of course, horns are great for providing directionality to a sound source. While large concert...

I just used one of these for the first time last weekend at a friend's house party. It is not very powerful but boy is it handy. 18 pounds, 8+ hour battery life, built in mixer with effects and BT control. My application was karaoke at a friends house. I will probably get one based off this...

Remember speakers that used these? These speakers don't have voice coils like traditional speakers. They use a piece of crystal (often quartz or barium titanate) that flexes when a voltage is applied to it. Piezos are very efficient at converting electrical energy to sound. They just don't do...