Big Event...Alto Stealth wireless worth buying?

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DJ Ricky B

DJ Ricky B

DJ Extraordinaire
Mar 9, 2015
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I am deejaying a BIG Student event next Saturday for over 700 students. Dinner/Award ceremony/Dance. This is probably the largest event I have been booked to do before in terms of number of guests in a ballroom. The agency booked me on it, and originally this event was suppose to have 550...Now 700.

Anyway, it is a 16,000 sq ft ballroom. I am planning on putting a speaker on each side of the ballroom for coverage so I don't have people saying they can't hear during the awards ceremony. After that the focus is really just on the dance floor. Bringing 2 subs, and 6 speakers. Pretty much my main arsenal.

Before anyone asks...I called the Venue. My contact at the venue told me that the DJ this client had last year for this same event brought 2 subs and 4 speakers, and she thought the sound was fine. She said the focus will be on the dance floor and awards ceremony is only about 20 minutes long. .

Based on what she told me..Should I worry about getting a speaker on each side of the ballroom for coverage?

If so, my plan was to purchase this Stealth Wireless system, and hook the transmitter into one of the mix outs of one of the speakers, and direct that signal to the two far speakers with the receivers. Ideally, The w remote speakers would be on the other side of tables and guests probably over 100 feet from my DJ set up in the far corners of the ballroom.

Or, am I better off just running long speaker cables and putting those two speakers as far away from my set up as I can get them?
 
I think the wireless is a great idea but is there somewhere you can rent it instead of buying for this one event?
 
Jeff Romard said:
I think the wireless is a great idea but is there somewhere you can rent it instead of buying for this one event?
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I doubt it. I called Guitar Center, and asked. They rent speakers and subs out, and microphones, mixers, DJ systems, but they don't rent the Alto Stealth Wireless system out. I don't know where else to go that might offer this for rent in my area. Maybe another DJ, but I don't know of any around here who have the system.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
I doubt it. I called Guitar Center, and asked. They rent speakers and subs out, and microphones, mixers, DJ systems, but they don't rent the Alto Stealth Wireless system out. I don't know where else to go that might offer this for rent in my area. Maybe another DJ, but I don't know of any around here who have the system.
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GC has a "no questions asked" policy on their returns. Go buy it, and try it. If you don't like, take it back. Pretty low risk, in my opinion.
 
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awalker19 said:
If nothing else, its a good excuse to get one. It gives you another tool in the bag for future gigs.
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True! ...The only downside is if I get it all hooked up and during the event I have signal degregration, or total signal loss while people are speaking on the mic. I don't want to be embarrassed, but I guess it's one of those things I won't know unless I use it in real time. Even practicing in the ballroom before hand won't matter much because once 700 bodies and tables/chairs fill that room the conditions change.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
True! ...The only downside is if I get it all hooked up and during the event I have signal degregration, or total signal loss while people are speaking on the mic. I don't want to be embarrassed, but I guess it's one of those things I won't know unless I use it in real time. Even practicing in the ballroom before hand won't matter much because once 700 bodies and tables/chairs fill that room the conditions change.
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Setup inside your house put the wireless outside. If it transmits through the wall with no trouble line of sight in a ballroom at 60 feet should be OK
 
You can still get the Alto Stealth Wireless, but the Alto Stealth Pro is supposed to be better. Not sure why release of the Pro has been delayed so long, as it was announced about two years ago. B&H shows an availability date of May 7, 2017. When it's available, I'm buying one. I don't think I'd buy the old model.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DJ Bobcat said:
You can still get the Alto Stealth Wireless, but the Alto Stealth Pro is supposed to be better. Not sure why release of the Pro has been delayed so long, as it was announced about two years ago. B&H shows an availability date of May 7, 2017. When it's available, I'm buying one. I don't think I'd buy the old model.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


I have waited long enough to see what the hoopla with that system is about! ...IDJNOW shows that item as "ITEM DISCONTINUED" ...Maybe they got word that the product is not going to come out from the manufacturer? I find it quite strange that they showcased that and said it would come out, and kept on delaying it...and now 2 years later, and still not out?
 
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How much are they going for in the US? I just realized I'm seeing Canadian prices and it's $499
 
I have 2 friends that both have and use that system. You can use that system for more than just this one event. It works perfectly. Go for it. I also say do it because if you do a stellar job for that client they will want you to keep coming back.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
True! ...The only downside is if I get it all hooked up and during the event I have signal degregration, or total signal loss while people are speaking on the mic. I don't want to be embarrassed, but I guess it's one of those things I won't know unless I use it in real time. Even practicing in the ballroom before hand won't matter much because once 700 bodies and tables/chairs fill that room the conditions change.
Click to expand...

The thing with wireless speakers is... even if you have signal issues in real time, you won't know. You'll be able to hear your mains, and probably have no idea if the wireless is acting up.

I run wireless speakers all the time. You just want to keep as much line of sight as you can, test quite a bit, and buy the best gear you can.

I haven't ever heard any real feedback on the wireless quality of the Alto units. I don't own anything from them, but know you tend to trust the brand. But, I'd want to hear some real experience with that particular piece of gear.

That being said. The Shure BLX system is a VERY affordable way to do wireless as well, and it can double duty as a ceremony mic if you ever need it for that purpose.
 
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Albatross said:
The thing with wireless speakers is... even if you have signal issues in real time, you won't know. You'll be able to hear your mains, and probably have no idea if the wireless is acting up.

I run wireless speakers all the time. You just want to keep as much line of sight as you can, test quite a bit, and buy the best gear you can.

I haven't ever heard any real feedback on the wireless quality of the Alto units. I don't own anything from them, but know you tend to trust the brand. But, I'd want to hear some real experience with that particular piece of gear.

That being said. The Shure BLX system is a VERY affordable way to do wireless as well, and it can double duty as a ceremony mic if you ever need it for that purpose.
Click to expand...

The online reviews on the Alto Stealth system seem to be hot or miss. A little more hit than miss, but some people have stated that a single person would walk between the mixer and speaker, and the signal would cut out. ...However, another person said that it worked fine being around a corner with a wall being there over 60 feet away So I guess mileage will vary with the product.

I have the Shure BLX system, but that would only be able to provide signal to 1 speaker. I could also use my old Audio 2000S lav mic system to provide a wireless signal, but not sure I trust that in this situation.
 
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DJ Ricky B said:
The online reviews on the Alto Stealth system seem to be hot or miss. A little more hit than miss, but some people have stated that a single person would walk between the mixer and speaker, and the signal would cut out. ...However, another person said that it worked fine being around a corner with a wall being there over 60 feet away So I guess mileage will vary with the product.

I have the Shure BLX system, but that would only be able to provide signal to 1 speaker. I could also use my old Audio 2000S lav mic system to provide a wireless signal, but not sure I trust that in this situation.
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You can buy another receiver on the same band and send a single belt pack to multiple speakers.
 
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Albatross said:
The thing with wireless speakers is... even if you have signal issues in real time, you won't know. You'll be able to hear your mains, and probably have no idea if the wireless is acting up.
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If you sit behind your table, true. I think anybody doing diligence is going to periodically walk the area to check sound.

On this unit, I saw a competitor use it at a recent tradeshow. Worked very, very well. I've also used my GTD unit with a 1/4" plug on a beltpack and it worked great. Frankly, I think any DJ worth his salt should have wireless capability. The trick is in knowing when to use it and when to not use it.
 
rickryan.com said:
Frankly, I think any DJ worth his salt should have wireless capability. The trick is in knowing when to use it and when to not use it.
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There's definitely a time and place for wireless capability - cocktail hour at a wedding, maybe. An awards ceremony with 700 attendees? Why on earth would you chance it to a 3-star-rated product that has no guarantee of working properly? Periodically walking the area to check the sound isn't practical. If you're not there when the system acts up, you don't know it's acting up. If you're there when the system starts acting up, you've gotta immediately fix the problem on BOTH sides of the room. Good luck doing that discreetly during an awards ceremony, because you can't. Everyone will notice you.

I can't imagine getting hired for a big gig, wanting things to be better than what they had last year, and then putting their whole opinion of my entire performance into the hands of an Alto Stealth wireless system. If it works flawlessly, you got lucky. If it starts to crackle and pop during the 20-minute awards ceremony, congratulations - you just lost all of their future events.

We all love the new technology because it's supposed to make our jobs easier. The people in the audience don't notice things like wireless speakers; but they DO notice when the speakers start crackling and sending out static bursts. At an event with 700 potential customers in the audience, I'd rather take an extra 15 minutes to tape down a long cable run and not worry than take 4 minutes to set up a wireless speaker and wonder if it's going to work as advertised. Old-school, yes, but at least it's reliable.
 
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Albatross said:
The thing with wireless speakers is... even if you have signal issues in real time, you won't know. You'll be able to hear your mains, and probably have no idea if the wireless is acting up.

I run wireless speakers all the time. You just want to keep as much line of sight as you can, test quite a bit, and buy the best gear you can.

I haven't ever heard any real feedback on the wireless quality of the Alto units. I don't own anything from them, but know you tend to trust the brand. But, I'd want to hear some real experience with that particular piece of gear.

That being said. The Shure BLX system is a VERY affordable way to do wireless as well, and it can double duty as a ceremony mic if you ever need it for that purpose.
Click to expand...
So what is your wireless system of choice?
 
rickryan.com said:
Having a wireless option is always a solid investment. In terms of 4 versus 6, my inclination is to provide more than the "old DJ" provided. That's the kind of thing that gets repeat biz.
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The last guy could have had JBL STX or EV ETX gear which far surpass anything Ricky has
 
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