Hi everyone.
I am a mobile DJ, I own two L1ModelII systems with a total of 4 B1s.
I love my Bose for many reasons: sound quality, portability, looks.
The two set ups are enough for most of my gigs, small rooms for up to 150 guests. Great sound, enough power.
The problem is playing at bigger rooms for bigger crowds. And I’m not talking 1000 people. When I played rooms that would seat 250 guests, my sound would be lost.
The problem I noticed on day one is that this great system was NOT designed with DJs in mind.
Most mobile DJs do not play on stage.
Placing the towers at Dance floor level, causes that just the first row of people on the floor will block at least 50% of the sound from the towers. This is just my estimation, I’m not an engineer or anything close, it is just my basic deduction.
I would like t know if others share this opinion, and if someone came up with a clever solution (I’ve placed them on small tables at some huge rooms, it got a little better, but it was pure improvisation. A well built and portable platform is what I would call a clever idea…)
Thanks everyone.
Seems like you may need some gain staging tips. Even though I have 2 L1M1’s and 4 B1’s I rarely ever use two. I can easily do up to 300 ppl with just one.
Thank you !
I’m all for it… but… where are the tips…?
The L1’s are much much more than a clever idea, they are genius!
Tanito : I’m not sure what you’re doing or how, but if sound is being lost with a crowd of a mere 250 people, the problem is not with the system as it was designed.
Seek assistance with what and how you’re doing what you do before investing into anything else for the moment.
Thank you guys.
My set up consists of 2 Pioneer CDJ-1000MK, one Pioneer CDM-500 mixer, and from there straight to my two L1Model II plus 2 B1s on each side.
No T1. No additional EQs.
In smaller rooms the sound is superb.
In bigger ones with a nice dance floor, you can feel it lacks the punch. On dance sets I have to watch it not to clip into red.
I thought maybe adding 2 more B1s per side would help, but that would just not be cost effective.
I believe I’m basically doing what most DJs do with their set ups, except for the use of the T1.
Thanks again for you help.
Tanito, I somewhat agree with you and I very much agree with Dynamite and Cap. I just did a 4400 sq. ft. room with 150 people with only one L1 and 2 B1’s. The crowd loved the sound and no one asked for me to turn it up.
From what you describe in your post, you probably need help with gain staging your L1’s. Share some information on your set up and someone here might have a few helpful ideas.
Yes, with a mass of humanity close to the L1’s the dispersion of sound will be inhibited. Whenever possible I set up with the L1’s far enough away from the dance floor to prevent this but sometimes it can’t be avoided so I have been known to elevate my L1.
Check out this thread for some examples.
Be advised, Bose is completely against elevating the L1, PERIOD!
Elevated L1
Tell us where your main volume is on your mixer, trim setting on your PS etc. If you’re clipping before you’re getting a lot of sound tells me the signal is too hot from your mixer or you’re feeding too much signal into the PS.
Once again, thanks guys for helping out.
I make sure that none of my mixer channels nor output level ever go into red (peaks). I trim the channels based on that.
On the PS I usually keep it at 50% or less.
I’ve noticed that many DJs using L1s share the idea that raising them just about 2 feet makes a difference (I would never place them on top of the B1s as I’ve seen some do).
I am looking into some suggestions regarding what I called a “clever idea”. I was referring to some kind of platform.
But I agree, if I could avoid that and just improve the sound by better gain staging the system, EQ, etc, that would be great.
So keep your suggestions coming, I need to get the best out of my Bose.
Thanks!
When faced w/ a large room, I place 2 B1s side by side and then put some rubber like shelf stuff (looks like honeycomb grill) and it stays put.
ONLY when against a wall. The xtra foot makes a heap of difference and does not impact the spread (throw).
Any higher, and sound would not disperse correctly.
As stated by others, not BOSE approved.