4:32
Buying a cheap setup, and the speakers
On YouTube this video is called Buying a cheep set up/ or speakers Mr DJ?
What this lesson teaches
Josh emailed asking whether a cheap deck-and-mixer package was worth buying, and what to do about speakers. The reply is a good example of how to spend nothing and still end up with something that works.
One thing to check on a budget package
He approves of the package Josh found, and his reason is specific: the turntables are direct drive.
This is the one specification on a budget deck that is not negotiable, and it is worth knowing why rather than taking it on trust.
On a direct drive turntable the motor is underneath the platter and turns it directly. On a belt drive, a small motor off to one side turns the platter through a rubber belt.
That belt is the problem. It stretches, so it absorbs the thing you are trying to do. Nudge a belt-driven platter and the belt takes up the movement instead of the record; hold it back and release, and it takes a moment to come back to speed. A direct drive platter reaches speed almost instantly, holds its speed against the weight of your hand, and recovers the moment you let go.
All of which is a precise description of the beatmatching gesture. His view is that a belt drive does not just make it harder, it makes the control less predictable - and a beginner cannot tell the difference between a deck that is fighting them and a technique they have not learned. His friend bought one of those packages years ago and regretted it from the first day.
The PA system already in your house
The second half is the useful trick. Josh asks how much to spend on speakers, and the answer is: for now, probably nothing.
A set of computer speakers - the kind with a small bass box and two satellites - will do as a first monitoring system. You need an adaptor from the 3.5 mm jack on its lead to a pair of RCA plugs, and then it goes into the back of the mixer.
Feed it from the booth or record output rather than the master, which leaves the master free and gives you a separate level control for your own listening.
He is honest about what this is. Twenty or thirty pounds of computer speakers is three or four watts and will not do a party. A hundred pounds gets something genuinely usable in a bedroom. The real argument for it is that it is not a second purchase at all - it is your computer's speakers, which you own anyway, swapped between two jobs with a cable. And the small bass box under the desk with two satellites either side takes up less room than a pair of proper monitors.
The principle underneath
His closing line is the point of the whole stage: do not spend thousands if you have not got thousands, because you do not need to.
The corollary, which this lesson demonstrates rather than states, is that the money you do not spend on speakers in month one is money you still have in month six, when you know what you actually need.
Contents of the video
0:00 This is a video response to an email I had from Josh
Alright, this is a video response to an email I had from Josh. Josh asked, should I buy the stand and setup? Well, I've had a look at it and I don't see any reason why you shouldn't. It's cheap, straight to the point, you've got a mixer in there as well, but most importantly, most importantly, the turntables you're looking at are direct drive. The reason for that is years ago they used to have packages not dissimilar to that. But what they would be is basically they would be systems whereby you had a belt driving that turntable. I mean, I know a friend of mine years ago bought one of those, mixer and a microphone, and he regretted it from day one because sorry but they were absolutely crap. I stand corrected, maybe there are systems now that are a lot better.
1:10 You may think, what the heck is he on about?
But the big companies have realised that people don't want things with elastic bands in, unless of course they're brilliant and they've got 10 elastic bands and they're like knicker elastic where you try to get your hands down. No, anyway, we shouldn't go there. Alright, but here's the beauty. He's also asked, he gave me a question and he said, OK, I'm getting that, but how do I get, what do I get for a PA system? How much do I need to spend, what speakers, etc.? Right, if you're on a budget. Even if you're not on a budget and you want a relatively good speaker system, there could be a speaker system in your house staring you in the face. You may think, what the heck is he on about? I'm just going to unplug the thing because I'm powering up the batteries now and hopefully it won't turn off. Walk this way. Basically, it's a very straightforward and simple PA system that will cost you next to nothing. Now, it's this. Who has got in their house
2:31 Thousands pounds, spend thousands, east boys
This is the system that you'd have on your PC. We're going to turn that on. Hopefully it's on. Yeah, it should be on there, right. Now then, what I've had to do, okay, is this. Here you have what's known as a small jack plug. What you will need to do, you'll need to get a fitting to fit on this jack plug and then on the opposite side of the jack plug you'll need to get these guys. You will then attach these guys into the back of your mixer into either the booth This is a basic system that you would have on a computer and this, I bought this on eBay, it cost me £30. Okay, so check it out. So there you go, I mean, you know, say no more really. You know, I mean logically, you know, if you're going to spend 20 or 30 quid, you're going to get something that's probably only 3, 4, 5 watts.
But then if you spend maybe $100, you've got a system for your PC, but then also, you know, occasionally you can wire it into your mixer. So why have two systems? You could just swap the cables and you've got a system for your mixer and a system for your PC. 28 East Boys, sorry I'll stop it so I can see exactly what it is. The 28 East Boys, a track entitled Someone and it's a bit of a housey stomper or garage I suppose. Let's not go into arguments what sort of genre it is please. Okay so there you go, a message there to Josh, this is your own personal video so I hope you enjoy this. Basically it's exactly as simple as that alright. Don't spend thousands of pounds if you haven't got it, because if you haven't got it, you can't spend thousands of pounds. In other words, you don't need to. If you just need a relatively good sound system, go to your PC shop, buy a bass cab, two other satellites. Again, the beauty about it is there's the bass speaker. Stick that underneath the system, have your little two satellite speakers, one either side of you, and look what you're doing. You're saving space as well, alright? Thank you very much for watching. Practice and always enjoy. Take it easy.
This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.
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