Swingers Club Owner Needs Help

Hello Master DJ's.......my name is Chip and I own an off premise swingers club www.floridasocial.com . Nothing to bizarre, just a a place for dirty dancing, drinking and mingling. Mostly girl / gilr stuff going on while the guys watch.

The reason for this thread is because I am looking to own and operate our own DJ equipment. We pay $400 twice per month for DJ services and could probably had paid for equipment many times over by now. We have a semi experienced DJ on staff that would like to take on the duties but we have no clue as to what to buy or where to buy the equipment. Any advice would be helpful.

Sincerely,

ChipT

Wow, sounds good to me...

The most important things you need to get nailed down is what your budget is and what you need to get. And when deciding what you're going to buy, get the best stuff you possibly can. Assuming that you're going to have at least a little bit of rotation of dj's, both cd players and turntables would be a good idea, as well as a mixer that would be suitable for the varying styles of different djs.

Something like 2 Technics 1200's, 2 Pioneer Cdj1000's, and a Pio DJM600 would be versatile and familiar to just about everyone who stepped behind them. If you wanted something a little bit more hip hop friendly than the DJM600, a Rane Empath would be awesome, along with too many other mixers to mention that would probably get you by. There are also tons of cd players on the market to choose from, both dual and single, and the features on the high end models are really cool. But of course you have to decide if these are valuable enough to justify the extra expense. As far as turntables go, if you ask me or lots of other people, the Technics 1200 is the only way to go. Nobody will be caught off guard by 1200's, and they'll last forever if you take care of them. There is equipment out there that will let you go as big and spectacular as an equally big and spectacular budget will let you, and there is equipment that will puke sound all over your dancefloor that you can get for the change in your couch. You're probably going to be in the middle somewhere...

Do you need speakers & amps & all that good stuff? If so hopefully someone can tell you a little bit more than I know.

If you haven't already, ask your staff dj what equipment he'd like to use on a nightly basis or things he thinks you should check out if you need more ideas. If he doesn't give you a huge list of really expensive gear, something is wrong with him.

Also, you'll probably find your best deals for gear on the web, but your local guitar center is also a good place to start looking at things and trying out models they have on display and they take pretty good care of you if you buy something from them and want to bring it back later.

I've bought tons of stuff from pssl.com, and I've heard good things about agiprodj.com. And of course there's always ebay if you feel comfortable with it.

Thanks so much for the advice.........I found a link to some starter kits. Do you have a reccomendation on any?

http://www.123dj.com/specials/index.html

Also what are the charges to use copyrighted music? I am hearing you have to have some type of subscription.

ChipT

Noooooooooooooooo starter kits. They usually contain low quality equipment that you probably want nothing to do with by itself, let alone a whole bunch of it all at once. I looked at a few of those packages and didn't see anything that impressed me. Usually starter kits are sold to people who don't know what they want and are too eager to get started than to take the time to get the right gear from the beginning.

I think your best option is to buy pieces individually so you don't get railroaded into buying something you don't need, and don't end up with a pile of sub par equipment that nobody will buy from you when you want to get rid of it.

Just to fling around a few more of my personal biases, brands like Numark, Gemini, Behringer, & American Audio make budget gear that would be, with some exceptions, inappropriate for a true professional installation. Companies like Rane, Allen & Heath, Technics, Vestax, Ecler & Pioneer make the good {censored} that is actually worth having. There are also a few weak selections from those companies as well, but for the most part they're the reputable manufacturers and their gear will perform as advertised.

Here's an even better idea......

If you have a 'semi-experienced DJ' on staff who is going to take over the reins, why not see what kinda media he/she is going to be playing and tailor your selections to what he is going to be playing??

There is no point buying turntables if your DJ doesn't even own vinyl, know what I'm saying? I have been to too many clubs that own 1200s that are covered in an inch of dust because the owner of the club thought they were going to be necessary, but never actually get used. Why spend your hard earned money on something you aren't going to use??

The choice in equipment is rather an arbitrary one, and every DJ you talk to will give you slightly different names to look at.

If you are going to buy turntables, definitely go with Technics 1200s, simply because they are tanks and will never let you down. I have had one pair for nearly 10 years - they have been HEAVILY used over that time and they still hold time perfectly.

CD Players are more difficult to recommend. Personally, I hate them all for two reasons. I have been spinning records for 16 years and you can't teach an old dog new tricks. And, I'm a serious audiophile and digital just does not sound as good. If you are going with turntables, I would definitely consider investing in a system like Final Scratch or Serato-Rane's Scratch Live. While the sound quality isn't as good as it is with vinyl (because you are playing digital sound), both of these systems are controlled by vinyl, so they feel the same as vinyl and enable your DJ to truly be artistic.

Again, a mixer is a question of personal preference. The DJM-600 isn't a bad mixer, but most serious DJs today prefer the Allen & Heath XOne:62. Any DJ who says it sucks has never used it. It is truly the world's best mixer, but it is a lot of money, so again, it depends on what your budget is.

You also didn't mention one really important thing. Do you have a PA system in your club, or are you going to have to invest in one?? This is the most important part of a DJ rig - if you dont' have the right speakers and monitors, you could have the best equipment, the best DJ and it would still sound like garbage!!!!!

Thanks GHowell......your advice is well taken. I had no plans on buying turntables. The crowd we cater to is a younger crowd that the females control. The music desired is of course the top100 stuff that can be danced to and old dance club favorites. Nothing really very old though.... We are looking at spending about $2000 on a good double cd player, one apmplifier, one mixer, four speakers and a few lights. Our plans are to add more lights later.

One of my big questions that has come up is the cost of playing the copyrighted music. Is there a charge or a subscription that has to be bought. I am getting conflicting reports on that ranging from "no charge" to "it is the biggest expense".

Thanks again for your help...

In response to your last question, DJs are rarely employees of the club - they work on a contract basis, so you would never be liable for any music they play illegally.

Generally DJs have a lot of leeway, simply because they sell music. I have never heard of DJs getting into any trouble for playing music they have purchased. Those last three words are key, if your DJs play pirated MP3s, they are both scum and potentially liable for damages.

With the style of music you're playing, I really can't see the point of spending very much on a system. It will be hard to mix a lot of this music (it's popular so people expect to hear it a certain way) so honestly, look towards the packages!!!

Check out

http://www.hollywooddj.com

as well

Thanks again GHowell.....I had the same thoughts about the budget. I figure $2000 will easily cover including a few lights. I will check out the website you reccomended.

ChipT :cool

Hello Chip,

After visiting your site, I assume this DJ system will have to be transported and set up for each event rather than a permanent install. In this case, your budget of $ 2000.00 will go fast without careful consideration.

You will need the following:

Speakers

Speaker stands

Speaker cables

Mixer

Dual CD player

Microphone

Lights & effects

For your application Active speakers (those with the amplification and processing built in) would be the ticket. Active speakers elliminate the need for outboard amps, crossovers and processing.

Your mixer and dual CD player should be mounted into a road case for transport and ease of operation. Here's an example:

.

To further the ease of set up, the case can be customized to facilitate hook up.

An audio package of this nature can be set up and operational in 10 minutes or less

This complete sound package with all necessary gear would run about $ 1400.00 leaving $ 600.00 for lights and effects.

Thank you everyone so much for the great help and advice. After much thought and meetings with partners and employees we have decided to try the route of laptop computer, amp, speakers and lights. Their is another local swingers club that uses this method with great success.

My questions now are how to accomplish this as far as what amp to use and where do we get the library of mp3's? Are there subscriptions we can get for music? And is there anything else we should know.

Any help would be much appreciated!

ChipT

we've been spuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurned!