The DJ rig setup for parties / events   Back to the music page...

 

Why am I writing this?

Putting together this new setup has been a journey with some trial and error. I have found a bunch of useful videos and articles online but none of them really covered everything end to end or if they did, not in enough detail. Therefore, I wanted to let people see and borrow any lessons learnt for implementations where you may be upgrading or creating a new DJ rig.

Hope you are settled and have some time to spare? A heads up - this will not be a short read!

To save you reading through the whole article, you can jump to the equipment list section to see what I ended up purchasing for my setup.

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1. Background - why am I upgrading?
2. The requirements
3. The design process
   1. Backup / disaster recovery planning
4. DJ Controller - the BIGGEST single expense
   1. Pros
   2. Cons
5. The software
6. Auto-ducking music output when mics are in use – compressor time!
7. Wireless mics
8. Headphones Mixer
9. Output / Mic Mixer
10. Flight cases... yes, plural
    1. Microphone flight case
    2. Output / Mic Mixer case
    3. DJ Controller case
11. Carrying spares / cables to hook up to PA systems
12. Equipment setup / wiring diagram
13. The Equipment list
    1. Spares Equipment
14. Conclusion

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Background - why am I upgrading?

I have been a Traktor user for around 16 years starting off with Scratch. I moved to using a Kontrol S4 (Mark 1!) controller in 2011 and was very happy with not having to lug record boxes around to parties / events (I was still a purist back then!). Native Instruments produced a wonderful product along with some rock steady software to pair with it.

Fast forward to 2024… combined with the new Macs not supporting the old USB device compliance drivers the S4 Mark 1 needs and Native Instruments quite frankly p!$$ poor ability to keep up with feature upgrades in Serato, Rekordbox and VirtualDJ, I have been looking at making the investment to upgrade. In addition, there has been a repeated need to have more than one mic and for mic output quality to be improved (it is far from the best on many DJ Controllers).

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The requirements

Requirement	Justification
4 track DJ Controller	I often play with 3 decks and sometimes with 4 (for sampling / acapellas).
On-the-fly Stem separation	I like to get creative with my mixes and having the ability to filter Stem components of tracks on the fly and create a more unique experience is where I am coming from.
Up to 4 mics	The parties / events I play at now require a minimum of 2 mics – flexibility up to 4 mics.
2 mics need to be wireless and have ~150’ range	Not having cables moving around the booth area is a necessity reducing risk of trips and allows for an emcee to be mobile.
Compression on all mics	Ability to smooth out volume / levels of mic inputs to provide a more consistent output.
Music auto-ducking when any / all mics are used	Given the multi-mic setup, it is not always possible to manually lower the music to accommodate mic output. An automated solution is needed especially for the emcee use case.
Mix / adjust mic and output levels, pan and EQ	Flexibility to modify sound stage output based on venue the party / event is at. Provides an improved listening experience.
Record / stream mic + music, mic and/or music output separately	When playing, being able to record / stream the mic + music, mic and music only outputs is key especially with auto ducking of mic output, so there can be post-production mixing of the different combinations if required (or external recording of just mics i.e. for events with a camera crew).
Connect to both balanced and unbalanced speaker setups	Whilst I would prefer to only connect to balanced speaker setups, there are still some venues that only provide an unbalanced hook up so must support both.
Support 1 stereo balanced external source to leverage my own speaker setup	There have been scenarios where external source(s) have needed to use my own speaker setup (i.e. a single instrument or mixed sources).
Listen to mic outputs alongside music output with no latency in headphones	Hearing what is being said / sung against the music I am playing is key to be able to time certain events such as sound effects, dub tracks, etc...
Use balanced inputs and outputs for stereo audio	Reduce the risk of grounding / buzz problems in the setup because when they happen, they can be tricky to diagnose and not something you want to do if time is not on your side.
Simplify setup and take down process	Not having to remember what cables connect to where / having a lot of documentation to follow when setting up and tearing down the setup.
Disaster Recovery / Continuity capable	There will be failures... support the ability to have a backup device to bridge the scenario of primary equipment failure (laptop / DJ Controller) through a phone or something similar, as well as internal patch cable / output cabling / power cable breaks through the use of backup cables. For the Mic / Output Mixer failure scenario, re-routing output to the DJ Controller will be needed and manual ducking of microphones required. Streaming / recording in this failure scenario is an acceptable loss. If it isn’t acceptable for your situation, consider buying a second Mic / Output Mixer and having it on hand to cold swap when needed.

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The design process

Based on the requirements I drew up, it became clear that an external mixer would be needed to sit alongside the DJ Controller. A number of DJs, be it event, lounge / bar or wedding focused, have sung the praises for using an external mixer because of the following:

• Multiple microphones
• Adjustment of the sound stage between mics and music output.
• Inclusion of instrument(s) within your setup (i.e. a full band leveraging a single speaker setup alongside your DJ rig or a partner instrument such as drums / bongos / piano / violin to your performance.
• Record / stream various combinations from final output to the constituent parts for post-production mixing / external camera audio.
• Use of a sidechain compressor to support auto ducking of music output when mic(s) are in use freeing you up to focus on the music output.

The downside – it becomes a lot more complex, costly and daunting to implement if you have absolutely no idea what you are doing! Especially if you factor in the possible failure scenarios and the mitigation of them.

I spent a great deal of time reading Reddit threads, watching Phil Morse from djdigitialtips.com who is very informative, has numerous videos on reviewing DJ hardware / software associated with them, as well as other videos on people’s experiences (amongst lots of other sources). This process actually applied to all aspects of the rig from the wireless microphone setup (see below for more info on that), to the compressor and flight cases.

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Backup / disaster recovery planning

Touch wood, the only problem I have had with my old equipment was a mic and cable problem of which I had spares readily available. I was not as diligent as perhaps I should have been on carrying all possible equipment spares but certainly always had music / recorded mix lined up from a separate device in case of major hardware problems with the laptop or mixer.

Given the complexity of the new setup, I need to up my game by considering the now numerous failure scenarios and what would be an acceptable alternative if I did experience a particular failure. Some of these scenarios / responses were amended once I decided to simplify the cabling connections between the DJ Controller and Mic / Output Mixer – see the realisation in the Flight Cases section below.

Failure scenario	Response
DJ Controller	Use pre-recorded mix / songs on a separate device connected to the Mic / Output Mixer. Attempt restart if possible.
Laptop
	Leverage CDJ / equivalent and route through the DJ Controller.
	Swap for backup laptop or continue to leverage separate device.
Compressor	Re-route output from DJ Controller straight to the Snake box or Mic / Output Mixer.
Wireless Mic receiver	Revert to using wired mics.
Wireless Mic	Utilise alternative wireless mic. If all / multiple fail, use wired mics.
Headphone Mixer	Use headphones direct from DJ Controller – will not be able to hear mic output in headphones.
Mic / Output Mixer	Use pre-recorded mix / songs on a separate device connected to the output cables from Mic / Output Mixer. Stop recording / streaming (if doing so). Route mics direct to DJ Controller (maximum of 2) using XLR -> TRS for mic 2. Route DJ Controller output using output cables from Mic / Output Mixer. Manually adjust output volume when using mics.
Snake cable	Use backup Snake cable – if length a problem, see failure of "One or both Snake boxes”.
One or both Snake boxes	Use backup direct snake cables to provide connectivity between DJ Mixer and Mic / Output Mixer.
Power strip / surge protector	Replace with backup strip / surge protector.
Patch / Audio / USB cable	Replace with backup instance of said cable.

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DJ Controller - the BIGGEST single expense

Whether the cost increases are supply chain, component inflation or simply “manufacturer forced inflation”, the price of a new controller is far from cheap and combined with the cost of the software, it was the item that had me going back and forth between sucking it up and investing more in the hardware / software versus going cheaper with less features.

I needed to evaluate both the hardware and software options available that would / could be used with the corresponding hardware I ended up getting that was able to fulfill what I was looking for.

I am not going to publish a full matrix of features on the different combinations I evaluated (I am OCD about some things but I didn’t go that far!), but I ended up going with the Pioneer DDJ-FLX10. Here is why:

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Pros:

• At the time of choosing the hardware (Q2 2024), I had whittled down the choice of software to either Serato or VirtualDJ. This controller was supported by both.
• It was relatively new and therefore should be supported for a while by Pioneer (hopefully!) and the software vendors.
• Pads are mappable in either software to realtime Stems separation pieces.
• Additional flexibility of effects and a dual DJ setup over the Rane 4 which on its own, looks very impressive.
• The Pioneer layout is industry standard so transitioning between other Pioneer equipment (such as CDJs) would become much simpler.
• The DDJ-FLX10 is smaller and lighter than the Rane 4 making it slightly easier to carry around in a flight case or in a backpack style carry case (i.e. for plane travel where I do not trust the security / border agents to not get a little light fingered or repeatedly drop the flight case; have bad experience with the TSA and Mexican equivalents – a story for another day):
   

  	Pioneer DDJ-FLX10	Rane 4
  Width	283⁄16" (716mm)	3013⁄16" (782.32mm)
  Depth	153⁄4" (400.3mm)	1529⁄32" (404mm)
  Height	229⁄32" (73.4mm)	43⁄16" (106.6mm)
  Weight	14.8lb (6.7kg)	18.25lbs (8.7kg)
  MSRP	$1,599 / £1,469 / €1,649	$1,599 / £1,499 / €1,529

 

Cons:

• Need to map the Stems pad capability into VirtualDJ myself if I chose to use that software.

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The software

With the controller chosen, I needed to focus on the choice of software next. I should note, there was some bias towards an implementation that would facilitate an easier learning curve transition from Traktor. This might not factor in your decision path especially if you are already coming from Serato.

I also wanted to buy the software rather than “lease” through a subscription service depending on the balance of capabilities between the two offerings.

As it turned out, both offer similar ownership models, except VirtualDJ has been providing ongoing upgrades if you use the “one-time purchase”. I realise this could change but given the current state of the software and a guestimated period of ownership to be no less than 6 years, this seemed good value for me even if within 5-6 years the included continued upgrades were stopped.

Along with the fact that VirtualDJ’s Stem separation sounded a little bit cleaner and better than Serato (as of Q2 2024), the pricing vs capability (wider plugin / community support on VirtualDJ and perpetual upgrades), as well as the workflow in terms of sync, behaviour was closer in similarity to Traktor (note the word, closer – there are some subtle differences), I opted for VirtualDJ.

N.B. Costs are as of Q2 2024; the Serato package reflects equivalent capabilities in VirtualDJ for a better “apples-to-apples” comparison. . You will see other write ups / YouTube videos that will say Serato is cheaper. However, at the cheaper price of $249, it will NOT include the same features VirtualDJ has AND misses the all important “Pitch & Time” capability.

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Auto-ducking music output when mics are in use – compressor time!

Given I had the epiphany of needing to use an external mixer for mic and music output mixing, my options were not limited to doing it within VirtualDJ (or Serato if I had chosen it). As it turns out, there are not any great universal solutions within the software itself or through plugins that work on both Windows and Mac platforms.

With that decided, time to look at hardware based options.

There is a device by Rolls (DU30b Mic Preamp / Audio Ducker) that takes a single non-amplified mic input along with an unbalanced RCA audio input and output where you can adjust the level of the duck, release time and sensitivity. It is a cheap solution ($99 as of Q2 2024) but the depth and release controls are not full pots and would be extremely fiddly to adjust on the fly. Plus it only supports one mic input (so would need an unamplified mic mixer in addition to this to feed in multiple mics), as well as the audio input and output being unbalanced.

Thinking about this from an audio production / radio station implementation perspective, could there be a sidechain compressor that is in a small form factor (full size rack mounts are out – this is for a mobile rig not a studio) and have control over the attack, compression ratio and release time? Turns out there is! FMR Audio make the RNC1773 Really Nice Compressor (their product name, not my description). It is decently priced at $185 (as of Q2 2024) and is 1/3 rack size.

The only downside / niggle I spotted with this was the connector implementation of the sidechain. The “send” was on the ring of the TRS connection rather than the tip. Mixers use the left channel or tip of a TR/TRS cable to send the auxiliary output to an external effects processor. This would necessitate a custom patch cable to “crossover” the channels in the TR/TRS cable for this to work (see The Equipment list below for more details).

Here are my compression settings for anyone wanting to know:

Threshold 0 Ratio 2:1 Attack 20 ms Release 0.5 sec Gain +8dB

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Wireless mics

This could have been the second most expensive purchase! However, I was determined to do my research and see if there were any other options out there.

First, I know from my own experience, getting a 2.4Ghz wireless mic system is inviting trouble especially at larger events with WiFi in the mix and hundreds of people with their phones. Radio congestion will be inevitable and the latency / interference problem will likely come into play.

So I was looking at a UHF solution. Do I suck it up and shell out lots of money on a Shure or Sennheiser solution? They do “just work” and are trusted by a large swathe of implementations ranging from gyms, bars to places of worship. Could there be a decent but reasonably priced alternative?

I have experienced a Phenyx Pro setup (rack mount admittedly) and started looking at reviews for their 1/3 rack size implementations along with similar products from Pyle. One thing that stuck out on the reviews were people’s preference for the weightiness of the Phenyx mics and how they sounded.

Therefore I opted to give the PTU-71-2H setup a go – I only need two wireless mics for 95% of my events and if I need more, I have a single mic Sennheiser receiver or worst case a wired mic if I ever needed a fourth. I wanted the option for one of the wireless mics to be a lapel / headset style for different situations and also purchased a PWB-7 bodypack along with a lapel / headset combo to accommodate that need.

If you are buying it outside of the US (where I am), don’t forget to get the right frequency model that is legal in your location.

Range could be a problem especially as I am planning on having the receiver in a flight case and the aerials could well be in a sub optimal location for maximising signal coverage. With that in mind, I would need to get aerial extension cables so I could place the aerials in locations that would give good coverage. I found the Heayzoki BNC magnetic antenna female base -> male cable at 5m long which would be enough to run and attach them to a metal surface away from the rig setup.

Once I had settled on a case and the positioning of the receiver within it, I also got two smaller BNC cables to run from the receiver to locations within the case that allow for easy hook up and removal of the aerial extensions (Tuolnk BNC Bulkhead RG58 male -> female 1’ and Mookeerf BNC Bulkhead RG58 male -> female 2’ cables).

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Headphones Mixer

As I already knew, I would be using an external mixer to preamp the microphones and mix the DJ Controller output into the final sound stage. Therefore, I would need a way to mix the microphone output from the external mixer (aka Output / Mic Mixer) along with the cue / main mix headphone output from the DJ Controller. Hence the need for a Headphones Mixer!

There are lots of headphone amps on the market that split a single source to many headphones, but I needed the opposite – take multiple headphone outputs and mix them into a single headphone output (or output method powerful enough to amplify a pair of headphones); all without the need for a chunky mixer – a 1/3 rack size or smaller form factor would be ideal.

As it turned out, I already had a Rolls MX51s Minimix 2 in my collection of bits that do not get a regular use. Rather than buying a new one, I repurposed what I had. It has three line inputs, one XLR mic input (which I won’t be using), one line out as well as a headphone output. The headphone outputs from the Output / Mic Mixer and DJ Controller were strong enough to run through it. There is the added benefit of being able to control the levels I get from the sources to balance out the mics versus the music.

All I need to do now is figure out how to get the microphones output only sent to the headphone jack on the Output / Mic Mixer so I can listen to the cue track and live music output from the DJ Controller separately or at the same time.

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Output / Mic Mixer

I have an older Behringer four mic, two stereo line, single bus mixer that I use for my karaoke setup at home (will create a separate article for that as it is pretty neat with HDMI audio stripping and re-combining). That means I am completely aware of their limitations:

• Some background hiss on the mono mic channels – acceptable for live events and recording of them – not viable for studio recording (which this use case is not).
• A very small amount of channel bleed even when channel faders are fully retracted. Again, acceptable for live events and recording of them – not viable for studio recording.

I needed a new separate mixer for my DJ rig as I am not going to be butchering my permanent home karaoke setup everytime.

I have heard and seen good things with the Yamaha smaller form factor mixers and would have gone with the MG10XU mixer if it wasn’t missing compressors on all mic channels.

The only other alternative I found at the time with compressors on all four mic channels, enough stereo input channels and an USB interface for audio recording with an Aux Send (for the Sidechain Compressor hook up), was the Behringer QX1204USB.

So knowing the limitations, I went with this mixer after reading through the manual to make sure there were no gotchas in it… which as it turns out, doesn’t guarantee you no gotchas!

I have experience with mixers across many fields and years, not just from DJing. This annoying “feature” is the first I have come across and certainly isn’t implemented in this manner on the older Behringer mixer I use for my karaoke setup:

• In normal operation (faders up, audio output to main, no PFL / Solo selected), the VU Meter doesn't show the levels of the Main channel output. This is counter to how many mixers work!
• You only see the VU Meter levels when you select which zones are routed to the Control Room / Headphones output. If you are leveraging the Control Room / Headphones output in your setup (which I am), you have to clumsily perform these steps in order to check the volume levels of the Main channel output:
  • Turn down Control Room / Headphones volume to zero.
  • Deselect all channels selected for PFL / Solo monitoring.
  • Select Main as the source for Control Room / Headphone output.
  • When finished, reverse the above steps.
  • Frustrating when being used in a live setting – Behringer, please fix this!

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Flight cases... yes, plural

Instead of simply carrying around one flight case that contains the DJ Controller in setups of old, I know have a DJ Controller, Sidechain Compressor, Headphones Mixer, Wireless Mic Receiver, Wireless Mics and an Output / Mic Mixer.

This calls for multiple flight cases… and yes more money to be spent.

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Microphone flight case

Starting with the microphone flight case because this is the easiest… Phenyx Pro make a flight case for their mics which includes the pick out foam to house the two wireless mics, wireless bodypack and lapel / headset mics. The PCSE-M (Medium) case fits all of this nicely and you can see the layout I used below for reference if you wish to mimic the foam pick outs.

One thing I will note (this downside applies to all pick out foam), you cannot separate the foam by thickness (i.e. height). I do not like putting equipment on the bottom bare plywood and like to have a layer of foam between the case and the equipment being placed in it, both below and above the equipment.

To achieve this, involves some custom cutting with a very sharp knife to create bottom and top cover inserts. When individual cubes start to separate (and they will), use a low temperature glue gun to keep them together (low temperature is key as the foam melts VERY easily). I then used the glue gun (low temperature again) to have the same cut out that sits atop of the equipment snug but level with the rest of the foam.

A downside to this case – the latches are not lockable. If you prefer to have them lockable, either find a new case or do what I did – buy aftermarket lockable latches, rivets (6mm * 3mm * 10mm – shout out to Phenyx Pro for providing the rivet specification!) and a rivet gun (if you don’t have one) to drill out the existing latches and replace them.

 

Before we continue...

I realised at this point that case choices for the DJ Controller and Output / Mic Mixer would depend on the amount of cables I would need to pass between the two cases and therefore potentially store in said cases (would be easier for storage, setup and take down). This meant size of cases was an important consideration.

Figuring out the sizes required (before I had created the helpful diagram of my setup below), there would need to be 4 TRS cables and 2 XLR cables run between the two cases when setup. Considering the two cases might not be physically located next to one another for logistical reasons, those cables could be considerably long and difficult to store in the case. I could carry them separately in a bag for example but would be yet another item to lug around and time to setup and take down. Is there another solution?

Upon further research, I came across the D’Addario Modular Snake Box (PW-XLRSB-01) where I could get two of them, locate one in the DJ Controller case, the other in the Output / Mic Mixer case and run a single cable between them and have the cable stored in one of the cases – ideal!

It would be nice if all 8 connectors on the snake boxes are Neutrik Combination ones but given the use case, only 4 (the maximum on D’Addario’s snake box) were needed to be used. I could then carry a longer single cable where logistical reasons meant the two cases had to be located further away than anticipated (see the Equipment list below for details).

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And we continue™ [Credit: Pete Tong]... Output / Mic Mixer case

With the dimensions of the snake box in hand, I could now go about selecting cases. For the Output / Mic Mixer one, a 10” mixer case would be the solution providing it had a deep enough area / gap at the back of the case where the snake box, patch cables between the snake box and mixer, output cable adapters, USB cable for the audio interface and power cable for the mixer could be located and stored when not in use.

My search led me to the Harmony HC10MIX-12 case that had just the right amount of depth from the back of the Behringer mixer to the case edge to host everything needed.

Once the equipment had arrived, it became apparent that a custom foam setup would be needed and I ended up using the extra foam pieces supplied with the case to make it a tight fit for the Behringer mixer, snake box + patch cables and right angle USB cable to the laptop (for audio recording - needed to be a length that would match that of the snake cable). See the picture below for how I achieved it (without and with patch cables).

After being fitted, custom patch cables were ordered to ensure they could be left connected but not compromise the ability to close and secure the case lid (see the Equipment list below for details).

With the height of the mixer being a triangle shape (deeper at one end), it was taller than the foam insert attached to the underside of the case lid. I had to carefully peal it off, move it and reattach using the glue-gun (the lighter area is where the foam block was originally).

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DJ Controller case

This case would not only need to house the Pioneer DDJ-FLX10 but the Sidechain Compressor, Headphone mixer, Phenyx Pro wireless mic receiver, easy accessible wireless mic antenna cables and D’Addario Snake box.

After reviewing what there was to offer, the ProX DDJFLX10WLTBLLED was the best option as it was LED lit. You can go for the one without the LED lights but I like to have the decks lit for ease of use. This case would allow me to put the Sidechain Compressor, Headphone mixer, Wireless Mic receiver and Snake box under the Pioneer DJ Controller with some custom foam and bracket installations to keep it all in place.

It should be noted, this is not lightest of cases but is very robust and sturdy… weighing in at 45lbs (20.4kgs) without anything in it. Fully loaded, this might take two of you to place on a stand / desk / table depending on your strength but it does come with wheels to allow for easier transportation.

Once the lower level equipment was placed, I could begin placing brackets, cutting and glueing custom foam inserts to hold the items in place.

The wiring planning could now take place deciding where wires would be run, cable clips to be located (spoiler alert – the picture above showing the foam placement without equipment items in it, was taken after this step). In addition, measurements for the required patch cables were made and more custom patch cables ordered to ensure there was as little slack in them / wasted space as possible (see the Equipment list below for details). Note the antennae are directly connected to the patch cables from the receiver – this is not the setup for using it live; I was ensuring the receiver and mics were working correctly before finalising the equipment placement.

IMPORTANT! Please note the blue TRS cable in the picture above (for colour blind folks, it is the one connecting the compressor labelled “Sidechain” to the snake box port 7) is CUSTOM and is not a standard TRS cable. It is a “crossover” cable where left and right channels are swapped because the Sidechain Compressor expects the Aux Send to be on the ring (R) rather than the tip (L) – left channel is the standard on mixers for Aux Send. You can order this custom from Coluber cables on Amazon (links in the Equipment list below).

It also required making a custom length (small) Apple duckhead charger from the standard 6’ one so there was no unnecessary cabling being wound inside the case. I leveraged the Leviton 3W101-E 2 pole 3 wire grounding plug to do this (I am in the US – check your local retailers for a relevant DIY plug covering your area). Am handy with electrical work so this wasn’t too tricky – just be careful not to slice the internal wires when removing the moulded cover from the cable. Both items can be found in the Equipment list below.

Another downside of using the standard Apple cables comes in the form of the USB C to Mag Safe 3 wire – it also comes in a minimum length of 6’. Not helpful when trying to not have unnecessary cabling wound inside the case. So I tried a few of the USB C to MagSafe 3 adapters of which there were some failures – the magnetic strength wasn’t really up to the job and kept becoming disconnected even with small movements.

I managed to find one that was the best one (still not as strong as the Apple one, but good enough) and paired with a 1.6’ USB C cable, this was sufficient.

Then came custom foam pieces to sit on top of the equipment on the lower level providing both some cushioning between the bottom of the DJ Controller as well helping to minimise vertical movement of the lower level pieces whilst in transit.

Top down view:

Rear top bridge left (note the vertical support to the left)

 

 

Rear top bridge right (note the vertical supports in the center and to the right)

 

 

Front top bridge left (note the pads just below the foam bridge to fit the vertical gap between the equipment and the foam bridge)

 

 

Front top bridge right (note no pads required as the Phenyx Pro receiver is higher than the other two devices)

 

 

Here it is with the DJ Controller fitted:

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Carrying spares / cables to hook up to PA systems

I re-used the box for the Phenyx Pro PCSE-M (Medium) case as the spare cables / parts carry case as well as the box for the Phenyx Pro PTU-71 to carry PA system hookup cables and the wireless mic antenna extension cables. They both come with carry handles and appear durable enough. They wouldn’t survive a flight individually but can be packed in luggage if need be.

Worst case, I can get another 10” mixer case to hold the spares / cables required. If you travel a lot with your setup where it is liable to be banged and dinged, then I would absolutely recommend you doing this.

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Equipment setup / wiring diagram

* represents that power is required for that piece of equipment to function.

The custom TRS crossover cable in blue / red above has the wiring specification of:

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The Equipment list

I have provided some links to online stores I have found to be reputable in my personal experience (not paid / sponsored!) but others are available.

Could I have saved a little money by not getting colour coded patch cables? Probably but it really helps being able to quickly identify what is being used for a particular purpose / connection. Shout out to Coluber Cable who did have some really great customer service when dealing with incorrect cables being delivered.

If you would like to protect against failures ruining your gig, please see the Spares Equipment list section for additional quantities required.

This brings us to a whopping $3,609.80 for the above pieces… and that doesn’t include the spares to satisfy the failure scenarios I want to protect against!

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Spares Equipment

The above list in turn drove the equipment needed to respond to those failure scenarios:

This brings us to a total of $473.18 just for the spare pieces... and that doesn’t include a few more spares that could be argued for or against carrying such as a spare Output / Mic Mixer, Headphones Mixer, Wireless Mic Receiver, Compressor, Snake box and another laptop mirroring the main one in use. If I did that, the price would be substantially higher than the total of $4,082.98 - excluding the laptop, it would be an additional $666.77 (reaching a total of $4,749.75).

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In Conclusion

If you have made it this far, I hope this was useful. I do wish there was something like this for me to read through when going on my journey and want to offer my learnings and thoughts for you and your journey.

This is not the cheapest setup by far! I appreciate that, but if you are a mobile DJ, someone looking for a more professional setup, maybe even in a streaming setting or a veteran who prefers touring with their own controller and kit, then cost really shouldn’t be the primary concern – it will be quality and reliability.

Best of luck and rock those dancefloors!

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