Hi all, this might seem very basic but I am trying to do as much pre-planning as possible before my first gig on December 12th. I have been a bedroom DJ for a few years now. My school (who i am DJing the semi-formal dance for)… will be renting out a few sets of speakers for me to play my audio through.
I have the novation nio 2|4, which has two sets of stereo outputs in phono form.
How would I be able to hook up my outputs 1/2 (aka output set #1- left and right channel) to multiple speakers?
I also have a friend who lent me his JBL PA speaker. It seems to have an XLR output on the back. Do I just get a cable to hook from XLR to phono and broadcast only one channel (left or right), or do you have another suggestion?
Thanks in advanced! I really appreciate the efforts!
Tom
First of all they are RCA outputs, not phono. Phono is what comes out of a turntable, they look the same as RCA but phono is just the source. You have a line source.
If your friend gave you one speaker it isn’t much use, you need a pair of speakers for stereo sound. Check to see what speakers you will be connecting to and what inputs they have, most PA speakers take XLR inputs and can be chained together. Check to see if they are powered or they have an amplifier, if you are being given a PA system you should be able to just hook into the amp or one set of speakers. You will probably need to either connect to balance XLR or balanced TRS inputs on the amp/speakers from your unbalanced RCA source. For this you need an isolator RCA-> XLR or 1/4" box (whichever outputs it has you can always get an adapter between 1/4" and XLR, and you should have them), not a DI box as some people will incorectly tell you. Always be prepared with adapters and better yet find out what you are connecting to because there are a lot of possibilities.
No matter what you will need an isolator box to make your unbalanced signal balanced like one of these:
A cheaper DI box could produce hum and unwanted noise and they also attenuate sound to MIC level in many cases.
This is only $50 and might work Amazon.com but I would stick with a real isolator.
This is one of the costs and problems of using a cheap mixer or digital setup with a soundcard that only has RCA outs, you need to balance and isolate the signal to hook up to a big PA. At clubs this isn’t usually a problem since you can just run your RCA to a line input on the club mixer which will take care of it. Another option is getting a relatively cheap mixer with XLR outs and doing this, at least that way you have a mixer to mess around with too and have dual functionality, for $200 you can find something good enough used, look for an Allen & Heath Xone 02 or maybe a used Vestax mixer on craigslist, as long as it has XLR outs it will take care of it.
ok, so what exactly is the difference between the wire I showed, and the box you showed me?
also, would u suggest I just buy something cheap like the Amazon.com ? as opposed to the converting cables.
i am not 100% sure how far the PA will be from me, most likely directly infront of my booth.
-Tom
EDIT: also, what is the difference in the voltages between the lines? why does the Samson box state: “Compact device for converting 4 dBu audio signal level to 10dBV.”