dj monitors | Digital DJ Tips

August 18th, 2012 Training

Your Questions: Can I Use My iPod Dock Speaker To DJ With?

by Phil Morse

Most iPod speaker docks have an Aux input, which means with the right lead, it's perfectly possible to use one as a DJ monitor - assuming it goes loud enough, of course!

Digital DJ Tips reader Terry writes: “This may seems a little silly. I was watching one of the videos for your Learn To DJ Free online course, about speakers for home use. I am currently using an iPod dock speaker which also doubles as my computer speaker via an Aux cable.

“I was wondering whether it is possible to practice DJ with it? I couldn’t find any information regarding this issue on the net and would like to ask your opinion. It was given to me as a graduation gift and is quite sentimental and I’d feel bad if I had to store it away just because I can’t use it to DJ.”

16 Comments »

August 2nd, 2012 Training

A Beginner DJ’s Guide To Monitors, Part 3: Getting Your Room Acoustics Right

by Phil Morse

Curtains, rugs, carpets, beds... the more muffled your room, the better as far as great sound for DJing is concerned.

Last time in A Beginner DJ’s Guide To Monitors, Part 2: Positioning Your Speakers, we covered the basics to make sure that having got yourself some decent speakers to use in your DJ practice room, you know how to set them up properly.

This time, in the last of three parts, we’re going to look at how your room acoustics affect what you hear from your speakers, and some things you could consider doing to improve the overall “sound” of your room, in order to minimise any annoying issues.

9 Comments »

July 19th, 2012 Training

A Beginner DJ’s Guide To Monitors, Part 1: Choosing Your Speakers

by Phil Morse

Decent monitor speakers, properly set up in a suitable room, will elevate your mixing and your recordings way above those produced on poorly bought, badly set up gear. In this three-part series we'll show you all the secrets to getting this crucial part of your home studio right.

Before you were a DJ, you probably didn’t care too much about speakers. If you bought a computer, a TV, a home cinema system, a games console, you probably ended up with speakers that came with one of your pieces of gear, which you just plugged everything else into and, well, just used.

But it’s not quite so simple when you want speakers for DJ use at home. Because not only do you need to be sure that your recorded DJ mixes are going to sound exactly as you want them when played in your fans’ cars, in promoters’ offices, on other DJs’ MP3 players and so on, but unless you get your home monitoring right, you’ll find it harder to produce great DJ mixes in the first place.

32 Comments »

July 6th, 2012 Reviews

Review & Video: Hercules XPS 2.0 60 DJ Set Speakers

by Phil Morse

The Hercules XPS 2.0 60 DJ Set are a smart and sober design, with a flash of yellow a la KRK .

Hercules has just released the XPS 2.0 60 DJ Set, a new small monitor speaker system aimed at controller DJs who need something to equip a very small practice area, that can also double up as general purpose speakers for using with laptop, gaming and so on.

The Hercules XPS 2.0 60 DJ Set are small powered monitors (they don’t need a separate amplifier), that are almost exactly the same size as the M-Audio Audiophile AV40s – another compact desktop speaker designed for similar purposes, and one we tend to recommend at the lower price point. Let’s take a closer look and see how the Hercules model shapes up…

2 Comments »

June 5th, 2012 Reviews

Review & Video: KRK Rokit RPG2 Powered 10-3 Monitors

by Phil Morse

The KRK Rokit 10-3s are large monitors designed for mid-field monitoring, although they can be used for near-field monitoring too.

KRK Rokit Powered 10-3 Monitors Review: I remember the first time I was in a professional recording studio, on work experience from school. (It was Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England, where Joy Division, the Stone Roses, The Smiths, and even Sir Paul McCartney recorded, if you’re interested…)

One thing that fascinated me was the range of different-sized monitors they had. As well as medium-sized monitor speakers of the type DJs today are familiar with, and smaller speakers more like those car radios use, they also had a huge pair of speakers – the “big speakers”.

7 Comments »

April 27th, 2012 Reviews

Review & Video: Yamaha MSP3 Active Monitor Speakers

by Phil Morse

Pro quality, small size. The Yamaha MSP3s have been around for 10 years, and they're still a favourite for space-challenged set-ups.

There’s lots of interest in small, self-powered monitor speakers among Digital DJ Tips readers, and not surprising – we’re all it seems increasingly “space challenged” nowadays, and if you’ve got a laptop, a compact DJ controller, and some nice, small-folding headphones, my bet is your “studio” at home is, in fact, a desk – thus room for monitor speakers is going to be limited.

One company we’ve not featured in these pages until now is Yamaha, that absolute giant of the music production world. They have a set of speakers called the MSP3s, which are the babies of their studio monitor range, and thus ideal for the space-challenged digital DJ.

9 Comments »

March 8th, 2012 Reviews

Review & Video: KRK Rokit 6 Powered Monitor Speakers

by Phil Morse

The KRK Rokit 6's have what's rapidly becoming an iconic design in the DJ / producer world.

KRK speakers seem to be everywhere, don’t they? Maybe it’s the distinctive yellow cones, or the rounded fronts, but when you see them you definitely notice them – and you seem to see them in more than their fair share of “here’s my DJ set-up” photos on Facebook and forums.

Today we’ve got the KRK Systems RP6 G2 (popularly and hereafter known as the “Rokit 6″) powered monitors to review, which are the middle model in a series that includes the Rokit 5 and Rokit 8 – differentiated by the size of the woofer in inches.

22 Comments »

December 10th, 2010 Equipment

Computer Speakers For DJing: 5 Top Pairs Reviewed & Rated

by Phil Morse

The key to striking the right balance when buying computer speakers for DJing is sound quality vs size and features.

Digital DJing allows people whose circumstances mean they could not have a full DJ set-up to still enjoy DJing at home. With a small DJ controller and a laptop or desktop PC, all you need is a flat surface to set up on and you’re off. Great if you’re in college, a small apartment, a hotel room, your bedroom, a rented studio…

One thing you’ll need, however, are speakers. DJing needs decent external sound as well as headphone monitoring. But while cheap computer speakers won’t cut it, many people simply don’t have the room or budget for dedicated studio monitors. So in this review, we look at 5 pairs of high-end desktop computer speakers that can also be used as home DJ speakers.

28 Comments »