DJ set – vocals lost

hotpickups

Weird thing happened at last weekend’s gig. We hooked up a laptop for a Dj set of numbers between band sets etc. We went in as usual into the mixer for the CD/TAPE port. However, for some reason the vocals from the tracks were really muffled and lost even but the music was quite dominant. Can anyone think of what was happening? My only thought since is did I have the Mackie speakers in the wrong inputs i.e. Right stage speaker into LEFT port on the mixer etc

PolarityMan

L and R speakers out of phase with each other

hotpickups

PolarityMan said:

L and R speakers out of phase with each other

Exactly yes. What did I do wrong or how can one fix it @PolarityMan ;

PolarityMan

Do your speakers have raw wire ends / banana plugs rather than speakons or jacks? If so you have probably wired up the positive and negative terminals the wrong way round on one of the speakers.

hotpickups

PolarityMan said:

Do your speakers have raw wire ends / banana plugs rather than speakons or jacks? If so you have probably wired up the positive and negative terminals the wrong way round on one of the speakers.

I haven't done any wiring alterations since I bought them nearly 10 years ago. I just plug the power cable in (Kettle Lead) and XLR cable connects it to the mixer

Surely it wouldn't matter if as mentioned I put the left speaker into the right speaker socket port on the mixer 

PolarityMan

No that shold have just reversed the stereo image. If it wasnt phase cancellation (I suspected this because the vocals are almost always centred) then perhaps it was an EQ problem.

hotpickups

PolarityMan said:

No that shold have just reversed the stereo image. If it wasnt phase cancellation (I suspected this because the vocals are almost always centred) then perhaps it was an EQ problem.

EQ on the Laptop or the EQ on the mixer? I wasn't our laptop by the way. We usually just plug in an iPhone with a Spotify playlist on it

Danny1969

What you describe is what happens when the ground contact is lost on a typical 3.5mm headphone socket. See here :
https://www.themarysue.com/removes-vocals-audio-jack/

hotpickups

Danny1969 said:

What you describe is what happens when the ground contact is lost on a typical 3.5mm headphone socket. See here :
https://www.themarysue.com/removes-vocals-audio-jack/

That's gotta be it thanks @Danny1969 . Because they didn't use my cable either. They used their own connector so obviously a dodgy cable as mine has never behaved that way before. I'll pass that info on to them

Thanks

hotpickups

I've just found my old thread here so you can ignore my newly started thread I just did in the amps section.

 I've set it all up again and it is doing the same with my cables this time connected to my iPhone. I noticed that it only happens when the White jack is plugged in with the red jack along side it (See pic links below). All is well if I pulled the white jack out except it will be summed to mono. What's happening ? Is it repairable ?

http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h471/gibby12345/My Images/FE163337-2691-43B1-B9B8-2BD52A11F1C3_zps1tsyoaxs.jpg

http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h471/gibby12345/My Images/366DE403-67EE-407D-B0C9-4F9C786E6916_zpsz7dr93gu.jpg


Seems to be more noticeable on certain tracks which is probably how they were mixed in the studio

hotpickups

All sorted now. I've gone into a line level which gives me more control with the EQ etc anyway. 

BenSirAmos

Isn't there a vocal eliminator switch on that mixer? Easy to press down accidently - handy for Karaoke. (Not that I've ever accidently pressed that switch myself, you understand). 

hotpickups

BenSirAmos said:

Isn't there a vocal eliminator switch on that mixer? Easy to press down accidently - handy for Karaoke. (Not that I've ever accidently pressed that switch myself, you understand). 

Yeah it does but it still did it I think. I've packed it away now but will check that out too. Just glad it's working now tbh