Cabling Strategy

[DJ Elevate]

Hi all,

I'm rapidly learning that as I add more devices to my gigging kit that the cabling is getting messy and eating up unnecessary time.

Curious how you handle your power/dmx cabling - everything from how you store it to how you lay it out.

For mobile gigs, my usual small package is:

* Two tops
* One Sub
* One Chauvet DJ Gigbar 2.0 (Thinking about adding a second)
* One ADJ Ministrip LED that I usually place behind my facade
* ADJ DMX controller
* Thinking about adding at least 2 pars for uplighting under skrims on the poles for the tops where it will make sense (These will be wired DMX and no battery - man the wireless DMX, battery-powered pars are EXPENSIVE!)

So first, organization and storage:
I've haphazardly bought power cables of different lengths so priority number one for me is to get several cables of the same length and somehow label them (What do you recommend here for labeling cables) so I know their lengths without having to eyeball it. Do I store these in larger bins at home and only bring the ones I think I'll need for the event in a smaller tote, or do I drag everything? I drive a Honda Pilot so storage space is limited.

Second, deployment:
How do you organize your cabling? For me, I run all the DMX cabling in front of my DJ booth behind the facade, and all the power in the back. Right now I have a single power strip that I connect everything into via various methods (straight into them, or through a power cable with a y connector on the end, etc.). I'm looking to clean all this up and get better organized because A) I'm using lengths too long that I don't need so takes longer to clean up, and b) in smaller spaces I'm stepping on or having to be careful of footing due to where the power strip/power cables are placed on the floor behind the booth. I usually have the sub up against the side of my DJ booth pointed toward the center of the dance area, and I have to have the power strip nearby it because I use a special connector on the sub that allows me to plug another speaker's power into it, but then has a short cord itself. It should also be mentioned that both the DJ Controller and DMX controller I use also have very short power connections. Do you use one strip at your booth to hook up all the stuff close to the booth and another for everything else? Do you use two separate outlets for these?

Should I get two strips and have something like Strip 1 = Left side and Strip 2 = Right side?

Also do you have a particular order of operations on how you like to set up your gear? Like audio first, then lighting, or power first, then connections, etc.? Thanks.

[fatcatdj]

You are using just 2 power strips? I would cable up 2 if not 3. One primarily for audio and the other for lights. On the unlikely scenario a short happens with a light, it may screw up your audio or vice versa. I once played at a dump with horrible looking Edisons that made a meth whore look like a fresh school girl, they were loose and dirty. One bad wiggle and power sometimes flickered.

As for storage and organization. You never know how the set up is going to take you. I usually bring all the cables. Its better to have than have not. A wedding last week
had an outlet 100 feet away from the ceremony area. So I have 25/50/100 foot electric cords. One wedding 3 weeks ago had an outlet right at the pergola. I also do video playback so despite how large a room, my kit includes two 60 foot HDMIs, having 25/50/60 footers takes up too much room and not cost effective.

I use 2 power strips for lighting, one for the effects and the other for DMX, the Chauvet Flare Con and a couple LED work lights. One power strip for the mixer, laptop, HDMI extender, 27" computer monitor that sits on a tripod and Samsung phone charger. The other power strip is dedicated for audio.

Regarding up-lights. Yes save $$$ now and bust yer ass with power cords and DMX cords, like I did. I wish I never bought powered up lights. Yes they were a popular brand, but I ended up selling them at pennies on the dollar. I purchased the Chauvet TRI 6 Freedom Pars. Why not the HEX or QUAD 4? The Tri 6 are cheaper $279MAP and I don't care about UV or color matching a bride's wedding color. I get pretty close for that, but in the time I've owned them, no bride has ever asked me to match the color to the tee.
Buying the Freedom Pars is like going thru a McDonalds with zero cars in line. At the end of the night, you collect them, turn them off and pack them away in your bags.
Sure they are costly, but it sure is fun NOT having to roll up cable. Or best, hiding cable before your event! How did I afford a dozen with the FlareCon wireless Wifi?
I looked online for a zero percentage credit card for one year. I made payments for 11 months before the collection and then cancelled the card after I paid it it off thus occurring no interest.

[DJ Elevate]

Thanks fatcat. I need to get more strips. Do you just have them laying on the ground in random locations or do you have them centralized in a rack or something? Are there particular power strips you'd recommend?

Yeah - would love to have lights like that and money isn't really an issue. I'm a network engineer that makes very good money - I do the DJ thing on the side for fun, it's just that I have a hard time trying to justify paying 279+ for a single light - dunno why - maybe as I get more gigs to justify the spend, and right now I've got my eyes on an audio upgrade. My QSC K10s are nice and all... but they don't cut it for larger events - looking to get their newer K12.2s and either an additional KSub or a KW 181.

[conanski]

My 2c. IEC power cables are available online in bulk and in lengths from 1ft to 25ft so go get yourself some, that will really help streamlining your setup. I usually deploy 1 power bar under the DJ table for everything on it, this powerbar has a 15ft cable attached and seldom requires an extension. If there is a ton of stuff on the table to connect I daisy chain another power bar off the first, this is safe to do because none of this stuff draws big power. I try to run a separate power cable from the wall or distro for Left and Right speaker systems when 2 subs are in use and they are setup either side of the DJ table, if only 1 sub is being used that side gets a dedicated cable the other side is connected to the table power bar.

I typically setup audio first and then move to lighting. I go out of my way to buy lighting with input and output AC connections, and then I buy or make AC daisy chain cables just long enough to cleanly connect the fixtures as they are typically deployed. These cables are always packed with the light fixtures so I never have to go looking for them, same goes for DMX cables that would be used with these, that requirement is quickly becoming obsolete however with increasing popularity of wireless DMX systems.

I pack XLR and AC cables in separate gear bags, some people like using milk crates.. that works too. Never tightly coil or knot a cable.. they won't lay flat and that will make your deployment more difficult, coil them neatly and secure with a velcro strap. Use colored velcro straps to differentiate between lengths, that way you can see what you need at a glance even when they are piled up.

[conanski]

My QSC K10s are nice and all... but they don't cut it for larger events - looking to get their newer K12.2s and either an additional KSub or a KW 181.

Buy a sub first and you may find your tops don't need to change, personally I'd go all out and get the KW181 because I find it's needed with modern music and because the Ksub is a terrible sounding one note wonder.

[DJ Elevate]

Weird either my post didn't go through or I forgot to actually hit the send button or something.

Thanks for all of your helpful advice! I definitely am only going to purchase an additional power strip for the booth and then use the one I'm using now for everything else. For audio, definitely going to go with KW181s going forward (Max 2), and I definitely need to upgrade the K10s. Even inside of a gym - a prom of 200 kids had me hitting the limiter and folks in the back still saying it wasn't very loud. The K12.2s look like a nice cost-effective and still lightweight solution at only 39lbs - and I've heard really good things about them (folks were even saying they were replacing their 15s with these). I was considering KW152s but those exceed the rating of my current stands at 64 lbs I think and are really expensive. I think in the ideal world I'd be rocking a pair of K12.2s with KW181s and I'm good for most small to medium events - indoor or outdoor and probably good for large indoor events as well. Then just need to figure out how the heck I'm going to transport all of that because with a pair of 181s I don't think I'd be able to fit all of it in my Honda Pilot.

[DJ Elevate]

Conanski are you saying that when you have two subs, you use a separate power strip for each side, plus your booth, giving you a total of 3 strips?

[conanski]

Conanski are you saying that when you have two subs, you use a separate power strip for each side, plus your booth, giving you a total of 3 strips?

No. When you get subs you will learn to put them on separate circuits from everything else. I use a separate extension cable for each "speakers stack" which goes to a different circuit than the 8 outlet power strip that feeds the DJ table.

[DJ Elevate]

No. When you get subs you will learn to put them on separate circuits from everything else. I use a separate extension cable for each "speakers stack" which goes to a different circuit than the 8 outlet power strip that feeds the DJ table.

Sorry to be a stickler here, but just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly. When you say, "you will learn to put them on separate circuits from everything else", do you mean you put your subs on a single circuit, and everything else on another? So you have your subs plugged into a strip plugging into one outlet, then your speaker stacks on another strip, and your booth on a third? I don't think I'm understanding you correctly but what you've said so far is a bit hard to follow - not sure if you're jumping subjects between circuits and power strips or not.... I'm purely asking about the use of power strips at this point. Using separate circuits is a separate topic.

When you say speaker stack, you mean Sub+Top?

[conanski]

When you say speaker stack, you mean Sub+Top?

Yes. That combo will have it's own extension cord(not a power bar just a 2 or 3 outlet heavy duty extension cord) running back to the AC power source. Other stack is the same. The DJ table gets it's own 6 or 8 outlet power bar and none of these are connected together. All 3 of these cables go to different power sources where possible.. be that separate outlets on the wall or to separate outlets on a power distribution panel. So there are 3 separate cables but only 1 of them is a power strip. Got it?