Hello friends,
I'm a bit curious about using my Beolab 50s for some smaller DJ:ing at home for some parties and mingles. I've been looking at Denon MCX8000 and such and now just worry a bit about latency.
There is a famous music video where Kanye West uses a pair of Beolab 5 in tandem with an AKAI MPC2000XL and it looks super cool and fun. However, Beolab 5 has an input lag of about 4 ms whereas Beolab 50 has an input lag of either 25 ms or 100 ms. A staggering difference but due to the advanced audio processing needed for the room compensation features (I think).
I would prefer to be able to use the best processing as this is said to give the tighter bass amongst other things in the technical sound guide. However, maybe not necessary if they are used in wide mode(?). I would believe that wide is the main play way for a party anyway.
It would be interesting to hear some ideas and input if anyone else here has been using or been considering using B&O speakers for this purpose.
Everytime I have a party at my place, usually after going out, my friends remark on how much better the sound quality is than on whatever speaker system there is in the club or place we went to the same night. Just fun trivia :)
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Beolab 50 and DJing
Just a question. Is the input delay from a cable or going wisa to the BeoLab speakers?
It sounds a bit odd there's a delay if it's a cable....although I don't own BeoLab speakers so can't say for sure
Beatmatching is always one of those annoying things as if you move speakers away in a big environment, then there's a tiny delay in the sound reaching your ears versus the immediate sound from your headphone mix. You may not notice it but it can make your beats not sync correctly
So now most DJ's just leave beatmatching to their software. That frees up time so you can focus more on transitions between tracks, filters, effects etc
I think as long as you have a DJ controller that can give you some sort of visual feedback and has good beatmatching features, then you should be fine even if there is a delay
Hi Michael,
Unfortunately Beolab 50 and 90 have too high a latency (audio delay) in their internal processing to allow them to be used for DJing or for live music monitors with musical instruments. The minimum 25mS delay when in "low latency mode" is small enough to avoid lip-sync issues when watching movies, but it is immediately noticeable when playing guitar through the speaker, or when trying to beat-match.
The delay is caused within the DSP software of the speakers, not in a cable and this delay is common to all the speaker inputs. I'm hoping that Geoff Martin (B&O Tonmeister and sound designer for these speakers) will consider adding a "zero latency" option that can be dialled into the speakers on request, so that musicians and DJs can use these superb speakers.
Although this may sound like a niche requirement, I have had many enquiries of this nature for Beolab 50 and 90 in recent years for live music use and I have had to propose the use of Beolab 5s for this scenario instead.
Kind regards, Steve.
Location: The cable workshop, England
My B&O Icons:
Thanks for your meaningful comments and remarks! I agree fully and I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I was walking home. Why not add a special mode for live situations? Same goes for game play on TV where you usually find a game mode that disables all the unnecessary effects or at least compare the need of speed versus enhancements.I would be super excited if they would add this feature and I believe it should and could be done. For such an exquisite speaker to not be able to do such “easy” tasks without having to polish the signal rather than play it “live” is a bit sad. The speakers deserve to be able to adapt to even these situations.In a way I believe that was even the point as they have so many different inputs. I take that as it’s supposed to be a very flexible speaker. Geoff, if you read this, could this feature be implemented? A “live” mode or something of that sort? Pretty please 🙂Hi Michael, Unfortunately Beolab 50 and 90 have too high a latency (audio delay) in their internal processing to allow them to be used for DJing or for live music monitors with musical instruments. The minimum 25mS delay when in "low latency mode" is small enough to avoid lip-sync issues when watching movies, but it is immediately noticeable when playing guitar through the speaker, or when trying to beat-match. The delay is caused within the DSP software of the speakers, not in a cable and this delay is common to all the speaker inputs. I'm hoping that Geoff Martin (B&O Tonmeister and sound designer for these speakers) will consider adding a "zero latency" option that can be dialled into the speakers on request, so that musicians and DJs can use these superb speakers. Although this may sound like a niche requirement, I have had many enquiries of this nature for Beolab 50 and 90 in recent years for live music use and I have had to propose the use of Beolab 5s for this scenario instead. Kind regards, Steve. Steve. www.soundsheavenly.com Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Location: Sweden
My B&O Icons:
Well it’s for usage in specific scenarios and if it means less processing and slightly less perfect sound then it still is better if the alternative is out of sync sound that renders them unusable totally.I don’t think they will sound horrible, for example Beolab 5 has a four second latency and most Beolab none. Just like a gaming mode in a TV makes it more responsive it does take away a few processing steps but for a gamer the responsiveness wins.I’m on thin ice here but isn’t the DSP very much the magic behind the fact that these speakers sound amazing? Bypassing the DSP may then make the speaker “ordinary”. Or? Livingroom: BL3, BL11, BV11-46 Kitchen : Beosound 1 GVA, Beocom 2 Bathroom : M3 Library : A6, Beocom 6000 Bedroom : M5 Office : Beocom 2 Travel : Beoplay E8 2.0, Beoplay P2
I don’t think they will sound horrible, for example Beolab 5 has a four second latency and most Beolab none.
Hi Michael,
Really sorry to be picky, I guess you mean "Beolab 5 has a four MILLI-second latency" (0.004 seconds)
Didn't want anyone to misunderstand.
Thanks, Steve.
Location: The cable workshop, England
My B&O Icons:
Oops 😁Hi Michael, Really sorry to be picky, I guess you mean "Beolab 5 has a four MILLI-second latency" (0.004 seconds) Didn't want anyone to misunderstand. Thanks, Steve. Steve. www.soundsheavenly.com Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
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