The right input
A microphone delivers a much weaker signal than a player. That is why a DJ mixer has dedicated inputs with their own preamplification — the DJM-A9 provides them separately and with their own tone controls. Plug a mic into a line channel instead and you either hear almost nothing or have to open the gain so far that every bit of noise comes with it.
The second difference is the connector. A stage microphone comes with XLR, many simple models with a jack — which input exists decides which cable you have to bring. That belongs to the things you clarify before the gig and not at half past midnight, when the promoter wants an announcement.
The four controls
Four controls decide whether an announcement lands. They exist on every mixer, only in different places.
| Control | What it does | How you set it |
|---|---|---|
| Mic gain | How much the weak signal is amplified | Up far enough that a normally spoken announcement carries — not so far that breathing comes with it. Set it while speaking, not in silence. |
| Mic EQ | Tone control for the microphone path only | Highs back against hiss, mids back against boom. Cutting helps; boosting makes feedback more likely. |
| Talkover | Automatically ducks the music when you speak | Useful for short announcements, ugly for anything else — the music pumps audibly. On for the announcement, off afterwards. |
| Position | The control that is not one | Distance and direction relative to the speaker decide feedback more than any knob. Behind the box rather than in front, and closer to the mouth than to the room. |
Why it squeals — and what helps
Feedback happens when the microphone hears the speaker that is reproducing it: the sound goes round in a circle and builds up at one frequency. Three things decide when that happens — distance, direction and level. Against the frequency that is building, cutting helps, not boosting; that a targeted cut does more than a boost next to it is one of the ground rules of console practice and is stated as such in the literature.
In practice that means an order which takes ten seconds in an emergency: first move away from the speaker, then turn the mic down, then pull back the highs or the mids on the EQ — depending on whether it hisses or booms. Only if none of that is enough is the microphone in the wrong place rather than set wrong.
Setting up a microphone in six steps
Once before the night, not during the announcement. The whole thing takes a minute and saves you the situation where two hundred people watch you look for a knob.
Clarify the connector beforehand
XLR or jack, dedicated input or not: that decides which cable you bring. One question in advance instead of a search in the dark.
Connect it to the mic input
Not to a line channel. The microphone path has the right preamplification and its own tone controls — you need both.
Set the level with the music running
Music at evening volume, then speak and raise the gain until it carries. Set in silence means too quiet in use.
Provoke feedback once on purpose
Before the night, quietly: point the mic at the speaker and hear at which pitch it starts. Then you know which EQ control to reach for when it matters.
Close the channel when you are not speaking
An open microphone transmits everything: headphones, conversations, the clicking of pads. After every announcement the fader goes back down.
Speak into a gap, not over the track
Breakdown, outro, the moment between two records. Use the space the music already leaves and you will be understood — and interrupt nothing.
The five mistakes everyone hears
Plugging the mic into a line channel
The level is not enough, and what you raise on the gain is mostly noise. The mic input exists precisely for this.
Turning up when it squeals
Feedback is a loop, and turning up feeds it. The way out runs through distance, turning down and a targeted cut on the EQ.
Setting levels in silence
A microphone that sounds good in an empty room is too quiet with the music up. You set levels against the volume that will actually be running.
Leaving talkover on
Leave the mic channel open and the music ducks at every noise in the booth. After the announcement the channel gets closed.
Talking over the track instead of into a gap
A breakdown is an open door, a drop is a closed one. Speak at the wrong moment and you will not be understood — however good the level is.
When an announcement helps the night
A microphone quickly becomes a nuisance. These four situations are the ones where it actually contributes.
A real piece of information
Last train, cloakroom closing, somebody looking for their jacket. Those are the announcements nobody minds.
The promoter's request
Whoever booked you may expect an announcement. Agree beforehand which one and when — then it is a move and not a surprise.
A moment the room already shares
A birthday, the last record, thanks to the band before you. Short, once, and then music again.
When something technically fails
The one case where talking beats silence: when everyone can see something is broken, one sentence is kinder than nothing.
For clarity: the details on inputs and tone controls come from the spec sheet of a widely used club mixer, the rule about cutting from the console literature. Everything here about announcements, timing and restraint is experience and marked as such — there is no standard for it and there will not be one. Anyone telling you how often to speak in a set has an opinion, not a measurement. This one reads: as rarely as possible, as clearly as necessary.
Frequently asked questions
Which input does the microphone belong to?
The mixer's mic input, not a line channel. A microphone signal is much weaker and needs its own preamplification; common club mixers such as the DJM-A9 provide separate inputs with their own tone controls. In a line channel you get either too little level or a lot of noise.
Why does my microphone squeal?
Because it hears the speaker reproducing it — the sound goes round in a circle and builds up at one frequency. What helps is distance, less level and a targeted cut of that frequency on the EQ. That cutting achieves more than boosting is a ground rule of console practice and is stated as such in the literature.
Which microphone should I buy?
For announcements a rugged dynamic microphone with a cardioid pattern is enough — it picks up at the front and barely at the back, which makes feedback harder. What you do NOT need is a sensitive studio microphone: it hears the whole room, and that is exactly what you do not want in a club. Wireless is convenient and brings one more thing that can fail.
Should I use talkover?
For short announcements yes, otherwise no. The function ducks the music automatically as soon as there is signal at the mic — for one sentence that is handy, over a minute it sounds as if the music were breathing. And it reacts to every noise in the booth, not only to your voice.
How often should I speak during a set?
As rarely as possible. There is no standard for this, only experience: every announcement interrupts, and a room forgives the first one easily and the third one not at all. The exceptions are real information and whatever the promoter explicitly wants — and both are settled before the night, not spontaneously on the mic.
Does this apply to weddings and corporate events too?
There it is the other way round: hosting is part of the job, and anyone who cannot do it does not get booked again. The technical part stays the same — input, level, feedback — but the restraint from the club is out of place here. Go through the points with the host beforehand and write them down.
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