Our take

"Finally a solution to the absurd loudness war raging among DJs! Far too many clip their mixer to play as loud as possible, even though they don't have final control over the volume and the sound gets destroyed. The Red Alert lets every DJ play with peace of mind: those who don't play in the red are guaranteed that their colleagues will play at the same level." - Victor

Anti-clipping tool for DJ mixers

Red Alert is the first commercial solution to a far too common problem: DJs clipping their mixers. By preventing DJs from "red lining", the Red Alert preserves sound quality and the audience's hearing.

The problem with red lining

Red lining is when a DJ pushes the channel and/or master gain too hard, up to the limits of the mixer, shown by red LEDs. The aim is to play as loud as possible. The problem: as the mixer approaches its physical limits, the sound clips. This clipping of the signal is disastrous for sound quality: it reduces dynamics, wipes out transients and produces distortion. The result is a squashed, punchless sound that is unpleasant to listen to.

The most absurd part is that the DJ often doesn't have the final say on the sound system's volume. There will probably be a sound engineer, a limiter or an intelligent, audiophile normaliser like the Leveliza, which will bring down the volume the DJ artificially raised.

How it works

When the DJ mixer's output goes into the red, a large red lamp flashes to remind the DJ to bring the level down slightly.

If the DJ ignores or doesn't notice the warning for a while, the Red Alert temporarily mutes their monitors (BOOTH output) as a warning. Once the level is reduced, the BOOTH output becomes active again.

Flawless sound quality

The Red Alert is an "audiophile" product, in the best sense of the word. First because it puts an end to an absurd loudness war that is disastrous for sound quality and hearing. But also because its design guarantees great sonic neutrality. No analogue or digital processing is applied to the master output: the MASTER signal is measured in parallel so that the BOOTH output can then be attenuated (or not). This attenuation is very faithful, thanks to a very high-quality attenuator.

Specifications

• Dimensions: 300 mm wide (330 mm with mounting brackets), 120 mm deep and 150 mm high
• Power: 90-264 V AC, 47-63 Hz, maximum current 60 mA
• Stereo audio inputs: XLR for MASTER and balanced 6.35 mm jack for BOOTH
• Stereo audio outputs: XLR for MASTER and BOOTH
• Power connection: standard IEC C14 inlet
• Auxiliary contact: SPDT relay on a special three-pin connector
• Booth mute disable: via a key switch on the back of the unit
• Display: over-level indicator and Booth Mute Active indicator on the front panel

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Boring Vic Mastering (@boring.vic)