Sound system for a birthday: which speaker for which venue

At home or in an apartment

In a closed room, the walls reflect the sound: you need less than you think. A single speaker, or a pair placed on either side of the corner where people dance, covers a living room without pushing the volume. Place it at ear height rather than on the floor, not against a party wall, and point it at the guests, not at the window.

The neighbors matter more than the power. The Public Health Code, in article R1336-5, targets any noise that, by its duration, repetition or intensity, disturbs the neighbors' peace, day or night. Bass passes through walls and floors much more than voices: if a neighbor complains, it is often the bass they hear. Warn your neighbors, announce an end time, and turn the volume down as the evening stretches on.

In a garden

Outdoors, nothing reflects the sound: in open field, the level drops by about 6 dB with each doubling of distance. Bring the speaker closer to the guests rather than raising the volume, and back it against a wall or a hedge that sends the sound toward the party, not toward the neighbors.

The real question is the socket. If the garden has one near where the music plays, the RCF ART 912-A pair runs on mains power, set on its stands; RCF publishes no water-resistance rating, so keep it sheltered from rain and dew. Without a socket, the battery-powered Soundboks 4 speaker is handed over with a charged battery; Soundboks states 40 hours of battery life at medium volume and 6 hours at full volume. The rules for outdoor music are detailed in garden party, picnic: outdoor music and its rules.

In a village hall

A rented hall has its rules, and they come before everything else: music end time, possible sound limiter, available sockets. Ask for them when booking the hall, along with the location of the sockets: they often run along the walls, far from the dance floor.

Next comes the acoustics. Bare walls and a tiled floor send the sound in all directions, and the music quickly gets muddy if the volume goes up. Two speakers on stands, placed on either side of the dance floor and above head height, cover better than a single one pushed loud. This is the principle of the RCF ART 912-A pair of speakers, rented with its two stands; for height and angle, see the article placing two speakers on stands.

Arrive early to set up and test: plug in the speakers, start a track you know well and walk around the hall, from the back of the dance floor to the tables, before the guests arrive. An empty hall sounds louder than a full one: set it a little low, you will raise it afterwards.

The aperitif, the toast, the dance floor

A birthday evening has its moments, and each one calls for its own setting. At the aperitif and during the meal, the music stays in the background: guests must be able to hear each other without raising their voices. Prepare one playlist per moment, downloaded to play offline, and entrust it to one person.

The toast and speeches raise the question of the microphone. Neither of our two speakers includes one, but a Shure SM58 microphone can be added as an option, €5 per microphone per rental (two at most), XLR cable supplied and microphone stand free of charge. In a room, turning the music down and speaking without amplification is most often enough. To speak into a microphone in front of a hall, the Soundboks 4 takes it directly on its combo input; the RCF pair only has line-level inputs, so the microphone then goes through a console with microphone inputs like the Pioneer XDJ-RX3, which is rented separately.

For the cake, keep the planned track ready to play and name who plays it. For the dance floor, raise the volume in steps rather than all at once. And if a friend wants to mix, the article which DJ equipment for a birthday details the console and turntable side.

Booking and picking up in Lyon 3

The RCF pair and the Soundboks are rented for 1 to 7 days; the price, which depends on the duration, is shown on their page. They are collected and returned by hand in Lyon 3, every day from 9 am to 8 pm, by appointment: there is no delivery or shipping. Show an ID at pickup; the security deposit, shown on the page, is paid on the spot at handover and returned to you after a check on return. Book early for a Saturday: there is only one RCF pair and one Soundboks.

See speaker rental in Lyon