As the editor of Pro Mobile magazine, I’m lucky enough to know a lot of DJs. Each of them has their favourite places or occasions to DJ. Many specialise in weddings, some prefer general parties, some I know even specialise in kids’ parties, whilst others prefer bars and clubs. My favourite? Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s staff parties.

January is one of my favourite months. The madness of Christmas is done, it’s a long time until the busy summer gets going, corporate bookings are healthy (my second favourite) – and then we get to entertain the very people who help us to earn a living all year round. The old saying about working hard and playing hard has never been truer; I’ve never been at any staff party at any venue and failed to have a lot of fun.

Another brilliant thing about staff parties is that you get to try out new equipment without fear of failure. I don’t mean it would be acceptable to turn up and not be able to do anything at all. But if you have a new piece of kit, the staff party is the perfect time to try it out because the venue team won’t mind if it all goes wrong and you resort to an alternative. On the other hand, it’s also a time to try and impress the people you frequently work with. Is there anything better than having a member of staff tell you that your sound, your lighting, or your presence is the best they get? These are the professionals, the people who see DJs week-in week-out, and they know the difference between good and bad.

With all this in mind, when I was asked if we could review a set of Studiomaster speakers for the first time ever, I decided that the perfect place to test them out was a staff party. To be fair, I had heard the 10-inch version in my local retailer’s showroom, so I knew that two of the 12-inch systems would have ample head-room to ensure I didn’t need to push them particularly hard. But still, taking a set of brand-new and never-gigged-by-me speakers into that environment was a pretty extreme test.

So, what was the verdict of the general manager, a person I know to have seen more DJs in action than most, a person who is an absolute party animal and usually found trying to climb into the speaker stack at any big festival? Well, the second word was ‘awesome’ and the first was not fit for publication. The view of the hospitality professional was in: he loved them. I even have a photo of him giving one side a big hug (more on that later).
With each passing year, the PA systems we have to choose from get better, more versatile and also – quite incredibly – cheaper. In the Direct 101MX (10-inch) and 121MX (12-inch), Studiomaster have packed an awful lot of power and versatility into a very well-priced package. Each side consists of three parts: two columns (one a separating piece and the other containing speakers) and a sub with a built-in mixer. And you even get covers!

Two things I noticed immediately – the blank column is designed in the same way as the one with speakers, providing a consistent look. And then the sub – it’s made of wood. I was a little surprised, as wooden cabinets are always better for low-end sound but not always provided on less expensive PA systems.

The top array column houses six 3-inch mid-range speakers and a single 1-inch compression driver. Coverage is 120 degrees horizontally and 30 degrees vertically. The rated power is 180W RMS and together with the blank column weighs 8kg. The two sections slot together and you then place the bottom section into the sub unit.

The wooden sub is a pretty substantial unit weighing a reassuringly heavy 24.5kg. Containing a class D amplifier, a 12-inch subwoofer rated at 300W RMS, and a 4-channel mixer, the whole system is rated at 127dB max with a peak of 2000W. The mixer comes with two mic/line inputs with independent reverb control, an RCA stereo input, a HI-Z instrument input, XLR line/link output, a sub level controller, and a 24-bit DSP with display. Like most modern vertical line-array systems, it also comes with Bluetooth.

On the night of the big test, I plugged straight into the line inputs and controlled the output from my Pioneer DJ DDJ1000. Whilst there are a lot of different ways to set up these speakers using the on-board DSP, I just went the simplest route possible and got going within minutes.
Like all vertical column speakers, the main worry is that of stability. You always worry that the speaker could get barged into – it’s the same with all speakers, but of course line arrays feel more vulnerable. As I said, our music-loving GM enjoyed the sound so much, he decided to give one side a big cuddle. And the speaker was just fine. The heavy sub combined with the well-designed columns ensured they survived a bit of man love with ease.

Overall sound was fantastic. The low end was nice and meaty and the whole system packs enough power to take care of most mobile gigs. As with any staff party, our music needed to have one important feature – it had to be very loud indeed. A room full of party animals who have witnessed a lot of parties in full swing, but who’ve not had a chance to partake for three full years, was always going to be a proper test. The Studiomaster DIRECT 121MX passed with ease. We had a lot of compliments on the overall sound and our mix from RnB to mainstage sounded great. No one had a bad word to say about them.

So, with the Studiomaster you get two sides of vertical column array with enough guts to take care of pretty much all your parties whilst using up a small amount of room in your car or van. Plus you get the protective covers thrown in. Personally, I’d recommend the 12-inch version, as the cost difference is minimal and the extra bit of power means you’ll be able to operate them well within their capabilities.

All this for less than £1500 – they’re an absolute steal.