Lag with headphones & speakers

[pimp_of_darkness]

Hi all,

I recently got set up with some Str8-150s, a DXM06 mixer and, having run out of cash, managed to hash together a monitor setup from some old speakers.

The problem I'm having is that there is a lag between what I'm hearing in the cue track (in headphones) and the playing track in the speakers - when I correct this and beatmatch so it sounds all sexy, I switch the xfade over and it sounds like a car crash...

All I can think is that my speakers are dogsh!t, but don't know why they would lag...

Any help would be gratefully appreciated!

[DJ_Nik_Gnashers]

There should not be much lag if the monitor speakers are placed close to you. I use old technics amps and hi-fi speakers as monitors at home and they are fine, although when using ANY monitor there will be 'some' lag (although it should be miliseconds if they are placed close to you).
In a large club however the lag can be much greater, generally speaking the further away the monitors are from your ear, the longer it takes for the sound to travel.
There is a way around this, and its something I always do if I am in a club, or playing on internet radio.......
If your mixer has an option on the cue channel to listen to the master AND cue tracks at the same time (some mixers will have a rotary knob to fade between both), then you can mix COMPLETELY in headphones.
This has the advantages of ZERO lag between master and cue, also its clearer than listening to monitors that are maybe distorted and flapping away like trousers in the wind ...
It does take some practise to master but once you do, I guarrantee you will never go back to monitors.