Both get people dancing. The difference is what happens to the noise. Speakers fill the room and the street; a silent disco keeps the music in the headsets, so the room stays quiet while the dancefloor stays loud.
When a silent disco wins
- Close neighbours or a late finish. Units, townhouses, holiday houses and backyards after 10pm — no speaker means nothing for walls or fences to carry.
- Different tastes. Run up to three music channels, one transmitter per channel. Guests switch with a button on the headset.
- Talking and dancing in the same room. Guests who want to chat can, because the room itself is quiet.
- Everyone sets their own volume. Each headset has its own volume control.
When speakers make sense
- Speeches and announcements that everyone needs to hear at once.
- Background music before the dancing starts.
- A normal disco for part of the night. A pair of 12-inch powered speakers is $90 — see speaker hire.
Or do both
Plenty of hosts run speakers for speeches and dinner, then switch to headsets when the dancing starts and the neighbours go to bed. Headsets, speakers and party lighting are booked the same way for the same date and collected together.
Will the headsets cover the whole house?
The signal reaches up to 300 metres in the open with a clear line of sight, and indoors it works through most internal walls and across a two-storey house. Headsets run about 8 hours on a charge and arrive fully charged. Backyards are fine too — just keep the gear out of rain and heavy dew, because none of it is waterproof.
Ready to book? Start with our silent disco hire guide or go straight to the headsets.