Gain stage help

tacocat

Hi,

I have a new driverack PA and have a few questions. Bear with me as I am no where near a pro. My system is pretty basic:

1 pair of Mackie SA1521z
1 pair of Mackie SWA1501 subs

I realize that the driverack is probably overkill for this system, but I like the fact that i can save presets for repeat gigs and wanted the feedback eliminator. I like it all in one unit. Since the system looks to be designed more for passive speakers, i need a little help maximising the gain stage. What I have done so far:

Maximized the signal from the board into the driverack
crossover is set on \"Full range\" or flat (would it be better to use the dbx xover rather than the Mackies?)
speakers set to middle (i beleive this is 0bd)
this is waaay too loud with the output of the crossover set to 0db, so I have in down at about -17db
It seems that the Mackies cannot be turned all the way down. looks like you can set them to -15db

My question is, is a -17db pad at the output stage going to color my sound too much? would it be better to split the difference and pad a bit at the speakers/amps and bring it up some at the crossover point?

Also, what are the settings in the crossover section of BW6 BW24, etc.? I did not see an explianation of these settings in the manual.

In the end i want the driverack for EQ and feedback elimination, but probably won't use the other features. If anyone knows of a combo product that does just these things I am open to suggestions. Hey dbx, how about a driverackActivePA?

Thanks,

Rich

Dra

It sounds as though it is way too loud with the board output still at max. If so that is a good thing. Just bring the channel fader down and leave the mains up at unity (-0-). (set the x-over gains back at -0- and adjust the system balance from there)
If the subs don't have a built-in lo-pass filter, set one up in the DRPA. The same with the limiters.

Post back if you need more assistance.

Dra

Gadget

It is for active and passive speakers and I would use the driverack as the crossover... the BW.. L/R are filter types.. the number is the slope.. how fast the signal falls off at the crossover point. Without even checking ... I think the Mackies use 120 hz as the crossover point? Try 110 @ L/R 24... thats a Linkwitz Reily 24 db/ octave slope. If you select a 2x4 with the C-300 preset and custom subs if there isn't a preset for the SW1501... I have to run I'll have to come back.

Gadget