About to take the plunge with DRPA - a couple of questions

Gerry Hayden

Hi,

First of all - great forum, I've picked up a lot of useful tips here thanks to all who give their time to this.

I'm considering getting two Driverack PA's one for my mobile disco to replace cheap but unreliable Behringer X-overs (gone thru 2 in a few years both died due to internal PSU's going bang). A second for our church PA system for full live band etc.

A couple of general questions I have :-

1. Is it possible to view the frequencies that get suppressed by the AFS filters? The manual doesn't indicate that you can or have I missed something.

2. Regarding the Auto EQ and the compressor, I get the general feeling in the forums that these should not be used. If so why did DBX bother to add them in? We could use a compressor for the band work.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Gerry
DJ and Semi-pro sound engineer.
England.

Equipment specs
Disco:
2 x Crown Powertech 3 Amps (I'm convinced if I dropped these in a swamp for 20 years, they would still work).
Pair Concert Systems CS152 700 Watt Full range speakers (15in JBL main + 2in RCF comp horn).
Pair JBL JRX118 Bass Bins
Behringer Ultrafex Pro.
Peavey 2 x 15 EQ.
Knackered Behringer Super X (obviously the weakest link) - to be replaced by Driverack PA.

Church PA
Allen&Heath GL2000 32 channel desk
QSC RMX 2450 amplifier.
Pair Turbosound TXD-121 speakers.
Peavey 2 x 31 EQ
Sometimes tie in a Crown Amp + JBL Subs from my disco PA rig.

Dra

No, the DRPA will not allow you to view the AFS freqs.
Compression in the DRPA would only be useful if you were setting up for an acapella soloist, of a screaming comedian, etc. In a band situation, it is likely that everytime the kick or snare hit activated the compressor, say goodbye to the vocals (and everything else in the mix).

Now having said that.... If either budget will allow you to spend about $200 more, upgrade to the Driverack 260. They can be had new for $700. It will show you the frequencies the AFS pulls, then if you wish you can transfer them to the Notch Filters and have gain back the the newly empty AFS slots. 260 also allows a separate FOH (mono) and monitors (1 mix) to be run completely independantly in the driverack. DRPA can't do this. Rear fills, balcony fills, etc with over 2 secs of dividable and selectable delay. 260 also has a Brick wall limiter (NOTHING gets by it) for speaker protection. DRPA does not. 260 has 4 post x-over PEQS for each of the 6 outputs. The DRPA has 3 for Hi's, 2 for Mid's, and 2 for Lo's. Plus computer GUI. It is cumbersome and slow to fiddle with a graphic EQ (or others settings) with out it.

Is the 260 worth it? You better believe it. I had a DRPA for about 3 weeks and wish I had waited a month and bought the 260. Instead I had to wait over a year to justify a 260. I still use my DRPA for DJ work and for monitor duty for gigs that need it. It works great and I love it. But, I should have gotten a 260 to begin with.

DRA

Gadget

Dra, he is in England so I'm not so sure he will have the same deals available to him...but Dra is correct, the 260 is far superior. The limiter will help smooth peaks and won't affect the overall mix like a comp will.

Gadget

Gerry Hayden

Thanks for the response.

Gadget is correct I live in good ol' rip off Britain where a 260 is another £400 (that's $800 in US money). Since something is better than nothing and our budget is tight I'll go for the PA, at least for now, though I have no doubts there will be times when I'll wish I had the 260. Maybe in the future.

In the meantime I think it's time to get that immigration visa sorted out to somewhere cheaper to live and work. What country did you say you live in Dra?

Gerry

Gadget

Hey Gerry,

I've had those crossovers and I dare say Uli didn't have a crossover to copy this time since they were useless even when they worked.. phase cancellations, inaccurate crossover points, lousy signal to noise ratio's.. did I mention NOISE... WHAT'S THAT I CAN'T hear you...

The DRPA is a decent piece, what is the shipping and tariff rate in to your country? I think you could buy it for $670 and have it shipped in? just a thought...

I was married into a family that took a war bride back to the states, so I do know some of your countrymen quite well...In fact one was a CBE... for many years...

Well hope things are well with you.. dead of winter here, my venue for over 15 years closed on new years eve...bad news... 45 minutes after I was told of it's demise I was contacted by a much larger venue and I'm back up and running already... :shock: It sure was a heck of a week though..
Be well..
Gary..USA

Dra

I'm in South America. Southern US, that is. 'Bama country. Roll Tide.

Gary, Did you have any idea they were in trouble? Well, great news in the end, anyway/

DRA

Gadget

South America... funny guy...Guess I'm from North America, just south of the North Pole...
Nope I had no idea... was expecting to do a new years eve show and got a call @ 1:30 PM from the former owner...\" Um... we have a problem\" so, I had no time to even make plans... 45 minutes later I was hired by the Firehouse, you can read about it here...
www.weeklymusician.com

Be well
Gadget