Arrrgh !! DR-260 Manual Misprint...
Teeroy
Posts: 13
Just a lil' venting here...
Probably not much of an issue for you 19\" rack, fellas... But for me, I run the competition car audio circuit. So, every inch of vehicle space is a premium and has to be considered. With my current setup, I'm using a, Yamaha YDG-2030 EQ & Rane AC23B X-over. For these, I built a custom arm-rest that integrates with the console, to house the processors. Because the EQ's chassis was too deep to fit the arm-rest as-is, I had to disjoint the face and extend the (49) control leads connecting it to the mainboard. This way I could mount the processing unit under the drivers seat and have the EQ controls in the arm-rest at the handy for tuning. The Rane only measures 5-1/4\" deep and fits nicely, contained within the arm-rest... The DC to DC convertors to power all this are mounted under the passengers seat.
So... I wanted to simplify my rig, with all components held in the arm-rest and move to all digital processing. Searching high and low, my choices came down to either the, Ashly 4.24C or the DriveRack 260... I finally decided on the 260 because it also has graphical EQing which helps with the RTA portion of the competition format. Before purchasing the unit, I downloaded the PDF version of the manual, quickly flipped to the specification section to find the dimensions, especially the mounting depth. Yup, uh-huh, sure enough, right there in black-and-white and bigger than Texas, a mounting depth of, 5-3/4\" !!! Whoo-Hoo; only a 1/2\" deeper than my, Rane! Oh Happy Day, it fits and does everthing I need. Life is good... Fired up the all knowing oracle, Google, typed in keywords, \"dbx DriveRacK 260\" and whamo, vendors galore. Whipped out the ol' credit-card and bada-boom, bada-bing, my new DriveRack was on its way! Well, a few days later is shows up; anxiously I forego walking the dogs, getting dressed down from work and unbox it straight away! Uh-Oh, that looks a lot deeper than 6\" ?? So, I layed a scale across the top, rats! As I suspected it was deeper, and not by a little either, a whole 2-1/4\" !! That's too deep to fit the arm-rest, even with right-angle XLRs...
So, my only option is to again disjoint the face from the mainboard. Except in this case, the 260 has some kinda funky, plasticy, flat, ribbon cable connecting the controls to the processing board; not unlike what connects the carriage on ink-jet printers... My guess is that one couldn't successfully extend this? I suspect it'd change the expected impedence, potentially giving inaccurate results.
Would any of you know what the industry name is for these types of ribbon cables? Where to source them, etc? I would need one on the order of about 24\" or so...
Cheers,
-Troy
Probably not much of an issue for you 19\" rack, fellas... But for me, I run the competition car audio circuit. So, every inch of vehicle space is a premium and has to be considered. With my current setup, I'm using a, Yamaha YDG-2030 EQ & Rane AC23B X-over. For these, I built a custom arm-rest that integrates with the console, to house the processors. Because the EQ's chassis was too deep to fit the arm-rest as-is, I had to disjoint the face and extend the (49) control leads connecting it to the mainboard. This way I could mount the processing unit under the drivers seat and have the EQ controls in the arm-rest at the handy for tuning. The Rane only measures 5-1/4\" deep and fits nicely, contained within the arm-rest... The DC to DC convertors to power all this are mounted under the passengers seat.
So... I wanted to simplify my rig, with all components held in the arm-rest and move to all digital processing. Searching high and low, my choices came down to either the, Ashly 4.24C or the DriveRack 260... I finally decided on the 260 because it also has graphical EQing which helps with the RTA portion of the competition format. Before purchasing the unit, I downloaded the PDF version of the manual, quickly flipped to the specification section to find the dimensions, especially the mounting depth. Yup, uh-huh, sure enough, right there in black-and-white and bigger than Texas, a mounting depth of, 5-3/4\" !!! Whoo-Hoo; only a 1/2\" deeper than my, Rane! Oh Happy Day, it fits and does everthing I need. Life is good... Fired up the all knowing oracle, Google, typed in keywords, \"dbx DriveRacK 260\" and whamo, vendors galore. Whipped out the ol' credit-card and bada-boom, bada-bing, my new DriveRack was on its way! Well, a few days later is shows up; anxiously I forego walking the dogs, getting dressed down from work and unbox it straight away! Uh-Oh, that looks a lot deeper than 6\" ?? So, I layed a scale across the top, rats! As I suspected it was deeper, and not by a little either, a whole 2-1/4\" !! That's too deep to fit the arm-rest, even with right-angle XLRs...
So, my only option is to again disjoint the face from the mainboard. Except in this case, the 260 has some kinda funky, plasticy, flat, ribbon cable connecting the controls to the processing board; not unlike what connects the carriage on ink-jet printers... My guess is that one couldn't successfully extend this? I suspect it'd change the expected impedence, potentially giving inaccurate results.
Would any of you know what the industry name is for these types of ribbon cables? Where to source them, etc? I would need one on the order of about 24\" or so...
Cheers,
-Troy
0
Comments
G
Would the DRPA be versatile enough ???
Just my 10 cents worth
Mark
Hiya, Mark -
Thanks for your input... Do you know the exact mounting depth of the PA? My bet is that the 260 and the PA share the same chassis? Or, it could be that the, User's Manual for the 260 was cannibalized from the PA's manual and is how the misprint occured.
I considered the PA, however, I've also heard people exclaim about the inherent 'noise' problems, where it's been suggested that the 260 was the ultimate remedy. In the competition scene: Noise = Docked Points... In any case, the 260 is something I already own and have made a sizeable investment in, so...
=====================
Many thanks, Gadget -
I did indeed contact, Mike in support. He was very forthcoming with the 411 I needed to get started sourcing a longer cable. In the spirit of information sharing, jic: anyone else needs this information, it is: Sumitomo's Flat Cable System, "SUMI-CARD", http://www.sumitomoelectricusa.com/scripts/products/
Cheers,
-Troy
$.10 Fanman? Yeah the dollar seems to be losing ground.
Tee, With the 260 you don't HAVE to be in the car to tune it. With the DRPA you do. The 260 (if you are in the habit of riding around with a laptop) could go in the trunk, under a seat, wherever.
DRA
Yep, 'globalization' is taking its toll... I need a vacation but can't afford to go anywhere !!
-Tee
Geez, I've been having a devil of a time locating a, small-order fulfilment outfit, that supplies the, SUMI-CARD cables... I was thinking; perhaps, I could order the same cable, dbx P/N: 38-0005, as in the 260 already as a replacement part, and solder in a section of regular, multi-conductor, flat ribbon cable between the two?
Any ideas as to if this would present any problems? Some of these newfangled things are pretty persnickety about expected impedence.
Cheers,
-Troy
Have you found the cable then? Perhaps MCM, or contact the manufacturer and get a supplier list ...
G
Yeah, I spoke with, Mike, Friday afternoon to order a couple of the cables. Very nice fella, btw:... However, he stuck to the 'party-line' on endorsing end user mods, neither giving the thumbs up nor down.
I'll give my idea a try, I think the worst case would be, it simply doesn't work. I'll post up with the results...
Thanks!
-Troy