Help with DBX Drive Rack PA +?

bdane

I do live sound at a club and generally have 3 bands a night. I'm trying to get the best sound possible and wanted to know some good starting points in setting up my compressor and limiter. What should I set the threshold at? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

B

Gadget

nowhere near enough info...
are you considering compressing the whole mix? and if so why...(compression is usually best on a per channel basis)
what equipment are you using ?
have you done a gain structure?

Gadget

bdane

I am using a Mackie 1604 into the Drive Rack and the Drive Rack out to my mains (Nexo). It's a fairly simple set up. I have the compressor on in the Drive Rack so it is compressing the entire signal. I use the 4 aux on the 1604 for my stage monitors so I cant use the compressor for just one signal (just vocals) As far as gain structure, I'm not sure what you mean. Its a very small room and can get really loud so I thought using the compressor on the DBX would help that. I would like to know some good starting points in setting the compressor (threshold to -10db?) and limiter (threshold +5 db?). I'm not sure if those are the best settings. Thanks for you reply. Any help I would really appreciate it.

Gadget

First off you came to the right place....

The Idea with the gain structure is that you get all the equipment talking the same language...here:
viewtopic.php?f=61&t=959
we detail the whole setup process... including the gain structure...
(a little different gain structure is also in the back of the driverack manual)

as for the other driverack features we detail those and the tricks and tips here:
viewforum.php?f=60

there you will find this:
viewtopic.php?f=60&t=1488
compressing the whole mix 101...

I think if you have good bands that aren't all over the place then LIMITING might work best...
G

bdane

So If I were to put a compression on the whole mix, following the guidelines you gave me, should I also put the limiter on (say around 10db) or will that conflict with the compression?

Gadget

You can use both if you want, but I think there is altogether too much compression that's not necessary...
G

bdane

Thanks. So If I were to put a "limiter" on the whole mix with my Drive Rack, whats the best way of getting the setting correct? Do I use the same concept as the "Compressing the mix 101"? Meaning, should I set the threshold of the limiter high, (say to 10db) then bring it down till I see the meters are working? When I have been using the limiter, my peak levels sometimes go Red and I'm not sure if that is because I am doing something wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Gadget

First did you set your system up using the "Start Here" thread in the READ ME FIRST BEFORE POSTING?

viewtopic.php?f=61&t=959