driverack pa+, 3 rooms

SteadFast

Hi everyone,

We have just bought a DRPA hoping that it would be a simple solution (or improvement) to our existing setup. I have read a lot of great information on here, but I'll be honest I didn' t expect to have to do this amount of research and hard work .

I appreciate that most of you on this forum are probably sound engineers etc. but I am not and don't really want to end up getting a divorce reseaching this DRPA!

We have 3 separate rooms

Dance Floor -
2 QSC HPR181i 18" Powered subwoofers
2 qsc kw122 2way 1000w powered speakers


Lounge Area-
2 Peavey Sp 6 4-way dual 15" speakers

Bar Area-
2 loud Speakers- Peavey pr 15'

The bar and the lounge area speakers are all running into a peavey pv1.3k amp

SteadFast

I've read The Driverack, Gain structure, and system setup information. I'm confused on how to setup though since all my dance floor speakers are powered, and the speakers in the other two rooms are non powered. Also will there be a way to turn music higher and lower in the lounge room and bar room without turning the dance floor room speakers down?

Gadget

You have the wrong product ... you need the 260. That said you can do some of what you want ... but not everything.
you'd have to set up a 2X6 dual mono setup...
The problem is, you will have to send the same info (xover, and gain) to the two other zones. With the 260 you could send 6 different signals to 6 completely separate and different speaker systems. If you go to Northern sound and light they have the 260 for under $700 last I looked and it really is the whole package. You could easily do what you want , and with a laptop you could have realtiime control of all zones, auto eq each room separately, and set dynamics, delays and limiting all from the laptop...I would sure do that if I were you.. and if you bought it from GC they will usually match the price...
Gadget

SteadFast

so the 260 can send 6 signals. Can the drpa+ send 2?

Dra

The 260 can output 6 "zones" if you will, but from only 2 sources. For example you could connect a CD player to input A playing ABBA and a player connected to B playing Floyd. You can send either source (including combined) to any of the 6 outputs. ABBA to 1, 4 & 5 and be able to individually control the output level to each, Floyd to 2 & 3, and an ABBA / Floyd mash to 6.

The DRPA can, if you set it up right, take an A/B input (or A, or and send to 3 "zones". However, to do that you would have to let your main system work off a full range signal. I haven't looked, do your subs or tops have a x-over for doing that. Like Gadget said, 2x6, with highs controlling the main system, mids for the bar and lows for the lounge. Not nearly as easy and efficient as the 260, but doable.

DRA

Dra

Oh!

If you can't do the main system from 1 output, then you are limited to 2 zones.

DRA

SteadFast

I have the bar speakers and the lounge speakers both connected to the amp, and the the amp plugged into the high output of the drpa. The 2 powered qsc going into the mid output and the powered subs going into the lows, but Yes I can switch the 2 qsc and connect them into the subs instead.

SteadFast

Actually 2 zones would be okay for me.. I just want to be able to have the volume of the bar and lounge side a little lower then the dance floor.

I'm still confused about how to go about setting up the powered speakers with the drpa

Gadget

Ok, to have SEPARATE control of the mains( 2way... tops and subs) and 2 zones you need the 260...

The DRPA doesn't have any way of knowing if the speakers are powered or passive with amps.. simply set up a 2x3 or 2x4 crossover for the mains subs, and a bandpass filter for the 2 zones... you can feed them from the left and right mid outs as you have been but they get the exact same thing... Then just set the HPF frequency and the LPF frequency you want the 2 zones to have. (like cut out some of the low frequencies... say 70 hz LR24 or BW18.

The 260 would still be a far better fit.
G

SteadFast

I was told I could control the volume for the passive speakers by just turning the amp up or down since all the powered speakers are in the dance room. Do you think this would be effective for the time being?

SteadFast

I'm still trying to understand the crossover.. I read the whole manual twice, still confused though.. so what exactly is the difference between a 2x3 and a 2x4?????

Dra

the first # is the number of inputs.
2nd is the # of outputs.

If the 2nd is an odd # then the subs (low output) will be combined to mono (although I believe both low outputs (L&R) output signal.
2x2 = stereo in / stereo out
2x3 = st in / st hi out & mono low out
2x4 = st in / st hi out & st low out
2x5 = st in / st hi , st mid, mono low
2x6 = st in / st hi , st mid, st low

In the DRPA you don't "assign" it. You answer the questions about fullrange, bi-amp, w/subs, etc.

DRA

Dra

After setting the gain structure (for max amp setting), you can for sure turn the amp down. Just make a mark for the max allowable setting.

DRA

SteadFast

I'm running out of time tonight.. How can I just set up the bar side with the amp and the two peavey speakers

SteadFast

Dra wrote:

The 260 can output 6 "zones" if you will, but from only 2 sources. For example you could connect a CD player to input A playing ABBA and a player connected to B playing Floyd. You can send either source (including combined) to any of the 6 outputs. ABBA to 1, 4 & 5 and be able to individually control the output level to each, Floyd to 2 & 3, and an ABBA / Floyd mash to 6.

The DRPA can, if you set it up right, take an A/B input (or A, or and send to 3 "zones". However, to do that you would have to let your main system work off a full range signal. I haven't looked, do your subs or tops have a x-over for doing that. Like Gadget said, 2x6, with highs controlling the main system, mids for the bar and lows for the lounge. Not nearly as easy and efficient as the 260, but doable.

DRA

My main system is powered.. so would you recommend me connecting that to the mids, and then my passive speakers into the highs and the lows?

Gadget

The main system Hi's are usually best served by placing the tops on the HI outs because they have 3 PEQ's to work with, but they can be run form ANY of the outputs...

The driverack doesn't know OR care if the speakers are powered, or amp + speakers... just realize that if you need HPF and LPF that the MID and LOW outs are the only ones that do...

Sorry,but I am currently on festival and "everybody wants a piece of me" duty...

Gadget

Dra

It doesn't really matter. The only difference in the H/M/L outputs is the # of PEQ's available and the Hi output has no low pass filter (so you can't connect a passive sub with no processing).

Just set up how it is most logical for your application.

DRA