A few PX questions

mintydave

Hello. Im Dave a mobile DJ from the cold north east UK and have just bought a PX secondhand on Ebay for various reasons.

Firstly i use the following gear
Denon DN-X500 mixer
2 x RCF 712a and single RCF 902 Active sub

Now the limiters in the RCF's are very good so thats not a feature i aim on using. I bought the unit primarily as a speaker management system as i have had a few sound balance issues in the past and the only option available is switching between link, 80 and 120 Hz crossover points on my sub and adjusting the gains on the speakers to get a good balance. As i only have a limited eq on my mixer i am unable to shape the bottom end and weed out any really low freq to cut down on generic bass rumble and supress feedback.

So the eq will get some use, manually as i dont think i will have much opportunity to Pink venues. In addtion i do some live work and want to use the compressor for vocals.

So to the questions that i can find an answer to in the manual.

1. Whats the best way to set levels without doing a PINKing level test when using my sub and tops
2. Is manual eq'ing an easy process (when you have the ears) as like i said i cant see me havng the opportunity to do auto eq'ing very often.
3. Is the unit suitable for using on a channel insert on my live desk or sending via aux send/effx return if i want to compress/eq a vocalist and not the overall sound from the main outs.

thats about it for now. I maybe should have picked up a seperate eq and compressor for the live work but i wanted a 1u unit thats can do a bit of everything.

Cheers
Dave

Dra

#3 - I insert a DRPA all the time as a podium mic "processor". I use the AFS, GEQ, Hi Pass Filter, and PEQ. The DRPX can do the same. I thought for a second that you thought you could compress the vocal on pre-recorded music, but you clarified just the vocal channel. Compression can also be used in this application (with prudence).

DRA

Gadget

I'll take whack at this as well...

1.Indoor Auto EQ is a troublesome process at best, but that doesn't mean you can't do some pre show work to make things easier. The best thing you can do to prepare for any venue is to flatten the response as best you can. Through years of testing and developing processes we can offer some pretty effective techniques for optimizing your systems performance. lets start with some auto EQ info and techniques:

First off lets point out the FAQ section where the majority of the information is held:

viewforum.php?f=60

Now for the bad news..."all you need to do is plop down a mic and push a button and PRESTO! perfect sound! Sorry, ain't so...read this and find out the truth...

viewtopic.php?f=60&t=2346&p=12855#p12855

So once your done with this ask any further questions you have.
G

mintydave

Thanks for the replies

i have read countless posts including the faqs so am prety clued up on whats already been covered, please dont test me on that though.

i know from experience that standing in one spot in the middle of a dance floor is far different to sitting in a corner where bass frequencies can get trapped and bounce around making it quite unpleasent for the punters so as you say dropping the mic in the middle of the floor and pushing the rta button wont do the job.

I have reset the unit to factory default and as im running custom settings everything is flattened with only the crossover frequencies being changed. I have made 2 presets, one for just my tops and one for sub and tops. Its the level setting for the latter that has me baffled mainly. Normally i set my gains on my sub and tops on the mid point and go from there but often get an inbalance depending on the venue. (sometimes use different mixers and cant often sound test at performance level to set my gain structures properly)

IMO having the features like the adjustable crossover and 31 band eq will certainly be a big benefit once i get used to using them

so is there anything else i can do manually in preparation, and yes i certainly did mean compressing/eq'ing a live vocalist

thanks again for the assistance so far

Gadget

2. Manual eqing isn't that difficult if you have the ear for it...

3. The PX will make a fine channel insert for vocal processing, lots of lovely tools for that purpose.

G