DriveRack PX setup

MixMonster

First time post but I have been a guest for the past 3 years since purchasing my driverack px. I am a mobile dj and my current setup is 2 x Mackie SRM450 speakers, Traktor Kontrol S4 controller and a laptop. I also have a Samson subwoofer but have only used it once as the Mackies have always been adequate at the venues I play at. However, 3 years ago I purchased the driverack px after extensive research to add to my set up mainly to achieve sound clarity. Having read a number of posts on this forum I have been confused how best to setup the unit - i.e. follow the instructions in the manual or those on the forum. As such, I have never been able to use the unit.

Following the instructions in the manual has never been practical because there are always people at the venues decorating etc when I arrive. I have read somewhere on here that I can setup the unit indoors or outdoors, store the results and and then manually adjust to suit when I arrive at the venues. Now to do this, I have the following questions:

1. The suggestion is to auto eq the speakers one at a time but should I have both speakers connected initially when I carryout the first part of the setup? i.e. where I select my speaker model etc
2. Having performed step 1 above, should I select MONO in order to auto eq the speakers one at a time or STEREO?
3. When I have tried the auto eq with one speaker connected, the unit keeps asking me to adjust the volume of the second speaker which is not connected. Any idea why?
4. Finally, how would I use the Para Eq to achieve a flat result? Can this be clarify in lay man's term please.

Apologies if I appear to be asking silly questions but I paid good money for this unit and would like to get some use out of it. I have tried desperately not to post a message but make use of the information on the forum. However, each time I read a post I get more and more confused about what I am suppose to do. Hence why I decided to join and post this message. Any help will be really appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Gadget

Hi,

Following the instructions in the manual has never been practical because there are always people at the venues decorating etc when I arrive. I have read somewhere on here that I can setup the unit indoors or outdoors, store the results and and then manually adjust to suit when I arrive at the venues. Now to do this, I have the following questions:

Yes, there are always things that will cause you to not be able to use the auto EQ at a venue.. even IF you could, and you used the manuals method the system would sound LOUSY...

But this isn't rocket science, and we've come up with a pretty foolproof way to get the most out of your system...

I just ran a test on mY PX, (haven't used it for a while) and what I did was the setup first, I used the first speaker that came up in the presets. (I don't NEED no stinkin presets... )It was the JBL EON G2, but again, you don't need a preset for powered speakers, or unpowered fullrange speakers... you only need an HPF...With a stereo tops, subs you only need a HPF (for un-powered subs) and an HPF/LPF for the tops/sub crossover...These we can figure out without having a preset... You can choose a similar setup, like if you have powered 15" 2 way use most any of the powered 15" speakers in the menu, if you are using a sub, select a similar sub and modify the numbers.

Then I stored the preset in the PX. I didn't want to do auto balance, so I pressed the 'Preset" button (think of this as a HOME button) then I pressed and held the 'Setup' button till the auto EQ page came up. I then set my speaker (12" powered 2 way) On it's side and found something to tip mit so that it was angled toward the floor a few degrees... this was lying in the living room on the carpet...The mic is then laid on the carpet as well, aimed at the speaker and back 3-4 feet...

Run the Auto EQ pass and you should get a "finished" even with more than 4 bands fully cut or boosted...Even though I selected 'stereo' I didn't get a prompt to "do the other channel"

3. Don't worry about the auto balance unless you cannot do that by ear...

4. Use of the parametric EQ is tricky...It's not like a GEQ where you might need to use 4,6, or more bands to do what you can do with one PEQ band...
Go to page 12, section 2 just under the headline and you will see a GEQ pass form an auto EQ run...
ftp://ftp.dbxpro.com/pub/PDFs/Manuals/E ... 81023A.pdf
Note the last three bands that are progressively boosted... here you would use ONE High shelf PEQ to duplicate that which took 3 bands of GEQ..

The center boost, there are 8 bands boosted right? The ninth band is 200hz...the 8th is 1000hz.. 1/2 of that is 600 hz (200 + 1/2 of 800hz=600hz) So, place a bell PEQ on 600 hz, now for the Q... here you would set a fairly wide Q, this would be in the area of 1.0, a Q of 5.0 would be very narrow and would only include a few bands of frequency.. here we want at least 8...so I interpret that as about a boost of 5dB, So try a Q=1 @ 600hz, with a boost of about+5, and re test and see if your closer.. or just listen and evaluate what difference it makes and if it solves the problem there.

Same goes for the one in the low end, but there I might just use a narrower Q and try and get just the 2nd third and fourth bands with the PEq, perhaps a 4.41 @ 63 hz, that cut could be a full cut, like 12dB @ 63 hz, and is a common room mode/subwoofer high efficiency point of interest on most front loaded systems...

There is MUCH more in the FAQ's and Start here threads in the "read me first" before posting section...

MixMonster

Thank you for the response. I'll give this a try.