Driverack PX Settings. Suggestions Please

[surfrockbmxer1]

I'm in a rock cover band. Playing bars and clubs for around 200 people. I run 2 Mackie SR1530z Mains and 1 Yorkville LS801p subwoofer. We use a 24 ch Mackie board and iem's. We mic drums, guitars, bass, and vocals. I recently acquired a Driverack PX. Im looking for help with the settings to maximize this piece of gear. I'm not a pro soundman by any means but i'd like to get some usable settings loaded into this thing. I'd like some advice on crossover settings(i've never used one before), feedback suppressant, eq, and compression. Thanks in advance.

[agedhorse]

Crossover start with 100Hz, 24dB/octabe LR.

 

Everything else is speaker and amp and settings dependent.

 

Perhaps it's not the right piece for you if you are asking for this info? In fact, a simple crossover is probably a better solution, wrong settings are worse than none at all.

[surfrockbmxer1]

Should the top of the mains and sub both meet at 100Hz and then begin the 24/dB/octave LR slope?

[HCRobe]

PX comes with an RTA mic, if you have a decent size room try the auto setup function. Read the manual before you do. Use agedhorses suggestion, the manual, the auto setup and your ears as a starting point.

[agedhorse]

 

Should the top of the mains and sub both meet at 100Hz and then begin the 24/dB/octave LR slope?

 

 

Yes. The voltage response of each filter will be 6dB down at that point giving constant power summing.

[agedhorse]

 

PX comes with an RTA mic, if you have a decent size room try the auto setup function. Read the manual before you do. Use agedhorses suggestion, the manual, the auto setup and your ears as a starting point.

 

 

This helps with the eq portion (if you get good response data) but the limiters, relative gains, etc are going to be as much of a challenge.

[HCRobe]

 

This helps with the eq portion (if you get good response data) but the limiters, relative gains, etc are going to be as much of a challenge.

 

 

+1

 

start with page 27 for help with the limiter, page 39 of your manual for the helping with gain.

[jwlussow]

PX comes with an RTA mic, if you have a decent size room try the auto setup function. Read the manual before you do. Use agedhorses suggestion, the manual, the auto setup and your ears as a starting point.

 

Hey Rob, how's everything going?

 

Actually the wizard will work best if you can set the system up in a field away from buildings and baseline the system. It will not be as accurate doing this in a bar with the reflections. Of course, the snow and cold make some things a little more difficult.

[HCRobe]

Hey Rob, how's everything going? Actually the wizard will work best if you can set the system up in a field away from buildings and baseline the system. It will not be as accurate doing this in a bar with the reflections. Of course, the snow and cold make some things a little more difficult.

 

Yeah, we did ours outside behind our rehearsal space, and we also did one inside our rehearsal space. From there we adjusted to taste. Only make minor adjustments when we get setup at a club, I wont attempt to RTA in the club itself, good way to piss off the regulars! All in all it works pretty good.

 

I'm still not on your mailing list! Come out to the Alley on Jan 22 if you guys have the night off!

[surfrockbmxer1]

I've heard about running the wizard outdoors but i have a feeling that'd be difficult. I've got a 2,000 sq ft studio i can blast it in though. One part of the wizard asks for a volume level of the speakers. My Mackie mains don't have volume knobs on them. What level would i tell the driverack they're set at? I usually run my ls801p at about 10% volume.

[agedhorse]

 

+1 start with page 27 for help with the limiter, page 39 of your manual for the helping with gain.

 

 

The information in the manual is useless given the questions being asked. Also, the gain structure information is flat wrong, and this has been published since the begining of the DriveRack concept. Following these directions effectively defeats the limiter function of the Driverack. There are those inside the Harman organization that know about this but corporate politics drive the ship. If the system is set up like it's said, the mixer clips at the point that the limiter threshold is crossed so you are sending a pre-clipped signal out of the DRPX.

 

Now, how would you suggest that an inexperienced user set this up? maybe you would like to enlighten us? What would he use as a limiter threshold? How would he determine this? What about gain structure, where should amp sensitivities and input/output module levels be set?

[agedhorse]

 

I usually run my ls801p at about 10% volume.

 

 

Why? How did you arrive at this?

[HCRobe]

 

The information in the manual is useless given the questions being asked. Also, the gain structure information is flat wrong, and this has been published since the begining of the DriveRack concept. Following these directions effectively defeats the limiter function of the Driverack. There are those inside the Harman organization that know about this but corporate politics drive the ship. If the system is set up like it's said, the mixer clips at the point that the limiter threshold is crossed so you are sending a pre-clipped signal out of the DRPX. Now, how would you suggest that an inexperienced user set this up? maybe you would like to enlighten us? What would he use as a limiter threshold? How would he determine this? What about gain structure, where should amp sensitivities and input/output module levels be set?

 

 

If I'm reading the manual correctly, It appears in so many words:

 

find clipping on your board, and roll back.

find clipping on the dbx, and roll back.

find clipping on your speakers, then reduce threshold on the limiter.

 

Im not seeing how that defeats the limiter. If the limiter is the final arbiter of how much signal is sent to the speaker, then you can throw as much signal from the board or the PX and the limiter would stomp on it, what am I missing here?

[surfrockbmxer1]

I'm saying my mackies don't have volume contol on the speakers and if i was to say daisy chain the mains with the sub. The sub would be at 10% volume when its at a proper volume compared to the mains.

[agedhorse]

 

If I'm reading the manual correctly, It appears in so many words: find clipping on your board, and roll back. find clipping on the dbx, and roll back. find clipping on your speakers, then reduce threshold on the limiter. Im not seeing how that defeats the limiter. If the limiter is the final arbiter of how much signal is sent to the speaker, then you can throw as much signal from the board or the PX and the limiter would stomp on it, what am I missing here?

 

 

Because you will be hitting the limiter threshold within a dB or so of clipping the mixer. Draw a gain structure diagram and it will be obvious. I have fixed so many of this specific problem in the field that DBX should be ashamed of what they are perpetuating. There must be at least as much difference between the clip point and the limier threshold as you need for limiter compliance (gain reduction). The point is that you can't take gain away without having headroom to take it from.

 

I have designed several commercial powered speakers, and this kind of thing comes up all the time in the design phase. We have to supply adequate headroom for the gain reduction limiting to operate against. If not, the drive electronics clip just as the limiter begins to limit. Once you clip the drive electronics, the limiter no longer matters.

 

Jim from Peavey does this kind of thing too, and I'm sure he goes through the same calculations and gain structure excercises that I do on his products. Jim, maybe you can explain it better?

[agedhorse]

 

I'm saying my mackies don't have volume contol on the speakers and if i was to say daisy chain the mains with the sub. The sub would be at 10% volume when its at a proper volume compared to the mains.

 

 

By any chance do your mackies have a mic/line sensitivity switch and they are being operated in the mic position??? I don't think the difference should be anywhere near that great unless the level control is a +/- off of nominal rated sensitivity (another possibility).

[surfrockbmxer1]

I don't see a mic/line button anywhere on it.

[jwlussow]

 

I'm still not on your mailing list! Come out to the Alley on Jan 22 if you guys have the night off!

 

 

We are off. We will try to make.