Members RoboPimp Posted September 19, 2004 Members Share Posted September 19, 2004 I don't want to use the limiters built into my amp. is this "brick wall" limiter thing what I want? Is it just a regular limiter set to a particular mode that works in a manner to keep everything below a certain point? Would this help to "phatten" my sound up in any way? Or do I use a compressor? I did my first gig last night with my PA, it's almost complete but I just need a few little pieces like this, all in all I was very happy but man, I now have a lot more respect to how much work and money goes into the really nice rigs. everyone here has been a lot of help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted September 20, 2004 Members Share Posted September 20, 2004 The amp's internal limiters are brick wall limiters in terms of the amp but probably not in terms of protecting the speakers (unless matched very well or lucky). In terms of fattening up the sound, you're probably out of luck there too. There is a sound associated with the amp's limiters kicking in ... a very hard sound, not good. If you think you are hearing any fattening from the amp's limiters you are probably gonna see a big puff of smoke coming from the speakers any minute. Brick wall filters are probably not the cure all you may be thinking anyways. They may not increase reliability and depending on how you set them and you mixing style may actually comprimise the system. Brick wall limiters generally remove the peaks (which in most cases aren't really hurting anything anyways). This results in a reduced peak to average ratio and higher temps in the voice coils of your speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted September 20, 2004 Members Share Posted September 20, 2004 I wouldn't expect miracles from a compressor with live sound - the more you compress, the more problems you'll have with feedback. But a compressor on the whole mix can tighten things up a bit. I usually like to have something with a 3:1 or 4:1 compression ratio, maybe squeezing 2-5dB fairly often. You can use that to bring out the vocals a bit, by having the vocals loud enough to cause some compression and therefore "duck" the instruments down a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted September 20, 2004 Author Members Share Posted September 20, 2004 Limiter Comp: THD 0.5 % that's what my amp lists as the specs for the built in limiter. Does this mean that it's going to do a OK job as protecting the amp from distorting? Not that I want to run it "in the red" all night, but curious as to how well it will work to protect things. The amp is putting out 950 watts RMS @ 4 ohms into two 8 ohm 500 RMS 1000 prog speakers. should I run the amp with the clip light off all the time or is an occasional blink oK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted September 20, 2004 Members Share Posted September 20, 2004 The amp's internal limiters are just fine, that's what they are there for. The .5% THD spec is meaningless, that's just barely touching the clip point. The limit lights can flash occasionally, say on the kick drum hits but beware the urge to flash them more often. 950 watts into the two speakers is plenty of power... if you need much more you really need more speakers and amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted September 20, 2004 Members Share Posted September 20, 2004 Originally posted by RoboPimp Limiter Comp: THD 0.5 % should I run the amp with the clip light off all the time or is an occasional blink oK? First of all, when your amp limiter comes on and contributes .5% THD, your speakers are at about 10% (or more) THD so it matters little. Is the occasional blink ok for what ... speaker protection or sound quality? Question? Is everything/anything causing the clip light to come on or just the kick drum? Just treat it with a comp/limiter and keep everything else clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoboPimp Posted September 20, 2004 Author Members Share Posted September 20, 2004 Originally posted by dboomer First of all, when your amp limiter comes on and contributes .5% THD, your speakers are at about 10% (or more) THD so it matters little. Is the occasional blink ok for what ... speaker protection or sound quality? speaker protection? Question? Is everything/anything causing the clip light to come on or just the kick drum? Just treat it with a comp/limiter and keep everything else clean. Actually, I used it at a decent sized bar sat. and managed to avoid having the clip lights come on at all, but at first when it did, the kick was the culprit. So you're saying just compress/limit the kick signal ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted September 21, 2004 Members Share Posted September 21, 2004 Yep! Why screw with the entire mix, just treat the problem child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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