Need Opinions On Gear Selection...

[LouC]

Going to be running two mono OTOP12's with Delta Pros & Melded Piezos; One Titan 39 Delta 12LF, and 4-6 series/parallel stage monitors based on Beta 8's. We have one Carvin DCM 1000 Power Amp. (Plus all the mixing gear, mics etc.) Crowd size 250 max in an all purpose church/hall. "Permanent" install. We'll have another Crown XLS in a bit. OTOPs will be wall mounted, running a mono signal. One power amp for them. The other to handle the Titan and the stage monitors. This isn't going to be home for touring musicians, we just want to do the best we can on the church's limited budget. I have another thread on the buildhttp://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... 28&t=15965

Acoustics are a nightmare, budget is tight, so we've conceded we'll need some preprocessing/equalizing/limiting. I've looked at three units for speaker management:

• Behringer DCX2496 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DCX2496/
• Carvin XD360 $400 http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... 360&cid=61
• dbX DriveRack PA+ $500 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DriveRkPaPls/

A lot of you use the 2496, but it looks like there's not much help setting it up.
Right now I'm leaning toward the Carvin, looks to be the most flexible but the DriveRack setup/auto equalizer feature make it a bit more attractive.
I do have a measurement rig for my laptop.

Questions:
Anything else I should consider in this price range?
How do you get a high pass + low pass on the same channel with something like the Behringer?
Anybody used the Carvin?
Am I missing some giant insight on my plans?

[Bruce Weldy]

A lot will depend on how loud you are going to try to push this system. If you want to rock the praise band - the Carvin amp isn't nearly enough to push a T39. Just not much power at 8 ohms on that amp. However, it is plenty for the OT12s.

I would suggest that you:

Buy a used driverack - there are plenty on ebay for around $300. People buy 'em, don't understand 'em and sell 'em. That doesn't mean they are hard to use, just that some folks are talked into 'em and don't know what to use 'em for.

The Carvin amp and an XLS 1000 are about the same power rating and will both drive 2 ohms per channel. So, there are variety of ways to run these. However, if you are going to run this setup very loud - you are going to need another amp.

So, that is the question. Just recorded music and voice? Or, a rockin' praise band?

[LouC]

I can't see this crowd wanting earsplitting volumes. Since voltage limits the Titan to around 150 watts, I might step up to the XLS 1500. Bass can be carried by the backline if needed. (Titan 39 + Omni 10.5) That combo drowned out the PA in a 300 seat auditorium. Mostly live music and "preachin" but they may want to do other stuff with the venue.

I'm always reluctant to buy anything from Evil Bay. Burned too many times -- especially on electronics. But it's worth a look. We need to be installed by Feb 15 (assuming the contractors finish in time!

[Bruce Weldy]

I can't see this crowd wanting earsplitting volumes. Since voltage limits the Titan to around 150 watts, I might step up to the XLS 1500. Bass can be carried by the backline if needed. (Titan 39 + Omni 10.5) That combo drowned out the PA in a 300 seat auditorium. Mostly live music and "preachin" but they may want to do other stuff with the venue.

I'm always reluctant to buy anything from Evil Bay. Burned too many times -- especially on electronics. But it's worth a look. We need to be installed by Feb 15 (assuming the contractors finish in time!

What speaker are you planning for the T39? 3012LF can handle 3 times that much.

I've only been burned one time on Ebay.....bought a new Crown amp. Never shipped and Ebay refunded my money.

[Benj Ross]

There is the Peavey VSX26 for loudspeaker management.

31 band graphic on inputs
5 band parametric on outputs
limiter (not brickwall)
automatic eq option
hi and lowpass filter each channel

I have not used the Driverack but so far have been happy with the peavey. One thing to be aware of is that you cannot save you presets on the unit. You need to have a usb thumbdrive to save your presets. Probably not an issue for an install, but I find it annoying as hell.

Benj

[Bruce Weldy]

One thing to be aware of is that you cannot save you presets on the unit. You need to have a usb thumbdrive to save your presets.
Benj

That's a pretty big omission. And you only save $50 on the Peavey at MAP pricing.

[LouC]

True Dat. But this is more or less a permanent installation. If we were setting up different places, I'd be more concerned.

I probably have 20 thumbdrives too! (Consulting work in IT, plus stage 4 cancer. Nice to be able to give all my history, scans & imaging to the next specialist I'm shuffled off to see) BTW, if any of you have a family member with a serious or chronic condition, the medical history thumbdrive is indispensable.

[Tom Smit]

...... plus stage 4 cancer. Nice to be able to give all my history, scans & imaging to the next specialist I'm shuffled off to see......

Terribly sorry to hear that.

[LouC]

...... plus stage 4 cancer. Nice to be able to give all my history, scans & imaging to the next specialist I'm shuffled off to see......

Terribly sorry to hear that.

Thanks, but it's been ongoing for 3 years, we think we have it in check for now. At some point, you just get on with living and ignore the gorilla...
I can read my own PET/CT scans and do a friggin' lecture on tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but figurin' out the 'lectronics for prosound is kickin' my butt!

[Tom Smit]

Ah, but you'll learn soon enough.

[Rick Lee]

Also check out BBE DS24. Cheaper unit that has plenty of features for this setup - xover, eq, limiting.

[LouC]

Thanks, too late now found a DriveRack PA+ for $369 as an open box, with full warranty.
Would have gone with the Peavey VSX26, but they were on backorder.
Just gotta figure out how to use it now.

[MysticMichael]

Congratulations on the nice score, Lou. I'd be interested in knowing how well that DriveRack performs for you, once you've learned how to use it.

Does anyone else have opinions/user experiences to share re: speaker management modules? The Carvin XD360 and the dbx DriveRack PA+ are both currently on my radar screen, so I'd particularly like to see some comparisons between those two.

Still scoping out components for my future band PA system, so it's all good information...

MM

[Tom Smit]

.

Does anyone else have opinions/user experiences to share re: speaker management modules? The Carvin XD360 and the dbx DriveRack PA+ are both currently on my radar screen, so I'd particularly like to see some comparisons between those two.


MM

There are a few mentions in the threads here. I don't know exactly what you're looking for, but if you try the "search" function, you may have some success.