marsonpee Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hello I am in the process of looking at some budget system controllers for my PA system. The units in question are the Behringer ultradrive pro and the DAP audio DCX-24 digital crossover. Now the behringer has a graphic equalizer and the DAP has a 5 band parametric, what I wanted to know is which would be the best to use for the purpose of system setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Hi To answer this question fully we really need to know a little more about your system and its use. Firstly, what speakers, and amplifiers are you using. Secondly, what sort of material is played through these. Is it one type of music, Live, recorded, or a mixture of everything.thirdly, What other types of processing do you have for the system as a whole (not inserts on individual channels etc). Rob I have not used the DAP processor so cannot give an opinion on this one, I have however used (and own) DCX2496's and find them to be a good unit for the price. There have been a few problems people have mentioned with this unit, most of which involve a ribbon cable, touch wood I've not had any trouble with mine. Depending on your system, you will need to setup these units according to the manufacturers settings. these can often be found on the website or by contacting the manufacturer. Any system tuning should be done within the crossover unit as this can be left as it is. Any additional tuning (for rooms etc) should be done with a seperate parametric or graphic eq although this is often not required. I'll finish by saying the DCX is well worth its money. but so is the BSS Omnidrive. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsonpee Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 The processor in question will be used for anything that makes a noise and is to be played through to an audience, be it recorded , live etc. Currently I have a behringer ultra x 2310 but dont have any EQ to go before it. Since I need an EQ and I want the safety of limiters etc all in one unit I thought it would be best to maintain audio quality. Equipment wise im using crown xls amps driving some cheap EV sx300 copy's with behringer b1800x sub, this system wont be what the unit will be used for the the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Like Rob I haven't ever used the DAP but I can give a hearty recommendation to the DCX2496 which I do use regularly (and know many others who do as well). For the money, it's hard...maybe impossible...to beat, even at double the price. Since we're talking crossovers here, I think it's slightly academic which form of EQ is used, so long as the unit works. However, a general comment I'd make is that a crossover is not the same as a system EQ...most users would have both. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Like Rob I haven't ever used the DAP but I can give a hearty recommendation to the DCX2496 which I do use regularly (and know many others who do as well). For the money, it's hard...maybe impossible...to beat, even at double the price.If you want one, and have trouble with UK suppliers (quoting 9 month lead times), try Thomann. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieR Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Parametric EQ's should beat traditional graphics hands-down most times. As each filter is a completely separate electronic entity its effect on the rest of the frequency spectrum should be negligible. Graphics, on the other hand, have a habit where if you boost/cut one band it has a knock on effect on other bands - unless of course you buy a decent graphic like an XTA GQ600! Like the others, I have not heard the DPA nor am I likely too, and so cannot pass judgement on it. However, as with all budget range equipment, it will not have the performance associated with more expensive gear. If you want something that will perform well as a system processor then you probably need to be looking at DBX Driveracks and upwards. To be honest, you don't appreciate the difference until you have used the pro-end units. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Beech Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 I wasn't aware of this knock on effect with digital units. I agree that some low end analogue eq's are very poor with this. the Alesis MEQ230 is a unit that is barely useable to any degree for this reason amongst others. I didn't realise it was a problem with digital eq's. As for the DBX Drive racks. Apart from the drive rack PA which IMO should be wiped off the face of the earth for its output relay problem which even after so long has yet to be fixed. It does work out cheaper to buy a DEQ2496 and a DCX2496. These are both very good units cost aside, you get the crossover benefits and a system eq with other features aswell. For the same price as the lower end DBX Crossover alone. I've know as many DBX units fail as I have the behringer ones (talking Drive rack against DCX here). I understand you are planning on upgrading the speakers, but to what? As it stands I can hardly see you noticing a difference between a DCX2496, a Drive Rack 260, an Omnidrive etc with your current setup. (please note this is nothing negative about your system). the only difference you'll see is in your wallet, put that towards some better speakers when the time comes to upgrade and THERE will be your difference. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 I wasn't aware of this knock on effect with digital units. I agree that some low end analogue eq's are very poor with this. the Alesis MEQ230 is a unit that is barely useable to any degree for this reason amongst others. I didn't realise it was a problem with digital eq's. The DEQ lets you have either a smooth digital graphic, or a lumpy graphic like an analogue. Thats until it committs hari kari, of course. Still smarting from that. I've got a couple of the old Alesis graphics, and although they are some way short of being a KT, they are usable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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