Budget Digital Crossover Options

[SteveAATW]

Just looking for other peoples thoughts here really on what to use when an XTA is just too much, I've been looking around and there's a few options these days, anyone care to add any I've missed or give their views as to which they'd go for?

 

1/ Behringer DCX 2496 (£170)

 

Must confess I've used a few of these lately - one is currently driving a Res 1 (Bi-amped) and F118 monitoring setup in our DJ Stand and has been doing it without missing a beat for nearly a year now, though I always do wonder how long its going to be before it goes pop. The limiters and EQ are pants but I don't use them so that's not really an issue. The crossover setup screen is a joy to use - no need to connect it up to a PC, unlike the XTA which is painful to program on the panel. I've A/B tested it against our DP-226 and there is a very low level noise on the DCX which isn't there on the XTA, you can only hear it when you turn it right up with no input and its nothing that detracts from the signal quality when there's program going through it. Other than that, the eq, limiters and obv the build quality, I've not noticed any discernible difference in audio quality between it and the XTA. Don't entirely trust the meter's on it though - it's either got a shed load of headroom or the meters tell porkies.

 

2/ BBE DS 24/26/48 (£290, £350, £430)

 

Other than being half the sampling rate of the XTA from the specs it looks like they've been pretty much designed to be carbon copies of the XTA units - anyone heard one in action?

 

3/ Xilica XP 4080 (740 Euros)

 

Bit more money than the other two but seems to be as featured as a DP448 for a lot less money, again anyone heard one?

 

 

Other than that I know theres the BSS and DBX units, but personally given that you can pick up S/H XTA for the price of any of the models I'd want I don't think they're worth the money and they're not as featured as the units listed above.

 

Also whilst out in Magaluf a few weeks back I was sorting out a DJ stand which had a silver 1u speaker management, couldn't see a brand name on it but it had a USB port on the front panel, input lights at -40, -20 and 0db and a square black button on each channel, any ideas what it is?

 

Any recommendations or other things to consider?

[dbuckley]

I have no experience of either, but suggestions could include the Alto maxidrive, and the Proel DSO26, which may even be in the CPC catalog by now, at the rate Chris is adding Proel stuff to it.. I do have a dead DCX2496 though...

 

At least you haven't got the evil DriveRack PA on the list ;)

[Chris Hinds]

Of the ones you list I've used 1 and 3 and I'd take the Xilica over the Behringer. It doesn't run out of processing power so quickly and when you start adding delay the Behringer breaks the signal as you dial it in, less than ideal when doing system alignment with another source. The Xilica is well supported through Autograph. Of course as you say... there is always a second hand XTA too.

 

Regards

 

Chris

[SteveAATW]

The driverack PA should come with a health warning!

 

Just noticed that if I get it from the states, even with shipping the BBE DS26 is the same price as the behringer - anyone used a BBE?

[owentec]

With respect to the Behringer unit's metering - the front panel legend is in dBfs, which means that 0dBu is probably around -18 on the front panel. Also, since you are splitting the signal, output meters will generally be lower again. As far as I can tell, the metering is perfectly correct, but not what you might be used to seeing. There is actually a good argument for metering in this way, as anyone who has used a pro quality VT deck can testify.

 

I own a number of dcx2496's, and think they are better than anything else even twice the price.

 

Cheers,

 

Owen

[Bobbsy]

You can count me as another fan of the DCX2496. In my experience you have to spend several times the money to start bettering the quality and functionality.

 

Owentec is right about the metering. In common with much (most?) digital gear, the 0dB position is the full scale level at which digital clipping will start. On this scale, -18 (or sometimes -22 but let's not get into that debate) will be equivalent to the 0dB position on a typical analogue scale.

 

Bob

[TallMike]

Hi Steve,

 

As a big fan of XTAs, I'd recommend you look at the secondhand market definitely. Whilst I'll keep most of my views quiet about Behringer, all I will say is that I have owned two DCX2496 units, and returned two fairly promptly due to faults and lack of processing capability.

 

I heard the Xilica at PLASA 2006 (which was driving a rather complicated EM Acoustics system set up) and it seemed very user friendly. Not sure about processing power though.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[Pete Alcock]

Another fan of the DCX. Mine has been bumped along in a (rigid) flightcase with the amps for the last three years or so and never missed a beat.

 

I don't find the eq deficient at all, just not as easy to use as say an Ultracurve or a normal graphic. I've used the eq function in the DCX as the main room eq from time to time (it's been with me at FOH for that though). Although the %processing power left is in single digits, which worried me slightly at first, it's never glitched or done anything untoward.

 

Pete.

[norty303]

Me too for the DCX. Mine was one of the 'frying eggs' ones, but even so I love it to bits. At the price, you can afford to carry a spare.

 

I find that the drop outs on delays is not an issue as I don't time align my system during a gig. The EQ only drops out when you cross the 0db boundary with that particular band, so usually have a couple of BP EQ's set up at +0.1 and -0.1 so I can add EQ if I need it, without having to cross 0db.

[phil dekked]

Yep we`ve got a BBE ...kinda rebadged but looking at the specs it`s the same unit. It has performed faultlessly , nothing special , nothing bad?

BUT the browsing is a bloody pain in the arse , you have to select a channel then work through setups all through the channel / next / back buttons and you have to be very carefull what channel your on. If your used to an XTA it will drive you crackers! Once set tho` we`ve always left it alone!

Never sonically tested it as it`s always ended up on random sidefills or monitor mixes, should bite the bullet one day and put FOH through it- just can`t face the frustration of programming it!

 

Behringer ...yep ...had the fried eggs , still going , still the furiating drop out of you try changing certain stuff but Hey! I can live with that ...

 

Still mainly rely on our XTA stuff tho.... faultless apart from networking gremlins...

 

.p.

[Rob_Beech]

None of my DCX's drop out when crossing the 0dB mark.............. I feel left out now.... mine doesn't get warm either...... I've tried my hardest I really have. I've tried and tried and tried to get a piece of behringer gear to fail, and I cannot do it. there HAS to be a trick I don't know. I've had compressor after eq after desk after amp after speaker in dry hire stock and used and abused some for a good 6 or 7 years and not had the slightest issue. It appears everyone else (particularly those who don't like the brand) seem to have 805 broken units at home. Maybe the units sense that the owner doesn't like them and they break to get their own back, I don't know.

[Bobbsy]

I'm with you, Rob. I'm not in the hire game so I don't have as much gear as you, but of the Behringer boxes I have, to date there's a 0% failure rate. My experience includes a couple of DCXs, four ADA8000s, some effects units and a couple of their power amps.

 

In terms of sound quality, sometimes Behringer can be a bit lacking (for example, if I crank the mic pre-amps on the ADA8000s right up there's a bit of noise...but I've only cranked one that high once in four years!) but they ALWAYS seem to represent good value for the money. In some cases, like the DCX, I think they represent amazing value for money, punching well above their weight. In any case, I can honestly say I've had more reliability issues with certain "high end" equipment I've owned/used than I've ever experienced with Behringer.

 

Dunno why the disparity in experience. Rob's theory about Behringer boxes wanting to be loved is as good as any!

 

Bob

[avdavesound]

The driverack PA should come with a health warning!

 

Just noticed that if I get it from the states, even with shipping the BBE DS26 is the same price as the behringer - anyone used a BBE?

 

the dcx is a big ball of crap, it is good value for money,but the limiter, compressors, crossover are crap. I tested the slopes on the crossovers and it doesn't say what it says on the tin!! blah blah, the driverack is away better and if you get it in the usa it's for nothing. why do you think its evil steve? I have a few driveracks ,pa,260,480 and some xta and martin I'd say the 260 is best value for money

[paulears]

the dcx is a big ball of crap, it is good value for money,but the limiter, compressors, crossover are crap. I tested the slopes on the crossovers and it doesn't say what it says on the tin!!

Well - that's nice and subtle. What's more, a quite pointless post. I'm quite happy with you not liking them, that's a choice made on either history, hard evidence or bias - but as I said, not liking is fine. Saying they are crap is pointless without some statement to qualify it. There are plenty of people who have posted here that are saying they are ok (and I'd agree with them - the one in one of my racks has been plugged in and powered up 24/7 for 6 months and is just about warm, and has never missed a beat.

 

How did you test the crossover performance.

 

So do enlighten us, what is so bad about them to justify the word crap? Because I can't find anything wrong with the one I have, and quality wise it seems to hold up rather well, I thought.

[MarkPAman]

The driverack PA should come with a health warning!

...............driverack............. why do you think its evil steve?

 

I have read several times of a problem with the Driverack PA. For example : this post, though that is not the only one, nor is this to only forum where I've seen this.