misterbassman Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Hi everyone, Im looking for a new speaker management system.Im currently looking at the DBX driverack PA.My standard system is 2-way stereo this is sometimes upgraded to 3-way stereo.I was just wondering what peoples views and experiences were on this unit. cheers Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andystone Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 It's an excellent unit, used it a few times on installs, good value, excellent sound quality and reliable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Alcock Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 Dan, I've no experience on the Driverack PA, but plenty with the Behringer equivalent. Definitely worth a look, since it has many features not found on the DBX. SO easy to use, and extremely versatile. Between the three ins and six outs you can have an almost limitless array of routing, eq, delays, limiting etc. Best bit of kit I've bought in ages. DCX2496 Web Data My 2p worth. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshwah Posted June 17, 2004 Share Posted June 17, 2004 I'd have to put a second good word in for the behringer, again ive never used the dbx but I no it lacks many features the behringer has. The behringer is more similar to the bss minidrive in lots of its features ive just put one in a instal its a very versatile unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanG Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I've no direct experience with the DRPA but hear much about it on the pro sound newgroups/websites. It has a reputation for going "pop" when it is turned on/off (DBX acknowledge this, I'm told) which often takes a few drivers with it if your amps are still on. I'm going to add to the recommendations for the Behringer, but if you do go the DRPA route make sure you get a UPS to add to your drive rack - it'll probably be cheaper than replacing drivers in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_cooper Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Yes another vote for the Behringer, just got one yesterday,. It is a very well designed piece of kit. Very easy to use with loads of features. I was worried the screen would be hard to work with but is very clear and easy to read. The Behringer does not have some of the bells a whistles of the DRPA like the sub harmonic synth, compressor, and feedback destroyer. The behringer is however MUCH more flexible, you can do almost any routing, including an internal summing bus. The DRPA only has 10ms of delay per output, which is enough for aligning some systems, but not for having any delayed stacks or zones. the Behringer has (from memory) a long delay of about 500ms on both inputs and outputs, and also a shorter delay on the outputs for alignment. It can also be remote controlled with a PC, the DRPA cannot. If you need the RTA function and feedback destroyer you could consider getting both the DCX2496 and the Behringer Ultracurve DEQ2496. You can link them digitally would probably work out at a similar price. Best bit of kit I've bought in ages. DCX2496 Web Data I agree Pete, I was absolutely astounded when I set mine up yesterday. We are going from a simple full range PA (one pair of cabs for stalls, one delayed for Balcony) and adding Subs. I first looked at the DRPA, but it would not do the configuration I needed so I got the behringer. In terms of sound quality, noise etc, to my ears there is no subjective quality difference between this and the XTA DP200 it replaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljstevens Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 XTA DP series does everything you need and so easy to use! well worth the money! and comes in a funky metalic blue! what else could you ask for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanG Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 what else could you ask for? Change :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_cooper Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 XTA DP series does everything you need and so easy to use! well worth the money! and comes in a funky metalic blue! what else could you ask for? More outputs is what I needed and the only one with more is the DP226 which is ~£1700 +VAT the behringer is ~£250 +VAT and I am genuinely not sure what you gain for all that extra money. I also wanted three ins so I could do AUX fed subs, and be able to easily switch to a standard set up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Russell Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 the DP226 which is ~£1700 +VAT the behringer is ~£250 +VAT and I am genuinely not sure what you gain for all that extra moneyHaving recently performed A-B tests between the Behringer and BSS FDS-366 (The unit Behringer have copied) there was a huge difference in audio quality, although the test was slightly unfair in that we were copying the curves from the 366 directly and not tweaking them on the behringer, that said I don't think the behringers audio quality was up to the job.This was for high profile applications (ie west end) with a couple of leading theatrical sound designers doing the listening but I'm sure the Behringer would be a great choice for a smaller/budget applications, it has managed to do one thing that BSS can't and that is to supply half decent computer control software...HTH, Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Alcock Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Peter, I'm interested to know if you could tell the difference? If so, what was missing / what were the undesirable artifacts on the signal? Cordially, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_cooper Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Peter it would be interesting to know what part of the audio quality, you felt, was not up to the job. I certainly cannot sense a big difference between an older DP200 and the Behringer. The BSSs do have those new NTM filters which I have never heard so maybe that is a big difference? Any comments? I always think listening tests on this sort of equipment are extremely unreliable as there are so many variables involved, as you point out different implementations of EQ filters will give different results with the same figures fed into them. I hope for the sake of companies like XTA there really is something worth paying that much extra for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Russell Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Peter it would be interesting to know what part of the audio quality, you felt, was not up to the job.The Behringer had a lower headroom and generally sounded smaller & thinner, if that makes any sense, although as mentioned it is not really fair to use a BSS curve in another manufacturers unit, but initial impressions were enough to convince us that it was not worth spending the time creating a curve from scratch on the Behringer as even straight through it didn't sound the same both to my ears and to the other people present. The BSSs do have those new NTM filters which I have never heard so maybe that is a big difference? Any comments?We were comparing them to FDS-366's not 366T's as the shows rig we were using (JSTO) was installed prior to the T's launch, on a side note the NTM filters do sound very good. At the end of the day I think the Behringer is a nice unit and if I was spending Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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