Actives - run 'em 'hot' and desk 'cool' or what?

[gilkinted]

I'm using HK Actor actives and wonder if its better do 'drive' the units by setting volumes at or near full leaving the desk operating at lower threshholds or set V at, say 12.o'clock and run the desk a tad 'hotter'. Does it make a difference the type of desk being used?

 

Cheers, Allan

[mervaka]

it's about gain structure. if you remove any attenuation stages at the amps, then that gives the desk more headroom. Additionally, should you need more volume, it's there at the master faders, as opposed to turning the amps back up.

[rob098]

it's about gain structure. if you remove any attenuation stages at the amps, then that gives the desk more headroom. Additionally, should you need more volume, it's there at the master faders, as opposed to turning the amps back up.

 

Agreed, with the exception of a quiet show - like spoken word. Running the amps attenuated can sometimes reduce the hiss from the HF's.

Just make sure you have enough headroom to cope with the loudest part of the show!

[Bobbsy]

The other point I'd make is that (like Mervaka says) it's a matter of getting the optimum gain structure through the chain...and, for me, optimum also includes keeping the faders on your desk in the nicely linear part of their scale for typical levels. If this means a bit of attenuation on the amps, so be it.

 

Edited to add that my main uses of the HK Actors have been theatre and corporate stuff where spoken word and vocals are more important that getting the highest SPL....and I've also used the trick of using the attenuator to get a nice quiet system.

 

Bob

[pumpkinhead456]

I used to run my HK Actor hot, however DJ's soon put an end to that when 2 of the 15" drivers were worn out.

I now tend to run the HKs at 0 decibels (12 o'clock), if I need more volume I take more speakers. You will be able to tell from the signal lights on the back of the top cab (presuming it's a DX) whether the signal is running too hot in to the speakers - what you really don't want is digital clipping, yuck!

[tall_phill]

I quite dislike active speakers that have uncalibrated volume controls on them. But I have two typical approaches to setting them.

 

(A) Clip togethor. Wherein the attenuator is set so that the speaker clips, or goes past a little bit of limiting at the same time as the console, or processor, or last device in the chain.

 

This typically involves running the speaker up to limit breifly, which can be quite loud and preclude its use in some circumstances.

 

(B) Functional volume. Wherein the attenuator is set so that good 'nominal' levels on the board achieve the desired volume in the space.

 

This can be more useful if the speaker is much to large or loud for the space.

 

There is no easy solution for having a speaker (system) inadequate for the task at hand though.