Active Line Arrays

[Sungmin Eric Kim]

Hello,

 

I've recently been looking at buying a new line array for our company, I have always been a fan of active PA speakers (due to less cabling etc.) however I have come across people who automatically class us as 'less professional' for going down the active route.

 

Does anyone have any opinions or thoughts about using an active line array, I am currently looking at the dB Technologies and FBT Mitus flown line array series.

 

 

Any input or comments appreciated!

 

Thanks

[pete10uk]

Not sure about line arrays as there no in my scope but for using active speakers I wouldn't call you less professional, just brave.

I've never liked the idea of active as I have always liked to see the amps and have direct access to the gains. I know in a perfect world all your setup would be done during setup and rehearsal but a number of my gigs don't allow for any kind of real rehearsal / test. Literally plug and play. I recall once siting the amps back stage and that proved to be a mistake, I knew all I had to do was turn the gain down but I didn't get chance untill the unscheduled pause while the amps came out of protect.

 

That said and lesson learned, I'm now playing with the idea of an active system.

[Simon Lewis]

I don't think that Meyer Sound users are thought of as 'less professional'?

 

That said, there are perhaps some things that would be done to help alleviate potential problems - e.g. power dist that allows individual units to be shut down; weather protection; protection against vibration etc.

 

 

We run a dBTech system, and for the money it performs well. There are times when I wish we had a traditional set of amps and speakers, but other times the flexibility of being able to add another unit without worrying about amp loads etc. is very useful indeed....

[Stuart91]

I looked at FBT but bought dB Technologies.

 

One thing I disliked about the FBT system was how hot the heatsink was on the back of the cabinet I saw. The box was sitting doing literally nothing on a show floor, and the heatsink was uncomfortably hot to touch. I dread to think what it would be like after a long EDM thrashing.

 

It's certainly nice to not have to think about space for amp racks in the van pack, and I've generally been very happy with what is our first substantial active system.

[timsabre]

I've never liked the idea of active as I have always liked to see the amps and have direct access to the gains... I knew all I had to do was turn the gain down but I didn't get chance untill the unscheduled pause while the amps came out of protect

 

The knobs on an amp aren't gain, they just turn the signal down from what you are sending. So turning the output of the mixer down is exactly the same. If you need to turn the amp down there is something wrong with gain settings further back up the signal path.

[csg]

my only comment on this would be to say that I'm always surprised when people cite " active systems require less cable" as surely they require more, i.e. mains an signal rather than speaker cable alone?

 

Sure, active speakers can be very handy, but for "local" applications like shout boxes, DJ monitors etc etc. Separate racks and stacks for me generally.

[benniferj]

Most high end active line arrays are including some DSP and remote controllability... access to a system processor just like you'd have in a rack. I also find that the amps and DSP are normally matched very accurately to the array itself as it is designed for its purpose 100% rather than a generic amp rack with whatever processor setting you need.

 

A great example would be RCF TT which includes RDnet over all boxes - adjust gain, delay and phase remotely via a laptop.

 

I'd certainly recommend the rain jackets if you're using them outdoors in the UK though.

[pjb304]

I'm always surprised when people cite " active systems require less cable" as surely they require more,

 

Maybe they mean less types of cable, as you can dispense with carrying stocks of speaker cable. But I agree in my experience active systems require more cables.

[ferretwrangler]

We have a large quantity of the db technologies DVA range and I can wholeheartedly say it bang for buck is pretty much unparalleled. It has served us well for a number of years in a massive variety of venues and configurations. Overall it has performed admirably and given its cost has been a very sound investment.

[cedd]

We have a large quantity of the db technologies DVA range and I can wholeheartedly say it bang for buck is pretty much unparalleled. It has served us well for a number of years in a massive variety of venues and configurations. Overall it has performed admirably and given its cost has been a very sound investment.

Seconded! (Though I'm also a very happy RCF TT owner and user) I mixed on a DVA rig last year for a 2 week panto run and it was an absolute pleasure from beginning to end. It has link-through powercons so with a simple distro on the back of the array you could quite happily feed the whole array from a single 32A single (depending on array size obviously!). If you've got on board processing then it could potentially just be an XLR and Cat5 to each array.

[Big Dave]

One of the biggest consideration when choosing a powered or non powered array is system weight. The moment you add amps and processing into a box they get heavy and depending on the type of work you have for them and where you are going to use them, you may end up not being able to get enough boxes in the array for the required coverage due to load restrictions.

[Stuart91]

One of the biggest consideration when choosing a powered or non powered array is system weight. The moment you add amps and processing into a box they get heavy

 

That's a fair point, but with switch mode amps and other advancements this is far less of an issue than it used to be.

 

To take one example, the dB MiniDVA top cabinets come in pairs, with an amplifier in one cabinet that powers both. The difference in weight is 500g.

 

The other beautiful thing about active cabs is that the total weight is less than separate amp racks. You lose much of the casing of the amplifier, since it's just a raw module inside the speaker enclosure, and the weight of the amp rack itself. Very handy from a payload / transport point of view.