You didn't read a lot about pro audio in 2009 apparently.The line array was just as dominant then.Originally Posted by LICORNE
As far as it dominating a few years it has not come close to the multicell's long reign.Something better will replace it.
The line array is plain and simple, easy to set up.
I have no idea why you feel it is the "end all" technology, and see no reason why you resurrected this.
Your neighbors called. They like your music.
Wednesday I was at Soundcheck in Nashville to hear some small Meyer line arrays. Very impressive. The Mina does well for its size, the M'elodie is amazing. Great coverage, Hi-Fi sound. You just want to play all day. I've not been a line array fan, but the M'elodie could change my mind. We have the Mica, but I don't think it sounds as good.
I din't hear those new models. By the looks of the high frequency section :that GPA could easily apply: they have made some progress.
Simple but efficient.
Last edited by LICORNE; May 13th, 2012 at 02:17 PM.
Those M'elodie LA units are impressive. Check out the spec sheet on those things. The sound intensity plots on page 3 are quite interesting...integrated amplifiers and smart crossovers (e.g., at 320, one of the two mid/LF drivers turns off to avoid interference), very compact and huge output.
I remember seeing a Rush show not too long ago at an outdoor venue in Norfolk. They were using Clair Bros LA units, I think. The sound was incredibly tight at the low and high ends; I thought the mids could have been a lot better though.
- Mike
here is how to back load a front loaded horn -
Last edited by tomt; May 14th, 2012 at 08:42 PM. Reason: 1770
guns kill people,
like spoons made rush limbaugh,
fat ....
Early model of the "Earthquake" system?
Or is that possibly a "bum" horn?
Your neighbors called. They like your music.
That is a one-note trumpet trumpet. The kids in that town must have fun with it.
Opinion is only as valid as its verifiable supporting evidence.
She didn't give us a Harumph!!!!!!!
Found an interesting post by Rodd Elliot. This is the opinion of a person with REAL engineering knowledge, not just an operator..pretty similar to my position...without the DSP advances line arrays would have serious issue. And they are NOT new, as evidenced by the political conventions of 4 and 8 years ago. I'm just offended by those who glorify them...those people are of the "me too" variety. In reality they are awful systems requiring lots of power and many acoustical band aids applied.
A system that sucks power and requires massive EQ is just a bad design, sorry. My opinion on that is written in stone.
"I'm not silly enough to try to predict what will be next. There are a few people in professional sound who (like me) dislike line arrays and hanker for the PA systems of old, but with a bit more applied science. However, it is very doubtful that we'll see a resurgence of horn-loaded speakers, simply because of their size and weight. There are a few around - new designs with fully horn-loaded drivers still exist and are being manufactured, but these seem to be limited to midrange and the top end. Other than the products from a few experimenters, there are few horn loaded bass cabinets any more. Ample power and bass drivers with huge excursions mean that bass can be delivered by much smaller cabinets than before, but with the ever-present risk of driver failure. This is unlikely to change.
There is a growing trend to use microprocessors (or at least microcontrollers), DSP based systems, and surface-mount components in audio equipment, and these systems are generally impossible to service by traditional means. If a circuit board develops a fault, then the entire board is replaced, and when spare boards are no longer available, you throw the equipment away. This is already happening, but expect it to get worse. While this is a little off-topic I suppose, it is an important consideration - especially for pro-audio gear that's expected to last a long time. In addition, Class-D (PWM) amplifiers are now becoming mainstream. These are capable of extraordinary power outputs with very little heat - the limiting factor is the mains outlets!
Since it's unlikely that buyers will start selecting speaker drivers based primarily on efficiency, we can expect that ever more powerful amplifiers will be unleashed on the poor unsuspecting loudspeakers in systems, loudspeaker manufacturers will desperately try to satisfy the buyers' lust for power (most buyers will continue to ignore efficiency just as they do now), and we'll see more of the same for some time.
We already have loudspeakers that are "protected" by means of internal series filament lamps [5], and these can provide us with at least 10dB of power compression - perhaps more. The punters are happy though, because "this 160mm speaker can handle 175W". Few seem to have noticed that after around 25W, it doesn't get any louder, but if they looked inside they'd see the light .
One thing I'd really like to do is take the limiters off some systems, and jam them up the sound engineer's backside. Often, everything is compressed to within an inch of its life, so a solo acoustic guitar is just as loud as the band at full tilt. NO! Music is not like that. It has (or should have) loud bits, soft bits and everything in between. The same is done with CDs and broadcast FM (forget DAB - that's worse than MP3). Compression is even worse when the system is still driven into distortion!
Conclusions
It's difficult to make any absolute conclusions with such a disparate range of topics, but there are some things that are very obvious. One of these is the myth of power handling and the general inattention paid to cone excursion. These two have seen the demise of countless loudspeaker drivers over the years, and will undoubtedly continue to do so. At the very least, all tuned boxes and horn systems require the use of a high pass filter to remove programme content below the lowest frequency that can be handled by the loudspeaker/enclosure combination. Where amplifier "headroom" is provided (by using bigger amps than needed), even greater attention must be paid to ensuring that voicecoil dissipation and cone excursion are kept within safe limits at all times.
Using peak limiting is perfectly alright, provided the limiters are set up to maintain at least some dynamic range. This means a fast attack and relatively slow decay - preferably a few seconds if possible. This maintains an acceptable peak-to-average ratio, makes the music sound more alive, and gives loudspeaker drivers some hope of long-term survival.
Issues like lobing will forever be a problem with high power sound systems. Since there is no way to generate the sound power needed with single drivers, multiple drivers are simply a fact of life. With multiple drivers comes lobing (no extra charge ). The effects can never be eliminated, but they can be minimised by careful speaker placement.
High distortion is easily produced in the throat of a horn with a compression driver. There is only one answer to this, and that's to keep the power levels low, and use multiple drivers and horns to achieve the required result. It is also necessary to select the optimum system based on your needs, and this can involve a great deal of research. So much of the data you find is either erroneous or simply leaves out the very information you need to make an informed choice. Without knowledge, you are at the mercy of every snake-oil merchant in the business.
It's important for anyone choosing a system to avoid deciding on something based on its (apparent) popularity elsewhere. Elsewhere does not have the same venues that you do, and apparent popularity is just that - apparent. Anyone can write glowing testimonials and place them on their website. Unless you can speak to the actual people who wrote the testimonials, they are meaningless. Also, be wary of people who post in newsgroups and forum sites. While they often seem to be unbiased, you'll find that some have a vested interest in a particular brand, but may "forget" to disclose this.
It's undoubtedly been noticed that I have a preference for the highest possible efficiency in a system. I know that power is cheap, and that there are drivers that seem to be able to take the claimed power. This doesn't change the fact that power compression is a very real and easily demonstrated problem. Only by keeping the power as low as practicable can you avoid the worst effects of power compression, and the side-issues that are created when drivers (and the air inside the cabinet) are allowed to become hot. '
Your neighbors called. They like your music.
> The basic working premise of the line-array is quite good & when done properly, an advance over previous designs .
> Some companies designs ( L-Acoustic, the Melodie made by Meyer , for instance ) can be exceedingly coherent & really shine when used in tough acoustical environments.
> Some of the design criteria ( for success ) ;
(1) The vertical pattern of the HF horns is made to be in the range of 0 to 5 degrees (from 1K up to @ 12K ) .
- These ultra-narrow Vertical patterns are vital to avoid any horn overlap from the stacked horns ( so as to avoid comb filtering ) .
(2) Close packing of the cone drivers is such that they are engineered to combine within their operating range.
> When properly executed, the "near-field" ( where sound drops off at 3db per doubling of distance instead of the usual 6db ) is extended ( though this "perk" is usually reserved for well designed , "large" , line-arrays ) .
> Well designed Line-Arrays don't generally rely on electronic tricks ( ie; dsp phase shading, EQ, etc. etc. ) beyond the necessary HF compensation that results from using Constant Directivety Horns .
> Sadly, there are too many "me-too" arrays out-there, that don't meet the basic definition of being well designed .
Last edited by Earl K; May 20th, 2012 at 01:07 PM.
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