Digital Speaker System Controller

[Steve Mac]

I've seen a few products that seem interesting. The JBL DSC60 and the Electro-Voice DX38. I know the audiophiles don't like digital too much but it seems that putting together a vintage Altec system and using one of these controllers could take a lot of nightmare out of tweaking crossover slopes and points, EQing in ruler flat response for a particluar room and saving the settings for each environment! Does anyone here have experience in using these with their vintage gear and have impressions on the general audio quality?

[LICORNE]

Hi,

I'm looking for a 2 in 8 out for a fix vintage installation.

It beats having to buy an amp distributor, active XO
And graphic EQ. separately.

..............................................

[LICORNE]

Oops! Misread your product for JBL 260 speaker processor.

...............................................

[sguttag]

Hmmm....don't know what happened to my last reply but...

I generally only use DSP when it gets me something that good analog products don't. With a DSP product, you will have to pay an A/D and D/A hit to the audio quality and those conversions are not all created equal. But if I'm doing some parametric EQing, crossover and perhaps other processing, then yes, I will often go the DSP route. I like the RANE RPM line and often use the RPM26Z for such uses.

The RPM26Z is a 2(4) in and 6 out which is good for stereo bi-amp or tri-amp. Note, the RPM26Z as an AES input so it is possible to have 4 in 6 out if you supply your own A/D converter the 3rd and 4th channels.

To satisfy the 2-in 8-out from Rane, there is the RPM88 which is really an 8-in/8-out box.

Steve

[Old Guy]

Originally posted by Steve Guttag:
Hmmm....don't know what happened to my last reply but...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The thread was reposted an hour and something later. So now we have two copies of it running.

[LICORNE]

Hi,
Thanks for the RANE Tip . I'll have to study it carefully. I'm in no rush for it now.

.........................................

[scott fitlin]

I have and have been using a BSS-FDS-366T, 2in 6out. Its good, sounds good through my vintage Altecs, but, only if you take the time to really dial it in properly, and this may take you a bit of doing to find what really works and sounds best.

And thats the deal, if you get a GOOD digital processor, one that has good converters, you can achieve very high quality results, but, theres going to be some time invested in tweaking!

All that said, I still prefer analog processing for its warmth and fuller bass, and softer sounding midrange and top end, even though I CANT do with my analog xovers what I can with my DSP!

[Steve Mac]

Guys, a hearty thanks for responding!
I did a brief search to ferret out the
offerings for these pieces of gear, in case
others are interested...

BSS-FDS-366T $3500
JBL DSC260 $~1200 not sure
Electro-Voice DX38 $1289
Rane RPM26Z $1000
dbx DriveRack PA $500
Behringer DCX 2496 $250

Gee, it seems to me that you could pick up a
Behringer on the cheap, get the system up and
running...and then sell it to upgrade.

Features I'm looking at: a/d d/a....
eq capability...
time and phase alignment...
level balancing...
3 way crossover...actually 4 way even better...

Ya know if yer not a purist...
you can still have a little fun with audio!
Thanks again for all the help!

[Old Guy]

Don't underestimate the Behringer. I use and own BSS. I bought a Behringer to play with. Pretty darn impressive piece. The Graphic isn't bad either.

[bowtie427ss]

I too bought a DCX-2496 to "play with". After about 20-30 hrs of power up time it began to make the channel 1 output "frying bacon" sound that you can read numerous accounts of on other pro audio threads. Took over 3 months before a replacement unit was back in my hands, and that was immediately sold on ebay. I am by no means "knocking" Behringer, i have other pieces of their gear in my toybox and have no complaints. In concept the DCX-2496 is an awesome piece of gear, my experience with it, and service after the sale fell far short of awesome for any gear at any pricepoint.

A friend recently bought a BBE DS26(2 in 6 out)with similar price/performance, but few less features. I have looked at the software for it, and it's much easier to navigate than the behringer software. To date he has not installed it in a system. does anyone own one of the BBE units or have any experience with them?

I'd like to add a DSP to the toybox again, but cannot justify the expense of a dbx, kt or bss unit. I'd even consider another DCX2496, if i heard of a press release saying the company has corrected the flaw. It's my understanding that at this time it is rather difficult to find them in stock

Just my friendly 2 cents worth.