The Doctor's Corner

Having given the PA 101 lecture 1.2 million times, still a necessary class for every aspiring sound man and every club playing musician sooner or later gets thrown into being the mix man, the basic questions are always the same. How do I hook up all this stuff? EQ to compressor to crossover? What kind of cables do I use? Where do I set these knobs? What does a RTA do? I guess the only stupid question is the one that you didn't ask before you let the smoke out of that piece of gear....

Dbx's latest Drive Rack PA + allows the user to have a compressor, parametric eq, third octave eq, crossover, sub-harmonic processor, RTA and feedback eliminator all in one rack space, already hooked up in the proper order. Gee, I just lost a lot of balanced cable sales. But, we're talking less confusion, less noise, less rack space and plenty of buttons for that texting happy generation. For those of you who are familiar with the older Drive Rack PA the new PA+ has a USB port for updates, power on/off mute, full time RTA and front panel mutes for each band. For those of you not in this century, put down that quill pen and let's roll through the features quickly.

If you are a novice you can start with the "set up wizard"- pick your speakers, pick the amps and the Drive Rack takes over from there. It will set your crossover and compressor settings for you. Move on to the "auto-level" and "auto-eq" wizards to set the levels of the speakers and real time analyze your system to get a flat starting point. Have an old school rig? Pick your amps, manually set the crossover points and let the "auto-eq" wizard RTA go from there. Now that we have a flat system we can "play" a little. Want to overlap the bass and mid cab crossover points like many reggae sound men do (with two crossovers the old analog way)? No problem, set the points and check it out. Dial in a bit of sub harmonic processing and enjoy the ride. Take different rigs out for different size jobs? No problem, save each set up as a preset and name them so it is simple. Play the same circuit? Great, once you get that club tweaked just hit save and name the setting. We just cut the basic club rack down to this, a quad gate, and some monitor eq's. No more scratchy eq faders, noisy crossover pots, miss-punched "x10" switches and racks full of spaghetti.

All these features under $500. The digital progression just makes too much sense. Treasure that analog board because sooner or later all those knobs will just cost too much. If you are intimidated by the new technology you just need a shopping experience at Alpha Music. We will help you set up the Drive Rack for your particular system and go over each feature. Yes, you should read the manual and yes, you will always have at least one other question once you dive in but we are here ready to help! Cleaner, louder, smaller and lighter- where were all these things when I started? OK, cut the Paleolithic Era jokes....

The choice has confused many customers for years now- should I buy an amp and passive speakers or get a powered speaker? There are benefits to both and a few pitfalls that trap many who are not given the proper advice. Powered speakers are nothing new but it has taken many years before they became accepted in a market that has always done it "the old way." Many consumers do not understand the proper amp requirements for the passive speaker route and you can walk into too many clubs, weddings, etc., and hear the distortion, watch the amp clip lights glow bright enough to read by, and just feel for the poor speaker valiantly trying on its way to the recone pile. The one variable that has been taken out of the powered speaker equation is the amp/speaker mismatch. The manufacturer has determined the proper operating headroom of the components and placed an amplifier that is sufficient to properly power them in the box. No more looking at RMS, Peak Power, Program Power and the like on the cabinet and then trying to figure out which amp to buy.

Original powered speakers took on a hefty weight toll and that presented problems for the PA on the stick users. Now that we have the benefit of lighter magnet structures and lighter power amps the gap has narrowed on the weight issue. This means we can eliminate one piece that had to be wired into the chain and carried around in another rack- the power amp. Less cables and connections. Most manufacturers have also included crossover functions so if you add a sub you don't need another piece of gear- the active crossover. Now we are getting somewhere. Set up the top boxes full range for the small gigs, add a couple of subs and flip a few switches for the bigger gigs. No more panic calls with active crossover newbies- " I got no mids, this thing is supposed to be in the three way mono mode, right?" or the "the bass sounds funny, what is this x10 switch?" Since almost every powered top is a bi-amped unit you have also eliminated the coloring of the passive network. Technology marches on.

What are my new choices? The same familiar names- the JBL Eon, Mackie SRM, Yorkville Sound Elite, QSC HPR and now the newest heavy-weight contender (can a light-weight speaker be a heavy-weight contender?) the QSC K Series. Did you say K Series? They are in stock- 1000 watt 8, 10 and 12" powered speakers with the QSC quality and warranty. The new K Series has a built in mixer section allowing you to blend a mic/line with another line or dual RCA input. Switches provide a flat, extended bass, no bass and high frequency boost. How simple is that? Dual pole mounting angles allow you to play to the short wall without reflecting unwanted high end off the ceiling. For those of you who want to permanently install them, the K's feature a remote turn on/off jack and fly points. The K's are very small but don't let that fool you. You can hit them hard and they really put it out. Thinking about a new floor wedge? They will do that too. If you are a old rock-n-roller looking to scale down but not sell out, a fresh face trying to move up from that no-name beginner stuff, or simply looking to simplify your set up you should stop by and listen to all the powered speakers and discuss your particular needs. Since Alpha Music is an authorized dealer and stocks them all we can quickly narrow down the options via an objective listening test and a few questions about where you are going. More options intelligently applied results in a finished product that really suits your situation. Note that I said intelligently applied- there are really no excuses for bad sound these days. "We have the technology, we can make him better", (I just dated myself hard with that line).

"Well, line arrays for the super wealthy, right?" EAW is about to change your mind with the new JFL210. This double 10" with a 1.4" exit high is an awesome sounding box, small and only weighs 52 pounds. "Yes, but it costs $1 million each and I can't even trade my house for a set of four." Not by a long shot. I'll get to the price but first, let's get quick line array introduction.

"Every job needs a line array." That would be as accurate as saying the only tool you need is a hammer. Line arrays can provide wide horizontal coverage, such as the new JFL210 at 110 degrees. Playing to the short wall and running out of coverage just got to be less of an issue. Also, set up properly we get more even front to back coverage that physics rules out of the conventional wall of stuff approach. "But why do I need at least two boxes per side?" There are two major reasons. The first is that for a line array to function properly (I'll skip all the theory here so you don't glaze out on me) you need an array. One box does not an array make. The second will make instant sense- the vertical coverage is 15 degrees. The system you are probably using now has horns with a 90x40 pattern. It doesn't take the much maligned rocket scientist to know that getting similar front to back coverage with 15 degree boxes is going to take at least two.

For the club gig, instead of dragging in the 175 pound double 15" plus 2" and stacking it up to get the proper height, how about carrying one top in each hand off the truck, clip them together with integral hardware and pole mount them on the sub. That is a lot easier on the back and the sound is amazing. Apply the proper power and turn it up. Everyone is always stunned by the sonic quality and the size. The truck pack is easier, lighter and the site lines are cleaner. What is not to like? For the permanent install, flybars are available or they can be ground stacked. Coming soon is the matching sub. Small with a hefty punch.

Now to the factor of price. They are $2325 retail (of course we discount them, if I sold stuff at retail I would have retired in the 80's) but just for comparison the JBL SRX725 is $2229. We will eventually spend more money setting up a four box array as opposed to two old school 2-15" boxes but we have far more room in the truck, better sight lines, easier cabinets to manage, and a great sounding rig. A new tool has appeared in the world of ever better and smaller rigs and it might be just the tool you require. Stop by or drop us a line and we would be glad to discuss your live sound needs or crank up the software and look at your permanent install. Keep tuned in- the doctor returns again soon.

The Allen & Heath iLive system has four control surface options and the iDR-64 rack mounted modular mixing system which provides Ethernet connections to your fully assignable input and output strips. "What did he say?" OK, for you digitally challenged, we have four different main frame consoles and the ability to have inputs and outputs on the console itself as well as inputs and outputs down an Ethernet cable to your rack mounted brain- simplest translation, digital snake (but really much more). We now have a console with a gate, four band parametric, compressor and limiter per channel plus compressor, limiter, parametric and 31 band graphic on each aux, group and main output. Calculate that many outboard pieces (and their rack space) and you quickly see where a digital console starts to seem really friendly, especially since it will remember everything and has motorized faders.

"Yea, but I want my knobs." Well, hit "select" on any channel and you instantly have real knobs for input trim and the four band parametric even on the smallest iLive-80 control surface. Select also calls up that channel on the touch screen and you can quickly proceed from there. Need fast access to your "pet" function? Set up one of the soft keys. Did I mention the routing and surface set up? Well you can virtually put anything anywhere. "Yea, but it's fourteen menus down." No, just hit "surface" just below the touch screen, select what input you want on the first fader and carry on! Where do you want your outputs? Touch "outputs" right below the touch screen and select an output strip from either the console or the remote rack, give it a function (main, aux, sub, etc.) and hit "apply." Want quick access to the 31 band on the house? Hit fader flip and the faders become the EQ sliders! Want quick recognition on which channels are inputs, mains, returns, etc.? Color code each with a different color! That is a neat trick.

Of course we have built in effects with the tap delay and great sounding reverbs so is there any reason we really need an outboard rack? Small footprint, easy to use, Allen & Heath quality. If you want to see how the industry is changing drop by Alpha Music. Did I forget about the EAW? No, that is just a tease for the next installment....