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Drive Your PA To A Whole New Level!
With the DriveRack PA, dbx has brought big-time touring
technology to any band that wants to improve their sound in a
one rack-space box that costs no more than a good equalizer. The
DriveRack PA combines a 28-band graphic EQ, a Real Time
Analyzer, a subharmonic synthesizer (for fattening up the bottom
end), a compressor, an active crossover with parametric EQ, and
automatic feedback suppression. It also has a limiter and
speaker alignment delay on each output. The result is pro-level
loudspeaker management specifications in an easy-to-operate,
budget-conscious package. In other words, state-of-the-art
signal processing with a simple and intuitive user interface.
Drive Rack PA at a Glance:
- A complete PA-system speaker managment system - an FOH
engineer in a box.
- Linkable 28-Band Graphic equalizer, real time Analyzer,
and auto EQ.
- Automatic feedback eliminator and EQ for immediate sound
improvement.
- 120A Subharmonic Synthesizer, crossovers, parametric EQs,
and Peak Plus limiters and alignment delay.
- Industry-standard dbx stereo compressor.
FOH Engineer in a Box
DriveRack PA can be not only your first upgrade to a simple
P.A., but also a unit that can grow with your system as you
expand it. Any band or performer who wrangles a portable sound
system around without help from an engineer will appreciate both
the audible improvements brought by the dbx Drive Rack PA. The
Auto EQ and AFS functions can immediately benefit performers
with modest P.A. systems who can't employ an engineer or spend a
few years becoming one. The unit's setup wizards greatly
simplify the process of getting up and running. When you're
ready to delve into the dbx DriveRack PA's deepest functions in
order to get the most out of its no-compromise design, you'll
find that having such a rich feature set means that as your
system grows, the DriveRack PA can grow with it.
RTA, Auto EQ and Feedback Elimination
The Auto EQ function is one of the key features that the
DriveRack PA offers for customizing a P.A. to match the acoustic
response of a specific venue. It has a pink-noise generator and
Real Time Analyzer to adjust system response using the 28-band
graphic EQ. A flat-response omnidirectional mic acts as the RTAs
"ear." Dbx makes an inexpensive condenser mic, the RTA-M to use
with the DriveRack PA.
The Auto EQ works impressively. The RTA requires a minimum
sound-pressure level (SPL) at the mic to do its thing. It
prompts you to raise it to "performance level," which means that
it helps to have a rough idea of how loud a performance will be.
There are three levels of precision. Even at the lower settings,
the Auto EQ is very effective. For instance, we patched two
DriveRack PAs into a theater installation, where the left and
right clusters were Cerwin-Vega and the center cluster was JBL.
The Auto EQ matched the sound of the two systems better than
anyone had previously managed by ear, and the speakers also
sounded quite good. Indeed, we needed to make no other
adjustments to the system EQ during that show.
The Advanced Feedback Suppressor is as good as any that we've
tried. If you set the DriveRack PA's AFS at sound check it can
be quite useful, particularly if your band has no soundperson to
keep an ear on things. The combination of Auto EQ and AFS can
tune your system very effectively.
Audio Flexibility
Then, when you decide to expand your system - lets say you add
subwoofers - the crossovers, delays, and parametric EQ in the
DriveRack PA are ready to help you easily integrate your new
additions. In fact, the unit's software includes setup Wizards
to take the trauma out of tuning biamped or triamped speaker
systems. For the more technically inclined, there's also
compression and a subharmonic synthesizer on board to allow
further audio flexibility.
The crossover has several filter configurations and accommodates
biamped and triamped speaker systems, including mono or stereo
subwoofers. Properly tweaking the crossover and each output's
parametric EQ should bring a biamped or triamped speaker system
very nearly flat, leaving the graphic EQ free to handle
environmental and creative EQ concerns. Each output can be
delayed up to 10 milliseconds to align the drivers in time.
Industry-standard dbx stereo compressor
The compressor, which goes across your entire mix, features both
hard-knee compression and ten levels of Over Easy compression.
(With the latter, compression starts below the threshold, and
the ratio increases as the threshold is approached.) The
compression sounds very good when properly applied. Dialing in a
2:1 compression ratio and about 5dB of gain reduction will add a
musical fatness your sound. There are also indiviDual
peak-limiter modules for speaker protection before each of
DriveRack PA's six outputs.
Drive Rack PA Features:
- Stereo Feedback Elimination with 12 feedback notch
filters
- Dual 28-band Graphic EQ
- Classic dbx Compressor
- 120A Sub-harmonic Synthesizer
- 2x3, 2x4, 2x5, 2x6 Crossover Configurations
- Stereo Multi-band Parametric EQ
- Stereo Output Limiters
- Alignment Delay
- Pink Noise Generator
- Auto-EQ with 28-Band RTA
- JBL Speaker and Crown Power Amp Tunings with Setup
Wizard
- 25 User Programs / 25 Factory Programs
- 2 Channel XLR Input and 6 Channel XLR Output
- Front panel RTA-M XLR input with phantom power
- 24-Bit ADC/24-Bit DAC, >110 dB Dynamic Range
- TypeIV Conversion System
- Full Graphic LCD Display
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