External XO Question

@audiorusty wrote:

... Some guys may come along and recommend the Xilica XP platform, but they are no longer in production.

Oh yes they are, but now under the new ACX Audio brand name (Dutch division). The products are exactly similar to the ones named Xilica, and they’re made at the same factory.

I use the XP-3060, a great DSP both sonically and with regard to the range of filter parameters offered (a worthwhile step up from miniDSP and dbx, in both regards). Hooked up through network, settings can be made on your laptop/tablet from the listening position on-the-fly via the XConsole software.

Being DSP’s they’re not analogue and involve A/D to D/A conversion with analogue inputs only. Don’t let that hold anyone back, though - forest for the trees, as they say.

Price listing in Euro’s (incl. VAT):

XD Series Live Production Category - Fixed DSP & I/O Processors with FIR and AES
- XD 4080, provides 4 Line inputs, 8 line outputs w/ 4x8 AES/EBU digital audio over a DB-25 connector and FIR filters. €2,702

- XD 8080 XD 8080 provides 8 Line inputs, 8 Line outputs w/ 8x8 AES/EBU digital audio over a DB-25 connector and FIR filters. €3,240

XP Series Live Production Category - Fixed DSP & I/O Processors
- XP 2040 XP 2040 provides 2 Line inputs, 4 Line outputs. €1,624
- XP 3060 XP 3060 provides 3 Line inputs, 6 line outputs. €1,785
- XP 4080 XP 4080 provides 4 Line inputs, 8 line outputs. €1,988
- XP 8080 XP 8080 provides 8 Line inputs, 8 Line outputs. €2,230

Are you looking to upgrade an equalizer or an active crossover (XO)?

Per the Sanders Sound System website they appear to supply a DBX Venue360 DSP unit with their Model 10 electrostatic speaker. You will not be able to find an analog crossover that can do what the Venue360 can do. If you want to upgrade the Venue360 the only options that I am aware of would be one of the XTA DP 400 series models or the Meyer Sound, Galileo Galaxy. Some guys may come along and recommend the Xilica XP platform, but they are no longer in production.

Yeah, you'd be better off and get better sound with a miniDSP HD.

I just bought a ’better’ DBX equalizer

model 2231, 2 channel, 31 bands (1/3 octave)

there are many absolutely identical copies of it by China makers, dbx were made in Malaysia, I chose EB831EQ via amazon because the units are already in USA, not just quicker, but if a problem, return it to Amazon (probably free return)

DBX Manual Inside the box,

they have a 1231, same 31 bands, but the 2231 is a step up, adds dbx Type 3 Noise Reduction.

Rack size: 1231 is 2U, 2231 is 3U, (5-1/4" high) the extra height needed for added features (probably a taller printed circuit board). It’s surprisingly heavy compared to the Rockville unit I sent back.

An advantage of extra height is the sliders are taller (longer more precise movement). The sliders have center ’0’ detent, of course you can bypass it, use Type III NR or not, ....

I don’t need it for my space, I have a hearing test scheduled, I’m sure at 75 that they will find something. Whether I need/get a hearing aid or not, there is the option of using the equalizer without the hearing aid to ’reverse’ what they find.

High end "graphic" EQ’s are a tough thing to find today. Most were professional (like the dbx) so they were balanced. Klark Technique was well known graphic EQ manufacturer back in the UK a long time ago, considered a good sounding one. Not neutral. They are still around but no longer UK and I don’t even know if they make EQ’s anymore. Most pros got out of graphics eq’s ages ago, they all ended up being set like smiley curves- which defeated the purpose of them (correcting for room anomalies). Graphics are usually default a glorified tone control without careful measurement and moderation which was always a rarity.

Some room tuners who used measurement kept using EQs, but they used parametric EQ’s that offered much greater control. The only ones that made it to high end land were pro brands like GML or another company (favored by many room tuners) built a passive EQ called White. GML is still around and still seen in many mastering rooms and this would be the only EQ I would ever put in a high end system with a caveat: I’d need a lot of measurement to help me understand what to do with it.

Today most of the work done by EQ is really now living in DSP software, via some program that measures and adjusts EQ parametrically for you based on what a little microphone tells it. DIRAC (or something like that) is common. There is endless debate about the value of such software. I know many who hate it saying changing the direct sound based on reflections is wrong- the direct sound was never the problem. Fix the reflections with acoustics work, not electrical work that applies to everything including what isn’t broken. Then there are some who use it and say, "oh wow, better" and love it.

There is much being done via software for the next generation of "correction" using the newest technology which goes further than the single measurement point "room correction" (a misnomer because it doesn’t really correct a room, it EQ’s a room+ speaker for a single position). The next generation of DSP will focus on speaker correction and this will offer significant improvements to the speaker and the "speaker in the room" behavior. There are some companies offering solutions in this regard, we have a dealer in Northern California called Acoustic Frontiers that does this type of work.

Brad