Karaoke Forums

I just got a chance to use my DriveRack PA for the first time in an inside venue, our annual karaoke party at our house (24x22 living room with cathedral ceiling). I had this basic setup:

* Yamaha MG124C mixer
* Dell Inspiron with internal soundcard and CompuHost
* Shure SM58, Audix OM2, and Sennheiser Freeport mics
* Lexicon MX200 reverb (through Behr. 1502 equalizer rolling off low freqs)
* DBX Driverack PA
* Behringer EP2500 amp
* PR10 speakers, 10" tops driven mono off one channel of amp
* PR Sub, 15" subwoofer driven off one channel of amp

I did the AutoEQ wizard with the omni RTA microphone, and used the AFS (Automatic Feedback Suppression) wizard as well. I was prepared to tweak the EQ, because I have heard that the wizard only gives you a starting point.

I didn't, though, because -- WOW. It did a really good job, better than I could have done. Everyone complemented me on how good the sound was. Clear, loud enough to enjoy the vocal performances but you could still carry on a decent conversation with your next-door neighbor without shouting or talking in their ear. The bass thumped when needed but was not overbearing. Not a hint of feedback, even when I boosted the volume for the quiet singers in our bunch.

I know that pro sound guys always say that the auto EQ wizards are only a basic tool, and I am sure for a band they are. But for recorded music and karaoke, this is the best sound I ever had.

(P.S. I was looking at getting some new speakers, but after this party I am happy as I can be with my Peavey combination.)

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Wizards are designed to suit the majority of people - that's the point behind them, cater to the masses not the specialists.

No disrespect - but generally we KJs are part of "the masses". As such, the wizard worked a treat.

Glad you're happy, it's nice when technology just works right!

Nice setup.

You probably already know this, but I heard a few people complain about one problem with the Driverack PA…

like if the power cord gets bumped or something, or for any reason it gets shut off while the amp is still on, it blows the compression drivers in your speakers. I don't mean a "pop" that might blow them, I mean, they're toast.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable can elaborate.

I just thought it might be a good thing for you to be aware of on the outside chance that you weren’t.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

Yes, I heard this. I observed the pop -- though it didn't blow my speakers -- and went so far as to ship my first unit back because of it. But I posted about it here, and LondonLive, Lonman, and others convinced me it isn't that bad. I do need to wait about 30 seconds after I power my amp off before I power off my rack with the DriveRack PA if I want to avoid the pop.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Cool.

Maybe those who spoke of it were exaggerating, or speaking of another unit.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

No, it is the PA they are speaking of. Most say the rest of the DriveRack line doesn't have that trouble.

I think that possibly it could blow a compression driver with some amps and speakers -- the pop is quite loud if your amp is good sized and turned up -- like my EP2500.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

I love my EP2500. It now powers my music room PA (since I don’t mess around with live sound anymore), two PV118s and two Yamaha Clubs.

I also like your two PR10 w/Sub setup.

I use the PR15s for Karaoke, with a Yamaha powered mixer.

I did get the PR subs, but they’re now my Bass guitar cabs. I bypassed the crossovers and they work fine.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

Driverack pop will not take out drivers if gain structure is set up properly. There are numerous boosts and trims throughout the Driverack structure to insure that. But you have to get in there and set things up.

I've always loved my Driverack in bands. I'm appreciating it more for karaoke now that, after reading what others do in this forum, I've abandoned my purist attitude towards compression and taken a very aggressive approach. Currently I've got things so clamped down that it sounds like I'm ducking for a voice-over. They can scream as loud as they want and nothing comes out! The bar loves it. My ears love it.

Compression/limiting is one thing I really wish I had on my small rig, but using a powered mixer…

When I did use my bigger rig with the rack a couple times for talent shows at the small school where I teach, that limiter was sweet to have…

kids screaming into the mic, smacking it with their hands to see if it was on, got dropped a couple times…

Kids are attracted to microphones like flies to… err… moths to flame.

I manage okay with karaoke, but I do wish I had that. If I did it more, I’d figure something out, or just get the newer Yamaha mixer with the built-in compression.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

Mcky, I'm glad to hear you gave the Driverack another try. Welcome to the Driverack owners club. I'm sure after using one you know why I spoke so highly of the unit and mentioned that I wouldn't run a system with out one. The more you use it the more you will figure out some of the other benefits it offers. I've used mine for several years of trouble free operation and I expect that it will continue to perform for many more. I don't know if you run your speakers passive or not but if you aren't using the crossovers yet they are interesting to experiment with. Don't forget to set those limiters.

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

I'm now going to take my unit to my service club and try it out there. Assuming it works out as well as I expect, I am going to rededicate the BBE we are using there and buy another DriveRack PA.


I am using the crossover -- they have the PR-10 and PR Sub combo in the presets, so I used that one. WRT the limiter, I am not sure I am pushing it hard enough to use it. But I bet I will need to at our club if we keep getting crowds like we had tonight. We are having to push the volume as our crowd keeps on building -- we have the best setup in our area by a longshot, and people are really turning out.

I do thank you for helping to convince me to give it another try.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Hey mcky, I am getting my rack back from the local music place any day now, with the vocal effects, and compressor that you and Lonnie suggested. The whole setup with the equalizer, maximizer and... is enough to scare the hell out of me. So my question here is, what is this EQ Wizard, and can it help me to get my system dialed in, or at least close? Thank You.....Ron

Quite frankly I would work with what you have for right now. It is important to understand the concepts, in my opinion, before you try to get too fancy. Work with what you have to set the sound up the best you can. Read about basic mixing operation (and philosophy) here:

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.p ... 291/20010/

Don't worry if you don't understand it all to begin with. Work with your system for a few weeks then read it again. Rinse and repeat.

Once you have done that for several months, you can decide whether you want to go for the auto-EQ wizard. I waited two years, in essence, and I am glad I did.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Mix1

[youtube]Xdq7KI19MdU[/youtube]

Mix2

[youtube]YOkvCN58j4U[/youtube]

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Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

This is a decent philosophy for recording, but I find that most top people believe it to be the wrong one for live sound.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

???? I have done live sound and professionally installed sound systems for decades . Would you care to explain which procedures does not apply to live sound. Please present your arguments with engineering parameters and not as a musician or as an amateur.

Oliver Smith
BSEE ASEE Minor in computer I/O

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Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!

Ok, Kewl........I thought that possibly the EQ Wizard would make things easier for a novice, but sounds like the opposite is true. Thanks, Ron

ollie that looks really interesting...cheers darlin for posting those links xxx

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."

Yes Ollie, I agree with Vicki, that does look very interesting. I just have to wait to finish viewing it on Friday at work, since my home computer doesn't have enough internet connection speed.......Thanks for that..... Ron

I am not making an engineering argument. As I said, I believe it is a decent philosophy for recording, where noise is everything. You want to operate to reduce it at all cost.

Just ask live sound professionals what they think of "mixing at the trim pots".

Noise is not the be-all and end-all of live sound. Headroom is. And the way to achieve headroom is to get the maximum gain from the preamp section, and then to use the faders in a coordinated way to bring up volume as volume requirements increase.

That being said, I like the videos very much on balance. He gives a very good basic explanation of what a mixer is. I particularly like the part about signal routing, which I know throws some people.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.