How to properly setup the DBX DriveRack 260 speaker processor

[gordonmenninger]

wow, this seems wayyy to tedious and complicated for me... Yikes, I hope all that work is worth it in the end!

 

[jedi35]

Actually, it's already worth it, since the sound right now is quite superior to what I had before, even with the ML Exos xover. The measuring and tuning hasn't even started, so I know that I'm going to have something really special after I get comfortable with all this.

It's like this: I own an '03 Volkswagen GTI 1.8 turbo, and its a super fast, great car that handles really well as it is, stock. However, those guys who look into doing all the mods are rewarded with superior performance for all the fuss and hard work.

Adrian

 

[jedi35]

I now have a calibration mic that should have a 20 to 20 response, but I don't have an interface yet. It will plug directly into my laptop, but I know how you feel about that. It might be fun to try it anyway, until I get the interface. This mic was borrowed from the manager of a well know hifi store, and he said that they used it to calibrate their JL subs.

On Friday I brought home new surround receiver that has a mic for calibration, but it looks pretty cheap. I have much to play around with until you can get back to me.

Adrian

 

[JonFo]

if it will plug straight into the laptop, then give it a shot.

The experience of playing around with REW and measuring will be worth getting under your belt.

Yeah, the calibration mics included with receivers look cheap, but are actually pretty decent, as long as they're used with the specific brand and model receiver they came with, which will have a compensation profile built-in.

 

[jedi35]

OK. If there's anything that you want suggest concerning getting started with REW, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'll just try it out and ask questions later. Thanks.

Adrian

 

[JonFo]

There are very nice guides and tons of support for REW at hometheatershack.com

Read up on those, and ping the guys there, they respond pretty quickly.

I'll help you with how to translate the measurements of your Monoliths into settings on the 260.

Remember to take multiple measurements from multiple point and avg them before making any big decisions about EQ or volume.
At least three measurements separated by 6" to 1' based around your main listening spot.

 

[jedi35]

Alright, I'll do some reading. I guess this means that the 260 will not be doing any auto correction of the room or anything, since I'll be doing all the changes myself. Hey that's ok, as as I have you to guide me. So, is there any way to dim or turn off the display screen on the 260? It's so bright, especially during movies. Also, the input and output LEDs flash according to the signal, but they are all the way at the bottom position. Is this ok for now?

Adrian

 

[JonFo]

Yeah, those are a bunch of bright LED's. I guess they never bothered me, as they were in an equipment room.

I don't recall of a way to dim them. But I never looked for that. It might be in the manual.

If no other choice, then there are some 1U rack device 'security cover' which can dim or block it out. Such as this.
Nice side effect of keeping little fingers out.

 

[jedi35]

Actually, its not so much the LEDs, its the display screen. When the room is darkened for serious listening, I get light streaks in my eyes, since the unit is right in front of me, between the speakers. Perhaps I can work on moving the 260 to the eq rack to my right.

Is it really ok for all the LED meters to be stuck at the lowest settings? They flash with the signal, but they don't go up and down.

Adrian

 

[jedi35]

REW is now installed on the laptop. I'm not really sure what my mic is, or what calibration file to use. First, I should probably check to see if I know someone who has the Behringer ECM8000 microphone.

Adrian

 

[jedi35]

I've got a friend( the same guy who set me up with the Mclelland xover) who is willing to help me with things. He has a very nice calibration mic and a large RTA with an LED display that he used when he was over last time. He's willing to build me an audio interface if I buy the parts, and he has suggested that I look at another software program for measurements. I'll run all this by you when I get more info. Can you still make sense of things as long as we take good measurements, or is it better if I stick to the programs that you've suggested?

Adrian

 

[JonFo]

...
Is it really ok for all the LED meters to be stuck at the lowest settings? They flash with the signal, but they don't go up and down.

It might be, how loud were you playing?

They should move up into the 0 dB area when you are about at max volume, so if you are only playing at 'normal' listening levels, then they will hardly move.
But it also might indicate your input level could be a tad low.

Here's a test. Do this VERY carefully.

- Turn OFF the amps.
- Check that ALL the amps are off, even the sub
- Find a test CD with a zero dbfs signal (i.e. full volume), or some nasty pop CD with no dynamic range
- play that through the system with the preamp set for what you believe is the highest level you'd ever use.
- check the 260's input meters, they should be registering 0 dB.
- They should never light the red segment
- turn up the input gain in the DBX if levels are too low.
- you might also need to adjust (down) the output levels by a bit. But if the amps are balanced and take +4 levels, then you should be fine.

Basically, you want the input of the 260 to see as high a level as possible, without ever going into overload. Remember, it's better to be a few db down than to ever overload a A/D converter.

REW is now installed on the laptop. I'm not really sure what my mic is, or what calibration file to use. First, I should probably check to see if I know someone who has the Behringer ECM8000 microphone.

Adrian

Go ahead and try it with your mic. Don't load any cal file.
Just know that the results might not be spot on, but as I mentioned, you'll start learning the ropes of measuring and interpreting the results.

Worst case, you can spot gross anomalies.

I've got a friend( the same guy who set me up with the Mclelland xover) who is willing to help me with things. He has a very nice calibration mic and a large RTA with an LED display that he used when he was over last time. He's willing to build me an audio interface if I buy the parts, and he has suggested that I look at another software program for measurements. I'll run all this by you when I get more info. Can you still make sense of things as long as we take good measurements, or is it better if I stick to the programs that you've suggested?

Adrian

Oh, any program that is a decent measurement and analysis app works. I use several myself.
Acoustisoft R+D is one of my long-time standby's.

But I've recommended REW because its free, well supported and a decent program.

good to hear your buddy will give you a hand with that. it's always easiest to learn from someone who has done it before.

 

[jedi35]

Hi Jonathan,

A couple of buddies came over tonight, and one brought his calibration mic and RTA. They were both extremely pleased with the uncalibrated sound of my system, using the 2 x 4 config file that you created. However, when we got around to running pink noise and making adjustments in the Driveware, we somehow got out of your config file and into something else that we didn't want. Our efforts to get back to where we started have failed so far, even though I have reloaded the 2 x 4 file. Even the routing of the channels are different. I started out with the program that had the word Monolith showing in the title, and it used a 2 way xover crossed over at 120, with a bit of delay in the woofers. I bumped the woofer levels down a bit, as well as the input sensitivity. You mentioned that this startup file didn't use eq, and was a good place to begin learning the art of tuning.

It's strange, but I simply cannot get this file to load again with the same numbers and channel routings. Channels 1 and 2 were left high and low, while 4 and 5 were for the right channel. 3 and 6 were not being used in my system. I do see this routing in the Monolith 2 x 5 config, but I wasn't running 3 way yet. I'm wanting to build me way up to that. It seems logical that just reloading the 2 x 4 file should get me back where I want to be, with a couple of small adjustments. What am I missing here? in the effort to get back, the first user program was deleted, but it was already reading as something other than the Monolith program by then. Your program definitely showed me that it was for the Monoliths from the moment it loaded. The xover confirmed that it was doing 120 as well. The current 2 x 4 config file(I downloaded it again) from the first page of this thread is showing a 2 way xover at 48 Hz, intended for subs, with none of the delay that you had in there for the panel/woofer blend. I have the next couple of days off, so I have plenty of time to play....mhwahhhhh.

Thanks,
Adrian

Oh, some of the config files you posted show as .dwd files, while some are .dwp files. Only the .dwp show up as usable files when I try to load them. Can you explain this for me?

 

[JonFo]

Ah, sorry to hear, but it is a common problem we've all had using devicies like these.

There is a big important point: Remember to STORE the config regularly

When you load a profile (.dwp) file into a setting (U3 for example), it becomes the current active setting for that slot.

But you have to STORE (save) it to the preset using the little Store button on the right side of the screen (or via front panel). The Store button has a red LED that lights when teh program in memory is different than whats stored in the profile slot.

If you tweak settings, such as change the gain, the current setting are now different than the preset and to ensure you don't lose the changes, you must STORE.

Now you can STORE to the same preset (U3 in this case), or Store to another, such as U5, and have say, one preset with EQ and another without, so it's easy to switch between them to do A/B comparisons.

Always remember: Tweak, then store.

And occasionally, do a Save As with the PC UI so you have an on disk backup.

finally DWP = individual Preset profile, it's what you get when you save as when looking at a given preset.

DWD = Device profile, it's the full-on save of all custom presets and device-level config. If you reload one of these, it wipes all presets back to what's in the Device profie

 

[jedi35]

Thanks, I now understand better what I must do to save my tweaked settings. However, I still have the problem of not being able to get back to the config file settings that I started off with. When I try to download the 2x4 program that you said would be closest to what I want, it loads without the word Monolith in the title, whereas it did before. Also, the channel routings are different and other things like xover, delay, etc. It's set at 48 Hz, with no delay, and I know that the first config was just simply a 4th order 120 Hz setting with a small amount of delay on the panels. I tried to start over by deleting all downloaded files on my laptop, and grabbing the same 2x4 file from page one of this thread. It just will not load with the same settings as before. I guess Im really good at messing things up.

I did notice that the 2x5 config file had the same channel setup that I needed so I loaded it, with just the one sub on the left side. Very nice. Can you put up some 2x6 files for me to play with? I'm jumping ahead of myself but the 3way sound with the subs has such deep bass, although things need to be toned down a bit.

The files on page one that say .dwd will not load for me at all when I right click on the top window bar. I'm told that the file type is not recognized by the program. Since these files are for the entire memory of the 260, how would you load them if you needed to? It sounds like I should probably stay away from those right now, yes?

Even with the slipups that have happened, I'm still excited about learning more about the 260 and its software. I'd like to get used to things a lot better before this buddy returns. Once again, thanks Jonathan for all your sage advice and help for this newbie.

Adrian