I agree, but the DC ONE does so much more than " Auto EQ a room ". And if you run EV speakers, it really is the way to go. Actually last week at a middle school gig , a pair of my Single 18 EV Tour X subs died out on me, which is confusing because we've only owned that particular pair for about 6 months, and with the quality of EV i wouldn't expect this to happen. Well, after speaking with some of the people at EV it sounds like the digital crossover i was using may have been not crossing over at the correct frequencies for the setup, because everything else i was using was EV except a Tannoy digital crossover. I use EV mics, Amps, and speakers. So that is what prompted me to buy a second DC One, to run with this second rig because that will avoid this problem in the future, so hopefully i'll get that in about the same time the subs get back from the shop. Thanks EV for continuing to make great products, even though my subs did fail, this is a first, and i've been an EV customer for 10 years.
Ok I am confused!
1. Your Tannoy Crossover stopped working?
2. Your EV subs fried a basket?
3. The amps driving your subs went into protect mode?
The vast majority of crossovers have adjustable frequencies and adjustable gains for each frequency set as well! Most every amp on the ,arket has some form of overdrive (clip) protection!
Did you lose your subs or did the protection mode of the amps simply drop the level of output?
A driver regardless of size has a given frequency range in which it has optimal performance and a given power handling capability, an amp has a given given frequency range in which it has optimal performance and a given power output range when these two are exceeded together then you run into the possibility of destruction of the driver. A sub driver can be given a full range signal at full power and the only significant difference will be a muddy mess for sound! unless it simply doesn't have the ability to handle frwquencies below a given level of say 40 hertz and you are giving it a steady diet of 20 hertz input.
Most crossovers have a 30 or 40 hertz filter to stop this from happening it is a matter of pushing a button. Now unless you were running a sudo sub using 12 inch drivers or smaller there really is no reason that you should have had a problem with driver destruction! Which is something several of us here have been trying to stress that anything smaller than 15" for subs simply isn't a sub to begin with, they do make an excellent lower mid driver and are best used for 80 hertz and up!
Ultimately the best protection for a system is not a limiter or a magic cure all box, what is the best protection is the operator knowing the gear and it's capabilities he/she is using making the proper adjustments for the best sound in each venue and constant vigilance in monitoring what is going on during a performance! The operators ear detects distortion in the subs and reduces the output, thereby correcting the lower frequencies on the mixer or outboard EQ.
Even with subs designed to handle frequenies down to 12 hertz, I have seen DJs come in and smily face an EQ and destroy the subs in one night, I walk into the club I used to maintain a system for one night and the only thing I could hear when I walked through the door was the voice coils on the 18" subs slapping the back plates, I ran up to the booth and the DJ had opened the amp cabinet smiley faced the main EQ and simley faced the board EQ and was in total oblivion as to what he was doing! I took the key to the amp cabinet away from the club manager and disabled the board EQ so that would never happen again! The system being used was 8 Bagend 18" with the ELF system processor and 8 15" JBL 2 ways. Some DJs will find a way to destry any system they use!
BTW: that particular DJ never finished the night and was never allowed to work in that club again!
I guess my whole point is even with the best processor in the world if you don't know the gear you are working with you can still destroy it, if you do know the gear then that processor is not really needed!
