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[Canute J. Chiverton]

If you are running a three way system (Highs,Mids & Bass) with three amps, would it be better to set the crossover points with an Electronic Crossover or the DSP integrated in the Amps, or a combination of both?

[Chris Carpenter]

If you are running a three way system (Highs,Mids & Bass) with three amps, would it be better to set the crossover points with an Electronic Crossover or the DSP integrated in the Amps, or a combination of both?

Seems like to me if you can do what you need with your built in DSPs, use them. If the outboard processors give you new or better functionality that you need, bring them along.

[Andrew Welker]

If you are running a three way system (Highs,Mids & Bass) with three amps, would it be better to set the crossover points with an Electronic Crossover or the DSP integrated in the Amps, or a combination of both?

Another thing that might be a decision factor for you is the number of A/D and D/A conversions. For instance, if your signal chain goes something like mic into a digital console (A/D), Analog out of the console into the analog in on the Electronic Crossover (assuming electronic here means digital, that's one D/A for out of the console and one A/D for into the crossover), then analog out of the crossover into the amp, which even though you aren't using it, still adds one A/D and one D/A for the onboard DSP, plus a D/A for the output of the crossover, every conversion adds a little bit of latency to the signal. Now, that may or may not be a big deal to you, but I tend to try and limit the conversions as much as possible. Ideal would be one A/D at the input of the console, and 1 D/A when the signal hits the output stage of the amplifiers.

Also, adding in the crossover gives you another gain stage to deal with, meaning a potential noise source if not set up correctly, as well as another possible point of failure.


Andrew Welker

[Tim McCulloch]

If you are running a three way system (Highs,Mids & Bass) with three amps, would it be better to set the crossover points with an Electronic Crossover or the DSP integrated in the Amps, or a combination of both?

We've moved into Crown I-Techs in a big way, and we've added some XTi in our "B" monitor rig.  Having worked with both models, I have some observations.

1- Use the same model line for all pass bands with a given speaker system.
2- Processing is different between model lines (see #1), so is i/o and processing latency.
3- Once amp processing is set up, you can re-purpose your existing processing for system EQ, zone control and drive distribution.
4- To the extent possible, do not use a combination of external crossovers with amp processing unless you have Smaart, SysTune or SIM (or equal) and are well versed in both loudspeaker processing and system optimization.

Have fun, good luck.

Tim Mc

[ProSoundWeb Community]