# Behringer vs. dbx



## BNBSound (Apr 8, 2005)

I've been seeing quite a lot of threads other places I post about the trade offs between the dbx DriveRack line and the Behringer DEQ2496 and DQX2496. I was just wondering if any of you had encountered them. Specifically if your a student and one of these items was your intro into digital signal processing as it applies to speaker management.


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## Peter (Apr 8, 2005)

Hey, go figure.... We just got a drive rack about a month ago! 

I have any experience with the Behringers so i dont really have anything to compare the driverack with. I must say though, the driverack was quite easy to figure out how to use. The wonderful company that is (slowly) retrofiting our brand new auditorium came in one day and pulled all our old stuff out and put this in, but left before configuring it to match up with our speakers and delay settings and room eq and all that stuff! All of a sudden I find myself in the auditorium with about 2 hours until a show with a new peice of hardware to configure. Lucky for me I was able to skim the manual really quickly and figure out the basics enough to get everything working decently. Since then I have done alot of messing with the eq and abit more experimenting. 

The one thing that I have not figured out is it has two inputs (sterio outs from our mixer in my case) yet once in a while we'll move the mixer down the front of the stage and run the output up one mic chanel into the booth. We then can plug this mic channel into the back of the drive rack (instead of it going into the mixer then the mixer to the driverack) The only problem is when we do this our signal is mono (panned hard to one side) coming into the driverack and so it only wants to go out the 3 corrisponding side outputs (leaving 3 of the six speakers just sitting there) It seems to me there should be a way to ajust this, but i havent been able to find it! 

It also seems like a kinda weird device in the way it lets you select between all these different speakers and setups, i guess it would be more useful if you were going from venue to venue with a different speaker setup at each, for us that aspect of it is bascily set it and forget it (other then case talked about above)


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## Mayhem (Apr 8, 2005)

The first thing that comes to my mind is that the mic lead in unbalanced or damaged. Worth a check as if I have read your post correctly, the only difference between the setups is the mic lead.


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## BNBSound (Apr 8, 2005)

It's not the cable, you just need to internally re-patch the DriveRack. You can mono the one input through to the other set of outputs. Actually, you can do just about anything you want with it. Once you find a patch configuration that works for the alternate situation, just save it in the next preset under "Remote" or something and at the push of a button you're up an runningn again.


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## Peter (Apr 8, 2005)

ya, I dont think it has anything to do with the cable eather. I agree that it's probably some internal software settings for it, but I just have not been able to find how exactly... If anyone has some ideas I'd be willing to try them. If anyone has ideas before monday, I think we are going to be doing this remote setup for a talent show monday and tuesday.


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## BackEMF (Apr 9, 2005)

What you are experiencing is not a cable problem. What is happening, is that it appears you are driving only one side of a "stereo" system.

What model Driverack is it? If it is a 48*, 442, or a 260 you can use the input mixer function to split the signal internally. If it is the Driverack PA, I'm not sure if it has the input mixer function as I have never encountered this unit. 

You can also use a "y"-cable to split the line from the stage to both left and right inputs. This is probably the best option until you become more familiar with the unit.

If you post the specifics of your system, I could probably be of more help.


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## Peter (Apr 10, 2005)

ya, we dont have a y cable, and dont have any budget for one (or even the parts to make one our selves) I'll try to grab the model number on monday but I'll be running a talent show rehersal and that is bound to be caos. I think off the top of my head it is a 260, and it does seem right that there would be an internal way of doing it.


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## Peter (Apr 12, 2005)

Yes, it is a 260 series... i am sitting here playing with it right now... so if anyone has any ideas I'll be in the theator w/ my laptop for the next few minutes!


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## BackEMF (Apr 13, 2005)

Ok, if it's a 260 it's pretty easy to setup the input mixer. Since you mentioned a laptop I'm going to assume you're using Driveware. 

Go online with Driveware, while you're online, bring up the device window (just double click on the 260 icon). You should see a graphical representation of the 260. In signal flow diagram, there should be two "M" icons on the left hand side. These represent your inputs. Double click on one, set both input faders (the two on the left) to unity. Repeat for the other input, and then save as a new preset. 

That's all there is to it , both inputs will feed both sets of outputs. If I have ASSumed incorrectly, and you are not using Driveware, post back and I can walk you through the process using the front panel control.


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## Peter (Apr 14, 2005)

nope, i dont have any computer software for the driverack :-( 

However, I do think i get what you are getting at. I never thought of flipping the settings like that! Silly me... I was just looking for a "mono" button or something like that. (searching the online manual for "mono" doesnt even yeald any useful results, but i guess i was just looking the wrong way for it!) 

I am home now, but if my memory serves me right, i should be able to get to a similar menu by using the I/O button on the front of the rack. I'll try to find time tomorow to figure this out! 

About the computer interface, what do i need to do it and how hard is it? Is it really worth the effort? We dont have a computer to spare to keep it running during a show b/c the only computer we have gets used for sound effects. What exactly does the computer interface give you? thanks for the info!


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## BNBSound (Apr 14, 2005)

Funny that this should come up. I was under the gun in Nashville this weekend to get a system (not mine) up and running for a guest engineer and he was really unhappy becuase his spatial effects were useless on a mono system. It took me and another guy (not the guest engineer, too old school for DriveRacks, "Just figure it out kid, we got plenty of time... not!") Anyway, I would have been in a lot better shape if I had read this thread.


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## Peter (Apr 15, 2005)

YAYAYAY!!! I was able to find a few minutes to mess around with it today and changing those input levels effectivly turned it into a mono setup!!! yay! thank you very much!! (the bad thing was I found something really weird and messed up with our line ins on sound board, but that's for another time and thread)

If anyone has input on the computer side of the driverack, i'd still be interested in hearing about it! thanks!


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## BackEMF (Apr 16, 2005)

Driveware is the GUI (Graphical User Interface) for the dbx Driveracks. The software is free to download from http://www.driverack.com/software.htm, and should have been included with your 260. Basically it allows you to control the driverack from a PC, which is much faster and easier to navigate than the front panel controls. 

All you need is a computer with a serial (rs232) port, the software, a null modem cable (with db9 connectors) and a driverack. The null modem cable should have also been included with the driverack (it's the longer of the two).

Just connect the computer to the driverack (I believe the connector on the driverack is labed PC, but check the manual to be sure) using the null modem cable and launch Driveware. When Driveware loads, you should see an icon that looks like the 260. Double click on that icon and have fun.  

The Driveware manual is also available on the driverack site, it has all the info you need and can help you troubleshoot connection issues.

Just another note, trying to get a USB to serial adapter to work is an exercise in futility. If you are using a laptop that only has USB ports and your still interested in using Driveware, get a PCMCIA serial card. 
Trust me. :wink:


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## Inaki2 (Apr 17, 2005)

Driverack rules. They are awesome, especially for what they cost. Love 'em
Go to Newegg.com and do a search for "USB Serial" tons of adapters.


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## Peter (Apr 17, 2005)

Hmmmm ya.... you HAVE to love these companies that install everything in our auditorium.... they left us a photocopy of the manual and no cables or software.... I'll have to see if I get someone from the school to bug them for the cable at least! (I dont really mind the manual... one of the first things I did when I found out we had a new piece of equipment was jump online and download the manual in pdf format!) If I can get my hands on one of the cables I'll have to try it out. Thanks for all your help! now.... does anyone else have comments on the pros and cons of the two brands here?


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## Inaki2 (Apr 17, 2005)

I'm not a big fan of Behringer in particular. Good cheap stuff, but not for professional applications.
The driverack is good but being a lower cost processor has certain limitations. For example the Q is not infinitely variable, but will "skip" from a setting to another. I like the screen in the 480, wins hands down over the Klark Teknik processors I use that has a 2 line LCD screen.
Best system I've used so far, and I would buy one if I could afford it is the Lake Contour. Still, very very professional stuff.


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