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Designing a crossover for a DIY speaker project
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<blockquote data-quote="thylantyr" data-source="post: 1244253" data-attributes="member: 560358"><p>Before you buy cables figure out what you want to connect to.</p><p></p><p>What source will connect to the DCX ? The DCX back panel here;</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.behringer.com/02_products/proddetail.cfm?lang=ENG&amp;id=DCX2496&amp;type=210" target="_blank">http://www.behringer.com/02_products/proddetail.cfm?lang=ENG&amp;id=DCX2496&amp;type=210</a></p><p></p><p>Three inputs, XLR female. You need male XLR cables to plug into the inputs.</p><p></p><p>Six outputs, XLR male. You need female XLR cables to plug into the outputs.</p><p></p><p>For example;</p><p></p><p>If you used an AV receiver with RCA output, you need RCA male</p><p></p><p>to XLR male cable, two of them, one for each of the two channels.</p><p></p><p>For DCX outputs. If you use a home amplifier that accepts RCA input then</p><p></p><p>you need RCA male to XLR female cables.</p><p></p><p>If you have a pro audio amplifier that has XLR input then you need a</p><p></p><p>female XLR to male XLR cable. If your pro audio amp has 1/4" TRS {many amps</p><p></p><p>have both XLR and 1/4" inputs}, then you can use the 1/4" to XLR cable also.</p><p></p><p>Not to complicated matters, but many home amplifiers use RCA input and have</p><p></p><p>no gain controls so the output of the Behringer will be a higher voltage output</p><p></p><p>{10V world) and the home amplifier's input sensitivity is in the 2V world meaning</p><p></p><p>that the Behringer will provide a very strong signal to the home amplifier, in this</p><p></p><p>case too much gain, and your signal to noise ration will suffer. Too much hiss.</p><p></p><p>One trick to reduce output gain is to make a custom XLR to RCA cable to reduce</p><p></p><p>gain by 6dB. I have my DCX connected to a home amp and my custom cable</p><p></p><p>has a switch to select 'normal' or -6dB attenuation to get 'less hiss' when using</p><p></p><p>the home amp.</p><p></p><p><strong>my question...how much will sound quality be affected by cheaper cables?</strong></p><p></p><p>The only thing related to SQ with cables is 'extra' noise picked up by the cable</p><p></p><p>and the cable length that makes the cable act like a low pass filter. In other words, if your cable if very very long you can attenuate the high frequencies</p><p></p><p>that pass through the cable. You can do the 'math' to figure this out if you</p><p></p><p>know some parameters about the cable and equipment used. I wouldn't worry</p><p></p><p>about this if you keep your cables under 50 feet in length. Even cheap cables</p><p></p><p>are fine.</p><p></p><p><strong>as for you and your active crossover, thylantyr, i do plan on getting one </strong>//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif<strong> you have convinced me... i plan on using it permanantly for my home theatre setup (although i cant figure out how i would run a 5.1 with only 3 outputs) and i also plan on using it to design speakers and build passive crossovers...</strong></p><p></p><p>The DCX is a good development tool and you can use it permanetly as long</p><p></p><p>as you understand that it's a six output device. You can make your left/right</p><p></p><p>towers 2 way plus sub and use the DCX, you can make a 3 way tower and use</p><p></p><p>all six outputs but you won't have subwoofer output, you could use more than</p><p></p><p>one DCX for esoteric installs but if you want to do a 5.1 setup the DCX would</p><p></p><p>only be used for your two main speakers. For surrounds and center channel</p><p></p><p>you might have to make a passive crossover design for those speakers or</p><p></p><p>make your HT system more elaborate by making it all active.</p><p></p><p>Another thing to note. For best signal to noise performance of a DCX using</p><p></p><p>analog inputs, it's best to get higher voltage preamp to drive those inputs.</p><p></p><p>For example, home gear is 2V, some stuff is 1V. This will work but if you want</p><p></p><p>lower noise performance you would need to insert a dedicated analog preamp</p><p></p><p>to drive the DCX. ie,</p><p></p><p>Source {1V to 2V} -&gt; Preamp {~ 8V} -&gt; DCX analog input.</p><p></p><p>This would be ideal if you had a bigger budget. One such example would be</p><p></p><p>a Parasound Halo preamp, $800. It has XLR outputs with 8V I believe.</p><p></p><p>Before you do anything you have to figure out the master plan to see how</p><p></p><p>all the stuff interfaces to one another.</p><p></p><p>Also, set priorities on what is important to you. Is HT more important than</p><p></p><p>2 channel audio? Do you really want an active system for your two tower mains?</p><p></p><p>Do you plan to build more systems in the next few years OR do you want</p><p></p><p>to play with drivers to understand them? Is spending money on a 'test bench'</p><p></p><p>worth it or can you live with loudspeaker kits already engineered and found in</p><p></p><p>cyberspace? Do you think you will keep upgrading the sound system?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="thylantyr, post: 1244253, member: 560358"] Before you buy cables figure out what you want to connect to. What source will connect to the DCX ? The DCX back panel here; [URL="http://www.behringer.com/02_products/proddetail.cfm?lang=ENG&id=DCX2496&type=210"]http://www.behringer.com/02_products/proddetail.cfm?lang=ENG&id=DCX2496&type=210[/URL] Three inputs, XLR female. You need male XLR cables to plug into the inputs. Six outputs, XLR male. You need female XLR cables to plug into the outputs. For example; If you used an AV receiver with RCA output, you need RCA male to XLR male cable, two of them, one for each of the two channels. For DCX outputs. If you use a home amplifier that accepts RCA input then you need RCA male to XLR female cables. If you have a pro audio amplifier that has XLR input then you need a female XLR to male XLR cable. If your pro audio amp has 1/4" TRS {many amps have both XLR and 1/4" inputs}, then you can use the 1/4" to XLR cable also. Not to complicated matters, but many home amplifiers use RCA input and have no gain controls so the output of the Behringer will be a higher voltage output {10V world) and the home amplifier's input sensitivity is in the 2V world meaning that the Behringer will provide a very strong signal to the home amplifier, in this case too much gain, and your signal to noise ration will suffer. Too much hiss. One trick to reduce output gain is to make a custom XLR to RCA cable to reduce gain by 6dB. I have my DCX connected to a home amp and my custom cable has a switch to select 'normal' or -6dB attenuation to get 'less hiss' when using the home amp. [B]my question...how much will sound quality be affected by cheaper cables?[/B] The only thing related to SQ with cables is 'extra' noise picked up by the cable and the cable length that makes the cable act like a low pass filter. In other words, if your cable if very very long you can attenuate the high frequencies that pass through the cable. You can do the 'math' to figure this out if you know some parameters about the cable and equipment used. I wouldn't worry about this if you keep your cables under 50 feet in length. Even cheap cables are fine. [B]as for you and your active crossover, thylantyr, i do plan on getting one [/B][IMG]//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif[/IMG][B] you have convinced me... i plan on using it permanantly for my home theatre setup (although i cant figure out how i would run a 5.1 with only 3 outputs) and i also plan on using it to design speakers and build passive crossovers...[/B] The DCX is a good development tool and you can use it permanetly as long as you understand that it's a six output device. You can make your left/right towers 2 way plus sub and use the DCX, you can make a 3 way tower and use all six outputs but you won't have subwoofer output, you could use more than one DCX for esoteric installs but if you want to do a 5.1 setup the DCX would only be used for your two main speakers. For surrounds and center channel you might have to make a passive crossover design for those speakers or make your HT system more elaborate by making it all active. Another thing to note. For best signal to noise performance of a DCX using analog inputs, it's best to get higher voltage preamp to drive those inputs. For example, home gear is 2V, some stuff is 1V. This will work but if you want lower noise performance you would need to insert a dedicated analog preamp to drive the DCX. ie, Source {1V to 2V} -> Preamp {~ 8V} -> DCX analog input. This would be ideal if you had a bigger budget. One such example would be a Parasound Halo preamp, $800. It has XLR outputs with 8V I believe. Before you do anything you have to figure out the master plan to see how all the stuff interfaces to one another. Also, set priorities on what is important to you. Is HT more important than 2 channel audio? Do you really want an active system for your two tower mains? Do you plan to build more systems in the next few years OR do you want to play with drivers to understand them? Is spending money on a 'test bench' worth it or can you live with loudspeaker kits already engineered and found in cyberspace? Do you think you will keep upgrading the sound system? [/QUOTE]
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