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Drive Your PA To A Whole New Level!

With the DriveRack PA, dbx has brought big-time touring technology to any band that wants to improve their sound in a one rack-space box that costs no more than a good equalizer. The DriveRack PA combines a 28-band graphic EQ, a Real Time Analyzer, a subharmonic synthesizer (for fattening up the bottom end), a compressor, an active crossover with parametric EQ, and automatic feedback suppression. It also has a limiter and speaker alignment delay on each output. The result is pro-level loudspeaker management specifications in an easy-to-operate, budget-conscious package. In other words, state-of-the-art signal processing with a simple and intuitive user interface.


Drive Rack PA at a Glance:

• A complete PA-system speaker managment system - an FOH engineer in a box.
  
• Linkable 28-Band Graphic equalizer, real time Analyzer, and auto EQ.
  
• Automatic feedback eliminator and EQ for immediate sound improvement.
  
• 120A Subharmonic Synthesizer, crossovers, parametric EQs, and Peak Plus limiters and alignment delay.
  
• Industry-standard dbx stereo compressor.

FOH Engineer in a Box
DriveRack PA can be not only your first upgrade to a simple P.A., but also a unit that can grow with your system as you expand it. Any band or performer who wrangles a portable sound system around without help from an engineer will appreciate both the audible improvements brought by the dbx Drive Rack PA. The Auto EQ and AFS functions can immediately benefit performers with modest P.A. systems who can't employ an engineer or spend a few years becoming one. The unit's setup wizards greatly simplify the process of getting up and running. When you're ready to delve into the dbx DriveRack PA's deepest functions in order to get the most out of its no-compromise design, you'll find that having such a rich feature set means that as your system grows, the DriveRack PA can grow with it.

RTA, Auto EQ and Feedback Elimination
The Auto EQ function is one of the key features that the DriveRack PA offers for customizing a P.A. to match the acoustic response of a specific venue. It has a pink-noise generator and Real Time Analyzer to adjust system response using the 28-band graphic EQ. A flat-response omnidirectional mic acts as the RTAs "ear." Dbx makes an inexpensive condenser mic, the [url=http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RTAM]RTA-M[/url] to use with the DriveRack PA.

The Auto EQ works impressively. The RTA requires a minimum sound-pressure level (SPL) at the mic to do its thing. It prompts you to raise it to "performance level," which means that it helps to have a rough idea of how loud a performance will be. There are three levels of precision. Even at the lower settings, the Auto EQ is very effective. For instance, we patched two DriveRack PAs into a theater installation, where the left and right clusters were Cerwin-Vega and the center cluster was JBL. The Auto EQ matched the sound of the two systems better than anyone had previously managed by ear, and the speakers also sounded quite good. Indeed, we needed to make no other adjustments to the system EQ during that show.

The Advanced Feedback Suppressor is as good as any that we've tried. If you set the DriveRack PA's AFS at sound check it can be quite useful, particularly if your band has no soundperson to keep an ear on things. The combination of Auto EQ and AFS can tune your system very effectively.


Audio Flexibility
Then, when you decide to expand your system - lets say you add subwoofers - the crossovers, delays, and parametric EQ in the DriveRack PA are ready to help you easily integrate your new additions. In fact, the unit's software includes setup Wizards to take the trauma out of tuning biamped or triamped speaker systems. For the more technically inclined, there's also compression and a subharmonic synthesizer on board to allow further audio flexibility.

The crossover has several filter configurations and accommodates biamped and triamped speaker systems, including mono or stereo subwoofers. Properly tweaking the crossover and each output's parametric EQ should bring a biamped or triamped speaker system very nearly flat, leaving the graphic EQ free to handle environmental and creative EQ concerns. Each output can be delayed up to 10 milliseconds to align the drivers in time.

Industry-standard dbx stereo compressor
The compressor, which goes across your entire mix, features both hard-knee compression and ten levels of Over Easy compression. (With the latter, compression starts below the threshold, and the ratio increases as the threshold is approached.) The compression sounds very good when properly applied. Dialing in a 2:1 compression ratio and about 5dB of gain reduction will add a musical fatness your sound. There are also individual peak-limiter modules for speaker protection before each of DriveRack PA's six outputs.


Drive Rack PA Features:

• Stereo Feedback Elimination with 12 feedback notch filters
  
• Dual 28-band Graphic EQ
  
• Classic dbx Compressor
  
• 120A Sub-harmonic Synthesizer
  
• 2x3, 2x4, 2x5, 2x6 Crossover Configurations
  
• Stereo Multi-band Parametric EQ
  
• Stereo Output Limiters
  
• Alignment Delay
  
• Pink Noise Generator
  
• Auto-EQ with 28-Band RTA
  
• JBL Speaker and Crown Power Amp Tunings with Setup Wizard
  
• 25 User Programs / 25 Factory Programs
  
• 2 Channel XLR Input and 6 Channel XLR Output
  
• Front panel RTA-M XLR input with phantom power
  
• 24-Bit ADC/24-Bit DAC, >110 dB Dynamic Range
  
• TypeIV Conversion System
  
• Full Graphic LCD Display

dbx's DriveRack PA is a great live-sound value!

Specification Detail Manufacturer Part Number DriveRack-PA