Free Shipping with no minimum purchase. Learn more »

Cart (800) 222-4700


dbx DriveRack PA+

PA Speaker Management System with EQ, Compression, Alignment Delay, Feedback Elimination, and USB

Item ID: DriveRkPaPls

Click to enlarge
Free Shipping

Get more value at Sweetwater

  • Retail Price $749.95
  • Sweetwater Savings -$249.98
  • Shipping Free! FREE Shipping
    As soon as your order is processed, we'll send you any codes you need and instructions for downloading. Learn more »
  • Lifetime Tech Support Free! FREE Lifetime Tech Support
    Trust Sweetwater's award-winning Tech Support department for FREE online and phone tech support, including our famous 20,000 article Knowledge Base. Learn more »
  • 2-Year Warranty Free! FREE 2-year Warranty
    Regardless of the manufacturer's warranty, we'll protect this gear for two years.
    Learn more »
  • Sale Price: $499.97
or make 3 easy payments

Yes, It's In Stock!

This item is available for immediate delivery. Our centrally-located warehouse ensures you the fastest delivery time in the industry. Order now by adding to your cart or call your Sales Engineer.

It's Easier than Ever to Take Control of Your PA System!

The dbx DriveRack PA+ loudspeaker management system takes an already great product and adds a ton of new features to make it even better! After managing to pack a complete speaker management system into an affordable 1U rackmountable box, dbx added great new features to the DriveRack PA+, such as a USB connection, updated settings for the newest speaker lines and amp products, front-panel mute buttons for easier troubleshooting, a faster and easier to use Auto EQ Wizard, and full-time RTA that allows you to easily tune your system on your own. Of course, dbx kept all the functionality and features of the first DriveRack alive in the amazing DriveRack+.



dbx DriveRack PA+ PA Loudspeaker Management System at a Glance:
  • A great unit — made even better
  • A complete PA-system speaker managment system &mdash 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


A great unit — made even better
The DriveRack PA+ is the next generation of an already outstanding loudspeaker management system. The original DriveRack PA, known for setting the standard for complete speaker management, has given thousands of users an easier way to make their systems sound better than they ever imagined. The new PA+ builds on this strong reputation by staying true to its predecessor while providing more great features and improved functionality. The DriveRack PA+ gives you updated speaker and amplifier settings to include all current JBL portable speaker lines, latest Crown amplifiers, and many other amp and speaker manufacturers. It also features a faster and more friendly Auto EQ Wizard, an Auto Level Wizard to fine-tune each speaker's level, Full-time RTA to allow users to tune systems on their own, and power on/off mute circuitry for softer and safer power cycling. The new unit features front-panel mute buttons for faster and easier system troubleshooting, plus a new look — a titanium silver color scheme with a bright LCD screen.

FOH engineer in a box
DriveRack PA+ can be not only your first upgrade to a simple PA, 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 DriveRack PA+. The Auto EQ and AFS functions can immediately benefit performers with modest PA 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 deepest functions of the DriveRack PA+ 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 PA system 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 RTA-M 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 PA+ units 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+ AFS at soundcheck 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 — let's 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 the six outputs on the DriveRack+.

DriveRack PA+ PA Loudspeaker Management System Features:
  • USB connectivity makes it easy to update speaker and amp settings
  • Stereo feedback elimination with 12 feedback notch filters
  • Full-time RTA
  • Dual 28-band Graphic EQ
  • Classic dbx compressor
  • 120A Sub-harmonic synthesizer
  • 2 x 3, 2 x 4, 2 x 5, 2 x 6 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, >110dB dynamic range
  • Power on/off mute circuitry
  • Front-panel mute buttons
  • TypeIV conversion system
  • Full graphic LCD display

The dbx DriveRack PA+ loudspeaker management system makes your PA system sound better than ever!
  • Discuss this product!
    Ask questions, get answers about the dbx DriveRack PA+ in Sweetwater's Noise Gate Forum.

Can We Help?

call toll-free (800) 222-4700 or E-mail us
to get personalized advice from a Sweetwater Sales Engineer.

Recommended Accessories

  • dbx RTA-M
    Analyzer Mic for DriveRack
    $99.97 + FREE Shipping

Reviews
based on 1 customer review

Sweetwater Advice

Brian Cravens
The updated version of the original DriveRack PA. Better AD/DA, and an auto EQ that works extremely fast, are really welcome in this unit. Grab an RTAM mic, and make your speaker system come alive. Selectable EQ curves mean real-world usability, has many Crown power/JBL speaker presets, but can be used with any brand configuration.

A rack unit you can\'t live without.

by Doug from Cheyenne, WY
March 8, 2010
Music Background: 20+ year live musician, church sound tech, worship leader
My first driverack and I purchased it on recommendations from the Sweetwater Forums. I cannot believe the difference in sound and it doesn\'t matter if your venue is a 100 person bar or a 500 person b... read more [+]allroom. The dbx Driverack PA+ is easy to set up and walk through and you can store your venues for future use. Even my biggest critic (my lovely wife) is stunned at the quality of the music now and she has been listening to us for four years. Why did it take me so long to find this product? Of course, the JBL SRX 715\'s and 718 Subs have a little something to do with it. :) close [-]

Also popular

See Also: Loudspeaker Management

dbx DriveRack PA+

Today's Payment: $176.65
Includes $10 processing fee
Payment 2: $166.65
In approx. 30 days
Payment 3: $166.65
In approx. 60 days

Buy Today, Make

Sweetwater's Flexible Payment Plan is a convenient, interest-free way to buy gear now and stretch your purchase across three budget-friendly payments. Simply choose the "3 Easy Payments" option in your cart, and we'll divide your purchase amount into three budget-friendly payments, billed to your current MasterCard, Visa, Discover, or American Express card. There is a $10 processing fee for using this service. It's just another way we make shopping at Sweetwater easy and convenient!

Get your dbx DriveRack PA+ now and spread out the payments!

Our Customers Say...

One thing I really admire about Sweetwater is that every customer is treated well, whether they're purchasing something for $10 or $10,000. You don't find that at other places. We consider Sweetwater a partner.
Joel Kass, Chicago, IL

Sweetwater Sound Inc.
5501 U.S. Hwy 30 W
Fort Wayne, IN 46818
Get Directions »

Toll-Free (800) 222-4700
Local (260) 432-8176
Fax (260) 432-1758
E-mail us

Telephone hours:
9-9 Mon-Thu, 9-8 Fri, 9-7 Sat EST

Retail Store hours:
9-8 Mon-Fri, 9-7 Sat EST

HACKER SAFE certified sites prevent over 99.9% of hacker crime.

© 2010 Sweetwater Sound Inc. All rights reserved. Please read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Site Map | Links | Downloads | Press Releases