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Topic starter
02/09/2003 9:28 am
Hi,
I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone has on the following dilemma.
Our PA Equipment:
2 x Peavey CS1000 amps
4 x Peavey HiSys Cabs
1 x Peavey Unity 2000 Mixing Desk
At present, we connect our desk outputs to our amp(s) using standard 1/4" jack cables (as we normally do our own mixing from stage).
However, we now have a 30m multicore with 16 sends and 4 returns. The 16 sends are great and all work fine. The problem is with getting the mixed output back to the amplifier(s). The Peavey desk that we have only has 1/4" output sockets, so I tried sending that through a passive DI Box before sending back via the multicore. On the amp side, we bought two PL-2 balanced input transformers, which are plug in modules for the Peavey CS1000 amps. These (allegedly) allow the use of the XLR inputs on the back of the amp instead of the 1/4" ones.
To Summarise:
Desk->PassiveDI->Multicore->CS1000amp(with PL-2s)
This does produce sound through the amps, but I tested it with the Left channel using the old method, and the Right channel using the new method. The Left channel is as we are used to it, but the Right channel only has about a quarter of the volume of the Left!!!
I am proposing to try two things tonight when I get home:
1. Try using an Active DI box instead of the Passive DI box. Perhaps I can get a better signal level.
2. Try using XLR to 1/4" converters at either end of the multicore, therefore emulating a 30m unbalanced high impedance cable. I realise that a distance of 30m would suggest using a balanced low-impedance signal, but I'm getting desperate here.
If you read all that, thanks for your patience, and any comments/suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Regards,
askthedrummer
02/09/2003 1:12 pm
Yes, I would think that the DI is the problem. Â Since your desk has a low-impedance output, 30m should be fine, just keep it away from the lighting cables.
Some companies make snakes (multicore) with 1/4 returns.
Good Luck!
-Laz
Topic starter
04/09/2003 8:56 am
Hi Laz,
Thanks for the reply. I'm exhausting all possibilities of using a balanced signal before going with an unbalanced one, and have come up with the following:
I'm now using an Active DI box set to 40dB gain. This seems to produce a sufficiently strong balanced signal for the Amp.
However, not being an electronics whizz, I'm a little concerned that this might be damaging the desk or the amp. My understanding of an Active DI box is that it takes a signal, amplifies it, then puts it through a transformer to produce a balanced signal. Am I correct in assuming that this does not put any extra voltage or otherwise through the source (AM I GOING TO FRY MY MIXER?!?!?).
Cheers,
askthedrummer
04/09/2003 1:04 pm
Er, you connect the DI to an output, so there's nothing that can "get back to the source". You'll be fine.
-Laz
Topic starter
05/09/2003 9:08 am
Fantastic. Thanks for your help Laz. We've got a gig tonight so hopefully all will go well!
Marty. (askthedrummer).