quote:
Originally posted by Jens Droesslerquote:
Originally posted by guyharrisI didn’t expect that having control over the very low frequencies through the new EQ would make such a difference, but it has: not in boosting, but in cutting out the very lowest frequencies on the drum mix, which (I think) sends a more useful signal to the bass amps, by not trying to have the speakers move at 20Hz.
While I’m glad you like the new firmware like I do, I must say this particular thing raises some questions.
1. Why didn’t you just use the parametric EQs highpass on the drum group? Just set the lowest EQ band to locut/highpass, set it to the lowest frequency you want in that group and be done? this would have worked for a long long time. Cutting a wider range of adjacent frequencies (like 20, 25 and 31Hz) with a GEQ introduces by far heavier phase distortions than using the cut of the PEQs.
2. Why do your speakers move at all at 20Hz? Aren’t you using a highpass in the digital speaker management for your PA to protect it from mechanical stress? If not, you are wasting a lot of energy into frequency ranges that probably aren’t reproduceable by your PA.
Yes, you’re absolutely right, Jens. I did previously use a HPF on the bass signals, but it didn’t seem to give as ‘accurate’ a bass signal as using the new control possibilities. I’m sure there’s a reason for that, but not being as techie as some others, I don’t know why, but I’m happy with the result!
The speakers indeed do not move at 20Hz!, and we’re actually talking about the same thing: the waste of energy of TRYING to get the speakers to produce impossibly low frequencies. I still have a long way to go in finding out how best to use the system to its fullest capacity: in my defence, it’s the first time in the 2.5 years since we got iLive that I’ve had real ‘down time’ in the workshop, with the full system, to experiment, test, measure, etc., without the stress of having to get stuff re-packed for the next gig. I’m first and foremost a musician and concerned with the playability of the system, so I tend to have a different take on the technical side than both ‘sound engineers’ and ‘musicians’: I argue equally with both! 
What I like about the iLive system, and the improvements, as compared to the Yamaha stuff we used before, is that there seems to be an easier link between theory and practice: in other words, usability is better.
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