I'm running the DCX + DEQ combination. I also looked at the driverack and concluded that I could get more performance/flexability by using teh behringer products.
BTW: The DCX is currently unavailble and probably will not be till end of may/start of june.. If you can wait that long I will be re-starting the behringer group buy when they are available again....
--Chris
BTW: The DCX is currently unavailble and probably will not be till end of may/start of june.. If you can wait that long I will be re-starting the behringer group buy when they are available again....
--Chris
DCX2496 Availability??
I was told by an Australian pro supplier last week that he has been advised by the Behringer distributor that the DCX will not be available until the END OF 2006 !! It seems that the only sources are current stocks (rare) as indicated for example by Graham Ware in Japan above...
Regards,
Steve M.
I was told by an Australian pro supplier last week that he has been advised by the Behringer distributor that the DCX will not be available until the END OF 2006 !! It seems that the only sources are current stocks (rare) as indicated for example by Graham Ware in Japan above...
Regards,
Steve M.
Re: DCX2496 Availability??
In german EBAY I found an offer for DCX from a dealer. He says the units are available again! The dealer offers the unit for 279Euro. See: http://stores.ebay.de/hn-sound-de
Steve M said:
In german EBAY I found an offer for DCX from a dealer. He says the units are available again! The dealer offers the unit for 279Euro. See: http://stores.ebay.de/hn-sound-de
Re: Re: DCX2496 Availability??
I spoke directly with Behringer's sales team last week and they told me that all the units that are currently available are old-stock that was not sold.. There have been no new units produced since last year, and there won't be any completed untill June/July...
Make sure he's not taking "pre-orders".. I would specifically ask him "Do you have any instock, and ready to ship today?" Alot of online places have pre-orders going on and an availability date of 5/15. I asked Behringer about it and they told me there was no way to get them that fast...
--Chris
oehlrich said:
I spoke directly with Behringer's sales team last week and they told me that all the units that are currently available are old-stock that was not sold.. There have been no new units produced since last year, and there won't be any completed untill June/July...
Make sure he's not taking "pre-orders".. I would specifically ask him "Do you have any instock, and ready to ship today?" Alot of online places have pre-orders going on and an availability date of 5/15. I asked Behringer about it and they told me there was no way to get them that fast...
--Chris
availability
Behringer Aust says one of the IC's (I think the output IC, could be wrong) is no longer manufactured and DCX production will only resume when a reliable new source or replacement is found.
Of course he could be wrong: who cares.
BTW I just got some warranty repairs done by Behringer Aust to both my DCX's (noisy internal jumper cable/connectors), and they were excellent to deal with. The nominated independent accredited repairer said he has the same problem just as often with more expensive brands, it's not a Behringer thing.
Behringer Aust says one of the IC's (I think the output IC, could be wrong) is no longer manufactured and DCX production will only resume when a reliable new source or replacement is found.
Of course he could be wrong: who cares.BTW I just got some warranty repairs done by Behringer Aust to both my DCX's (noisy internal jumper cable/connectors), and they were excellent to deal with. The nominated independent accredited repairer said he has the same problem just as often with more expensive brands, it's not a Behringer thing.
I know it's self serving, but for possibly less money you can have a superior solution. Why wait for Behringer to get their manufacturing in order when you can get a 4 way crossover with better user interface and the ability to make speakers that have almost no phase distortion?
Pick a nice ASIO sound card that is in stock and get the Loudspeaker Frequency Allocator software from thuneau.com
I assume you have a PC with at least a 1GHz processor.
Pick a nice ASIO sound card that is in stock and get the Loudspeaker Frequency Allocator software from thuneau.com
I assume you have a PC with at least a 1GHz processor.
I have for sale for our Dutch friends....
-ultramatch src 2496 in perfect order
-ultracurve pro deq 2496 like new
-ultradrive pro dcx 2496 like new
-all kinds of wiring/kabel etcetc
-pioneer dvd/sacd-speler dv575 with Oehlrich's set (new, not build in)
Fixed price is 700euro, only to sell as a complete set.
Now you can have it all!!!
-ultramatch src 2496 in perfect order
-ultracurve pro deq 2496 like new
-ultradrive pro dcx 2496 like new
-all kinds of wiring/kabel etcetc
-pioneer dvd/sacd-speler dv575 with Oehlrich's set (new, not build in)
Fixed price is 700euro, only to sell as a complete set.
Now you can have it all!!!
AndrewT said:
Well, a sound card with 8 good quality converters can be had for under $200.00.
M-Audio Delta 1010LT for example has 8 RCA outputs that don't require any special cables to interface with your amps. A set of custom cables adds to the price of the Behringer.
The output level is 12dB lower as well, so you might not need to attenuate the signal as much.
I also looked at the Ego Systems/Audiotrak products (but have not used them yet).
For $229.00 you get a PCI card and an external box with 8 ins and 8 outs (Maya 1010 ). For $100.00 more you get a rackmount box (ESP 1010) with better specs and analog attenuators build in.
The cool part is their software drivers- called DirectWire, which let you patch inputs and outputs internaly- across different types of drivers .
You can take your favorite Media Player, send its output to the cards WMD outputs and internally redirect that signal to the ASIO inputs, which the Allocator can use.
The Prodigy 7.1 has the same DirectWire drivers and good converters for $100.00. The drawback is you need 1/8" to RCA cables and there is no external I/O box.
So, yes it's possible to spend the same or less and end up with potentially much better end-result.
Hi,
if they are available outside the USA, then what will the rip off merchants charge in Euros or GBpounds?
$329 is already more than I paid for my GBpounds DCX2496 (new, retail) with stepped attenuators (analogue) on two channels.
I often leave my computer on overnight. Bill Gates' operating system does not like long periods of inactivity.
if they are available outside the USA, then what will the rip off merchants charge in Euros or GBpounds?
$329 is already more than I paid for my GBpounds DCX2496 (new, retail) with stepped attenuators (analogue) on two channels.
I often leave my computer on overnight. Bill Gates' operating system does not like long periods of inactivity.
GTOTURBO said:
Computer requirements are very modest, although any type of dedicated computer will push the price up over the DCX. I'm running Jans code on a 1GHz PIII I picked up from a recycler for under $150. IMHO Allocator is a step up from the DCX in terms of flexibility and functionality, and with my Emu 1820M sound quality is better as well.
The main drawback is that to get the best benefit you need to commit to using the PC as your main source. This is a paradigm shift that many aren't ready to make, or maybe can't make. You can run a normal transport in via spdif, but then you have the same volume control problems you have with the DCX.
IMHO Allocator is a no-brainer. Fully loaded cost for my front-end system is under $900 and it replaces source, preamp, and xover. Two Panny XR receivers and a NAD power amp supply the power which brings the ticket up to about $1600 for everything aside from drivers. Not college-student-on-beer-budget cheap, but considering the sound I'm getting it's a bargain.
I have a DCX that I will eventually be selling once I get the time to check it out and package it up, so watch the classifieds.
I have used a DCX2496. I've used a PC crossover. Obviously, we've all used passive crossover in the speaker. Some may have tried a passive driven between preamp and power amp. It's this last option that appeals to me the most today.
I was not able to detect any difference in sound quality between IIR filters on the PC versus the Behringer. I suspect that the textbook algorithms are being used by everyone.
With improved analog outputs I suspect that the Behringer is as good as anything out there.
A single DCX2496 is only 3-way stereo. I am currently playing with 3-way speaker plus sub. That drove me to using a PC solution. I realize that you can chain DCX2496. And certainly just use an analog filter for the sub.
I am in the process of going back and doing a passive crossover for my DIY 3-way speakers.
I find it funny that people are arguing over whether they spent $300 on the DCX2496 or $800 on a PC solution. When you switch to biamp and triamp you've already commited to __ MULTIPLE AMPS __ and those arent cheap.
I was not able to detect any difference in sound quality between IIR filters on the PC versus the Behringer. I suspect that the textbook algorithms are being used by everyone.
With improved analog outputs I suspect that the Behringer is as good as anything out there.
A single DCX2496 is only 3-way stereo. I am currently playing with 3-way speaker plus sub. That drove me to using a PC solution. I realize that you can chain DCX2496. And certainly just use an analog filter for the sub.
I am in the process of going back and doing a passive crossover for my DIY 3-way speakers.
I find it funny that people are arguing over whether they spent $300 on the DCX2496 or $800 on a PC solution. When you switch to biamp and triamp you've already commited to __ MULTIPLE AMPS __ and those arent cheap.
Daveis said:
I should clarify this. The PC solution did sound better, but I attribute the difference in sound to the better analog outputs in the DAC's I was using(Benchmarkmedia DAC1), not the the quality of the DSP algorithm's in the DCX2496.
One nice benefit of the DCX2496 is that I've never heard a click/pop out of it. Not even while changing settings.
A good DIY project would be for someone to use an eval DSP board and make a free-for-all DCX2496 clone. It should have digital inputs and outputs. I started down this road with an "dspStak 21261zx - c96k46 ADDS-21261 Cyclone" DSP and FPGA eval board. Cost was about $500 from Danville Signal on special. The ADI Visual DSP++ software that goes with it is thousands of dollars, but it should be possible for someone to do IIR type algorithm's in assembler. My thought was to do the assembler with hardcoded values for crossover point. As I already know what slope and crossover points I need, there's no use for a fancy user interface.
AndrewT said:
Why two channels? You need to analog attenuate the outputs, not the inputs to preserve resolution.
Yes, maybe the Behringer is the cheapest solution out there that gives good results.
But, PC software crossover is a different animal. First, you can go 4 way or 3 way plus subs on a PC. Secondly, you can use multiple instances of software for a multichannel setup (still trying to make it easy with the allocator- taking in general here). You can't clone the Behringer. Also, the user interface and design process is much better with software programs.
The Allocator is more flexible in available curves. We are not talking 6 or 7 premade slopes that you can only slide up and down in frequency. You get a wealth of possible curves by tweaking corner frequencies and q factors.
Last but not least, you can generate transient-perfect speakers with it. Might not matter to an average user, but that's a biggie for audiophiles.
Hi Thanau,
I did attenuate the outputs.
One channnel was set up active on a two way while the other channel remained passive. I played around with attenuator values, using a pot initially, until I had a range of attenuation that suited my two or three preferred listening levels. Then made up a three level switched attenuator for the active channel.
When I had it working reasonably well I then made up a fixed resistor attenuator for the other channel to hear the whole shooting match in glorious active stereo.
Except it wasn't glorious!
It still needs a lot of experimentation to get the various equalisations right to get a nice sound, but it did prove that active is the way that I want to go. Meantime it is all packed away until I have sufficient amps completed with active filters/equalisations built in to complete my 5.1 AND stereo systems sharing a sub-bass channel. My DCX is a development tool for an all analogue amplifier system. Unless, that is, I cannot solve the delay needed to get my horn integrated.
I did attenuate the outputs.
One channnel was set up active on a two way while the other channel remained passive. I played around with attenuator values, using a pot initially, until I had a range of attenuation that suited my two or three preferred listening levels. Then made up a three level switched attenuator for the active channel.
When I had it working reasonably well I then made up a fixed resistor attenuator for the other channel to hear the whole shooting match in glorious active stereo.
Except it wasn't glorious!
It still needs a lot of experimentation to get the various equalisations right to get a nice sound, but it did prove that active is the way that I want to go. Meantime it is all packed away until I have sufficient amps completed with active filters/equalisations built in to complete my 5.1 AND stereo systems sharing a sub-bass channel. My DCX is a development tool for an all analogue amplifier system. Unless, that is, I cannot solve the delay needed to get my horn integrated.