Quick update, got a pair of 18Sound ND1460 2nd hand, for about half RRP. There are some measurements online on a Faital 50x60 horn, but these came with some RCF 90x40 horns, so I'll be doing my own measurements.
I'll be angling the HF horn downwards by about 10 degrees, so I'll get +10, -30 degree vertical, which will be more useful for the short-throw applications I'll be focusing on. No point in throwing HF at the ceiling.
Chris
I'll be angling the HF horn downwards by about 10 degrees, so I'll get +10, -30 degree vertical, which will be more useful for the short-throw applications I'll be focusing on. No point in throwing HF at the ceiling.
Chris
Haven't had much of a listen to them yet, but did get the measurement mic out. Turned out my laptop's headphone socket will drive them, though, which was useful to ensure they were working when the seller brought them round.
Anyway, the measurements.
The mic was about 2.5" out from the horn, and then moved around. On-axis is pretty self-explanatory, and then there's measurements at the edge of the horn, and about half-way between. So there's on-axis, off-axis and very off-axis. The latter ones were taken at the edge of the horn.
No smoothing, no EQ. The only thing I did was put a 48dB/oct Butterworth filter in on the NU3kDSP at 300Hz to make sure the tweeters would be safe if something upstream was suddenly disconnected or lost power.
So, on axis.
I took this twice as I just didn't believe it. That's a rather good curve for a compression driver on a constant directivity horn. 15kHz is probably dome breakup, but will be benign enough that far up.
Next up, a bit off the horizontal axis.
The 15kHz peak isn't quite as bad, but still remarkably good, and similar to on-axis.
Next up, off the vertical axis.
Still pretty good.
Over the edge of the horn, around 2.5" up. Very far off axis horizontally.
More interesting. There's some mash above 10kHz.
Over the corner of the horn.
Looks a bit like there's some comb filtering happening, but still fairly benign even there. The horn had a duvet around the edge, but still could've been some kind of edge diffraction. Even so, getting this performance this far off-axis is rather useful - coverage for small to medium venues ought to be nice and even.
Here's an overlay, from top to bottom...
on-axis
far off vertical axis
a little off vertical
far off vertical and horizontal
far off horizontal
I did some averaging and have some EQ settings now, so will dial those in and see how it all comes out. For now, they'll sit on top of some Fane Sov. Pro 12-500 midbass drivers in 35L ported cabs. Hoping to have the Faital mids up and running soon, though, as those Fanes really struggle when you apply real power (nudging the limiters on an NU6k).
Chris
Anyway, the measurements.
The mic was about 2.5" out from the horn, and then moved around. On-axis is pretty self-explanatory, and then there's measurements at the edge of the horn, and about half-way between. So there's on-axis, off-axis and very off-axis. The latter ones were taken at the edge of the horn.
No smoothing, no EQ. The only thing I did was put a 48dB/oct Butterworth filter in on the NU3kDSP at 300Hz to make sure the tweeters would be safe if something upstream was suddenly disconnected or lost power.
So, on axis.
I took this twice as I just didn't believe it. That's a rather good curve for a compression driver on a constant directivity horn. 15kHz is probably dome breakup, but will be benign enough that far up.
Next up, a bit off the horizontal axis.
The 15kHz peak isn't quite as bad, but still remarkably good, and similar to on-axis.
Next up, off the vertical axis.
Still pretty good.
Over the edge of the horn, around 2.5" up. Very far off axis horizontally.
More interesting. There's some mash above 10kHz.
Over the corner of the horn.
Looks a bit like there's some comb filtering happening, but still fairly benign even there. The horn had a duvet around the edge, but still could've been some kind of edge diffraction. Even so, getting this performance this far off-axis is rather useful - coverage for small to medium venues ought to be nice and even.
Here's an overlay, from top to bottom...
on-axis
far off vertical axis
a little off vertical
far off vertical and horizontal
far off horizontal
I did some averaging and have some EQ settings now, so will dial those in and see how it all comes out. For now, they'll sit on top of some Fane Sov. Pro 12-500 midbass drivers in 35L ported cabs. Hoping to have the Faital mids up and running soon, though, as those Fanes really struggle when you apply real power (nudging the limiters on an NU6k).
Chris
My Next Compression Driver
Don't know if this thread is still going... came acrossed it while researching neo high drivers. I'm looking for a higher power (more than 50w AES) 1" driver.
In 2014 I built four (2 per side) 12" 2way cabs, RCF MB12N351 (650 watts AES) for lows and RCF ND650 (90 watts AES) for highs. Use this cab with subs (RCF L18P300s, 2 per side) for a 3way PA system. Horns are on a PRV WG500 line array horn, 1.4" exit (15v x 140h degrees). The dbx Drive Rack PA2 does the crossover work. I am very happy with this configuration. I was using about 5000 watts and got good results, even though I was under powering the 12s. This summer I added new Crown XLs amps and power this with about 9000 watts, slightly over powering everything by 1.2 times. It really opened it up and increased the openness of the sound. I also swapped out the subs for a single 4 ohm B&C 18SW115-4 (1700w AES) per side. Smaller, lighter. Very good results. I'm not a young spring chicken anymore.
In 2015 I built four (2 per side) 10" 2way cabs, Faital Pro 10FH520 and some old drivers I had, RCF N481. High drivers on a (1") PAudio PH-CL25 horn (line array-15v x 120h degrees). Very happy with them, the 10" can handle the power really well. If I slam too much at them and the high drivers will break up.
I came across this thread while researching upgrading the N481s. So I can attest to how well the RCF ND650s work and also the Faital Pro 10FH520.
I can't find neo high drivers with a 1" exit that can handle the power of the RCF ND650 (90w AES), but I can retro-fit the 10" cab with a 1.4" line array horn if need be, and add the ND650s.
Don't know if this thread is still going... came acrossed it while researching neo high drivers. I'm looking for a higher power (more than 50w AES) 1" driver.
In 2014 I built four (2 per side) 12" 2way cabs, RCF MB12N351 (650 watts AES) for lows and RCF ND650 (90 watts AES) for highs. Use this cab with subs (RCF L18P300s, 2 per side) for a 3way PA system. Horns are on a PRV WG500 line array horn, 1.4" exit (15v x 140h degrees). The dbx Drive Rack PA2 does the crossover work. I am very happy with this configuration. I was using about 5000 watts and got good results, even though I was under powering the 12s. This summer I added new Crown XLs amps and power this with about 9000 watts, slightly over powering everything by 1.2 times. It really opened it up and increased the openness of the sound. I also swapped out the subs for a single 4 ohm B&C 18SW115-4 (1700w AES) per side. Smaller, lighter. Very good results. I'm not a young spring chicken anymore.
In 2015 I built four (2 per side) 10" 2way cabs, Faital Pro 10FH520 and some old drivers I had, RCF N481. High drivers on a (1") PAudio PH-CL25 horn (line array-15v x 120h degrees). Very happy with them, the 10" can handle the power really well. If I slam too much at them and the high drivers will break up.
I came across this thread while researching upgrading the N481s. So I can attest to how well the RCF ND650s work and also the Faital Pro 10FH520.
I can't find neo high drivers with a 1" exit that can handle the power of the RCF ND650 (90w AES), but I can retro-fit the 10" cab with a 1.4" line array horn if need be, and add the ND650s.
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