# DCX2496 vs DBX Driverack PA



## Zeitgeist

I know that there have been a number of threads about DCX2496 vs alternatives - but can anyone give me a reason not to buy a DBX Driverack PA/PA+?

I was about to buy a DCX2496, but after reading about some of the "frying egg noise" problems, the bug that some seem to experience with the D/A converter, and some of the other issues associated with it... I am leaning towards a DBX product. I'm not totally opposed to the DCX2496, but I'm willing to spend a little money to upgrade from a Behringer product to something a little better.

Going to build 3-way speakers and want an active crossover.


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## Jungle Jack

Hello,
Moved. As you wish. Just let me know if this is where you wanted to Post this Thread.
Cheers,
JJ


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## Weogo

Hi Zeitgeist,

The DBX is going to be a better recognized name, and probably easier to get service.

That said, I would take the CDX2496, for the additional functionality. In particular, I often run delay-fills.
The Driverack has only 10ms delay for driver alignment, not enough for delay-fills.

Behr appears to have gotten over a hump of bad product and bad service, though rarely do you hear anybody saying they are great.

I got a great deal on a used Xilica DSP for myself, and have them in two different venues.
You may want to look for one of these, or the Sabine Navigator(made by Xilica, with Sabine software).

Good health, Weogo


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## Zeitgeist

Thanks for your comments. I know that the DBX has less flexibility in terms of delays, and I think can only do 24 db crossovers instead of 48db (that I believe the DCX can do)

I'm a little less concerned about reliability - I know that sometimes Behr works without issue (I have 2 EP4000s and no problems at all). 

I do care about noise though.... and some people call the DCX noisy.

I'd love to check out some DSP solutions, but they always seem to be serious $$$$. 

I have looked at MiniDSP units - and impressed for cost / size - but looking for something a little beefier.


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## Weogo

Hi Zeitgeist,

For live use, there is likely no audible difference between the two.
In a very quiet concert hall, with a system that is highly optimized, you might hear a difference.

For a portable rig, the DBX might hold up better over time, and therefore sound better a few years from now.

Good health, Weogo


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## Zeitgeist

Weogo said:


> Hi Zeitgeist,
> 
> For live use, there is likely no audible difference between the two.
> In a very quiet concert hall, with a system that is highly optimized, you might hear a difference.
> 
> For a portable rig, the DBX might hold up better over time, and therefore sound better a few years from now.
> 
> Good health, Weogo


Appreciate the response. Thanks.

Maybe one of these days I'll just have to buy both and compare them myself!


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## woofersus

I've never tried the Behringer, but I've been using a couple of DBX Driverack 260's and they're great.


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## Zeitgeist

woofersus said:


> I've never tried the Behringer, but I've been using a couple of DBX Driverack 260's and they're great.


I'd love a couple of the high end Driveracks, like the 4800 - too bad they cost $4K a pop!


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## jinjuku

Zeitgeist said:


> I know that there have been a number of threads about DCX2496 vs alternatives - but can anyone give me a reason not to buy a DBX Driverack PA/PA+?
> 
> I was about to buy a DCX2496, but after reading about some of the "frying egg noise" problems, the bug that some seem to experience with the D/A converter, and some of the other issues associated with it... I am leaning towards a DBX product. I'm not totally opposed to the DCX2496, but I'm willing to spend a little money to upgrade from a Behringer product to something a little better.
> 
> Going to build 3-way speakers and want an active crossover.


The sizzle is if you are feeding them a digital signal over input 3. You should be fine with just analog.


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## Zeitgeist

jinjuku said:


> The sizzle is if you are feeding them a digital signal over input 3. You should be fine with just analog.


From what I read, I thought that the sizzle was due to a partial short (with the chassis)? And not specific to digital/analog input.

I recall reading a few scattered posts about people having to re-seat connectors to solve the problem...


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## Weogo

Hi Zeitgeist, 

The most common crackling sound I know about was pins that were slightly too long through a pc board shorting to the chassis base.
Pin clipping and/or fishpaper(insulating paper) solved the problem, if no damage had been done.
From what I know, this was from maybe four or five years ago.

I imagine feeding AES digital to an analog input would also sound pretty bad!

Good health, Weogo


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## Zeitgeist

Weogo said:


> Hi Zeitgeist,
> 
> The most common crackling sound I know about was pins that were slightly too long through a pc board shorting to the chassis base.
> Pin clipping and/or fishpaper(insulating paper) solved the problem, if no damage had been done.
> From what I know, this was from maybe four or five years ago.
> 
> I imagine feeding AES digital to an analog input would also sound pretty bad!
> 
> Good health, Weogo


Good to know! Thanks for the response. A number of the posts I read about the problem were not as detailed as your post. Makes sense!

THanks!


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## jinjuku

Zeitgeist said:


> From what I read, I thought that the sizzle was due to a partial short (with the chassis)? And not specific to digital/analog input.
> 
> I recall reading a few scattered posts about people having to re-seat connectors to solve the problem...


The sizzle is due to a bug in the Cirrus Logic D/A converter that they use. Any product that had this Cirrus chip would exhibit this with 96Khz sampling rate input.


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## Zeitgeist

jinjuku said:


> The sizzle is due to a bug in the Cirrus Logic D/A converter that they use. Any product that had this Cirrus chip would exhibit this with 96Khz sampling rate input.


I recall reading that too.. I think I spent too much time reading about that bug actually - including seeing a Youtube video demonstrating that problem.

So there are two (not very) common problems: shorts and the Cirrus Logic bug.


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## redmountain

I had some of my 6 dcx2496 with the noise problems...
Warranty repair solved it, the flat ribon cable are bad, at least they have been...
The man who replaced these said lately, the newer units wouldn't have this problem anymore...

1 of them will return shortly from Pilgham audio from a SRC modification, and this should also bring the analog section to another level, new stable clock...

Take care

Klaus


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## thei

Hi folks,

First post...
Without willing to break all the 'zero tolerance' rules around I here I still would like to express my opinions on the debated X-overs.
It would be to simple to call them both shite compared to Klark Teknik DN9648 or Dolby lakes or XTA's or even BSS soundwebs, obviously these reside in a different league. also price wise.
And yes, one can definitely hear the difference between them.
Think headroom in the digital domain...

If you really have to go for the budget option try something Xilica or maybe DBX260.

The weakest link makes the strength of your chain, so what's the rest of your gear? and what is ye'r purpose?

cheers T.


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## Zeitgeist

Well what it seems like is there isn't a middle ground. I know the DCX is the budget solution. I was looking for a step up with the PA+. Is the 260 really any better than the DBX PA+? 

I don't know what the other units cost.....but I know that Dolby Lake has been discontinued and those cost $4000+.

Preamp is an Onkyo PRSC886. Amps will probably be Emotivas. Speakers are custom 3 ways that I'm building (AE woofers, B&C coax).

I know the Dolby Lakes are very highly regarded, but it just seems surprising how little there is between budget and *thousands*.

Edit: Looks like Klark Teknik DN9848E is $5100+ and FDS-366T $2100+, and FDS-334T $1100+.

My question wasn't really whether you hear a difference between a DCX and a $1000-5000 processor. I was really just interested in whether a DBX PA+ (or similar) was really an improvement, or along the same lines. I have no doubt that the more expensive ones are better!! 

Unfortunately, I don't have the budget for the 2-3 crossovers with a price tag of $1100+ each.


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## redmountain

thei said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> First post...
> Without willing to break all the 'zero tolerance' rules around I here I still would like to express my opinions on the debated X-overs.
> It would be to simple to call them both shite compared to Klark Teknik DN9648 or Dolby lakes or XTA's or even BSS soundwebs, obviously these reside in a different league. also price wise.
> And yes, one can definitely hear the difference between them.
> Think headroom in the digital domain...
> 
> If you really have to go for the budget option try something Xilica or maybe DBX260.
> 
> The weakest link makes the strength of your chain, so what's the rest of your gear? and what is ye'r purpose?
> 
> cheers T.


Xilica a budget option ?
Here is my real world option :
Why don't you buy me 6 hi end ones ?
We'll see what Klark / Behringer will bring out as another 'budget' option

Take care

Klaus

lddude:


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## thei

Oeps..

I was under the impression that this was the live pro-audio section.
sorry for looking snobbish to you.

If your are building a home setup, (and hey, stupid me, the site is called home theater shack), why not use the excellent minidsp?
Build around a Analog Devices sigmastudio chip.
An other option would be to use a (old, cheap, linux based) computer to do the processing, some pci based soundcard and you are running.

At this instance I' am investigating the feasibilities of using a industrial PC, linux and a real time kernel, to use as a X-over in a pro audio environment.
Why? 
because I 'am using FIR filters and the only other pro-audio option for custom designed FIR's would be BSS soundweb. 
(with the afore mentioned price tags..)

As for the DBX units: for some reason I don't quite grasp:
the driverack 260 unit sounds better than the driverack PA
Other budget units that are not to bad soundwise are these BBE thingies, once you get them programmed.
Their comm software is horrid!

cheers T.
pardon me language I 'm alien


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