Digital Signal Processing in Poweramps. Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?

[warwick.hoy]

Hey folks,

I'm building a new rig to based around Helix Rack and I'm looking at poweramps to pair up with an Ampeg 810e. Two amps are catching my eye. The Crown XLS 2502 and the XTi 2002. Other than a price gap and a slight power discrepancy, the biggest difference I detect is the the XTi amp has DSP while the XLS does not.

I was reading the XTi Owners manual and it does appear that there are different factory presets for different applications. Bridge mode, crossovers, etc. Didn't encounter anything bass guitar specific. Looks like settings might be accesable via USB.

So what's the point of including DSP on poweramps. Is there anything really useful for someone solely powering an array of bass cabs?

 

[Wasnex]

Hey folks,

I'm building a new rig to based around Helix Rack and I'm looking at poweramps to pair up with an Ampeg 810e. Two amps are catching my eye. The Crown XLS 2502 and the XTi 2002. Other than a price gap and a slight power discrepancy, the biggest difference I detect is the the XTi amp has DSP while the XLS does not.

I was reading the XTi Owners manual and it does appear that there are different factory presets for different applications. Bridge mode, crossovers, etc. Didn't encounter anything bass guitar specific. Looks like settings might be accesable via USB.

So what's the point of including DSP on poweramps. Is there anything really useful for someone solely powering an array of bass cabs?

About ten years ago I ran some JBL VRX mains PA cabs. All of the processing was done in the Crown power amps, so there was no need for an additional speaker processor, crossover, compressors, etc.

Crown and JBL are both Harman companies, so the amps had presets for the VRX. Setting up the system was a matter of selecting the right preset and making some minor gain adjustments depending on the configuration. We used a computer running DriverCore networked with the amps over WiFi; rather than fiddling with the front panel controls on the amps.

A bridged XLS 2502 can develop way more power than an 810E can handle. Applying an HPF and sensible limiters would be a good idea. If I remember correctly the 810E can only handle about 800W, so even briged XLS 1002 makes more power than the cab can handle. The XLS 2502 would be a pretty good choice if you wanted to run a pair of 810Es in dual mono mode (775W at 4 ohms)

 

[Mingo Sanders]

Other than a price gap and a slight power discrepancy, the biggest difference I detect is the the XTi amp has DSP while the XLS does not.

According to Crown, the XLS 2502 does indeed have DSP.

"The next generation of XLS got a makeover with a sleek new look, a LCD display that is three times larger, and more DSP with higher capabilities."

Features

• Class D amp with Crown's ultra-efficient DriveCore technology weighs less than 11 lb
• Higher DSP capabilities: More control; has band pass filter per channel

https://www.crownaudio.com/en/products/xls-2502

 

[S-Bigbottom]

For some it is helpful, for some it is not.

For your situation you can benefit with DSP but you can also do well without it.

 

[A9X]

I'm looking at poweramps to pair up with an Ampeg 810e.

Not really the cab I'd use with a modeller as it has too much of it's own sound baked in. I'd be looking at something more FRFR (full range flat response). However, it's your ears and preference, so try it first, and against a good passive speaker such as a JBL PRX215 (OTTOMH suggestion).

As for the DSP question, generally, yes. I've run it on every one of my designs since I got my first unit in '01 or so for PA, monitors and hifi. My BG rig for a while was triamped and the current rebuild of it, it's going back to a passive design, just to simplify things the first passive speaker design I've done in many years that wasn't a small monitor.

 

[warwick.hoy]

Not really the cab I'd use with a modeller as it has too much of it's own sound baked in. I'd be looking at something more FRFR (full range flat response). However, it's your ears and preference, so try it first, and against a good passive speaker such as a JBL PRX215 (OTTOMH suggestion).

As for the DSP question, generally, yes. I've run it on every one of my designs since I got my first unit in '01 or so for PA, monitors and hifi. My BG rig for a while was triamped and the current rebuild of it, it's going back to a passive design, just to simplify things the first passive speaker design I've done in many years that wasn't a small monitor.

I ran Helix through my buddies QSC 2000 watt PA speaker which in my mind is near as makes no difference an FRFR cab and it was just not my thing. Maybe if it was combined with a sub.

I don't mind the character of the 810e. I don't plan on running Cab emulations or IRs through the cab. Intention is for live monitoring to fill out ambient space in addition to IEMs. 810e might stay in the rehearsal space and an array of Avatar sb126s will hit the town with me.