[Monolith]

For those of you who were interested. I finally got a chance to use the DriveRack on Friday. I did not use it on Thursday due to some incorrect connections that I had made. Let me say for starters that this thing is awesome and I'm not even using all the features yet. Should be well worth every penny I spent on it.

The auto-EQ function: Took a bit longer to EQ than I expected. I would recommend if you are going to do this either set up really, really early (when no one is there) or do this part after you are done for the night and your audience has left. Reason being is that the system generates pink noise (which sounds like old television static) and it can be very annoying. Use the RTA Mic that you can buy with it or one with an identical response and put it on a mic stand in the middle of your speakers about 15 feet back. Select your EQ level and let it do its magic. Takes a few minutes so be patient (I wasn't and had to do this part twice).
Once it is done fire up some filler music and have a listen. I was impressed......make that very impressed.

Auto Feedback suppressor: This was a snap to set up and use. Tell the system how many filters you want to have locked in and then hit start. Walk around the room and talk into the mic and it will lock in how ever many you have preset and the rest can change as necessary. The standard mic rules still apply so don't think this is a cure for a bad setup. You still can't stand directly in front of a high powered speaker. Once I set it I was done. The system took care of everything from that point on. I did have to make an adjustment to the time that the system held the remaining filters. It was too long and the driverack would run out of filters too soon. Easy fix couple of buttons and a twist of a knob. Recommend setting the floating filters to release at about 10-15 seconds. Enough time for the system to find and stop feedback until the mic has moved.

Subharmonic Synthesizer: Let me just say.......holy cow did that make a difference. All this thing does is identify where you want your subs to be and then put them there. My PR-15's sounded like much different speakers. Easy to set up...just push a button select your cutoff frequency and then adjust the gain up or down. Sounds beautiful.

Compressor/Limiter: Easier to set up than the other C/L I have in the system. Not a lot to speak of here. It did exactly what it was supposed to do and was easy to set up. I'm nopt sure I have it set exactly the way it should be so I will not make too much of a comment at this point.

I did not have a chance to mess with the other functions due a very busy night. But my over-all impression was this:
Absolutely awesome. It is amazing how much better things sound and how much more powerful my system feels with this simple addition. And by the way did I mention that I have the ability to save each of my setups as a preset so I don't have to go through this every night. Just walk in setup, power-up, turn the knob, push the button, and listen to the magic.

Also a quick note on a previous post about using a compressor/limiter. Most manufacturers recommend that you not connect your microphones directly to the inputs of the compressor limiter unless you have no other option.
Most mixing boards have 1/4" insert on each channel. This is for interrupting a signal as soon as it leaves the pre-amp and before it goes to the line EQ, slider, output knob (whatever you have following the insert port) . The reason behind this is that most microphones do not supply sufficient signal for the compressor function to work properly. You wind up with signals that are difficult to control and probably not doing what they are supposed to do. If you run your mic signal through the pre-amp on your mixing board, then out of the mixer to the compressor, and then back into it (via an insert cable from any music store) the signal is at a proper level for compressing accurately

Jon
Monolith Entertainment