Hi, as a DIYer of active loudspeakers, I'm interested in mapping my options for future projects. Please specify what you voted and why.
Prerequisites
If going for plate amps, I would require digital chaining to avoid noise and other analog issues, unless you can justify anything else very well. A plateamp would anyway have to run a DSP for the crossover.
If going for separates, a balanced line level signal is a strict requirement, and probably any kind of automatic power on/off (like signal sense or 12V trigger solution).
4-way speaker does not mean that all 4 of them are physically in the same box.
Background
I currently have my main speakers powered by Hypex FA and it works perfectly. I love their digital input board, because it allows for chaining many boards digitally. I also got miniDSP SHD as a preamp. I also got separate power amp driving a low frequency way, so currently SHD channels 1-2 are for mains and 3-4 are for bass. I'm going to add new LF speakers and I'm torn between deciding if I should get more FA's or scrap that idea and go for separates.
The Options
For plates the only plausible option seems to be the Hypex FA's. No other plate/solution allows chaining spdif or aes/ebu, that I know of for a comparable price. For my next addition I need 400-500 W of power, I was thinking of a bridged FA252, built into a separate enclosure. But I would be bound to a single brand, which is scary in a way. This would be considerably cheaper than going for a set of powerful Hypex/Purifi power amps.
If going for separates, I would need a DSP unit that can receive digital from my SHD, crossover and output total of 8 channels. This would be future proof if/when I build new main speakers and sell the existing with its amp. I was thinking of a Motu UltraLite mk5 and a Raspberry Pi with CamillaDSP (input to UL5, route to RPi via USB, do DSP and split to 8 channels, back to UL5, output through balanced), but I got no idea what kind of work would need to be done to make that happen. The RPi can be extended to generate 12 V trigger signal with CamillaDSP. Maybe the UL5 would be sufficient for simple DSP functions on is own. There is also the miniDSP Flex HTx, it's more expensive but has trigger out. In all cases this approach would increase cable clutter, complexity and probably delay too.
A third option could be to use PA multichannel DSP amps with my SHD, but they are usually analog only (could be tolerable once), they would need to be modded with quiet fans and there could be other unforeseen issues, like too much noise in output.
I still got my SHD, which gives me some room to maneuver between choices. I would not need to replace my whole system right now, just decide the future path from here on.
I would love to hear what you have done and what became of it, or what would you do next to amplify multiway active speakers.
Prerequisites
If going for plate amps, I would require digital chaining to avoid noise and other analog issues, unless you can justify anything else very well. A plateamp would anyway have to run a DSP for the crossover.
If going for separates, a balanced line level signal is a strict requirement, and probably any kind of automatic power on/off (like signal sense or 12V trigger solution).
4-way speaker does not mean that all 4 of them are physically in the same box.
Background
I currently have my main speakers powered by Hypex FA and it works perfectly. I love their digital input board, because it allows for chaining many boards digitally. I also got miniDSP SHD as a preamp. I also got separate power amp driving a low frequency way, so currently SHD channels 1-2 are for mains and 3-4 are for bass. I'm going to add new LF speakers and I'm torn between deciding if I should get more FA's or scrap that idea and go for separates.
The Options
For plates the only plausible option seems to be the Hypex FA's. No other plate/solution allows chaining spdif or aes/ebu, that I know of for a comparable price. For my next addition I need 400-500 W of power, I was thinking of a bridged FA252, built into a separate enclosure. But I would be bound to a single brand, which is scary in a way. This would be considerably cheaper than going for a set of powerful Hypex/Purifi power amps.
If going for separates, I would need a DSP unit that can receive digital from my SHD, crossover and output total of 8 channels. This would be future proof if/when I build new main speakers and sell the existing with its amp. I was thinking of a Motu UltraLite mk5 and a Raspberry Pi with CamillaDSP (input to UL5, route to RPi via USB, do DSP and split to 8 channels, back to UL5, output through balanced), but I got no idea what kind of work would need to be done to make that happen. The RPi can be extended to generate 12 V trigger signal with CamillaDSP. Maybe the UL5 would be sufficient for simple DSP functions on is own. There is also the miniDSP Flex HTx, it's more expensive but has trigger out. In all cases this approach would increase cable clutter, complexity and probably delay too.
A third option could be to use PA multichannel DSP amps with my SHD, but they are usually analog only (could be tolerable once), they would need to be modded with quiet fans and there could be other unforeseen issues, like too much noise in output.
I still got my SHD, which gives me some room to maneuver between choices. I would not need to replace my whole system right now, just decide the future path from here on.
I would love to hear what you have done and what became of it, or what would you do next to amplify multiway active speakers.
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