What is important to you in a PA speaker?

[mitchco]

Well, some of the best PA sound I have ever heard was from a Community Light and Sound System from long ago:

That's not me, but the owner of a club in downtown Vancouver in the late 80's. That's the famous M4 midrange on a giant mid horn. The clarity and punch was simply amazing. When the system was juiced, a snare hit would make your eyes involuntarily blink and the kick drum would sound concussive in your chest with those front horn loaded boxer bins. Crystal clear with no distortion.

While I have heard some very nice sound from Synergy's and Meyer's Sound, I am not trying to be too nostalgic, but I really do miss a system like this that put driver sensitivity and directivity high on it's list for design. Mind you, it was a big club and these were loud and clean with that crack and punch in which you knew you were in for a good time. Definitely more of a long throw system...

@andreasmaaan what is the size of venues you are targeting? What kind of music?

Cheers!
Mitch

 

[andreasmaaan]

@andreasmaaan what is the size of venues you are targeting? What kind of music?

Thanks @mitchco, haven’t heard that Community system but I know exactly what you mean about that loud, clean, very dynamic PA sound.

My own systems are for smaller venues and won’t hope to achieve the SPLs of those large horns, although I have been working on something of more that scale in the background

Good question about venues/music. It makes sense for me to look at the club and electronic scenes first as they’re much bigger here in Berlin (in this smaller venue size range at least), and also where I have more existing contacts (I organise techno/ambient events and a podcast here).

 

[andreasmaaan]

Sounds cool.

Of course it depends on the price, but if AES would be available it would certainly draw me in that direction.

Ok cheers Atm it seems that I have to make a choice between having an AES input and having an XLR link output. Or getting a custom input PCB designed and built, which I’m loathe to do given the small scale of the operation.

Assuming it’s a choice between AES input and XLR link output, I presume the latter would be considered a necessity, right?

 

[hege]

Assuming it’s a choice between AES input and XLR link output, I presume the latter would be considered a necessity, right?

I think having AES input would pretty much require having AES link/chain output too. Otherwise one would need some AES distributor box, which I think are more rare and of course expensive with transformers and stuff. So perhaps for your case it's best to ignore my personal preference.

 

[andymok]

AES67 / Ravenna is also worth looking into

 

[andreasmaaan]

Thanks @andymok and @hege for advice about AES/Ravenna.

Andymok, the AES version I mentioned earlier also has a Dante option. What advantages does Ravenna bring over Dante? It’s not something I’m very familiar with.

And what applications would both of you choose AES/Ravenna for ( might seem an obvious question but please indulge me)?

 

[JJB70]

I would concentrate on getting a good basic design first, keep it simple but do it well. I find that the world of PA systems is quite conservative. We have a Behringer XR18 interface which allows walk about control via an app but it doesn't get used that much as people seem to prefer the traditional mixing desk and running out the umbilical. I must admit I find the UI of old fashioned sliders and Dials much more comfortable than doing it from a tablet (but maybe I am just an old fart).

 

[andymok]

Thanks @andymok and @hege for advice about AES/Ravenna.

Andymok, the AES version I mentioned earlier also has a Dante option. What advantages does Ravenna bring over Dante? It’s not something I’m very familiar with.

And what applications would both of you choose AES/Ravenna for ( might seem an obvious question but please indulge me)?

AES67 is an open standard, so there are numbers of company offering solutions in hardware and software already. It is therefore widely adopted by the industry, esp (live) broadcasting, since AES67 is also to be used in SMPTE - ST2110 for IP video/audio.

I cannot access Audinate's website somehow, so I can not comment on Dante's specs or performance. Dante embraced AES67 nonetheless so there should be no compatibility issue.

If you look further into where AES67 is actually based on - Ravenna Protocol, a open standard/protocol. You'll find it basically covers all the way up to 384kHz for PCM and DSD512 and with different applications.

So from I see the advantages for adopting AES67 / Ravenna
- AES67 compliance: Ravenna fundamentally complies; others involve conversions to interchange.
- Cost: it's an open technology, license-free
- Flexibility: Multi-formats
- Applications: Audio, A/V, Video, Broadcast

https://www.ravenna-network.com/adopting-ravenna/overview/

Genelec has a IP monitor 8430A that you can reference to.

 

[andreasmaaan]

AES67 is an open standard, so there are numbers of company offering solutions in hardware and software already. It is therefore widely adopted by the industry, esp (live) broadcasting, since AES67 is also to be used in SMPTE - ST2110 for IP video/audio.

I cannot access Audinate's website somehow, so I can not comment on Dante's specs or performance. Dante embraced AES67 nonetheless so there should be no compatibility issue.

If you look further into where AES67 is actually based on - Ravenna Protocol, a open standard/protocol. You'll find it basically covers all the way up to 384kHz for PCM and DSD512 and with different applications.

So from I see the advantages for adopting AES67 / Ravenna
- AES67 compliance: Ravenna fundamentally complies; others involve conversions to interchange.
- Cost: it's an open technology, license-free
- Flexibility: Multi-formats
- Applications: Audio, A/V, Video, Broadcast

https://www.ravenna-network.com/adopting-ravenna/overview/

Genelec has a IP monitor 8430A that you can reference to.

Many thanks Andy