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In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Horns and digital crossovers.
Post Subject: There are many layers of d-crossover problems. Posted by Romy the Cat on: 7/15/2006
 slowmotion wrote: |
| Romy, there are more ways to the top of the mountain... <BR>And we already know that your way isn't my way... <BR><BR>You bring up many very valid points, but still I will continue to use my digital crossover as a very useful tool. But I am also experimenting with other solutions... |
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Look, Jan, I think you are missing the point. It has nothing to do with your way, my way, his ways or any other ways. I do not think that my point is to criticize somebody’s ways but rather to bring observations regarding the conceptual framework of the issue.
Pay attention that I am not bitchy about digital delay (although I do not know any transparent enough) but only about the digital crossover. There is another “philosophical” problem with digital crossover. You see, to design crossovers for horns is a quite sophisticated art. To design crossovers for box speaker is complex but in there we correct the drivers’ and enclosures’ problems. With horns, we do not correct problems (if proper driver and horns were used) but rather identify the most desirable operation conditions and let the drivers/horns to be as they are in those conditions. It is very tiny and not distinctive difference but it does exist and it affects sound fairly dramatically.
So my point is that when we “manage” a horn channel via a line level digital crossover we do not have the feel of what the horn/driver does. Use a digital crossover is like patting Cat by means of remote condoled mechanical arms: you can make the Cat to purr but you will not get the reaction of her body… When I use D-crossovers I have different reaction then with analog filters, and I am not talking about “quality of sound”. Let me explain. I have a RTA and I’m looking at the specific slope of a specific driver/horn. I hear a certain sound from this driver/horn. Then I decided for instance to move the slope for a couple hundreds Hertz up or down. I do so via analog filter and get the well predicable and expected sonic gratification. With digital crossover, if I mover the slope at the very same amount of Hertz the sonic delta is different. I do not know how to explain the difference but I do feel that it does exist. I feel that with analog filters the difference is something that I would call “predictable”. There is a direct sensible relation between the “numbers in Hertz” and the “sound”. With digital crossover it is also exist but the relation between Hertzs and sound is less linear and way less predicable, or I would say expectable…
Rgs,
Romy The caT
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