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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Lowther Driver
Post Subject: Getting more from DX4Posted by Paul S on: 11/17/2006
Perhaps there are ways to horn load Lowthers that do not screw up the sound, but I don't know of any, and there are other reasons, as well, for not asking LF from Lowthers.
For me the best thing about the high-pass-limited Lowther DX4 in OB is that it does a fairly accurate job of replicating instrumental and voice pitches and timbres, within its frequency and dynamic limitations, of course. One of the main reasons I quit working with horns is their colorations. Horn loaded Lowthers I have heard share this problem, so I gave OB a try, and I also limited what I ask from the Lowther, in order to get as much of its best as I could.
IMO, for best use of Lowther, do not feed it LF. LF seriously overloads the thing and the collapse Romy notes happens a lot sooner when the Lowther attempts LF.
I realize that many Lowther users "like" what amounts to its thinness. I do not; in fact it drives me nuts, so I passively trimmed its 2.4k and 8k Hz frequency spikes. Doing that and adding LF speakers and HF drivers brought pitch, timbre, weight and scale back into line, right along with superior clarity, focus and MUCH better dynamic range.
Of course the Lowther DX4 will never match compression driver SPL. But it can comfortably do well up into the 90s if LF is kept out, and I happen to prefer its more liner dynamic quality to the "tromboning" of compression driver/horns, where the dynamic quality varies so much according to frequency and also varying "within itself", changing as it changes, if that makes sense.
As for HF, the Lowther does not get worse as it rises; it just trails off, and its HF needs help, just like its LF.
Yes, the Lowther has big problems; but I found them easier to mitigate than the horns' problems, at least to get as far as I've gotten with them to date.
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site