I've been spending the past week or so trying to get a grip on setting up limiters.
Thus far I get the concept that all amps in the system must be set up to have matched voltage gains (x40/32db or x20/26db). With this, I also get that the gain controls on the front of the amp do not lower the available output of the amp, they only lower(or raise) the input sensitivity of the amp to reach full power. Just about everything beyond that has gone over my head. I want to be able to figure this out.
I have a manufacturers DSP with a preset loaded for one of their systems. For an example I would like to take the mid driver, and the limiting scheme from the processor. Here are the numbers from the DSP output limiting:
******************************
"1x 12 Woofer: 57 Volts @ x40 gain = 1.425 Volts
@ x20 gain = 2.85 Volts
Threshold: +4 dB
Ratio: 20:1
Attack: 60 mS
Release: 600 mS"
*******************************
What I think I see here is the DSP is allowing only 1.425 volts max to the amp. This is where I get fuzzy. If all the amps in the system have the same gain (x40 or 32db) and the DSP is only allowing 1.425 volts to the amp...does it really matter if I use an amp with way more wattage than the driver can handle?
The driver in this case is rated at 1000 watts program @ 8ohms. I'm not sure if you can determine that by the DSP settings, but that's what the manufacturer shows. The amp I intend to use is a PL380, but I would like to know the math so I can figure it out for other amps too.
I think I have worn out my welcome with some of the manufacturer reps trying to get them to explain it to me.
Thanks in advance.
BJ
Thus far I get the concept that all amps in the system must be set up to have matched voltage gains (x40/32db or x20/26db). With this, I also get that the gain controls on the front of the amp do not lower the available output of the amp, they only lower(or raise) the input sensitivity of the amp to reach full power. Just about everything beyond that has gone over my head. I want to be able to figure this out.
I have a manufacturers DSP with a preset loaded for one of their systems. For an example I would like to take the mid driver, and the limiting scheme from the processor. Here are the numbers from the DSP output limiting:
******************************
"1x 12 Woofer: 57 Volts @ x40 gain = 1.425 Volts
@ x20 gain = 2.85 Volts
Threshold: +4 dB
Ratio: 20:1
Attack: 60 mS
Release: 600 mS"
*******************************
What I think I see here is the DSP is allowing only 1.425 volts max to the amp. This is where I get fuzzy. If all the amps in the system have the same gain (x40 or 32db) and the DSP is only allowing 1.425 volts to the amp...does it really matter if I use an amp with way more wattage than the driver can handle?
The driver in this case is rated at 1000 watts program @ 8ohms. I'm not sure if you can determine that by the DSP settings, but that's what the manufacturer shows. The amp I intend to use is a PL380, but I would like to know the math so I can figure it out for other amps too.
I think I have worn out my welcome with some of the manufacturer reps trying to get them to explain it to me.
Thanks in advance.
BJ