A DJ's Compressor

jondasutra · Post by **jondasutra** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:03 am

My Mackie Actives (SRM450) keep clipping out and shutting off. The volume in the back of them is at 50% and the master volume on my mixer is only at 75%, but these speakers keep getting hot, going into protect mode and shutting off.
Can anyone recomend a compressor that will limit the amount of juice going to the mackie actives and a sub woofer ? and is that the problem ?

Thanks in advance

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:07 am

make sure you have the line/mic button on the back of the mackie's pressed so that its not activating the mackie's microphone preamp.

in other words, toggle the button so that the speaker is less loud with the signal you are sending through it. the mic setting would be far louder, the line setting would be far quieter.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:10 am

scratch that, its the srm350 that has that buton, not the 450.

adhmzaiusz · Post by **adhmzaiusz** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:51 am

I've had the same problem before...does that mackie model have built in limiters? If so you could try boosting the level on the back to 70-80% and using your mixer for full control of the volume, just be careful with the load going into the speakers. I think whats happening is you're trying to get a loud signal by boosting too far on your board first, when you should be setting the volume louder on the back and using your board for control.

I.M.O. scrap the compressor idea, on the master it's usually only idealy used in subtle amounts. You could limit the signal going into your speakers first maybe.

jondasutra · Post by **jondasutra** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:19 pm

OK, perhaps a limiter will help solve this problem
has anyone had any experience with this one :
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BBEMAXCOM

subterFUSE · Post by **subterFUSE** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:23 pm

Are you using the Mackies upright, or on the side?

While they are designed with the wedge shape to work on their side as floor monitors.... in the real world, they don't work well that way.... because they have a hard time cooling when the grill fins are sideways.

Other than that, it sounds like a gain matching problem. Turn down the volume dial on the Mackies, or lower the volume/gain output on your mixer, or whatever device feeds the Mackies.

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:34 pm

Depending on your subject material, another option may be to pick up an active sub.

You'll be amazed just how much harder you can drive your 450s with far more headroom and less distortion and overheating issues when a sub is picking up everything below 100-120 Hz. You only need one, as most active subs (including the Mackies) have left and right inputs, and high-pass left and right signals to the 450s while mono summing the sub signal.

I also stick George Yohng's freebie W1 limiter across Live's master output.

http://www.yohng.com/w1limit.html

ProducerDJ · Post by **ProducerDJ** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:48 pm

Definitely go the route of the sub if you can. It makes all the difference in the world! Trust me. Until I bought my sub I used an outboard dbx compressor/limiter that I ran very light compression (very light) and that helped me out a little. The sub has helped me to be able to push them a little more without them over heating. I love these speakers but I really wish that they had a better cooling system similiar to the JBL's.

philipbarrett · Post by **philipbarrett** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:49 pm

jondasutra wrote:My Mackie Actives (SRM450) keep clipping out and shutting off. The volume in the back of them is at 50% and the master volume on my mixer is only at 75%, but these speakers keep getting hot, going into protect mode and shutting off.

Do a test - eq out the bass (say below 150Hz) and run the system hard. If it contnues to thermal then the problem is with the overall level & needs further investigation, if not then the bass is causing the overdriving and could be corrected with a sub AND a crossover (without the X-over you'll fix nothing).

A limiter is designed only to protect the system from occasional peaks not continuous overmodulation.

subterFUSE · Post by **subterFUSE** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:16 pm

Remember.... the Mackie SRM-450 input, when set at the normal level (meaning gain knob in center detent position) is set for +4 dBu.

Sounds to me like the output of your mixer is far beyond that level.

You can address this by adjusting the output volume of the mixer, or if the mixer has an output gain on the back (Like the Pioneer 500/600).

What kind of mixer are you using?

ProducerDJ · Post by **ProducerDJ** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:27 pm

One more thing to add, if you opt for the sub be sure to get the
mackie SWA1501 active sub. It sounds crisp and clean and has a built in
X-over.

A DJ's Compressor

A DJ's Compressor

Re: A DJ's Compressor