JonB67 wrote: Im wondering why people calculate their limiter settings.   Im not particularly electronics or amp savvy. (Guess i wouldn't need to ask if i was) Why can't you just unplug the speakers and measure the voltage with the amp set to 11 and dial the limiters down until its acceptable? Its clearly not this simple as i can't find anyone suggesting this. What am i missing?

The only thing that was not mentioned by the previous comments is... What exactly are you protecting? 

The majority of modern day amplifiers offer an on board limiter to prevent severe clipping. Most sound man use stand alone limiters to protect their loudspeakers from receiving too much power providing, the on board limiter in the amplifier is not adjustable. 

So are you protecting your loudspeakers from too much power or, are you using an amplifier that does not include an on board limiter in which, you need to use a stand alone limiter to prevent the amplifier from clipping?

Best Regards,  

JonB67 wrote: Elliot Thompson wrote: JonB67 wrote: Im wondering why people calculate their limiter settings.   Im not particularly electronics or amp savvy. (Guess i wouldn't need to ask if i was) Why can't you just unplug the speakers and measure the voltage with the amp set to 11 and dial the limiters down until its acceptable? Its clearly not this simple as i can't find anyone suggesting this. What am i missing?  The only thing that was not mentioned by the previous comments is... What exactly are you protecting?  The majority of modern day amplifiers offer an on board limiter to prevent severe clipping. Most sound man use stand alone limiters to protect their loudspeakers from receiving too much power providing, the on board limiter in the amplifier is not adjustable.  So are you protecting your loudspeakers from too much power or, are you using an amplifier that does not include an on board limiter in which, you need to use a stand alone limiter to prevent the amplifier from clipping? Best Regards,   Now that's a useful question.  I've got a matrix 6004 which will give some useful clip protection,  and two numark dimension 4s which probably won't. I have a dcx and Im not  investing in new kit but want to make sure I'm making the most protection from what i already have.  Primarily looking to not burn out my drivers by feeding them  more than they can handle.

Since you are aiming for loudspeaker protection, each amplifier should be limited differently according to the loudspeaker it is driving. Your Behringer DCX is more than enough to get the job done.

Your biggest challenge will be converting the output volts from the amplifier into watts to reflect the rating of your loudspeakers under their nominal load.

High frequency drivers are always an easy load to an amplifier whereas, mid to low frequency drivers can/will put a heavier load on the amplifier at times.  So even though you could get away calibrating the amplifiers with no load, you will need to limit the voltage possibly 2 – 3 volts more than the outcome to prevent any fluctuations of the loudspeaker load.

Your Fluke meter is all you need and some means of noise (White or Pink) as noise reflects more to wards dynamic music material than sine waves. If you have difficulty converting the wattage (Program Power) of your speakers into volts at the nominal load, post the numbers here as I designed such a calculator to execute such a fete when I bench test amplifiers.

Best Regards,

How precise the limiting needs to be reflects the person at the controls.

Most of the time everything needs to be calculated for the person at the controls can be very heavy handed on the faders. So brick wall limiting is the only solution. This is very important when renting out your kit and, those who are experiencing their first sound system.

Those that are more conscientious on not over driving their system and fall within the single user realm can be easy going applying limiters. A little clipping once in a while won’t lead to having their loudspeakers reconed as they tend to reduce the gains instantly when clipping occurs.

Then there are very small group of individuals as myself that use no limiters whatsoever and devise other means of voltage restrictions to regulate the output. This usually stems from literally monitoring everything at all times in addition to having certain components distort (upstream) giving one the impression the system is operating at full tilt (down stream) when it is not if/when required.   

Some users are not content until they hear heavy distortion. Some users are aiming for the cleanest sound as possible and would sacrifice volume for very low distortion. And there are others that have tons of headroom at their disposal and use the extra power for momentary peaks.

Best Regards,

Elliot Thompson wrote: ..components distort (upstream) giving one the impression the system is operating at full tilt (down stream) when it is not if/when required.    Some users are not content until they hear heavy distortion.

:D love this.

JonB67 wrote:   Double bms 15n630 in 180 litre boxes tuned to 41 hz Music is all pre recorded but covers reggae, dubsteb, charts stuff, blues, rock amongst others.   A fairly wide spread.  By how much do you loosen/tighten the limiter settings then?

Unless someone is using the same box with the same tuning in addition to the same loudspeaker, no one can give a clear cut answer. You have a custom design which means you will have a custom setting. 

The music is not the problem as the majority sound systems need to reproduce a wide variety of music. The question is how conscientious are you when playing your system? 

As I mentioned in a previous post...

Elliot Thompson wrote: How precise the limiting needs to be reflects the person at the controls.   Most of the time everything needs to be calculated for the person at the controls can be very heavy handed on the faders. So brick wall limiting is the only solution. This is very important when renting out your kit and, those who are experiencing their first sound system.   Those that are more conscientious on not over driving their system and fall within the single user realm can be easy going applying limiters. A little clipping once in a while won’t lead to having their loudspeakers reconed as they tend to reduce the gains instantly when clipping occurs.   Then there are very small group of individuals as myself that use no limiters whatsoever and devise other means of voltage restrictions to regulate the output. This usually stems from literally monitoring everything at all times in addition to having certain components distort (upstream) giving one the impression the system is operating at full tilt (down stream) when it is not if/when required.      Some users are not content until they hear heavy distortion. Some users are aiming for the cleanest sound as possible and would sacrifice volume for very low distortion. And there are others that have tons of headroom at their disposal and use the extra power for momentary peaks.   Best Regards,

Where do you stand under the above scenario? 

Best Regards,