Splitting my sound

[funkyjojo]

[szvook]

Well it can be done, but it will be based on how your amp is rated.

If an amp is rated for a "2 ohm load minimum per channel", that means it will drive four, 8 ohm speakers per channel or eight speakers total. But be careful in driving your amp so it does not overload.

You can overload the amp by running too many speakers off one amp so that the ohm load is less then the amp can handle, i.e. - four 8 ohm speakers giving a 2 ohm load on an amp that is only designed for 4 ohms.


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Outboard gear: Focusrite Compounder, Drawmer DL-241, BBE-482, Aphex C-104, Behringer T1951 4-Band Parametric Tube EQ, Lexicon MPX1, Mackie 1402-VLZ, (Crown K2 amp & Cerwin Vega V-253 speakers = 1600 watts @ 4 ohms continues power, peak at 3000 watts) and Sony MDR-V700DJ headphones.

[Schuh Man]

Based on my understanding of your question, here's two options:

Option 1. Not sure which BBE model you have, but my 482 has two outputs for each channel. One is 1/4" and the other is RCA. If you have the BBE 482, you could run the RCA output to your monitor system amp and the 1/4" outs to your other PA. You'll probably need an adapter to convert RCA (BBE has an RCA female) to 1/4" male. I think this adapter is a $1 or $2 (you'll need 2). Anyhow, check to see if your BBE has two outputs for each channel.

Option 2. You could split the signal from your BBE with a "Y" adapter on each channel. Again, since I'm not sure which BBE you have, assuming your BBE has 1/4" outputs, just run 2 MONO to MONO "Y" adapters (1 male x 2 female) from the BBE outputs and then send one side of each "Y" to your PA and the other side to your monitor system amp.

Hope this helps.

PS. If you have a different model of the BBE, let us know which model (882, 362, etc)

[Algee]

whats BBE?

[zendrums]

To be a complete jackass, "BBE is all the sound you never heard." It is a sound maximizer. In drummer terms, it is a little box that makes all of your edrums sound even better and more "acoustic". I just got one and recently used it at a gig. It makes all of the difference in the world! The good Doctor would be able to give you a much more technical and interesting explanation I am sure.

[dr. kildrum]

Originally posted by zendrums:
The good Doctor would be able to give you a much more technical and interesting explanation I am sure.

If you mean me, actually szvook seems to be the resident BBE endorser around this site.

I have been using them for years as well and do have one in my edrum rig. One of the best explanations of what a sonic maximizer does can be found on BBE's site. The writing, though at times a little technical, is pretty easy to follow and has a fun attitude to it as I recall.

Anyway, beyond that I will only attempt a basic generalized way to think of the concept (I think I've done this in previous post here but it may have been on one of the recording forums).

The sound that you hear when you monitor your e-drum module's sounds via good headphones is often very different than what you hear playing through speakers, and most often people will perceive the headphone sound as "better". If you have ever wondered what the reason for this is, it is really pretty simple. With headphones, the stereo sound arrives at your ears (left and right signals) pretty much untouched. The speakers in your headphones are so small and have to handle such a relatively small amount of power, that very good ones can be had for relatively little money.

Using good old speakers introduces quite a lot of variables that all affect those sounds. First of all, edrums have a particularly large dynamic range, have large transients and generally are particularly challenging for all but the better of speakers (especially at higher volumes) to handle to begin with. Next, there is now a much more significant space between the speakers and your eardrums. The speakers send the sound out mostly in the general direction they are pointed, but in reality in all directions to some extent. The sound hits everything in the room and bounces and absorbs to greater or lesser extents depending on the materials. The sound that reaches your ears will include reflections that may be out of phase as a result or where some frequencies have been lost more than others, etc.

To make the phenomenon harder to deal with, the size of the room, its contents and the materials in and around it and that it is made of, all affect this.

To complicate things even a little more (hopefully without getting too complicated) with speakers there are actually four arrivals of sound do deal with: right speaker signal arriving at right ear, left speaker signal arriving at left ear, right signal at left ear and left signal at right ear. In other words, when you are not placing the stereo signals on the doorstep of the eardrums (like with headphones) a lot can and will happen to the signals.

What a sonic maximizer does is correct for (a lot of) that, period. It is a bit more than a fancy specific EQ as some people would suggest. The engineering behind it is really pretty incredible. Just suffice it to say this: it works, and that is all that should really matter. They work best if you use one on each stereo channel if you are going for a stereo effect. If not, many of the better of the ones supply two channels, so you can use one box for more than one application.

If you want to know more, BBE's website is great place to start. Another tidbit of advice: if you have a lot of $ invested in high end home theater (like I do) and it just doesn't sound as awesome as it you remember the demo at the high end audio shop, consider this; many of those shops have acoustically treated rooms (you can do this to but that is another thread) and many of the better ones won't disclose it, but run through a sonic maximizer. If you already have a BBE that use on your music gear and have a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, borrow the BBE for a couple of hours from your rig and run your stereo through it, you'll be cruising Ebay looking for the model with the subwoofer support that evening.

Hope the above helps.