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3.10 The ULTRA-DYNE PRO as a protective device for sound systems
Distortion is generally the result of overdriven amplifiers and speakers, resulting in hard clipping of the signal.
This limitation of the signal results in unpleasant distortion which is also dangerous for the speakers.
In the course of a normal, constant signal, the displacement of the speaker cone takes place with controlled
and generally low relative acceleration. The clipped signal, however, results in the acceleration and abrupt
reversal of the speaker cone, followed by another hard acceleration. As the laws of physics also apply to
speakers, this sort of treatment is not exactly beneficial to their service life.
In addition to long-term overload, speakers can also be damaged by brief but powerful impulses, such as
those resulting from a dropped microphone. Even if the speaker is not destroyed immediately, it can suffer
damage from severe mechanical stresses, the effects of which may not be apparent immediately. The
BEHRINGER ULTRA-DYNE PRO can provide valuable services for the protection of your system. "Brick wall"
limiting is generally not required for PA systems, as the amplifiers and speakers tend to be tolerant of brief
signal peaks. Nevertheless, conventional limiters generally must be set to well below the distortion Threshold
of an amplifier in order to limit the level and duration of distortion transients. As a result, the performance
reserves of the system cannot be fully exploited.
Power Amp
Output L
Power Amp
Output R
Power Amp
Input L & R
ULTRA-DYNE PRO
Inputs & Outputs L & R
Mixer Main
Inserts
Mixer Main
Outputs L & R
Fig. 3.4: Deployment of the ULTRA-DYNE PRO in a sound system
The use of the Peak Limiter of the ULTRA-DYNE PRO to achieve an increase of 3 dB in the overall level
effectively corresponds to a doubling of amplifier power. The ULTRA-DYNE PRO thus puts you in a position
to deliver the distortion-free performance of a 10,000 watt system with only 5,000 watts at your disposal! The
following notes outline the insertion of the ULTRA-DYNE PRO in the signal chain.
3.10.1Protecting a system with passive crossovers
If your speakers use passive crossovers (integrated in the speaker cabinets), insert the BEHRINGER
ULTRA-DYNE PRO directly before the power amplifiers. This effectively prevents a technical K.O. of the midrange
and tweeter branches by powerful basses! While this may appear to be a paradox at first, low frequencies with
high amplitudes mainly tend to overload the amplifier power supplies. The resulting clipping of the signal peaks
produces powerful distortion (harmonics) which are suddenly added to the midrange and treble signals. For
this reason its important to limit the input dynamic range, especially when using weak power amplifiers. To
achieve the highest possible S/N ratio, its particularly advantageous to use the device in the main insert of the
mixing desk
.
3. APPLICATIONS
