Review: dB Technologies DVX DM Series
Active foldback wedges are here to stay, and they just keep getting better.
By Mark Woods
19 August 2009
Traditionally, achieving full volume and maximum resistance to feedback from monitor systems has required not only the monitor speakers but also separate amps, crossovers and EQ units, perhaps a compressor, and a monitor operator who knew how to make the connections and get the most from the gear. In the latest plug-&-play active speaker systems, the EQ, crossover and dynamics are built in and controlled by DSP processing. For someone who has made his living partly out of EQ’ing speakers, this can be initially disconcerting. Personally, I can’t say ‘check, one, two’ without instinctively reaching for the 31-band graphic, but convenience goes a long way with me, and the simplicity of plugging an audio signal into the speaker cabinet and having good sound come out is very appealing. The newly released dB Technologies DVX professional active wedges are such speakers.
DB Technologies is an Italian audio manufacturer with a 25-year history of making well-designed and reasonably priced audio gear, specialising in speakers, amps and wireless microphone systems. The new DVX DM series is designed primarily as a stage monitor, combining high output power with light weight and convenience of operation. The range comes in three sizes: the DM28, which houses two eight-inch neodymium speakers and a one-inch neodymium compression driver and horn; the DM12, with its 12-inch speaker and 50mm compression driver; and the big boy of the range, the DM15, which houses a 15-inch bass speaker and 50mm compression driver. All speaker and driver components are made by RCF.
Each of the DM models is actively bi-amped and driven by a convection-cooled Digipro Class-D digital amp, delivering a maximum 250W to the horn and 500W to the woofers. In-built processing provides the crossover, limiting, thermal protection and preset EQ shapes for FOH or monitor operation.
A MATTER OF DBs
The DVX cabinets are well designed and look good on stage. Made from birch plywood they’re also likely to continue to do so over the long haul. Plywood wedges are more rugged than the polypropylene designs, which look good out of the box but accumulate marks and scratches very easily in normal use. All the DM models are low profile and boast a strong 1.5mm steel grille-over-foam guard across the front fascia. The cutouts at either end of the cabinet offer further protection for the controls and connections, as well as providing a neat handle system that can be used to pick the cabinets up from any position. On stage, they’re best angled up as near-field monitors but can also be rolled onto their backs and used as far-field monitors if required. The DM12 and DM15s ship assuming they’ll be used horizontally as floor monitors, but by removing the front grille, the 40º x 60º horn can be rotated to accommodate the speakers being used vertically as FOH cabinets.
Considering there’s a powerful amp in there as well as the speakers themselves, the DM12s and 15s are remarkably light and easy to carry. The DM15, in particular, is quite a large cabinet and looks big from on stage but it’s still only a modest 21kg (the DM12 is 17.5kg and the DM28 is only 14kg). The DM12 and DM15 can also be suspended with M8 eyebolts should you be looking to use them as install boxes.
ITALIAN DESIGN
The connections panel on each of the three models has balanced XLR sockets for audio input and link. Little lights indicate On, Mute, Signal, Limiter and a small button selects Monitor or FOH mode. Mains power is through a Neutrik PowerCon socket and the supplied power lead is suitably chunky. In less enlightened times, the placement of the audio input and power sockets, which are mounted too close together, would have been sarcastically referred to as being of ‘Italian design’. Inserting the power and signal plugs into the dB cabinets is a painless enough exercise but disconnecting either of them becomes a two-handed job, and rotating the PowerCon plug into the ‘Off’ position is almost impossible without first removing the audio input.
NEED TO KNOW
You don’t notice this until after you’ve finished using the speakers, however, and by then you’ll probably like them enough to forgive them this small inconvenience. You’ll also like them because they’re easy to carry in and set up, and the sound quality is very good. Plugging a Shure SM58 into a DM15 – with the mode switch set to ‘Monitor’ and applying some level – is instantly rewarded with easy level and plenty of clarity. These cabinets sound like good wedges well EQ’d: smooth up high, quite stable between 2 and 5kHz, well controlled in the mids with no bark around 400 – 500Hz and full low-mids. They also respond well to the popular hand-held condenser vocal mics, with their extra high-end detail. Proximity effect is plainly audible but doesn’t blow out the low end, and is better controlled from a console’s channel EQ anyway. Having the horn up one end of the cabinet on the DM12 and DM15 means the sound changes slightly as you move from side to side, and there’s a bright spot right in front of the horn, but I didn’t notice this once gigs were in full swing. The DM28 meanwhile has its horn placed above the two woofers and maintains a more even focus.
I used the DM15 every night at a recent festival and it worked flawlessly. The fortnight of performances saw a wide range of styles from intimate songs to big-band show tunes and rock. Once I was confident in the sound of the speaker I had no hesitation in using it for any of the acts and appreciated the fact it was approximately half the weight of the venue’s own wedges. Full volume was tested on the night it was employed as the main vocal monitor for Dan Sultan and band. At the soundcheck it was simply a matter of turning it up to the required level – loud. Remarkably, no EQ was needed, there wasn’t a hint of feedback and everyone liked the sound. The only skill left for the operator is setting the input gain on the desk channel and the speaker.
The DM28 (the smallest of the three) is quite small – about half the size of the DM15. It certainly looked small on the big stage and didn’t have the bass power of the DM15 for high volume work but it’s still a good wedge. It’s brighter than the DM15 and the 2kHz – 5kHz region is the first area to grow unstable at high levels but it’s nice and clear otherwise. I used it on a smaller stage with acoustic acts that needed vocals and acoustic guitars in the monitors and in this role it was easy to position and unobtrusive, even when the performers were seated. The DM28 would provide high-quality foldback for everything up to loud bands and would be perfect for acoustic acts that carry their gear around with them. It also makes an excellent Listen monitor for the foldback operator, and can easily be positioned on the floor or at head height.
THIN END OF THE WEDGE
The DM12 and DM15 models can also be used as FOH speakers if required (there are other DVX models dedicated to this task), and these sport a pole-mount in one end for such occasions. A full-sounding bass response is important for FOH and, when switched to ‘Full-Range’ mode, the DM15 has a surprisingly deep sound that works well even as ‘disco speakers’ or installed in a club. The quoted response is –3dB at 60Hz and –10dB at 50Hz, and they can be used at quite high levels before the issue of extra subs enters your thinking. One speaker per side would provide enough sound with enough bass for most acts in venues of up to approximately 200 people. The only issue with using them switched to full-range mode for FOH use is that the extra bass content adds to the proximity effect from vocal mics, resulting in a fair amount of bass cut on the vocal channel to avoid boominess. The DM28 is less suitable for FOH; it has a button to select full-range or monitor mode but no pole mount – presumably to discourage this temptation. The quoted response of the DM28 is –3dB at 90Hz, so as you can imagine, the low end only sounds adequate when the speaker is on the floor and close to the listener.
Overall these are well-designed monitors that deliver a big punch despite their light weight. The smaller DM28 makes a handy floor monitor (or listen wedge) while the larger DM12 and DM15 can double as FOH speakers if required. They’re easy to transport, a cinch to carry in one hand, quick to set up and fun to operate. Quality with convenience; they deserve to be heard.
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