Using a Peak Limiter as protection against bursts

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

I am a novice and would love some insight from an expert (or experts).
I am just sick of having to turn my volume up to hear what is being
said in a movie and then blasted out of my seat seconds later by a car
crash or a tidal wave or whatever.

My system: VCR, DVD, and TV audio ouput goes to a consumer amp and
then on to two pretty good speakers.

I bought a Peak Limiter on ebay. It is an Alesis 3630 compressor
(dual channel compressor limiter with gate). I'm pretty sure I can
make a cable than connects the RCA plugs from my DVD system to the 1/4
inch plugs of my Peak Limiter, and then another one to connect back to
the amp. But, that leaves me with VCR movies still being a problem.

Certainly, I can insert another component (a reciever) into this and
have the DVD, VCR and TV go into that reciever, and then have that go
into the Peak Limiter, and on to the amp and finally to the speakers -
which I would like to call plan B.

My question is, would it work - without damaging the amp or the
speakers in any way - to just insert the Peak Limiter between the amp
and the speakers? I have never heard of anyone doing this.

Lastly, there is a port on each channel in this Compressor called
"Side Chain, Tip = return, Ring =send". For my intented purposes, it
is okay for me to never know or care what this is for? Otherwise,
could someone help me understand what I need to do about this?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Rob,

> I am just sick of having to turn my volume up to hear what is being said
in a movie and then blasted out of my seat seconds later by a car crash or a
tidal wave or whatever. <

My guess is you do not need a limiter at all, but rather to tame the
acoustics in your listening room. Lack of intelligibility is a huge problem
in most rooms - once you fix that you'll be able to hear the dialog and
understand the words at normal (lower) volume levels.

--Ethan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

"Ethan Winer" <ethanw at ethanwiner dot com> wrote in message news:<7ZadnYG4J6V-UljdRVn-sw@giganews.com>...
> Rob,
>
> > I am just sick of having to turn my volume up to hear what is being said
> in a movie and then blasted out of my seat seconds later by a car crash or a
> tidal wave or whatever. <
>
> My guess is you do not need a limiter at all, but rather to tame the
> acoustics in your listening room. Lack of intelligibility is a huge problem
> in most rooms - once you fix that you'll be able to hear the dialog and
> understand the words at normal (lower) volume levels.
>
> --Ethan

Okay well thanks, but now that I have one and my interest is piqued,
any ideas on the electronic approach?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Rob Liberti wrote:
> I am a novice and would love some insight from an expert (or experts).
> I am just sick of having to turn my volume up to hear what is being
> said in a movie and then blasted out of my seat seconds later by a car
> crash or a tidal wave or whatever.
>
> My system: VCR, DVD, and TV audio output goes to a consumer amp and
> then on to two pretty good speakers.
>
> I bought a Peak Limiter on ebay. It is an Alesis 3630 compressor
> (dual channel compressor limiter with gate). I'm pretty sure I can
> make a cable than connects the RCA plugs from my DVD system to the 1/4
> inch plugs of my Peak Limiter, and then another one to connect back to
> the amp. But, that leaves me with VCR movies still being a problem.

The Alesis 3630 is a well known POS, among compressors.

> Certainly, I can insert another component (a receiver) into this and
> have the DVD, VCR and TV go into that receiver, and then have that go
> into the Peak Limiter, and on to the amp and finally to the speakers -
> which I would like to call plan B.

> My question is, would it work - without damaging the amp or the
> speakers in any way - to just insert the Peak Limiter between the amp
> and the speakers? I have never heard of anyone doing this.

That's because its a horrifically bad idea as stated. The output of the
limiter is no way capable of being hooked directly to speakers. You'd need
another power amp for that. Then you'd need something that would convert the
speaker outputs of your existing receiver to line level for the input of the
compressor. You can find those among car audio accessories.

> Lastly, there is a port on each channel in this Compressor called
> "Side Chain, Tip = return, Ring =send". For my intended purposes, it
> is okay for me to never know or care what this is for?

Right now, it's a "don't care". It's a refinement that you don't need to
worry about until you are experienced with the basic implementation.

> Otherwise, could someone help me understand what I need to do about this?

Start out with plan B and see whether compression meets your basic needs.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Rob,

> any ideas on the electronic approach? <

The best I can offer is my brief compressor tutorial, 8th in the list on my
Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

--Ethan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Thanks for helping me out! Plan B is now plan A. I wish I could see
a diagram with a short sample waveform starting at the first
component, and seeing how it is changed after each component. That
would be really helpful for me to understand this stuff better. Just
curious, would the putting the peak limiter between the DVD and the
amp work? (obviously not for the VCR and TV!)

"Arny Krueger" <arnyk@hotpop.com> wrote in message news:<EdGdncUGeJjwnFrdRVn-hQ@comcast.com>...
> Rob Liberti wrote:
> > I am a novice and would love some insight from an expert (or experts).
> > I am just sick of having to turn my volume up to hear what is being
> > said in a movie and then blasted out of my seat seconds later by a car
> > crash or a tidal wave or whatever.
> >
> > My system: VCR, DVD, and TV audio output goes to a consumer amp and
> > then on to two pretty good speakers.
> >
> > I bought a Peak Limiter on ebay. It is an Alesis 3630 compressor
> > (dual channel compressor limiter with gate). I'm pretty sure I can
> > make a cable than connects the RCA plugs from my DVD system to the 1/4
> > inch plugs of my Peak Limiter, and then another one to connect back to
> > the amp. But, that leaves me with VCR movies still being a problem.
>
> The Alesis 3630 is a well known POS, among compressors.
>
> > Certainly, I can insert another component (a receiver) into this and
> > have the DVD, VCR and TV go into that receiver, and then have that go
> > into the Peak Limiter, and on to the amp and finally to the speakers -
> > which I would like to call plan B.
>
> > My question is, would it work - without damaging the amp or the
> > speakers in any way - to just insert the Peak Limiter between the amp
> > and the speakers? I have never heard of anyone doing this.
>
> That's because its a horrifically bad idea as stated. The output of the
> limiter is no way capable of being hooked directly to speakers. You'd need
> another power amp for that. Then you'd need something that would convert the
> speaker outputs of your existing receiver to line level for the input of the
> compressor. You can find those among car audio accessories.
>
> > Lastly, there is a port on each channel in this Compressor called
> > "Side Chain, Tip = return, Ring =send". For my intended purposes, it
> > is okay for me to never know or care what this is for?
>
> Right now, it's a "don't care". It's a refinement that you don't need to
> worry about until you are experienced with the basic implementation.
>
> > Otherwise, could someone help me understand what I need to do about this?
>
> Start out with plan B and see whether compression meets your basic needs.

 

[gregs]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

In article <1c6997c4.0406090343.5db09fa8@posting.google.com>, rob_liberti@hotmail.com (Rob Liberti) wrote:
>"Ethan Winer" <ethanw at ethanwiner dot com> wrote in message
> news:<7ZadnYG4J6V-UljdRVn-sw@giganews.com>...
>> Rob,
>>
>> > I am just sick of having to turn my volume up to hear what is being said
>> in a movie and then blasted out of my seat seconds later by a car crash or a
>> tidal wave or whatever. <
>>
>> My guess is you do not need a limiter at all, but rather to tame the
>> acoustics in your listening room. Lack of intelligibility is a huge problem
>> in most rooms - once you fix that you'll be able to hear the dialog and
>> understand the words at normal (lower) volume levels.
>>
>> --Ethan
>
>Okay well thanks, but now that I have one and my interest is piqued,
>any ideas on the electronic approach?

Need more info on system. If its possible to get at a stereo signal, then many devices could
be hooked up to it. If its a multichannel decoder, then it might be very difficult.

greg