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Originally Posted by Fezzle  I dont think passive systems interfere with the sound like actives do. |
This is a commonly held belief, but it is mistaken. Passive 'systems' have the elegance of simplicity, but they present impedance issues both to the device feeding them and the device they feed, with the latter being much more susceptible to shifts in tone and transient response as a result. And for better or worse, a great many expensive pieces of hardware have design flaws which make them even more prone to impedance issues, including the built-to-a-budget amps that live inside everyone's powered studio monitors.
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Originally Posted by Fezzle IVCA's in active systems introduce distortion and that is science. However they are cheaper to implement in a design so thats why active systems are often more accessible. |
It's true, vca's are prone to distortion, but I'm not aware of a single active monitoring system that uses vca's to adjust the gain. An input and output line amp buffering a simple gain change circuit are all that's needed, and some of the amps available for this use are orders of magnitude cleaner and more accurate than those used in 99% of the gear they'll be connected to.
I've got a clear bias here, as I make and sell an active monitoring system that's not too much more $ than the all passive, relays-and-switches-and-a-pot Central Station, and our monitor controller wipes the floor with that device. This is born out not just in listening tests but also objectively measured signal tests measuring distortions, crosstalk, frequency response, and transient fidelity.
There's a reason every high end, highly regarded monitor controller is active, and it's not because we fancy over-designed circuits loaded with unnecessary parts; it's because well-designed active circuits overcome the limitations and issues passive designs inherently suffer from. If they didn't, I'd simply source a $5 24-position switch from china, stick it on a $3 pcb with a handful of $.01 resistors, and sell boatloads of them for $50 because that'd be the no-brainer move from an ease and profitability standpoint.
I tried that, it didn't hold a candle to the sonic purity of the active design, so in the dumpster it went.
Gregory Scott - ubk