Minidrive provides all four core functions of the Omnidrive range: crossovers (Linkwitz-Riley, Bessel or Butterworth), mid-band limiters, equalisation freely assignable to inputs and outputs, and both input and output delay. However, by leaving out the more advanced features in the Omnidrive, BSS has achieved dramatically lower prices, ensuring that Minidrive is suitable for a range of applications for which an Omnidrive would simply not have been affordable.
The Minidrive is available in two models, the FDS-334T (with 2 inputs and 4 outputs) and the FDS-336T (with 2 inputs and 6 outputs). The FDS-336T is able to drive a stereo 3-way system, and is expected to find favour in the front of house rack, while the FDS-334T is expected to be at home in the monitor rack. Up to 38 bands of filtering are available in each unit.
As an added bonus, the Minidrive can be controlled by SIASoft's Smaart Live analysis program, allowing the installer or engineer to create systems with integrated measurement and processing.
Individual Minidrive outputs can also be run full range. With the low price of the units, this means that they are highly suited to use as zone controllers for convention centres, ballrooms, under-balcony feeds or downfills with EQ and delay, or for replacing several traditional analogue units in an installed sound system in just one rack space.
BSS has provided Minidrive with a similar user interface to its big brother the FDS-366T "Omnidrive Compact Plus". The four-arrow "navipad" allows access to menus and facilties, while push-to-select switches on the output level controls ensure fast access to channels for editing. Data is shown on a bright blue LCD display, with data entry via a parameter wheel. Input and output level meters are an immediate comfort for the engineer, and individual output band mute keys are provided. Together, these make the Minidrive more convenient and faster to set up and adjust than any DSP unit in its class.
