Digital Designs Home Audio Speaker and Subwoofer Sale

May 22, 2008 by Lukas Gilkey
Filed under: Home Audio



Digital Designs is very well known in car audio for their high-quality subwoofers, amplifiers,and component speakers. Most people don't know that they have been in the pro audio industry for over 20 years building some very highly regarded studio monitors as well as other equipment.

Over the last couple years Digital Designs has been quietly building an arsenal of high-quality home audio products and they are finally ready to release them. I've known Steve Milton at DD for a couple years now and he called me up asking my advice on the best way for them to get their products into the hands of home audio enthusiasts. As we all know, times are hard right now for a lot of people and money is tight. My advice, bring the products to market at a price people can afford. Well needless to stay I think the guys have gone above and beyond my advice. These prices are pretty insane and Digital Designs wants to get the word out about their new products and get them into your hands. This sale is for their current inventory only. These products will continue to be offered, but they will not be sold at these prices down the road. This is a one time deal and Digital Designs is selling direct for this sale to offer the best prices possible.

Everything is finished in a high-gloss gelcoat that is extremely durable and scratch resistant. The PM-151's are available in gloss white or black, and everything else is gloss black.

PM-151 Powered Monitors - MSRP: $499.....SALE: $249 (pair) [available in white or black]
LS-241 Satellite Surround Speaker - MSRP: $129.....SALE: $70 (each)
DD-PS1 8" Powered Subwoofer - MSRP: $499.....SALE: $274
DD-PS2 10" Powered Subwoofer - MSRP: $799.....SALE: $439
DD-PS3 12" Powered Subwoofer - MSRP: $859.....SALE: $472

*To get the products at the prices listed above you must call Digital Designs directly at (405) 239-2800. Their hours are Monday-Friday 9am-5pm (CST).




PM-151 Powered Monitors - MSRP: $499.....SALE: $249 (pair) [available in white or black]
- 25mm silk dome with a neodymium magnet structure
- 5.25" Bi-laminate paper/poly composite woofer (shielded)
- 100 watt amplifier (50 x2)
- Beautiful furniture grade cabinets
- Built-in ipod dock
- USB port to sync iPod with computer
- Remote control with source switching capabilities (sources can also be switched via a button on the back of the speaker)
- S-video output
- Subwoofer output and defeatable low-pass crossover











LS-241 Satellite Surround Speaker - MSRP: $129.....SALE: $70 (each)
* Adjustable brackets are available for an extra $10 each for wall-mounting and to use the LS-241 as a center channel.
- Dual 4.5" midrange drivers with front mounted Neo motors
- 1" ferrofluid cooled silk dome tweeter
- CNC fabricated MDF enclosure with high-gloss black gelcoat finish









DD Powered Subwoofers:
- 3/4" and 1" cabinet wall construction
- All internal joints are glued and cleat braced
- Dual internal window-pane bracing
- Black high-gloss gelcoat finish
- Removable anti-resonant feet with T-nut receptacles
- Dual slot ports with rounded edges
- Port is internally braced
- Low-pass crossover controls
- Volume control
- Phase switch
- auto on/off switch

DD-PS1 8" Powered Subwoofer - MSRP: $499.....SALE: $274
FREQUENCY RESPONSE- 35Hz-150HZ
S/N ratio greater than 85db (typical, A weighted)
DYNAMIC POWER RATING- 130 watts
INPUT IMPEDANCE- 10k ohms unbalanced
INPUT SENSITIVITY- 100mV pink noise input produces 95dBA output SPL at 1 meter with volume control at maximum
PROTECTION- RF interference, output current limiting, over temperature, turn off transient, subsonic filter
INDICATOR-power on/off indicator at rear panel
INPUT CONNECTORS- low-level /SUB input
OUTPUT CONNECTORS- low-level/outputs
POWER REQUIREMENTS- 100-120V/60Hz & 220-240V/50Hz AC (switch selectable)
DIMENSION-16"(H) x 16"(W) x 13"(D) (packaged)
WEIGHT-28lbs.(packaged)






DD-PS2 10" Powered Subwoofer - MSRP: $799.....SALE: $439
DD-PS3 12" Powered Subwoofer - MSRP: $859.....SALE: $472

FREQUENCY RESPONSE(PS2) -3db @26Hz
FREQUENCY RESPONSE(PS3) -3db@ 20Hz
DYNAMIC POWER RATING- 400 watts
S/N RATIO- greater than 95db (typical, A weighted)
INPUT IMPEDANCE- 10k ohms unbalanced
DIMENSION(PS2)21"(H) x 16"(W) x22" (D) (packaged)
DIMENSION(PS3)-25"(H) x 19" (W) x 27"(D) (packaged)
WEIGHT(PS2) 57lbs. (packaged)
WEIGHT(PS3) 85lbs. (packaged)
CROSSOVER FREQUENCY RANGE- 30-90 Hz (bypassable)
CROSSOVER SLOPE- 24db/Oct
PHASE- 0 degrees/180 degrees
PROTECTION- RF interference, output current limiting, over temperature, turn on/off transient, subsonic filter
POWER REQUIREMENTS- 100-120 volts/60Hz & 220-250 volts/50Hz AC (switch selectable)


*To get the products at the prices listed above you must call Digital Designs directly at (405) 239-2800. Their hours are Monday-Friday 9am-5pm (CST). They are based in Oklahoma and get pretty good prices on shipping through UPS, so shipping prices aren't that expensive.


gunforhire 1 year and 1 month ago

REAL CLASSY DD! Go to their site ddproaudio.com and mouse over the menu... They're ripping off a Java menuing system, not even paying for it... It's 28 pounds, about 55 bucks!

Maybe DD is blowing the gear out because they can't even afford to spend $55 for a web component...
hexibase 1 year and 1 month ago

Let's see... You've just taken the time out to make this article's first comment an insult against a respectable company on account of something that bares absolutely no relevance to the topic at hand, furthermore attacking their good financial standing. This leads me to doubt your authority on the subject of class. If the usage of registered scripts on a company's web site was in any way an affidavit of quality, by all accounts, most audio manufacturers and distributors should have the upper hand on Digital Designs. Clearly, that is not the case so please don't propagate your condescending assumptions when good people are trying to promote a good product.

I've spent years designing home and car audio enclosures for virtually every model, size, and motor series DD woofer ever released and I have literally hundreds of clients who can attest to their unparalleled performance. Digital Designs is doing an outstanding job; the fact that Steve is in a position to offer promotional discounts only further attests to the company's success.
james 1 year and 1 month ago

congratulations gunforhire, you just made an ass of yourself.

those speakers look sexy.
GQ 1 year and 1 month ago

While I have not yet had the opportunity to try out DD's home audio. I have and still run their car audio. If their home audio is anything like their car audio, than watch out! I am currentely running their 1500 series, in car audio. The point I am getting at, is I am using some of their lower end subs. But their lower end, rivals competitors high end. As to gunforhire, I would assume by the comment you left. You probably have no real first hand experience with DD at all. If you had, that comment would have been the last thing to come out of your mouth.
gunforhire 1 year and 1 month ago

Well, what can I say... I see a company trying to be a Pro Audio company using unpaid-for designs in their web, and offering "pro audio" monitors WITHOUT an XLR or TRS balanced input.

Now I've only been in a few hundred recording studios, but I can't think of ONE that didn't use XLRs and TRS for the mains feed. And I can't think of ONE that used an "iPod" or USB interface (you can find AES/EBU sometimes, but of course that's also an XLR interface, albeit a digital one).

So DD's making "Professional" monitors that don't interface to other professional gear, and they're website's using ripped-off code that announces it's ripped off (yes, that is considered theft). Quite professional!

Look, DD's got a good reputation - deservedly so - in the car audio subwoofer/competition market. But having a pretty looking box does NOT make you a prosound company. Go take a look at a KRK monitor versus a Genelec. The KRK's ten times sexier.

Now which one is more accurate? Which one is bought by the real pros? You see Gennies in studios left and right. KRKs? They stay in the homes of GC shoppers (at least the KRKs have balanced inputs). See, pros don't go just by what looks sexy, James. It's a prosound monitor, form should follow function.

Not to mention DD doesn't even understand what the measurements are that they are posting! Can anyone explain why there is an IMPEDANCE TRACE for a freaking ACTIVE MONITOR? Beuller? Beuller? IT'S AN ACTIVE MONITOR! But they show a trace indicating a PASSIVE CROSSOVER! Hello McFly, they're posting nonsense about their speakers. Way to be taken seriously!

DD showed they really don't understand the "prosound" space, nor even how to put a professional face on their own website. And apparently that's good enough for some folks.

If you want to play with the big dogs, prepare to get chewed on a bit. DD just fizzled in a big way. Unless their market is to make active monitors for kids to buy and use in their dorms? Far cry from a "prosound" market, of course...
Neil Middlemiss 1 year and 1 month ago

"offering "pro audio" monitors WITHOUT an XLR or TRS balanced input"

Bingo. Not on the subwoofers, either....

Companies that hope to do anything significant in the Pro Audio realm will be without a hope without either of those input types.

I have never understood the overtly positive reputation this company has. Still, they are trying something different and maybe this will be a learning opportunity for them.
soydeedo 1 year and 1 month ago

That ripped off code blatantly notifies users of the page that it's an "evaluation message" so maybe they're just testing it out on their site? If they were stealing the code they would modify the javascript to get rid of the evaluation announcement, right?

As for the XLR bit, this is Lukas' quote: "he called me up asking my advice on the best way for them to get their products into the hands of home audio enthusiasts."

Now I'm not sure if these were designed solely for home users or not, but if they were then this makes sense. The surrounds and home subs are new, so maybe the monitors are too? I have no clue, but I'm just coming up with a possible reason for the omission.
prochannel 1 year and 1 month ago

I'm the web developer for Digital Designs and if you look further down in the top of the javascript file of the Milonic menu system you will see a registration code. If you work for Milonic and feel that we have not done proper, please let us know by proper notification, offline, through direct message, and not through a public forum. thanks.
gunforhire 1 year and 1 month ago

Neil,

Exactly. It's a pretty poor entry into the "prosound" world. It would be like making a car audio subwoofer that was 32 Ohms only - not to usable. Hopefully they'll learn quickly, because without a balanced input it's NOT a prosound monitor.

And I'm still stumped about the impedance trace shown... WHY for God's sake, WHY? It's an ACTIVE monitor, your source will NEVER see that impedance.

FURTHERMORE, the impedance trace shows a PASSIVELY CROSSED OVER system, NOT an actively crossed over system. There's clearly an XO around 2.4 kHz, most likely 4th order. That "50Wx2" amp? Pretty bogus... Hard to use two amps separately to drive a single crossover network!

They've got a LOT of cleanup to do if they really want to have a hope of being considered a real prosound entry. Right now, I see a dorm system for someone who doesn't want to buy a pair of regular speakers and a receiver. But that's about it.

Soydeedo,

That would be even worse. I'm chalking it up to not paying attention to the details, rather than actual theft of the code. It's either still an eval script (why you would go public with eval code I don't know), or a botched implementation of the script. Reading the post below yours makes me think more the latter than the former.

As far as XLR goes, if you're going to be a prosound monitor, you need balanced inputs. Period. Even the budget-rock-bottom priced options from Presonus, KRK and others come with balanced inputs. Why? It's because every mixer and prosound D/A converter has a balanced output! Not putting one on there is the quickest way to tell EVERY prosound person that you're just using the "label", you're not a real prosound company.

Prochannel,

No, I'm not with Milonic, just through it ironic that you get the warning message... At they list other customers that don't have the warning message. I'd suggest re-installing the script to lose the warning message. Looks pretty amateurish.
ddaudio 1 year and 1 month ago

Thank you all for your comments.

First off, I'd like to clarify the target of PM-151, as stated in the introduction from the website;

"The DD-PM151's are amplified audio monitors designed for the digital media generation. DIGITAL DESIGNS started building studio monitors over 20 years ago that are still in use around the world. Studio monitors are designed to provide a neutral sound field to the engineer so they can go about mixing multiple channels of recorded tracks down to the final version we hear or consume in some fashion. We took design elements from our studio monitors and combined them with the playback needs for today's "music on the go" lifestyle. We incorporated high quality amplifiers, 3 channels of input selection, optional powered subwoofer and professional quality speakers into beautiful furniture grade cabinets - small enough to place anywhere and big enough to deliver real, studio quality sound."

The goal of this product, as stated above in the product introduction, is to provide a good sounding speaker to a wide range of customer uses. We have made no pretentious claims that this 50 Watt/ch, 5.25" two-way was aimed at taking over the close-field monitoring market. We simply took design elements from what we used in our previous professional use close-field monitors and combined them with consumer gear input needs.

Mr Gunforhire,

The PM-151s have a two channel amplifier, one channel for each speaker, located in the back of the speaker with the power cord. The back of the speaker with the amplifier, has a 1/4" connector, labeled "output" to pass the amplified signal to the other speaker with another 1/4" connector labeled "input". Each speaker therefore, has its own passive crossover that means there is a passive xover for each speaker, as in two xovers, not a single xover, hence the impedance curve.

The connections on the PM-151 are appropriate for the target users. If this product were intended for primary studio use, the connector set would be changed. We have built many products for Professional use and we would not overlook which connectors and circuitry need to be used.

I appreciate your comments and look forward to helping out with other questions.

/ddtech
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