2. digital
  3. 191870-193376

Dirac without losing resolution

I currently have a dac (topping dx9) that is fed by my pc via usb.  I mainly just use tidal.  The dac is connected into an old sony qualia 007 that I just use the built in amp.  That is connected to a pair of audiomachina UM.  I also have a rel #31 sub.

The room is far from ideal with that setup. 12x12 by 10' high ceiling.

I wanted to explore dirac for some room correction.

the issue is that I can't seem to find a way to avoid limiting the resolution to 24/192 or even lower with most dirac endpoints.

They mention that you should put the dirac endpoint (something like one of the minidsp products) between the streamer and the dac.

I was planning on getting a hifirose 130 streamer (in place of the pc).

both the rs130 and dx9 can support up to 768pcm and 512dsd.

I was trying to see if there was a way to place the dirac endpoint on the output of the dx9 dac but not sure if any of the dirac endpoints accept an analog input and then be able to process the signal for the room correction.

jpmomo
jpmomo OP
8 posts
 

I think I will take kr4's advice and load dirac suite on my pc.

I ordered the umik thingymajig and will initially test with REW.

Then I will use the dirac trial to see if helps.

thanks again for everyone's advice!

 

I also looked into using the new nova from trinnov.  I could connect that between my streamer (hifirose rs130) and either my dac or directly to an amp with xlr inputs.

I could still utilize my dx9 dac as a headphone amp as it works pretty nice with that part.  I would connect the I2S on the rs130 streamer to the I2S on the dx9 dac and listen with the headphones.

I haven't found many folks using the trinnov nova for 2.1 listening.  I think that device was designed for studio monitoring.

Although it does seem to be able to work for my use case.

mike_in_nc
1,153 posts
 

@jpmomo - If you do try the Trinnov, I for one would be interested in your impressions of sound quality and ease of use.

jpmomo OP
8 posts
 

I did reach out to Trinnov HQ as well as a local pro audio distributor.

Not much luck yet.  Still waiting to hear back with any confirmation or even a quote.

The distributor did suggest that I place the Nova after the DAC so that I could separate the sub from the mains.  This would be done via XLR outs 1-4 on the Nova.

The potential issue with that is a stream manipulation of the following:

d/a (at the DAC to the analogue XLR in of the Nova) - a/d (at the Nova) - d/a (out of the Nova to my amp and separately 2 x XLR out to my single sub)

That sounds unnecessarily complicated.

a simpler set might just be:

streamer - nova - amp 

there would only be 1 d/a inside the nova and I would be able to separate the mains from the sub. 

 

I started to play around with REW and some EQ app on my w11 workstation.

It worked ok but Tidal was a little finicky with those apps and setting Exclusive mode.  

I have the topping driver loaded into my pc but wanted to avoid using windows sound driver when playing back tidal through my external dac (topping dx9).

tidal has a setting to allow my external dac to do any conversion aka exclusive mode.

I will give DL studio a try this weekend.

mike_in_nc
1,153 posts
 

Yeah, it's best to minimize the number of sequential ADC and DAC steps. At least, that's what my ears tell me.

On the other hand, if crossovers are done in the digital domain so there's only one conversion, a separate DAC is needed for each channel (mains and subs), meaning a multichannel DAC is a necessity. They are built into products like the miniDSP SHD, NAD M66, Anthem STR, and so on, but when doing it building-block style, that's a consideration.

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