Is DEQX a game changer?

Hi Steve,

As usual Andrew (Drewan77) provides great answers, with which I agree completely.

I too purchased the M23 as part of the $745 DEQX "Reference Calibration Kit." Mainly out of curiosity I subsequently requested a calibration file corresponding to the serial number of the particular mic from Earthworks, via their website, and it was in a plain text format rather than the proprietary DEQX format supplied with the kit that is necessary for importation into the DEQX cal software.

Regarding your questions about how to best configure the system, I would just add to Andrew’s comments that using a particularly long digital cable could conceivably increase susceptibility to ground loop issues between the CDP and the DEQX, which in turn might adversely affect timing jitter at the circuit point within the DEQX where D/A conversion is performed. So when the time comes it may be worthwhile to compare sonics with and without a cheater plug temporarily applied to the CDP’s power plug, to defeat its safety ground connection. That would break any ground loop that may exist between the CDP and the DEQX, and allow you to determine if this possibility is an issue.

BTW, for the benefit of others who may read your post and may wonder, I’ll mention that I assume the word "apron" was intended to be "approx."

Best of luck as you proceed. Regards,
-- Al

Hi- Just got the premate and want to run my external dac- I hooked up my server to the premate dig.in and then out from the premate to dig. in on my dac- according to the DEQX manual -I ran out from the dac to the amps- No sound- what am i doing wrong- thks for the help

fluffers - Your post suggests that your DAC had been able to feed your amplifiers directly prior to adding the PreMate. Is that so?

The PreMate is normally sequenced as a preamp in the chain immediately prior to power amps - or by ’amps’ do you mean integrated amps? & does your external DAC have the facility to feed power amps directly?

I’m guessing by ’according to the DEQX manual’ you refer to the Full digital output as on p20. If not, then refer to the image on p12 of the manual & either arrangement below will work :

- Server digital output->external DAC-> PreMate via analogue RCA inputs or balanced XLR if available->power amps (I use a similar setup but with two DEQX units master-slave). The DEQX unit will still digitally process speaker correction, sub integration etc.

- Server digital output->PreMate digital input (using inbuilt DEQX DAC but your external DAC is unnecessary)-> power amps.

The way you describe things I would have expected a further preamp or integrated amps after the DAC, using an analogue output from the DAC - this arrangement will of course work but I would personally minimise extra equipment in the chain.

thks- It seemed odd to me to run from output of dac to amps but here it is from page 24 of manual unless I am reading it wrong-
"The diagram above illustrates the use of the digital output of the PreMATE or PreMATE+. Connect the digital output, labeled Full L2/R2, to an external DAC via a BNC cable (or an RCA cable with a BNC-RCA adapter). The outputs of the DAC are connected to the power amplifier, which in turn drives the left and right speakers. Note that the external DAC must be capable of decoding a 24-bit 96 kHz signal "

thks- No  never used the external dac outputs before- Just want to run server to external dac to DEQX( serving as pre) to mono block amps- thks