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DSP vs New Cables ??

For two channel listening DSP can be a bit unnerving for the die hard listener who wants pure sound.  However, of late, the Technology has improved and DSP impact to address room issues can be really quite nice.  You will very likely notice an impact. When you get new cables you may notice something but it may not be dramatic enough to impress you vs DSP.

Home theater DSP much easier if you have a good processor or receiver. And this can have a meaningful impact and cables may have a lesser impact.

So my executive decision of the day is to defer buying new cables (was planning to spend 3K for some interconnects, transparent or silteck). So I'll revisit dsp for home theater.  Two channel Will require new stuff and I'm a bit Leary to introduced more stuff along the signal path but I hear it's not that bad and won't really restrict the path, hard to tell.

jumia
blisshifi's avatar
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blisshifi
1,192 posts
 

I personally hate full range DSP in two channel. When I’ve tried in the past from solutions between MiniDSP & Dirac to the higher end Legacy Wavelet, DSP always seemed to affect the amount of breath, decay, and air and made the sound much more sterile. What I do appreciate is DSP in biwire or subwoofer integration situations, where DSP can be applied to 300Hz and below. I find this is the most useful application and rely on room treatments to handle the remainder of high frequency absorbption and diffusion. Of course I use bass traps to absorb unwanted bass frequencies as well. 

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oddiofyl
3,893 posts
 

I still use a Velodyne SMS 1 for the very reason Juan points out.   It is much better to use DSP for low frequency problems , use the right main speaker for the job along with room treatment.  

ghdprentice
7,052 posts
 

I’m not sure I understand the question. I have always kept my HT separate from my two channel system. My two channel system always takes priority over the Home theater. The impact of a small change (improvement) is always much greater in my two channel than in HT. After all most of your attention is on the screen… so while the some sound is really important in making the whole thing believable, nuances are not.

I would always spend $3K on my two channel system before fiddling with my HT… unless grossly deficient in some way.

AND… DSP is not getting anywhere near my two channel system dag nabit… you young whipper snappers.

Well depending on what you mean by DSP… I stream with a high end streamer and DAC.

 

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