I can buy everything but the skill set. I will buy manufactured products and keep all of my fingers.
DSP Active Crossover
I'm considering trying a DSP-based active crossover in my system. I did a search to see how much this has been discussed, and most of the posts are pretty old or about active speakers. DSP technology has changed a fair amount in the last 15-20 years.
My system is digital only, and my speakers are 3-way, so it's not particularly complicated. I've been looking at the Danville Signal dspNexux 2/8 which has two channel in (with digital inputs) and eight balanced analog outputs. This appears to be available with AKM AK4499 DACs which are fairly well regarded sigma-delta DACs (although I don't know how good their implementation is).
This product has a fairly rich DSP software environment for programming filters, time delays, etc., so it should be fairly straightforward to set it up to replace my passive crossovers.
My biggest reservations are 1) giving up my Denafrips Terminator+ DAC and nice-quality DIY preamp, and 2) using the DAC's digital volume adjustments.
This unit is about $3K (maybe a bit more with the AK4499 DACs), so isn't terribly expensive. From the limited research I've done, this unit appears to be higher sound quality than the miniDSP or DEQX boxes, but I could be wrong. All my amps have balanced inputs, so I'd prefer to use a unit with balanced outputs.
So, what I'm wondering is if the benefits of active crossovers and dsp equalization will outweigh the lesser DAC quality (assuming this is the case) and lack of analog volume control (currently using a relay switched attenuator). I'm also wondering if there are other dsp audio processors that I should consider (digital inputs, at least six channels out, ideally with balanced outputs).
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I've read a lot of posts over the past few years from audiophiles that have switched to active crossovers and I can't remember any cases where the poster didn't feel switching to active was an improvement. It's obviously more complicated, but has some obvious advantages. I'm looking forward to trying it out. |
@jaytor , Good move. I have been doing this for 25 years and keep a close eye on the market. I have been chosen to beta test the new DEQX Pre 8 which has a 4 way digital crossover you can program to do whatever you want. It has complete bass management, room control, EQ capability at 1 Hz intervals (target curves) and streaming capability. It will be $10,995.00 retail. There will be a less expensive unit following called the Pre 3 which has a two way crossover most people will use for subwoofers. It should be about $4000 less expensive. Another approach which would be much less would be the MiniDSP SHD studio and two good DACs like the Benchmark. That will run about $5000. The MiniDSP SHD (not the studio version) has its own internal DACs and costs $1500. Its crossover is suitable for subwoofers. It uses DIRAC Live which is easy to use and works well, but it is not very flexible and the EQ only has 10 corners. For the money it is excellent. There is the Anthem STR preamp for about $4000 which I have not had the opportunity to use. Finally, the Trinnov Amethyst which has great room control but only a very basic subwoofer crossover. The DEQX is clearly the best unit for 2 channel stereo on the market today and if all you need is a single 2 way crossover the Pre 4 is going to be a bargain. I expect it will be released in about 6 months. |
@mijostyn - that looks like a nice piece of gear. Do you know what DSP it is using? I think the Danville dspNexus 2/8 is an excellent value at $3K, but currently doesn't have software as simple to use as products like the DEQX. You have to be fairly comfortable with computers. The HW is well built, but the casework is not as fancy as the DEQX Pre 8. The power supply seems to be the weak point and I suspect the DEQX is better (based on what I've seen for their previous products). I was able to try out the dspNexus on one channel of my main system yesterday. So far, I have only set up the crossovers (96db/octave), adjusted time alignment between my main planar line arrays and my woofer towers, and added a bit of PEQ to the low-frequency channel. My bass response is fairly smooth without any equalization so I didn't apply a lot. I haven't tried to create any convolution filters yet. And so far, I've only played it from my PC, not from my streamer. Next step is to set it up connected to my streamer and playing both channels to see how it sounds. |
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