rick, it is ok for me if you like analog and vinyl more. Liking is subjective and often irrational behaviour - very human. Your psychoacoustical ponderings are understandable too. But analogy for air/soundwave movement falls again in another category...
I still have 3 record players (=vinyl) and some 6 cartidges and 3 riaa/preamps and I've heard some more expensive ones. But I really don't like the audible deficiences and problems they have when playing my records.
To me the thrill of "vinyl" is in the quality of recording, mixing, effects and mastering of the golden era of vinyl - 70-80s. I have digitized most of my LPs and they sound much better that way than CD-remasters with huge post-processing, DR limiting etc. malpractise! I use Audacity to fix rumble, some clicks and to reduce noise between tracks.
I still have 3 record players (=vinyl) and some 6 cartidges and 3 riaa/preamps and I've heard some more expensive ones. But I really don't like the audible deficiences and problems they have when playing my records.
To me the thrill of "vinyl" is in the quality of recording, mixing, effects and mastering of the golden era of vinyl - 70-80s. I have digitized most of my LPs and they sound much better that way than CD-remasters with huge post-processing, DR limiting etc. malpractise! I use Audacity to fix rumble, some clicks and to reduce noise between tracks.
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Geeze, this analog vs digital debate has been going on for decades now, while there’s no doubt that a truly high end vinyl based rig - easily running into six-figure territory - can be very musical and involving, for me the convenience factor of a computer server based digital system trumps that, hands down.
I’ve owned a few ‘tables over the past 50yrs - currently a middle of the road Rega table from approx late ‘90s, that I’ve not played in at least 5 yrs, other than for a quick taste test of phono stage of Rotel pre-amp that has recently found a new home.
I’ve owned a few ‘tables over the past 50yrs - currently a middle of the road Rega table from approx late ‘90s, that I’ve not played in at least 5 yrs, other than for a quick taste test of phono stage of Rotel pre-amp that has recently found a new home.
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An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
0.022% THD+N at 10kHz - is it bad, really? And it is mostly 2nd which is already out of hearing or just noise. How about analog competitors?
Bigun, can you show some other dsp's measurement for comparison?
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This is why I'm reluctant to pass the analogue from my really nice pre-amp through a miniDSP.......
....only to be ADC then for DSP, then back DAC gaining a load of noise and distortion on the way
Makes me feel like I should just sell my $5k pre-amp and get a cheap AV receiver
How does this miniDSP compare to a simple op-amp based analogue x-over?? Do they have a sinificant impact on SQ?
If I'm only after basic 2nd order x-over, would analogue active x-overs be better??
+1
Ummm, looks like DSP distortion is unhearable... likewise any time I've tried to plot my Behringer DCX2496, the faults are too small for my ability to measure them. I just suppose it is extra-sensory perception that golden-ears have and where I fall short.
But there's a small "cottage industry" of people complaining about DSP faults and selling pricey enhancements.
B.
Although MiniDSP is a very popular consumer audio solution, it would not be the best digital crossover offered today. VST/AU plugin EQ + pro audio interface can be more cost effective, much more powerful, and offers best sound quality available today.
You can use the same tool used in the mastering studios where your records are mastered.
You can use the same tool used in the mastering studios where your records are mastered.
I dont think that's what he means.
He means you can use the very same tools as mastering studios use to master new music. i.e. it may as well have been mastered into seperate tracks for each of your drivers by the mastering studio themselves.
Now that's a thought... you don't need on-the-fly DSP at all! You can use a multi-track audio file to play individual tracks to each driver - all filtering can be performed somewhere else, off-line.
For a laugh, record the EQ's tracks on to analog multi-track (might want to protect your tweeter though with some high pass filter).
He means you can use the very same tools as mastering studios use to master new music. i.e. it may as well have been mastered into seperate tracks for each of your drivers by the mastering studio themselves.
Now that's a thought... you don't need on-the-fly DSP at all! You can use a multi-track audio file to play individual tracks to each driver - all filtering can be performed somewhere else, off-line.
For a laugh, record the EQ's tracks on to analog multi-track (might want to protect your tweeter though with some high pass filter).
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My only problem with that sollution is software reliability of constant running and turning on/off. I don't feel able to trust software on a generic OS with so many other features running in the background. Linux maybe I would trust most..
Is there any kind of cut-down Linux (or other OS) designed to start up and immediately run a quality EQ? Or mixer for that matter.
I've been running my OrangePI dsp/player for over a year now. I leave it on, because it uses about 3 watts to do so. It boots up in about 5 seconds on the rare occasions when I loose power or want to restart it. I have had zero issues since getting it running. Yes, Ubuntu Linux is what I run on it.
Instability issues are mostly solved last 20 years (at least on OS X, don't know about Windows). You're right about the difficulty starting software solution. Starting software crossover is a DIY solution, not off the shelf consumer audio solution, but that's why we are here at DIYAUDIO, right?
As far as I know about OS X platform, there is no off the shelf solution. I talked with a well known professional developer about it before, but they were not interested.
My current setup is Audirvana, Reaper, DMG Equilibrium and other plugins. I have tested many other solutions before, including MAX/MSP, Protools, Sonic, Cubase, and the others, but my current solution has been the most stable and cleanest digital signal path in my specific environment. I find all of the free/cheap lightweight solutions have some kind of issues with dithering, interpolation, gain structure, latency management, and/or clocking. DMG Equilibrium is by far the best EQ, IMO, and I sold or trashed all the other EQ plugins including UAD. I'm sure you will be surprised with the cleanness and features of Equilibrium. The sound quality of all digital EQ are not the same, and Equilibrium is on par or even better than Sonic Solution's mastering rigs. After you hear the difference between 10,000 and 100,000 (and they offer 260,,000!) impulse lengths of FIR, I don't think you want to back to 10000 ever again. Please try free demo.
There are several ways to connect software internally, Protools, Sonic Solution and the other companies offers protocols (I have not tested all), or you can loop via audio interface's digital interface.
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It only offers 2-way xover capability since the primary purpose is as a Dirac Live box, but the new MiniDSP SHD unit seems to be a large step forward in technical quality compared to previous offerings. Aside from some jitter artifacts presumably related to the ASRC, it's hard to find any fault in these:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nts-of-minidsp-shd-dac-dsp-and-streamer.4286/
On the topic of software DSP, has anyone looked into iPad/IOS capability? I have my iPad driving my Focusrite 6i6 and it's working fine for stereo, and it looks like AudioBus 'should be able to' set up an appropriate processing chain for multi-channel output, but I haven't heard of anyone doing it.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nts-of-minidsp-shd-dac-dsp-and-streamer.4286/
On the topic of software DSP, has anyone looked into iPad/IOS capability? I have my iPad driving my Focusrite 6i6 and it's working fine for stereo, and it looks like AudioBus 'should be able to' set up an appropriate processing chain for multi-channel output, but I haven't heard of anyone doing it.
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