In case you haven't picked up from my other posts, I have gone to a computer front end. I use a reasonably powerful dual-core laptop with the music files loaded on a USB hard drive in either FLAC or WMA lossless. That hard drive is synchronized with a drive on another computer for redundancy. My player is Foobar2000. The computer output goes to a DIY Paradise "Monica" DAC and on to the amp-of-the-day.
Using a computer eliminates all of the data flow problems with CD drives. Everything is bits right up to the DAC. Your sound quality depends almost entirely on the DAC.
On to the DSP. Foobar2000 contains a half-octave equalizer. I am now using this equalizer instead of passive filters on my speakers. I've pulled the passive filters out of all of my speakers except the ones on the HT. The results are better than great. I am convinced that the sound is better than with passive filters. More open and involving.
As a first cut, I set the EQ to be the mirror image of the speaker FR plot plus some BSC. Then I play with the bands to get the sound I want. It take maybe 15 minutes to dial in a speaker. How do you want it? Bright? Warm? Thumpy? No problem. I have different setting for different genres. The only thing you have to watch is that you can easily get too much excursion at the bottom by over EQ'ing the bass.
Give this a try. Besides being able to get to any track on any CD is 15 seconds, the sound is very very good.
Bob
Using a computer eliminates all of the data flow problems with CD drives. Everything is bits right up to the DAC. Your sound quality depends almost entirely on the DAC.
On to the DSP. Foobar2000 contains a half-octave equalizer. I am now using this equalizer instead of passive filters on my speakers. I've pulled the passive filters out of all of my speakers except the ones on the HT. The results are better than great. I am convinced that the sound is better than with passive filters. More open and involving.
As a first cut, I set the EQ to be the mirror image of the speaker FR plot plus some BSC. Then I play with the bands to get the sound I want. It take maybe 15 minutes to dial in a speaker. How do you want it? Bright? Warm? Thumpy? No problem. I have different setting for different genres. The only thing you have to watch is that you can easily get too much excursion at the bottom by over EQ'ing the bass.
Give this a try. Besides being able to get to any track on any CD is 15 seconds, the sound is very very good.
Bob