Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
I don't feel I need it because I don't think it can improve my speaker/room interaction, but I'm not close minded enough to dismiss it.
Computer Audio: confusing, complicated, & INCONVENIENT. About MUSIC or inner nerd?
- Thread starter caesar
- Start date
I don't feel I need it because I don't think it can improve my speaker/room interaction, but I'm not close minded enough to dismiss it.
Damn good question which should be answered by all of the digital lovers who don't have analog in their systems and don't think they need DSP and yet felt free to pile on me because I don't want to convert my analog sources to digital.
Bruce-Are you going to run all of your analog sources through DSP when you try it? If the answer is yes, please report back with your findings.
Michael,
first; who said anything negative about Marty's system with or without DSP, unless it was inferred by Marty himself?
no one that i saw.
the question becomes 'why DSP?'
the answer is 'it solves a problem'.......room integration with speakers particularly in the bass frequencies....in a particular way which has other consequences.
if some of us go to clearly extreme methods, over years of efforts (in my case over 10 years), to solve these same problems, and feel we have it solved to our own satisfaction, and say as much in one way or another.....do we need to be defensive about that?
read this post of mine;
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...-or-inner-nerd&p=273364&viewfull=1#post273364
i say....
then i say....
i'm not dissing DSP, just choosing to not go there, because i have done the work to solve the problem in another way. i'm not claiming to know for certain that DSP cannot help me. if you want to continue to hammer away and try to put a negative spin of my words then i guess that is your perogative.
i think you are predujiced about it.
Wish we could get something straight, having "DSP" (digital signal processing) in your system doesn't always mean that it's doing Digital Room Correction (DRC).
My new DAC uses a DSP chip to implement digital filters and FPGAs (field-programmablegate arrays) to perform other digital signal processing.
The off topic discussion this thread has morphed into is about the use/benefits of DRC.
My new DAC uses a DSP chip to implement digital filters and FPGAs (field-programmablegate arrays) to perform other digital signal processing.
The off topic discussion this thread has morphed into is about the use/benefits of DRC.
My question:
Your response:
Why did you respond to my question?
Your response:
Why did you respond to my question?
ok, when you said this;
who were those 'couple' people?
it seemed to be pointed somewhat at me. if not, then be specific as to who you meant. or better yet, give it a rest.
Last edited:
You're not usually so obtuse when it comes to understanding the English language. There's a difference between "haven't felt the need to try it" and "refuse to consider the possibility because I don't want to convert my analog signals to digital". Besides that though, would you consider it for only your digital sources (for example, between the music files and the DAC)?
Have you forgotten everything you've read in the last 38 pages? That's like asking Gandi if he'd be willing to dabble in pre-emptive nuclear strike on Britain.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
I wish my SME3009 series111 setting on a MicroSeiki BL91 was a 30 min setup. One word 'tedious'. You can adjust everything on that arm. But I still love it when compared to my digital stuff, but I'm over 60 so that must be it.
For what it's worth, I buy plenty of CDs for $1 each at thrift stores. They range in quality from "Hey, this disc has that one song I liked back in high school" to "Hey, this disc is amazing! Why would anyone give it away?"
All of them get ripped to my computer. The lower-quality ones get boxed up in storage, but the amazing ones get put on a shelf next to the stereo.
And watching a turntable get set up properly? Vastly more "confusing, complicated and inconvenient" than an audio server.
This is an interesting thread, hijacked, but nonetheless interesting. The argument I think I am reading over and over is, how can you say something is not for you if you haven't tried it. It's like saying, how do you know tubes are not for you, if you haven't tried them. Frankly, the closest I will personally ever come to DSP is in the context of Digital Spectrum Proctoscopy, if that ever becomes enjoyable. Flame on everyone, but I have a message for DSP diehards: try other means first, then advocate DSP as the last resort (some of you have - good!); and trying to convince analog lovers to convert their signal to digital, process it, and then reconvert to analog again is, ahem, hopeless.
Mike, I appreciate your comment and consideration but to be clear, I would never consider my system to be "world class" without DSP. Believe me, I have tried everyway I know to make it sound just good (forget "world class") with an analogue crossover but just can't do it. To begin, when using separate subs that are typically located behind the mid/hi towers, one simply cannot overcome the physics of the timing error that is inherent using such an approach. In such a system, if you cannot delay your Towers by several msecs, you have no chance of getting a seamless sound whereby sounds from both driver systems arrive at the ear at about the same time. Secondly, due to the use of discordant drivers in the subs and mains, the use of lower slope analogue crossovers augments this problem with a resultant sonic overhang and smearing around the crossover point that is just not sonically acceptable. It should of course be said that these are problems that may also occur in a multi-driver full range system such as big Wilsons, Magico, Focal, etc, but in those cases, the speaker designer is dealing with drivers that are generally emanating sound from approximately the same physical space. This is a huge advantage for the engineer designing an effective crossover in such systems. When a system has subs that are say, 4 ft behind the Towers, the challenges of designing a good crossover change dramatically. Without DSP, I just can't get there and I'm not sure I have ever heard a system that could under the conditions I have described (i.e. separate sub located behind the mains with the crossover in the 80-100Hz range.) As far as EQing the room for boundary effects, I certainly might be able to solve some issues with a good analogue parametric equalizer, but the refinements offered by a good DSP unit allow for adjustments with far greater precision and refinements, all of which adds to the system's overall attributes if one can really dial-in the system effectively. And therein lies the rub. I wish it was easier said than done, but until I change speakers, DSP will likely remain with me for quite a while. I really do hope someone comes up with an easier way to implement really good DSP. I really don't get it. We put a man on the moon and we cracked the human genome. Can't we just buy a piece of gear that has a big label on the front panel that says "push here, and your system will sound like you are sitting dead center in row M of Symphony Hall in Boston". Oh well, I guess hope springs eternal! But the bottom line is that like all other engineering solutions, there are plusses and minuses (not "right" or wrong"). In exchange for adding an additional circuit that processes my signal, I derive benefits that for me, provide a net sonic gain that is far more rewarding with DSP than without.. I strongly believe that if I owned different speakers, I may feel differently. But for now, in my current system, its the best way I know to render unamplified sound reproduction with a reasonable facsimile to what I hope the original music sounded like in it's recorded space, or in the case of electronic or amplified music, in the producer's head..
Last edited:
Dirac looks interesting, and would work well within my intended setup. I'm currently 16/44.1 only, but do you know if it interacts well with Amarra or other software that handles bit depth and sample rate switching automatically?
Similar threads
- Sticky
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |