Part 4
Idiosyncrasies
That brings me full circle, back to the DSPeaker X4. Before describing how the unit essentially works so very well, I will deal with the, to my mind, relatively unimportant ways in which the unit could still be improved as to its basic equalization function. I acknowledge that these are minor issues in that they don't significantly impede my goals of ease of set up, sonic transparency, sonic excellence in automatically adjusting bass response, and ease of manual adjustment of response.
First, in the before-and-after frequency response graphs, the "before" response is shown as a colored line and the "after" response is shown as a black line. In the key to which is which that appears on each graph, however, the "after" line is shown as appearing in a pale pastel color, clearly incorrect. This surely could be dealt with via a firmware change. Show a colored line within the light square and a black line within the other light square, instead of a light-colored square.
Second, nowhere in
the manual does it suggest that the automatic correction can operate full range. However, full range is clearly a choice. And, in fact, as suggested by Walter at Underwood Hi Fi, my dealer, most users have found the full-range correction choice to sound best. In my experience, it truly does sound best, and not by a tiny margin, either. The user's manual needs to mention and indeed highlight this.
Third, the first time measurements are made, the unit automatically populates five or six presets with its suggested response changes. These suggested presets vary in terms of the range affected and the degree of low frequency compensation added back in to subjectively compensate for the lack of overall bass weight which the removal of bass peaks can cause. But once you change those settings for each preset, there is no way to recall or reset the originally generated automatic presets. To get them back, you would have to first perform a factory reset and then run the measurement sequence again. It's best to jot down the parameters of each preset so that you can recall them manually if you wish. This is especially so since the unit's auto presets all sound very natural indeed, just with bass weights which vary a bit from each other. I would hope that this could be corrected via a firmware update.
Fourth, the "after" graphs of response do not change if you manually adjust the preset Profiles. What is shown on the "after" graph seems to remain the auto-generated "after" response as measured during set up. It would be helpful for the unit to compute and show the "after" response with manual corrections input, even if those actually are not measured responses, just calculated "after" responses. I would hope that this issue could also be dealt with via a firmware update. (In defense of the current arrangement, however, note that you can generate the actual response of any manual setting just by using the Measurement Only function of the Anti-Mode software which allows you to take measurements without altering the computed corrections.)
Fifth, the back of the remote control needs to be redesigned. I very much appreciate the high-quality heft and sturdiness of the all-metal remote, its great button feel, minimal buttons, and sure-fire operation. However, the backside of the remote should be smooth. The five round-head screws that stick up from the case are unsightly. In addition, the fact that the screws stick up can easily cause you to mistake the backside screws for the raised frontside control buttons in a darkened room, especially the three screws which are arranged in a triangle on the back side behind the frontside control buttons. Since the remote does not light up (it would be nice if it did!), you need to rely on tactile cues in a darkened room. Redesign the back so the screwheads are flat and rebated so that they are flush with the backside.
Sixth, upgrading the firmware is a bit more difficult than it should be. The only method of doing this is by downloading the firmware update file into the root directory (that is, not within a file folder) of a USB stick. The USB stick must first be formatted to the FAT or FAT32 formats, which is a bit unusual these days. Also, you'd best use a USB stick of 32 GB or smaller. Despite my using programs which were able to format a larger 64GB stick into FAT32 format, I could not get that USB stick to work with the X4. Once I loaded the firmware update file onto a FAT32 formatted 16 GB stick, the update proceeded smoothly, taking only a couple of minutes or less. Something else to note: new firmware will not load unless the file name of the new firmware is FIRMWARE.X4. If it has a date or any other characters in the file name, it probably will not load. For example, new firmware sent to me with the name FIRMWARE_22_Nov_2018.X4 would not load until I renamed it FIRMWARE.X4.
Seventh, this is the one matter that may cause some a bit of pause and this may not be correctable without a significant redesign. But I've decided to put it here rather than make a larger fuss about it since, to me, in my system, it does not significantly get in the way of using the unit to correct the frequency response as I want it to be. Probably to avoid the problems of overload encountered in the earlier DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0, the design seems to adjust the overall midrange and volume level of mids and highs downward as any bass compensation is applied. This makes it more difficult to directly compare various levels of bass compensation since the overall volume changes as you make changes in the bass compensation level. But as long as you boost the volume level up by the amount of bass you are adding in dB, comparisons are possible and once you have the subjective volume correct again, it is a matter of only seconds before you can determine whether the new bass level is more or less satisfying to you. Note that, for reasons I don't understand, this idiosyncrasy does not affect the bass boost or tilt (Quick Tone) controls; applying those does not affect the level of mids and highs.
That's it. Nothing earth shattering. Despite these niggles, the X4 works EXTREMELY well for its intended purposes as an equalizer.
[Continued in Part 5]
