New DEQX HDP-3 Express

[amirm]

Hi JP. Take a look at the HOLM review in this thread: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...s-DSP1-in-this-month-s-edition&highlight=holm

It outlines the challenges with measuring speakers. No doubt arrays make that even more challenging. Maybe there is a certain integration distance that works for them.

And no, I have not seen a review yet, nor have we been able to stay in contact with them long enough to get a unit for review. Right now, we are hoping to evaluate Trinnov.

 

[audioguy]

And no, I have not seen a review yet, nor have we been able to stay in contact with them long enough to get a unit for review.

So their apology above and commitment to help were empty promises? Interesting!

 

[amirm]

So their apology above and commitment to help were empty promises? Interesting!

It seems like it. There was a flurry of activity with PMs and such but then no follow up. Maybe there is still a communication problem but I would expect in this type of economy, for them to keep following up until some results were achieved.

Did one of the members here ask them to call us or was this triggered due a Google Alert?

 

[Nyal Mellor]

Amir
I'm a new commer to this forum , I have been searching around for a full review in the DEQX Express but in vain . From what I guess is that the DEQX Express is here to replace the older 2.6 unit that was their flagship unit befor the HDP 3 appears , presumably the Express will sound as good or better than the 2.6 , or else I dont understand why the Express ? can anyone comment ?
When it comes to line array speakers , where exactly should the mic be placed for the measurements ? I actually use the Behringer DCX 2494 and I presume using The DEQX Express should be a real upgrade ?
I am planing to purchase the DEQX Express soon but only when I'll be reading a full test . Is there any test on the web ?
Thanks for your help
JP

Hi JP. I have put together a comparison of the HDP-Express vs the HDP-3 on my blog at http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/whats-new/2010/8/31/deqx-release-hdp-express.html. Feel free to contact me via the contact details on my website if you have any further questions. Hope that helps! Nyal

 

[alanl]

DEQX relpy no answer or phone call received.

below is a copy of the last correspondence received and replied to.

"From: Alan Langford <xxxx@deqx.com>
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:54:02 +1100
To: Isaiah Vering <xxxx@madronadigital.com>
Subject: Re: DEQX

Hi Isaiah,

Thank you, for replying to my post on the forum. I'm currently traveling in Asia and return to the office on the 17th September or you could call me on +84 128 581 2xxx (time zone is +10 hours from USA LA time)

The current time in Hanoi is http://www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_VN.aspx?city=Hanoi

You can call me anytime from 10am – 8pm

It seems that you spoke to Kim and had discussed the possibility of obtaining our demonstration HDP-3 to trial. At the time our demo unit had already been allocated to reviews and other trial. This is still a possibility and I just need to check the current status of this unit.

As for a HDP-Express demonstration unit this would be available after the Rocky Mountains Audio Feast in mid October.

I look forward to chatting with you soon.

Regards,

Alan

Alan Langford

DEQX Pty Ltd

1/1 Roger Street,
Brookvale, NSW, 2100
Australia

Ph: +61 2 9905 6277
Fax: +61 2 9905 8066
Mobile +61 412 564 xxx


On 6/09/10 3:02 AM, "Isaiah Vering" <xxxx@madronadigital.com> wrote:

Alan,

We spoke on the phone a few months ago about bringing in your product
for our shop. I have tried to reach you again, after not hearing from
you, prompting the post in my business partners forum. With your
quick response, I must have a bad phone number for you. Amir
mentioned that he gave you my contact info. We are very interested in
your product. Are you available for any sort of a phone chat
tomorrow, Sept 6th? We are in pacific time zone, GMT-7, and it is a
holiday, so let me know what time might work and I can call.

Thanks so much for the quick response in Amir's forum, I look forward
to chatting with you.

Cheers,

personal phone numbers and email address edited with "xxxx" even during my holiday a personal phone number was offered to enable a phone conversation and no contact was received.

if you are serious regarding the DEQX product please feel free to call, fax or email. please note that we don't supply product for review by forum users. We are happy to entertain the possible demonstration suitability test for legitimate commercial businesses selling in the pro / consumer audio market.

regards,

Alan

 

[amirm]

Thanks Alan. I asked Isaiah to call you or send email. Two favors though:

1. Please don't have us chase you . In this economy, if i get wind of anyone needing our services, we call them until we are told they are not interested. The customer doesn't keep chasing us . So I hope you follow up with me and or Isaiah if communication breaks down.

2. More importantly, there are people in this forum with genuine interest in your product. I hope you hang around and give us an overview of your product and answer questions about it.

Both of these are great sales opportunities for your company. I hope you take advantage of them.

 

[jphaggar]

Hi Nyal
Thanks for the link
Here is what Alan wrote : For high end 2 channel audio I would still recommend the HDP-3. Where the HDP-Express works well is with home theater
He also stated somewhere else ( that the DEQX Express is basically the older 2.6 but with slightly better sound) !
Audiophiles used to find the 2.6 one of the best DSP and Active Xover , if the Express unit does sound better then for half the price of HDP-3 you cant go wrong !!
Since I now use the Behringer DCX 2496 , I guess the upgrade woul be very sensible .
JP

 

[zydeco]

DEQX HDP-3 Express

It's been some time but it'd be good to get feedback on the HDP-3 Express (and HDP-3). I'm looking for a solution for 3-way active stereo speakers with a pair of subwoofers. The original idea was to use a PC-based set-up but I'm starting to look at DEQX to reduce the system complexity and ensure latency that is low enough for the system to work for DVD playback (as well as pure audio). My understanding is that it's possible to set-up the units in "dual mono" configuration which allows for 6 channels per side which works for me. It's quite expensive if the HDP-3 is used but the HDP-3 Express makes it a much more cost effective proposition. The main concessions seem to be a switch mode power supply and volume control limited to digital (no analogue). It'd be good to get feedback if anyone has used the units.

Zydeco

 

[Nyal Mellor]

It's been some time but it'd be good to get feedback on the HDP-3 Express (and HDP-3). I'm looking for a solution for 3-way active stereo speakers with a pair of subwoofers. The original idea was to use a PC-based set-up but I'm starting to look at DEQX to reduce the system complexity and ensure latency that is low enough for the system to work for DVD playback (as well as pure audio). My understanding is that it's possible to set-up the units in "dual mono" configuration which allows for 6 channels per side which works for me. It's quite expensive if the HDP-3 is used but the HDP-3 Express makes it a much more cost effective proposition. The main concessions seem to be a switch mode power supply and volume control limited to digital (no analogue). It'd be good to get feedback if anyone has used the units.

Zydeco

There are a couple of ways of achieving what you want:

1) If you have a high pass on the subs: run the output from the DEQX that is going to the woofer on your three way to the subs then take the high pass output to the amp feeding the woofer
2) If you don't have a high pass on the subs: split the output from the woofer output and send it to both the sub and the amp feeding the woofer
3) Use two DEQX - but not in a dual mono arrangement - you can't run one input to four outputs with one DEQX. You have to daisychain two DEQXs i.e. put output of DEQX 1 as an input to DEQX 2. Of course this is best achieved with the digital out to avoid dual D/A A/D conversion.
4) Split the input signal infront of the DEQX - works best if you only have one source. Send one to the DEQX and the other to your subs

Feel free to PM me or contact me if you have further questions.

Of course I am biased but the HDP-3 is truly an excellent sounding unit and the HDP-Express isn't far behind, when the cost is factored in and compared to what else you can get for 2k it's a no brainer really.

A PC / Mac based system is possible but very careful attention needs to be paid to latency especially with higher resolution sources. It is not an easy goal to split a 24/96 signal into 8 streams in real time inside a PC / Mac without hickups or clicks.

 

[FrantzM]

Reviving this very interesting thread. I definitely like the DeQX concept. Drivers present numerous aberrations within their frequency range. Correcting these should in most cases bring a better , more linear reproduction. I do understand that once this is done then Room response correction has the potential to be more accurate.. The problem as Amir mentioned a few years ago ) ) is: How does one isolate the drivers as to drive them separately. I am building what I hope will be an interim system in a Living Room and my speakers will likely be Magnepan, I will audition some other contenders before deciding but Magnepan as usual has the leg up with the x.7 series being sooo good and keeping the price in the sane ballpark ... (I can't help but to throw a jab at many other companies, this upgrade would have cost three times the original price but with Magnepan? scarcely a nudge .. Kudos to Magnepan , back to the subject at hand ) . Isolating drivers is an impossibility for most audiophiles .. so how is it done? In the real world with non-easily tri-ampable speaker.. As an aside how would one bi-amp the new 3-way Maggies?
Also do they have higher res in the future and can they accommodate three subs a-la-Geddes?

Thanks in advance

 

[RUR]

Frantz, the Express is the unit I heard @ RMAF driving Tikandis and Gallos. Their just-announced version, the HDP-4, does support 192/24, but does not support 3 subs as discrete outputs.

http://www.deqx.com/ upper right. They sent me an email with the comparison between HDP-Express, -3 and -4, but I've since tossed it. You can obtain the same by clicking the "click here to receive more details" link, bottom.

Ken

 

[terryj]

Reviving this very interesting thread. I definitely like the DeQX concept. Drivers present numerous aberrations within their frequency range. Correcting these should in most cases bring a better , more linear reproduction. I do understand that once this is done then Room response correction has the potential to be more accurate.. The problem as Amir mentioned a few years ago ) ) is: How does one isolate the drivers as to drive them separately.

I followed you till the last line. Do you mean how does the deqx measure each driver alone so it can correct it? It can 'only' measure each channel it puts out individually (six outputs which the use configures as it applies to him)

few quick examples...use one output only (into one amp then to the speaker). In that case, any crossovers originally used in the speaker has to remain of course, so the deqx measures that ONE channel and corrects what it hears. That it is a normal speaker at the end of it the deqx does not know.

Two way...so two outputs (into two amps then to two 'drivers'). The deqx measures and corrects each of those channels. Could be a tweeter on one and bass unit on the other.

three way etc etc.

So it depends on how it is set up. Hope that did not make it more confusing!

Isolating drivers is an impossibility for most audiophiles .. so how is it done? In the real world with non-easily tri-ampable speaker.. As an aside how would one bi-amp the new 3-way Maggies?

Is there a special 'thing' about maggies that means they are not the same as 'normal' speakers? Dunno, maybe the x-over is hard to access? Anyway, 'theoretically' the above is how it is done.

Also do they have higher res in the future and can they accommodate three subs a-la-Geddes?

Thanks in advance

Two sub outputs.

That sort of stuff is 'easy' to work around once you know what you are doing tho. Over the years I have played around with this stuff. For example, it is easy to put a y splitter on a sub output, and so drive two subs. That is fine as far as it goes, it only get's tricky in that they need to be (if you are going to this degree, which I think you should) the same acoustic distance from the LP. That way, if you advance or delay that sub channel then it affects the two subs the same. So placing one could be a PITA as you have to manually move it to match the other (as measured with a mic of course), once aligned then you again have electronic timing control over the pair.

You can do lots of 'tricks' like that. If you know and feel comfortable with it natch. Another quick example, the deqx is three way and I want my three way but also run subs. Ok, and always assuming we like the speaker we are using it on-not much point otherwise, we can leave the original crossover between the mid and tweeter in place (but not use the rest) and put those two drivers on the one (tweeter) output. The deqx will measure and correct those as a pair, the bass driver now has it own output and voila, a 'spare' output now for subs, which you can cheat on and have two subs on each if you follow.

A lot of diyers can play those games, but could be a tad intimidating for 'mere' (haha) audiophiles. All comes down to knowing the tools and what can be done.

 

[FrantzM]

terry

Thanks for the reply. I am somewhat confused by the operating mode of the DEQX.. How does it know how to correct individual drivers if all the drivers are being driven? In the case of a truly tri-ampable speaker let' say the Tikandis.. Each amplifer has direct access to the drivers covering a given range. I can for example drive the mid-range drivers without invoking the woofer or the tweeter.. How do I do that with a three-way passive speaker with onl one set of terminal? The correction would then be for the whole speaker but how do I truly measure it? IN a room with several drivers? What am I correcting since near-field (to minimize room contributions) likely means measuring only one driver?
I have become extremely interested in muti-amping lately... There are a few speakers whose drivers sensitivities are matched across the speakers, I know the Magico Q7 is one of these, for most other speakers the drivers are of varying sensitivities thus one has to pad the output at the crossovers with resistors to match the various sensitivities basically most of the expensive wattage of your amplifier in the frequency band occurs is wasted into the resistors as heat most of that never reaches the drivers.. Mui-amp allows you tailor amps and drivers to the best matching with little to no waste.. it is more complicated, maybe more expensive but seems to hold the key to much beter reproduction...I owuld like to know how to bi-amp the new Maggies. i suppose this is possible and likely easy, I want to know more about this.. and things like the DeQX and TaCT allow the audiophile to replicate exactly or better the original passive crossover with the added bonus of driver, time, and phase coherence ... Plus the added of room correction... I am as you can tell extremely interested...

 

[terryj]

no worries frantz, only trouble is that my reply did not help much!

terry

Thanks for the reply. I am somewhat confused by the operating mode of the DEQX.. How does it know how to correct individual drivers if all the drivers are being driven?

In THAT case (all drivers driven via the original crossover) it can only create ONE correction, and that is a correction for the sound it received. It could be for example the 'best single driver with full frequency output' ever invented or a five way as far as the deqx is concerned, to it it is simply the results it receives from the sweep it gives.

That configuration is called 'single amp' for obvious reasons. All it does is has the one amp as usual and relies on the crossover in the speaker. Then you go on to two ways or three ways, all depends on how many amps you have and how you decide to hook it all up.

It can only correct the 'three drivers' individually if you have set it up as active three way. It can only correct the two individual drivers if you have set it up as fully active two way. An amp for each driver. I am not sure how to explain it any better, hope the confusion is not being caused by me.

In the case of a truly tri-ampable speaker let' say the Tikandis.. Each amplifer has direct access to the drivers covering a given range. I can for example drive the mid-range drivers without invoking the woofer or the tweeter..

exactly

How do I do that with a three-way passive speaker with onl one set of terminal?

you can't.

Why? because each driver is NOT being driven by an individual channel, rather an individual channel from the deqx is driving multiple drivers.

That is what I meant last time by 'it only measures what the driven channel provides'. So if you look at it from that angle, you should be able to work it out. "what drivers does THIS channel drive?" iF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE OUTPUT BEING USED, YET IT GOES INTO THE NORMAL CROSSOVER, THEN THE ANSWER COULD BE 'IT MEASURES THESE FOUR DRIVERS', (damn, sorry about caps lock) or two or one or whatever.

Depends on how YOU set the system up.

The correction would then be for the whole speaker but how do I truly measure it? IN a room with several drivers? What am I correcting since near-field (to minimize room contributions) likely means measuring only one driver?

Heck, I am as lazy as they come. So I just measure in room and go with that. In any case, if someone gets the deqx I always say 'measure in room at first'. As you can imagine, there are a lot of questions and confusions to work thru first, so learn the unit and procedure before you haul it all outdoors.

I just never got to the second step haha.

.I owuld like to know how to bi-amp the new Maggies. i suppose this is possible and likely easy, I want to know more about this.. and things like the DeQX and TaCT allow the audiophile to replicate exactly or better the original passive crossover with the added bonus of driver, time, and phase coherence ... Plus the added of room correction... I am as you can tell extremely interested...

I don't know anything about maggies (have not even heard them tbh, so I should go for a drive one day..have a mate with deqx and subs on a pair of maggies. They have a fanatical following at times, must be something to them) so unless there is something 'special or unique' about the crossovers it is simply 'an amp for each panel'. Not sure if there is a mystery I am missing with them, but you seem to keep stressing 'how do I go active with maggies'...so is there something I don't know about?

 

[Nyal Mellor]

The Geddes multisub approach is based on mono bass i.e. the left and right signal are combined and the same signal is sent to all subwoofers.

Ideally you would measure the speakers outside or in a very large room at 2m / 6.5ft to get the best measurement of the speaker response with the highest frequency resolution.

DEQX can be implemented in many ways, incl. just as a digital crossover between mains and subs, as a speaker correction processor only keeping your speakers crossovers (the combined response is measured and corrected for) or as a full multiway digital crossover with individual driver correction. My web site has details of these different options - see the 'implementing tab' on this page

 

[FrantzM]

Nyal

I suppose room correction can be implemented along with the digital crossover. I am contemplating bi-amping. Room correction is of course of great interested but below the Schroeder frequency. I would rather leave mid and highs to passive treatments if possible... I am also extremely interested in driver correction ..
What are the main differences between the HDP-3 and the Express? Can the Express perform DRC and Crossover functions?Thanks in advance

 

[Nyal Mellor]

Nyal

I suppose room correction can be implemented along with the digital crossover. I am contemplating bi-amping. Room correction is of course of great interested but below the Schroeder frequency. I would rather leave mid and highs to passive treatments if possible... I am also extremely interested in driver correction ..
What are the main differences between the HDP-3 and the Express? Can the Express perform DRC and Crossover functions?Thanks in advance

Hi Frantz,

The DEQX is a speaker and room correction processor as well as a digital crossover. It's a very flexible product - you can implement speaker correction, digital crossover and room correction separately or together as your needs and inclinations dictate. For example some people just use it as a digital crossover between their left and right speakers / sub and a digital parametric EQ. Others use the full multi-way crossover and speaker correction functionality. The speaker correction works by measuring the speaker nearfield (excl. the room's influence), the room correction by measuring farfield (at the listening position). I like using EQ only below 120Hz or so and using passive treatments above that.

The differences between the HDP-3 and Express can be found on the product page but I'll summarize here:

HDP-3 vs. HDP-Express:

Front panel is made of 12mm aluminium. HDP-Express is 6mm
Front panel comes in black or silver. HDP-Express comes in black only
Front-panel volume control. No front panel volume control on HDP-Express
6 channel post DAC analogue volume control. HDP-Express volume control is digital only
Audiophile linear power supply. HDP-Express uses a switching power supply
Digital output board option. Not available on HDP-Express

Functionally the products are identical - same configuration program, same DSP, etc, same capabilities.

What other questions do you have? Are there any other products that are interesting to you?

Nyal

 

[FrantzM]

Nyal

THank you very much for your great explanations. I am also exploring the TaCT units. Purchase is a few months down the road .. Research and auditions are now..

 

[edorr]

Nyal

THank you very much for your great explanations. I am also exploring the TaCT units. Purchase is a few months down the road .. Research and auditions are now..

PC based acourate may be worth looking into as well. Lot cheaper.

 

[dziemian]

Hi guys,

I have a question regarding Deqx 2.6p. I bought it second-hand without remote control. When I wrote an email to DEQX to find out about the possibility to buy one I got a strange reply.

(...) The unit you have is not the c=version with pre-amp analog volume control. Ow that I have found your unit in the data base here I can confirm that while your unit is digital volume only it was fitted with the required IR receiver and can use the remote control. (...)

Has anybody of you heard of diffrent -versions of PDC-2.6P. It is labeled exactly 2.6P, it does have IR receiver but I have never seen any single info that there are 2.6p versions without analog volume control on the market.

Tomek