pzannucci

Are there any USB 3.0 devices DACS? I know there is never a real answer because it is a matter of: 1. Convenience 2. Computer, DAC, and connectors 3. Length of run 4 Quality of Computer drivers to send data to the DAC. There are preferences but usually those preferences are born from you system or prejudice. All the testing on the net doesn't show any better than the other though USB is starting to fall of it's pedestal. S/PDIF can transfer noise so if that is an issue, don't use it. Toslink won't work if you use it with peanut butter hands or have to fold the line. USB 2.x is good if you are not scared of installing the drivers for the device on your system. I personally use Toslink since it does sound as good as the others, doesn't transfer noise (though I don't think I have any anyway) and I don't have a USB 2.x+ DAC. Next DAC I buy may be different so use what sounds the best, even if it could be in your mind.

Ya. present. Looks like several old timers which made life additionally interesting aren't around, unless I missed them. Glad to see a core made the forum transfer and welcome to the new folks that are glutting for punishment to gain their dream

If this is in reference to my system I mainly used external DACs (Emotiva, Meridian, etc) in a PC Windows environment but did try them in the Mac world as well. My opinion is that anyone using an external DAC with any computer should use digital out not USB. Problem with Mac and PC connections, especially when they are connected USB is too much auto-magic. When it doesn't work the way you want it gets very interesting to debug. I agree with USNRET, use a toslink or s/pdif connection. No messing with all this USB stuff. Select the digital connection (as in my picture, one digital is hdmi, other toslink) and you are going. Additionally as I stated earlier, the use of USB with other stuff on the computer causes the interrupts, or so it seems to have a significant amount of latency. Using the toslink or s/pdif, connection in my system, it does not exhibit these jerky moments when using an external USB drive and keyboard on the USB ports. On my i7-3770 Window's system I use it for CD's, DVD's, internet, digital files, Blu-Ray and Karaoke. Beats having all the other devices piled up on each other. Additionally it seems to be no drop in sound quality with a 5000% increase in flexibility. Edit: By the way, I only plugged in the USB connector to show in the picture. I too use optical.to the dac

Here is a representative "Windows Sound Settings Panel" with the XDA-1 set. I think if you are trying the XDA-2, I would assume it should show up similarly. You need to make sure the right connections are made between the system and the DAC depending on toslink or USB.

Which DacMagic is it? There are no Wav files to test? Window's has a sound test built in. You should at least hear sound out the speakers. If so you know your Windows selection is good to start off. Good luck, it really isn't that bad

Some of the reasons I said to just go with Toslink is that it is a simple connection, probably shows up in your settings, and probably supports 24bit without forcing you to chase down a driver. Most PCs required hardware driver support to be installed when running USB2 24 bit music files async. Toslink should avoid all that mess if the vendor of the PC was nice enough to install the proper drivers. If you installed the Quada cube N3 system with Windows 7 then likely not all the hardware support shows up in the windows for selection and things won't work well unless you are sure you installed all the driver support on the supplemental disks.

Just outside of Austin. I really am not trying to be rude here. If you understand the parameters such as windows 7 or 8, how you are configuring and the connections, unless something is broken (which the hardware or software vendor may not want to agree with) then you should be able to at least get 16bit 44.1k out to the dac. Move up from there. Baby steps. The reason I say toslink (optical) is that most hardware you buy has the drivers for the motherboard and since toslink is on the board, you could select that in the sound settings for the output. USB should just detect the DacMagic when plugged in, if not, the drivers are not there.

I personally would just use Toslink. When you start dumping a bunch of data through the USB, use a wireless keyboard and mouse, and likely an external drive, things get clunky even on my i7-3770

I was about to wonder how we got 7 pages in one afternoon. Unfortunately it is fairly elementary. 1. List the hardware products 2. List the software you are trying to use, operating system and player 3. List what types of files you are trying to use 4. List settings in the sound configuration 5. List connections and cables 6. Tell us if the devices show up and recognize each other, if not you're in big trouble. 7. With most of that info and going pure digital to a dac, an answer should be in short order. You are either doing and using something wrong (file formats, etc) or the hardware is broken. About all there is to it for non-video encoding and surround sound. (basically stereo). Sorry not trying to sound bad but all this info should be itemized in one place as a reference point. Just trying to help because 7 pages in one afternoon is a little like shooting bird shot. If I missed it in seven pages, please let me know.

We could get rid of that queasy feeling by putting the khorns upside down so the horns are at ear level.

If you stay with the platforms instead of eighth space, make sure they are good and solid. Khorns are a waste on something like 3/4" OSB. Really the best is a solid cement floor.

The khorn bass horn needs to have three sides in the room (bottom, right, and left side) to work correctly. The khorn is made for eight space placement. Raising it on a 28" platform, unless that platform extends several feet past the horn into the room (like a stage) will impact the bass performance.

How many receivers actually say all channels driven? I don't think but two or three. If you look at the higher power Yamaha and Denon, most only may about 1/3 - 1/2 their rated output when driving more than two channels. Most specs are now based on the thought that you will never drive all channels at the same time. Really a way to play marketing games with power along with lower the quality of the power supply. You used to see monsters that weighed in at well over 40-46 lbs boasting 100 watts per channel. Now they are less than 30 lbs. Unless they are class D, you don't get the high powers of the spec sheet. Needless to say, depending on what Klipsch and size room you are talking, 65watts may be very very good. If you are trying to use your speakers for music two channel also, I would look for a receiver or amp that pushes 4 ohms and is SPEC'd that way.

I would also check your amp out. I had K-horns to some ridiculous level with my Bel Canto REF-1000s. Never bothered anything except my neighbors.

Moray, You should find one of the old Olson books. I had one for years. Very enlightening though got lost in the moves over the past 35 + years. It really helps understand what is going on at horn crossover. I've built Frazier Dixielander (kind of) and other types of horns, along with some mid-horns from plexi among other things. Interesting to say the least. As for my KLF-30s, this thread makes me wonder if I need to strip my texture paint off and see how dinged up they really are. Bought them on a whim, pretty scratched up. My pristine modified pair went to a friend of mine a long time ago with a set of hand build JBL 15" subs used by Revel. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hamzy/425606799/lightbox/ . If I can make my veneer look this good, it'll be worth the pain. Enjoy!!!

I would think you could use a real sharp exacto-knife at an angle and just cut it away. One of those snap off blade ones might do the trick also as a razorblade would be harder to hold at an angle (but better).

If you come up by Austin some time in the very near future, if you have the 2 with all the parts (good shape), I'll take it off your hands.

I kind of wonder why the KLF-20 and KLF-30's are not thought of as highly as Heritage (lack of respect ). My thoughts is they are just as much Heritage as Heritage. - Better mid horns than the exponential horns but same drivers - Same tweeters - 2 10" drivers in the 20's that can pretty much keep up with a Cornwall and blow away a Heresy - 12" drivers in the 30's are used in the Jubilees that can almost keep up with a Khorn. Sounds like Heritage or maybe Super Heritage to me other than their more slender bodies. I think Klipsch should bring though they would seriously impact the sales of their other lines and cost more to manufacture then simple 2 ways. I've never listened to the klf-10s so can't speak there. I could not disagree more... the KLF is a fine speaker, fine... But it's not a Heritage. I've owned my share of both... if I wanted to rock, I might take a KLF however if I wanted refinement with realistic spacial qualities, I am taking the cornwall every time. that's my personal choice, yours is probably different. Moray, the spec sheet says the CWII tweeter uses poly. I guess Klipsch may have made a change somewhere after the original ones were gone. I wonder if you can even get phenolic replacements from Klipsch anymore. I will give you the mids being phenolic should sound better but it may also depend on the frequency range used. The two way thing is referencing a two way that crosses above around 1-1.2K. Unless you are using small drivers near crossover, it will be hard pressed to be as articulate and well defined in that crossover area. Again, almost all the parts are the same or very close. Slight tweaks in the crossovers between CW1, CWII, and KLF-30 when you look at the diagrams. Nothing huge there either. I guess it depends on the room also. I find the KLF-30's at least make a good compromise. No doesn't sound as full at the bottom, nor as loose as a CW but everyone listens for different things and likes certain things, even if it is coloring. FYI... I've also owned: 5 sets of k-horns 2 sets of klf-30s 1 set of Cornwall IIs 1 set of Forte IIs 1 set of La Scalas 1 set of Heresy 1.5s 1 set of Heresy IIs so I have also been all over the Heritage map and they were not just listened to for 15 mins.most were in my house for at least a couple of years except the La Scalas at only about a year. One of my sets of home built speakers also uses KLF-20 woofers so I know what they are capable of doing in a 5 cubic foot box tuned to 31hz. No slouches. That said I don't need to line up as just a heritage or KLF lover, I like the speakers I built more because I design them to compromise on what I allow, not what a company allows with a specific budget. Most Klipschs make good compromises for the investment.

The Cornwall would be more coherent with good bass. Not sure how they would match up with that particular tube amp. If you want better low bass, the Heresy combo with a couple of subs would do a few things well, offload the bass duties from an amp that might not be as tight to the subs amp and also provide deeper bass. The other nice part of the Heresys is that you can put them on taller stands to bring them to ear level. Something that you can't do easily with large Cornwalls. Both would work nicely though.

Hello Moray, The Cornwall II uses the same tweeter as the KLFs and the Heresy uses almost the same material in a lower output tweeter. The horn change might be reasonable but I have found that you have to be careful with driver overlap. It can be a blessing and it also can be a curse. Many times you have to rely on a high slope crossover to make it sound right and to get rid of things like comb filtering. As far as a two way system, many people, including myself, enjoy the smoothness of a two way but they don't have the same mid-range projection as a three way not to mention the possibility of being articulate in the lower mid-range which people overlook. I recognize that as a smoother sounding speaker though the sound doesn't get presented the same way as a dedicated mid. Hard to explain but recognizable. As for the Ti diaphragms, I have been tempted to pull the trigger on them based on your comments. I likely will one of these days as long as I keep these KLFs. I have sold off most of my Klipsch speakers to downsize. Slowly transitioning to a new house with no corners for khorns. And back on this thread, I really like klipschtastic's clean up job to remove the black paint on his speakers. Makes you wonder why they paint over perfectly good veneer. .

I do like the stripping job. If my KLF-30's weren't so mis-handled before I got them, that would be a nice project. I have been contemplating building a new enclosure with passive radiators to get a little deeper and cleaner bass.

You would need to disconnect all three drivers from the network. The problem would be how would you know what network had power going to it since the power would flow through both networks.when audio was applied. Better off with just a manual switch of very high quality if you were to contemplate doing this.

I like that technical answer but 100% correct. Each would need to be able to be disconnected from the drivers since there is resistance, among other things, in each network.

I kind of wonder why the KLF-20 and KLF-30's are not thought of as highly as Heritage (lack of respect ). My thoughts is they are just as much Heritage as Heritage. - Better mid horns than the exponential horns but same drivers - Same tweeters - 2 10" drivers in the 20's that can pretty much keep up with a Cornwall and blow away a Heresy - 12" drivers in the 30's are used in the Jubilees that can almost keep up with a Khorn. Sounds like Heritage or maybe Super Heritage to me other than their more slender bodies. I think Klipsch should bring though they would seriously impact the sales of their other lines and cost more to manufacture then simple 2 ways. I've never listened to the klf-10s so can't speak there.

DrWho, Thank you for the pointer. I need to reread it but some of the information makes perfect sense. I would think most any locking down and dampening of that front panel resonance, as large as it is, would be a good thing. With much smaller panels would be a little different.