Jump to content

Digital w/Klipsch? DSD and MiniDSP? Amp pairing


Mars1

Recommended Posts

To avoid excessive writing, I am going to be general/basic concerning the title. There are plenty of literature "out there" regarding what I ask herein. I am just trying to get an understanding.

 

I don't have much experience with any music listening b/c I don't have a system yet. I had plenty back in the day when all info. was purely analog. The closest I came to digital was w/ CD's.

Back then, who knew the difference? Compared to today's tech, and audiophile standards. I just simply turned on my system, fumbled around the dial and tuned into my fav. FM station, and played numerous LPs. All was good, hell, I even got down licks on the acoustic and electric guitar that way, and they were note for note, even when I listen to the same songs today in the digital realm, the notes and phrases are identical. I didn't know better, or my ears didn't know better. I just enjoyed the music. But...

 

Today is different. Until I get a system I will not have experience w/ streaming, w/ DACs, w/ digital PCM or DSD or whatever else there is. For now, it all seems too confusing: the pursuit of listening to digital and getting it to "sound" or "feel" like analog, driving speakers with tubes yet having a music source that is digital just seems contradictory. I see the benefits of streaming, such as having a clutter free home/apt. void of "x' amount of CDs or LPs, and verily, this is probably the Only thing I see appealing about it. (But I am not prejudice toward it b/c I Do want to try it. If I like it perhaps I'll continue, but if I don't I'll drop it like an old rag without a second thought). To each their own. Nothing wrong there. It's just confusing is all I am saying: there are so, so many options to choose from to listen and obtain music, which in and of itself is a product of "analog" execution. What I mean is, when someone is playing an instrument the thing they play isn't binary by any means whatsoever, albeit synths. I guess. If one wishes to hear what the artist intended to play/record, the learning of an instrument is what one should do for that is the only way to really feel the sound, feel the instrument, experience the sensations. I don't mean that to be an insult, it's just "Nature rules; not my rules Daniel-Son".

 

DSP/MiniDSP: Check out their website, they explain what they do much better than I, but here is the quarry: DSP proclaims that you can EQ on 32 or 64 bandwidths, change slopes, crossovers, etc. So, does this mean if the design of your speaker has a suck out in the mid band Hz at high volume, you are able to essentially correct this abnormality even though it is a result of the poorly constructed internal workings of the crossover design? Has anyone ever done this? And is the effect noticeable in reality, not on a graph or on paper, but in reality, in your perception of the sound? If so, how does it sound?: "digital" or fake, or "analog" or real?....Taking this example one step further in the domain of amplification and system matching:

I am going to take as an example any of the top of the line Yamaha AS models. It has been reviewed that they are colored, in that the designers and engineers bumped up the bass and midrange while slightly resolving the treble. So is it possible to get the same effect as a MiniDSP by pairing a Klipsch w/ a Yamaha AS amp thereby correcting a mid range suck out of the speaker, because the amp already has a boosted bass and midrange? and to further the result, perhaps incorporate a graphic EQ to even more approach a neutrality in sound? I only ask b/c I accidently heard a Klipsch paired with a Yamaha AS2100, can you say midrange? OMG the mids just shined!

 

DSD: How many of you listen to DSD vs PCM? From what I understand, DSD yields a high S/N ratio especially at 64/2, and the act of processing Always yields noise artifacts that are just bumped way up into the high frequency ranges above human hearing. I think depending on the DSD processing the noise can be shed off around 30kHz, 40kHz, 50kHz and perhaps higher. I am curious what effects this has on a tweeter? Especially a tweeter with a frequency range of 20kHz? If a speaker has a tweeter in 20kHz and one listens to DSD, shouldn't one perhaps install a ultrasonic tweeter to handle the higher noise, even though it is not perceptible? And what if someone does have a speaker with a frequency range of: 30Hz to 50kHz what happens to the speaker? to the front end gear? to the person themselves?

I ask about the effects on the person b/c there is some interesting scientific research on the effects of ultrasonic and infrasonic soundwaves and I am curious if DSD is even worth it. Reason being, and you are going to have to take my word on this b/c this topic is getting way too long, and I don't want to loose you (unless of course I already did, and if I did then you haven't read this sentence anyway, but for the rest of you that are still with me...): I am one of those handful of people who are affected by the extremes in these sonic waveforms (ultrasonic and infrasonic). I have had epileptic seizures back in the day and during my blackouts there was always the presence of two tones: one infrasonic, and one ultrasonic. The infrasonic always "hits" me in the gut and pins me to the ground, while the ultrasonic always "hit" me in the neck along the main artery and vein branches, up into the facial regions, jaw and ears and even hair, this sound usually makes my eyes roll back and causes me to flex my muscles. I think by far the ultrasonic sucks. On a day to day basis I seldom come across the ultrasonic Hz. But the low infrasonic soundwaves I do experience from time to time, like the sound of a heating or AC unit electrical noise. Thank God it's got to be a very large and old machine like the kind powering a large building, and when I hear this, if it continues for too long I do get "dizzy" and off balance. So I ask: Is it worth it for me to even consider DSD, given if there is empirical data on the subject that it does have some biological effects? Will it be worth it to you?

 

Thanks for reading and please note that if I offended anyone that was not my intention

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of it is marketing blah blah. A well recorded, mixed and mastered album will sound fine, no matter what format it is or carrier it is on: vinyl, cd, 320 mp3 etc. 

Health issues are another matter, of course. Here it is the speaker that specifies the final output. Most klipsch speakers won't go below 35 Hz, so it shouldn't be a problem for ultrasonic lows and highs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Mars1 said:

Yamaha AS models. It has been reviewed that they are colored

If this was the case, the frequency response could easily be measured to show this "coloration". the AS series feature tone controls with defeat, if any "coloration" is desired.  I have not heard the AS units but I wish I had.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Mars1 said:

DSP/MiniDSP: Check out their website, they explain what they do much better than I, but here is the quarry: DSP proclaims that you can EQ on 32 or 64 bandwidths, change slopes, crossovers, etc. So, does this mean if the design of your speaker has a suck out in the mid band Hz at high volume, you are able to essentially correct this abnormality even though it is a result of the poorly constructed internal workings of the crossover design? Has anyone ever done this? And is the effect noticeable in reality, not on a graph or on paper, but in reality, in your perception of the sound? If so, how does it sound?: "digital" or fake, or "analog" or real?....

 

 

 

    You have a lot of questions there, but I'll just address this one.  I use a MiniDSP 4x10HD in my system.  I use it as an active crossover in addition to EQ.  I can say that if you take a scientific approach (i.e. using a measurement mic to see your speakers true in-room response), the effects are indeed dramatic. 

    You will never know just how poor your speakers' frequency response is until you measure it and look at the graph.  You will never know whether the EQ you apply helps or hurts without being able to look at it.  However, if you measure the response, use RoomEQ Wizard to calculate the needed corrections and apply them, the improvement is HUGE.  You can get almost any decent speaker close to perfectly flat in your room.  Once you have heard one like this, switching back is not something you will ever be interested in.  Absolutely night and day.

   You can EQ out peaks and (most) valleys.  You can apply a "house curve" (boosted bass, rolled off highs, whatever pleases you).  All of these things are difficult and expensive to do using the old methods.  With DSP, it is inexpensive and trivially easy.  It truly is a revolution in home Hi-Fi.  See Chris A's posts to read more in depth.  He was a great help and inspiration in getting my system dialed in.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...