At faktiskt.io, a swedish hifi forum they have tested the new minidsp in a very expensive system . The result didnt come out well soundwise.
In my opinion , trying to combine a dsp with analog crossovers are not always a good idea . Everything you put in between a source and a speaker makes the sound slightly worse . It may be passive crossovers, cables , AD converters , digital gain structure and more .
Im surprised that the reviewers at faktiskt.io dont draw the conclusion or think about the reason why it might sound worse putting a dsp in a signal chain with passive loudspeakers .
My experience - Im not suprised at all. No gear , analog or digital are fully transparent to the ear . One of the worst offender is passive crossovers in loudspeakers .
To gain real benefits with a dsp, one should instead go fully active with the minidsp - with all the crossovers in the digital domain and no passive coils, resistors or capacitors in the signal path. The source ( for example a computer with a DDC) would then go directly to the digital input of the Minidsp SHD. No A/D:s involved. No external DAC outside the minidsp is needed.
This way one can gain real sound improvements .
As I said in the beginning - buying a dsp to correct an analog loudspeaker is often a waste of money or time . The first step for real improvements would instead be converting the passive crossover in the passive loudspeaker to be fully active in the digital domain , keeping the signal digital as long as one possible can, and doing the crossover in the digital domain without converting it first to analog.
Whats your experience ?
In my opinion , trying to combine a dsp with analog crossovers are not always a good idea . Everything you put in between a source and a speaker makes the sound slightly worse . It may be passive crossovers, cables , AD converters , digital gain structure and more .
Im surprised that the reviewers at faktiskt.io dont draw the conclusion or think about the reason why it might sound worse putting a dsp in a signal chain with passive loudspeakers .
My experience - Im not suprised at all. No gear , analog or digital are fully transparent to the ear . One of the worst offender is passive crossovers in loudspeakers .
To gain real benefits with a dsp, one should instead go fully active with the minidsp - with all the crossovers in the digital domain and no passive coils, resistors or capacitors in the signal path. The source ( for example a computer with a DDC) would then go directly to the digital input of the Minidsp SHD. No A/D:s involved. No external DAC outside the minidsp is needed.
This way one can gain real sound improvements .
As I said in the beginning - buying a dsp to correct an analog loudspeaker is often a waste of money or time . The first step for real improvements would instead be converting the passive crossover in the passive loudspeaker to be fully active in the digital domain , keeping the signal digital as long as one possible can, and doing the crossover in the digital domain without converting it first to analog.
Whats your experience ?
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