Ok, here's the thing: For the speakers I'm considering buying, the manufacturer uses the DBX driveracks for crossover and eq (he's a cheapskate just like me). He uses the PA2. I'm debating with myself, however, whether I should go for the more expensive Venu360. Venu360 has a digital input, so that might save me a D/A/D-conversion. The Venu360 also has a better processor all over. I know that this D/A/D-conversion will probably not be audible at all... but still, the anxious audiophile in me thinks it could be worthwhile to keep the signal pure all the way to the final D/A-conversion when the Driverack feeds the signal to the amps.
The problem is that the Venu360 only has AES/EBU inputs. It's a problem, since the Driverack doesn't have independent master volume control, and I need something (preferrably with a remote) to control the volume and get all my sources connected. With the PA2, I would have used a dac with balanced out as my pre. All my sources have optical/coax out (sonos connect, BR-player and Apple TV). I therefore need something which has consumer grade digital inputs, and AES/EBU output - AND a volume control.
But this product category seems to be almost non-existent!
The only thing I've found so far is the Minidsp Opendrc-DI. It does what I need, and more. I just feel like I'm paying for much more functionality than I need with the Opendrc-DI. I don't need all that DSP stuff (the Driverack does that), I just need digital format conversion and digital volume control. There must surely exist some cheap knockoff on ebay? Or not?
Or maybe I should just do it simple and accept the extra D/A/D-conversion
EDIT: The title should have been "Does something like THIS exist..."! Apparently one can't edit thread titles.
The problem is that the Venu360 only has AES/EBU inputs. It's a problem, since the Driverack doesn't have independent master volume control, and I need something (preferrably with a remote) to control the volume and get all my sources connected. With the PA2, I would have used a dac with balanced out as my pre. All my sources have optical/coax out (sonos connect, BR-player and Apple TV). I therefore need something which has consumer grade digital inputs, and AES/EBU output - AND a volume control.
But this product category seems to be almost non-existent!
The only thing I've found so far is the Minidsp Opendrc-DI. It does what I need, and more. I just feel like I'm paying for much more functionality than I need with the Opendrc-DI. I don't need all that DSP stuff (the Driverack does that), I just need digital format conversion and digital volume control. There must surely exist some cheap knockoff on ebay? Or not?
Or maybe I should just do it simple and accept the extra D/A/D-conversion
EDIT: The title should have been "Does something like THIS exist..."! Apparently one can't edit thread titles.
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