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Trying to work out DAC/DSP/XO solution...

The 4x10 hd (24/96) is the way to do what you want and more
It is an AD/DAC/Remote controlled volume pre
You have digital in and out as well as analog in (rca / Balanced)
You have 4 l/r channels of analog output and digital too you can map any input channels to an output
You have xover/delay/12 x PEQ filters and more beside..
So you can easily go digital in and set up a 3 way speaker and 2 subs with this and tune to your hearts content...
 
I would guess the 4x10 hd does pretty much what the XTA DP224 does, and going by prices, roughly, could get a 2nd hand XTA for the price of a new 4x10.

One could only assume the XTA would be more transparent...??

Hey I may be able to hire an XTA for an evening or two!

I don't suppose any one has compared how transparent a Marchand XO is compared to a minidsp or XTA..

Options have now been placed on the table, just need a think, £ vs SQ, do I need SQ to test and listen with.. quite possibly as testing could take some time...

Many thanks to all !!

Cooky - how easy would you say it would be for a beginner who knows nothing ;-) to load a 1st order slope and get it technically right using peq adjustments?
1) straight off the bat
2) piece of cake with a 7 day intensive training course
3) somewhere in between 1) & 2)
 
If you did go my suggested route then you would want to do volume control in the digital domain from the MinDSP rather than your DAc/Pre. As you said it would f*ck up the balance you so carefully set!
 
I have watched our cat turn the volume up on the pre/dac a number of times now...???....Why...???
With a 4 year old a 7 year old their friends and a fiddling mother in law there is sod all chance of it staying where it should ;-)

Thinking about it I do have a similar pre/dac in the spare room but I think the chances of finding the settings where I left them is slimmer than slim :-(
Interesting thought though!
 
Open it up and put a jumper across the volume control ;)

...Or put a jumper over the volume control.
 
Rodney gold said:
The 4x10 hd (24/96) is the way to do what you want and more
It is an AD/DAC/Remote controlled volume pre
You have digital in and out as well as analog in (rca / Balanced)
You have 4 l/r channels of analog output and digital too you can map any input channels to an output
You have xover/delay/12 x PEQ filters and more beside..
So you can easily go digital in and set up a 3 way speaker and 2 subs with this and tune to your hearts content...
Click to expand...

That looks like a lot of fun for not much dosh...
 
Deaf Cat said:
Cooky - how easy would you say it would be for a beginner who knows nothing ;-) to load a 1st order slope and get it technically right using peq adjustments?
1) straight off the bat
2) piece of cake with a 7 day intensive training course
3) somewhere in between 1) & 2)
Click to expand...

1) if you use the audio core software you can see what your adjustments are doing on your computer, as I said earlier I don't know if that 8dB slope is the electrical or acoustical one.
 
cooky1257 said:
1) if you use the audio core software you can see what your adjustments are doing on your computer, as I said earlier I don't know if that 8dB slope is the electrical or acoustical one.
Click to expand...

hmm neither do I

EDIT:
Actually the 8dB slope is electrical (if my recent understanding of "electrical" is adding caps and inductors to the signal path before the driver)
the woofer roll off is steep closeish to XO point, so and 8dB electrical is required to get the 3rd order acoustic Werhay! I'm understanding stuff :)
I think..
The tweeter XO along way away from its roll off so a 3rd order is needed to match the woofers, switching the polarity of the tweeter brings things in phase...
 
We keep prices in line with the MiniDSP store, bare in mind that postage and import duties are not included in the miniDSP 'store' pricelist.
They are good products, extremely versatile , you purchase the hardware you need and then the most suitable 'plug in' , experiment with settings and then download onto the hardware, that's it.
Keith.
 
I don't want to do Keith out of a sale but there is another way which either adds some complexity or is easier depending on which way you see it. All of this can be done in software using either something like jriver or a DAW with some VST plugins. It's a bit of a faf if you are using out board gear, and more so if others are as it requires more steps to get the source playing than the mini DSP route however if you are just using your PC for a source it works brilliantly.

You'll need the software mentioned above where you can set all the filters (crossovers), eq , convolution etc you need. You also set the routing up to soeacified out puts.

The next thing you need is a USB/FireWire studio interface which compared to HIFI are as cheap as chips and sound good too. The routing you set in the software is to the outputs of this box which passes the audio onto yr amps.

The nice thing about this is flexibility. The ability to be able to change configuration or add another channel when your speakers change. Use the interface for additional zones etc etc etc is brilliant. One of the killer things that is much easier with this setup is the ability to experiment with FIR filters which gives you the ability to manipulate filters without the phase changing allowing you to realise a linear phase system. I know that is way beyond your current knowledge bit now you have started...

Stefan
 
The beauty of the 4x10 or other minidsp stuff is that as you mess with the controls you hear it all in real time.
Read kal rubinsons review of the 10x0..exact same product but 10 in and 10 out..
It's transparent...

http://www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-64

This unit is exceptional value for money for what it is..I used one with my Giya G1's and devialet to actively biamp the bass units..I woudnt use a less than transparent unit on that setup.. currently using their Dirac unit.

Apart from that , minidp offer amazing support on a techncal basis.
 
Support is good at mini DSP , a bit slow at times but the active forum they run is a brilliant place to hang out and the members are VERY knowlegable.

As I've said in many threads before, if I didn't spend so much time fiddling around and changing setups I'd have stuck with the Minisharc/buffaloes. Just need the flexibility these days.
 
Thank you, for the PC tip and the 10x10 review,

It also looks like the M-DAC2 will have the capabilities for DSP and, provisions to add daisy chain dacs to go multi channel..

Oh so many choices
Will sleep on the matter :)
 
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