Room Correction for 2 Channel?

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
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NorthStar wrote:
Frantz, a quality digital Room EQ system will enhance your analog 2-channel Stereo music listening experience.
Big time. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain from the analog to digital conversion.

You are kidding right ? If there was nothing to lose we would all be happy listening the A/D conversions of master tape on CD. This is not the case. There is audible info lost in A/D that makes analog shine as the medium of choice for our listening pleasure. Going A/D through one of these digital room eq's defeats the purpose, imo. Now if I was digital only, I see the value in these systems. Just my two analog cents.
 

audioguy

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Apr 20, 2010
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NorthStar wrote:


You are kidding right ? If there was nothing to lose we would all be happy listening the A/D conversions of master tape on CD. This is not the case. There is audible info lost in A/D that makes analog shine as the medium of choice for our listening pleasure. Going A/D through one of these digital room eq's defeats the purpose, imo. Now if I was digital only, I see the value in these systems. Just my two analog cents.

If u r a digital only person, use something like a TacT with digital in and digital out to your DAC!!
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
NorthStar wrote:


You are kidding right ? If there was nothing to lose we would all be happy listening the A/D conversions of master tape on CD. This is not the case. There is audible info lost in A/D that makes analog shine as the medium of choice for our listening pleasure. Going A/D through one of these digital room eq's defeats the purpose, imo. Now if I was digital only, I see the value in these systems. Just my two analog cents.

Your point is 'tres' valid, and I respect it. ...For some people it might be advantageous,
and for others (the purists), it would not.

So many aspects are into consideration: quality of the electronics, music material, room acoustics, and the overall synergy between all the reproduction's components and the ears from the main listener.

* I know that your analog rig and analog music material is top-notch; is your room acoustically treated as well? ...In the analog domain?

_________________

EDIT: Just for an example; Copland DRC 205 Room Compensation Device ($2,990 USD MSRP):
=> Offers automatic & fast setup without a computer, but can be further adjusted to listener preference using a PC (software included).
Compatible with all sources via analog input and output, it goes in your tape-monitor loop (if you have one of those), where it corrects what is wrong (if there is indeed some' wrong) with your room/speaker combination.
Pure sound (analog), and true sonic accuracy at the touch of a button.

--> Reviewed by Robert Greene, Issue 173 of the abso!ute sound
 
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NorthStar

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Feb 8, 2011
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Yep rockitmann, you're right

a Real Sound Lab Coneq APEQ-Pro DIO -
digital in and out

digital to the Grimm Audio LS1's

Cheers
Philip

---- Hi Philip, and Welcome!


Bob
 

JonFo

Well-Known Member
Jun 11, 2010
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Big Canoe, GA
www.jonathanfoulkes.com
In an ideal world, digital room correction (hereafter referred to as DRC) would not be necessary because we would all have our dedicated rooms built from scratch, designed by competent engineers and have appropriately used passive room treatment.

Well, even in the case of a room designed for the speakers it houses, and having treated it with over 45 commercial and DIY devices, I can attest that DRC still adds to the accuracy, especially for large line source arrays.

Whether in 2ch or in full multichannel mode, the system soundstage absolutely benefits from the application of an FIR-based DRC (Audyssesy Pro in my case).

In my view, any penalty from 'digital manipulation' vanishes into infinity relative to how a room will impact the sound of *any* system. And even well treated, ideally sized rooms still benefit significantly from ell done DRC.

Note I said 'well done', as I have heard some poorly set up DRC systems. Learning how to measure (both with the DRC system and third-party netrics) is critical. If you don't want to learn, then hire it out.
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
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Smyrna, GA
Yep rockitmann, you're right

a Real Sound Lab Coneq APEQ-Pro DIO -
digital in and out

digital to the Grimm Audio LS1's

Cheers
Philip

Trinnov pro units will also do digital in/out. I am feeding one with my offramp 5 USB converter, out to my Perfectwave dac mkii. I will shortly have first hand experience comparing a/d conversion on high Rez sources with digital direct. I ordered the vanity93 multi channel digital out board to mod my an oppo with 4 x spif outs. I will run sacd digital into the trinnov at 88/24 PCM, side by side with the analog a/d converted signal of my marantz ud9004. Should be interesting. Of course, dsd to PCM conversion quality also factors into this. For a pure digital apples to analog apples comparison I need to do this with a blu ray disc (may be Neil young's lanoise). Unfortuntaly I only have one copy of this, may be should get a second one just for this shoot out.
 

RayDunzl

New Member
Jun 26, 2014
289
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0
Tampa
I spent 10 years selling the original digital room correction product (SigTech), primarily in the 2 channel market. (a 6 channel solution cost about $18,000!!). The product was not overly successful for a number of reasons, but the one I found both interesting and frustrating was the reluctance of the high-end 2 channel guy to "put anything between the source and the speakers".

And near as I can tell, not much has changed. Virtually all (a few well known exceptions) SSP's have some form of room correction (some better than others) and most home theater enthusiasts (high end or otherwise) are reluctant to purchase a new SSP that does not have some form of correction. As I talk to other 2 channel audiophiles (and dealers) most are still (a) ignorant of the capabilities of digital room correction and/or (b) still want nothing to do with it.

The benefits of room correction (done properly) are so much more obvious than virtually every other "upgrade" one can make (and in some cases, a lot less costly), I am amazed that this technology for 2 channel has just not taken off. A 2 channel Tact (2.0), for example, cost less than $6K if I recall and will do wonders in 98+% of all rooms. But audiophiles seem to have no problem spending more than that on things like cable elevators, speaker wire, interconnects, equipment racks ... you name it. And while those may (or may not) be worthwhile improvements, all pale in comparison to the improvements that can be had by well done correction.

And yes, I believe that passive treatment should be the first option, but in my experience, even rooms that are properly designed and built can benefit from this technology.

So I pose the following for you two channel guys (and girls): What has been the reason for not investing in this technology?


Superstition?

1a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation

1b : an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition

2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
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435
Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
But Ray, it sounds good. ...Audyssey Platinum (MultEQ XT32). ...With Blu-ray, and music too. ...CD/SACD/Blu-ray Audio.

And now you can have multichannel Dirac Live inside a black box (MiniDSP DDRC-88A) for $999 US dollars, only!
And that's not all...Emotiva has a new 7.1-channel pre/pro (new line: Emersa EMP-1) for only $899 ... with Dirac Live inside!

Stereo, that too it can do...no sweat.

And next year, 16-channel Dirac Live (9.1.6 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X/Auro-3D). ...Or if not the year after (2017).

Things are getting brighter and cheaper. :cool: ...And our sound better; be it stereo or multichannel with 3D height immersive surround sound. ...For both Music and Movies.
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
73
1,635
Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
Superstition?

1a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation

1b : an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition

2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary

Possibly. But as I read on many, many forums, I have come to this conclusion: "Don't bother me with the facts. My mind is made up"
 

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