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Post by jmargaglione on Oct 22, 2010 20:40:17 GMT -5
I have a ton of hi-res multichannel recordings that could benefit from a better DAC. Any chance of a 6 channel version, or am I looking at three XDA's?
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Pauly
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Post by Pauly on Oct 22, 2010 20:53:04 GMT -5
Wow, I never thought of that before. A little off topic, but I would also like to see a multi channel preamp with HT bypass, like the Parasound Halo P7 preamp.
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Erwin.BE
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It's the room, stupid!
Posts: 2,269
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Post by Erwin.BE on Oct 23, 2010 8:26:47 GMT -5
I have a ton of hi-res multichannel recordings that could benefit from a better DAC. Any chance of a 6 channel version, or am I looking at three XDA's? Are you talking about SACD, played by your Oppo? I'd say a XMC-1 is a potential replacement for your UMC-1? |
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Post by flamingeye on Oct 23, 2010 9:28:06 GMT -5
I have a ton of multi-channel music on my external hard drive and I would think a multi-channel XDA would make a difference in the SQ would it not ?
Note ; it`s mostly in flac
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Post by jmargaglione on Oct 23, 2010 11:38:08 GMT -5
I doubt the DACs in the XMC will be able to compete with those in the XDA, based on conversations with Lonnie at RMAF. But I was looking at the XMC-1 as an upgrade anyway.
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Post by dotvibe on Oct 26, 2010 0:38:53 GMT -5
a mult-channel DAC is often known as a Processor. see UMC-1 or XMC-1
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Post by jlafrenz on Oct 26, 2010 6:23:27 GMT -5
It would have to be something with HDMI and support DSD or something similar based upon your recordings. Otherwise your source player would have to have multiple digital outs that could all play at the same time for different channels to support all the information and deliver it to individual DAC's. I don't see this as an option for a source unit because of cost and complexity of the software needed.
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mrla
Minor Hero
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Post by mrla on Oct 26, 2010 9:37:42 GMT -5
I think EMMS makes multi-DAC
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Post by jmargaglione on Oct 27, 2010 0:46:53 GMT -5
a mult-channel DAC is often known as a Processor. see UMC-1 or XMC-1 The quality of the DAC chips in the UMC-1 is hardly a comparison for the XDA-1. |
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Post by sharkman on Oct 27, 2010 9:48:48 GMT -5
I don't think there is even a 'multi channel' DAC in existence. If no one is making one, there can't really be a market for it.
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Post by taoggniklat on Oct 27, 2010 11:33:23 GMT -5
I don't think there is even a 'multi channel' DAC in existence. If no one is making one, there can't really be a market for it. Several years ago MSB Technology worked on developing one for use in a HT separates system. Sure it sounded great in our test system but like yous aid, the market for that level of separation was just not there. |
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Post by hobbs on Oct 27, 2010 12:16:47 GMT -5
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mrla
Minor Hero
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Post by mrla on Oct 27, 2010 14:14:18 GMT -5
it looks like a decoder left over from the mid-90's!
hmm, isn't hdcd signal analog only? or is it sacd?
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Post by moovtune on Oct 27, 2010 14:40:26 GMT -5
This is not what the original poster was referring to when asking for a multichannel DAC. That would be a 6 or 8 channel D to A converter - a rather more complicated and expensive affair.
(HDCD signal is digital).
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Post by joelovescoffee on Oct 27, 2010 22:19:29 GMT -5
I actually agree with most of the posts about a multi channel DAC like you speak of...as being a processor...its really the processor part of the box that you need to decipher how to send the individual channel to a particular DAC for converting...
To duplicate what a procesor does with seperate DAC's from lets say a computer....you would need multiple digital outs which you could assign to send a particular set of channels to a given DAC (2 per typically) then each DAC would then feed an amplifier to the speakers....(Ugh!! That makes my head hurt just thinking about what that would take...)
Normally, you would send the multi channel signal out of the computer through a single digital cable (which can handle 5.1 multi channel) to something like the UMC-1 which takes care of the processing..thus sending the appropriate digital channels to the correct DAC inside the UMC ...ie "the process" in processor...
Is the DAC better in the XDA than the DAC's in the UMC...sure ok...thus the price differential...so if you want killer sound for some multi channel audio..find a processor with better DAC's...or just a better sound...
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Post by joelovescoffee on Oct 27, 2010 22:25:53 GMT -5
This is not what the original poster was referring to when asking for a multichannel DAC. That would be a 6 or 8 channel D to A converter - a rather more complicated and expensive affair. (HDCD signal is digital). Actually i think that is exactly what the original poster was looking for...he just doesn't know it...The last time I checked...the only way to transfer a 7.1 channel audio track was through HDMI (digitally)...at that point we know were into a processor....but even if we speak 5.1...which could come through on toslink or coaxial dig...there has to be a process somewhere in the pipes that tells which channels to go where....or to which DAC....again..."the process"... |
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Post by orangeLollies on Oct 27, 2010 23:09:50 GMT -5
This is not what the original poster was referring to when asking for a multichannel DAC. That would be a 6 or 8 channel D to A converter - a rather more complicated and expensive affair. (HDCD signal is digital). Actually i think that is exactly what the original poster was looking for...he just doesn't know it...The last time I checked...the only way to transfer a 7.1 channel audio track was through HDMI (digitally)...at that point we know were into a processor....but even if we speak 5.1...which could come through on toslink or coaxial dig...there has to be a process somewhere in the pipes that tells which channels to go where....or to which DAC....again..."the process"... Hmmm... so we (we = people looking for a multi-channel audio DAC) probably need to look for an audio-only processor with higher quality DAC's... if 'we' insist on a 'seperates' solution? I had been thinking about this mutil-channel-DAC thing for the past few weeks after listeneing to the owner of AIX records on the 'Home Theater Geeks' podcast.... So cool to see this getting discussed... I'll be following with interest  I guess the up-coming XMC-1 will probably do the trick in 'pure-direct' mode if it has the feature...? |
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Post by taoggniklat on Oct 28, 2010 0:59:23 GMT -5
I actually agree with most of the posts about a multi channel DAC like you speak of...as being a processor...its really the processor part of the box that you need to decipher how to send the individual channel to a particular DAC for converting... To duplicate what a procesor does with seperate DAC's from lets say a computer....you would need multiple digital outs which you could assign to send a particular set of channels to a given DAC (2 per typically) then each DAC would then feed an amplifier to the speakers....(Ugh!! That makes my head hurt just thinking about what that would take...) Normally, you would send the multi channel signal out of the computer through a single digital cable (which can handle 5.1 multi channel) to something like the UMC-1 which takes care of the processing..thus sending the appropriate digital channels to the correct DAC inside the UMC ...ie "the process" in processor... Is the DAC better in the XDA than the DAC's in the UMC...sure ok...thus the price differential...so if you want killer sound for some multi channel audio..find a processor with better DAC's...or just a better sound... This is essentially what we did with the prototypes we built at MSB. We took the digital signal AFTER the DSP(DTS/DD etc) processing, installed digital outputs for each separate channel (in pairs) and then ran it through an outboard dac that had enough dac modules to do 5.1 at the time. THe outboard dac had its own volume control and was placed in line between your processor and amplifiers. We even developed the digital output modification (l/c/r/rear/sub) for any existing processor on the market. Again the market was just not there, not to mention the fact that the audible benefits of having an outboard dedicated dac for home theater application was not significant. |
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Post by jmargaglione on Nov 2, 2010 15:52:01 GMT -5
I guess what I am looking for is a souped-up UMC-1, using DACs of similar quality to those of the XDA-1. If that is the XMC-1, I will be thrilled. But I believe the XMC-1 will still be using CirrusLogic DACs that will almost definitely be of lower quality.
I suppose I can always use the 2-channel mode on my SACDs, but that doesn't help with DVD-Audio disks.
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Post by shayking on Nov 2, 2010 17:14:15 GMT -5
theres is a company i came across a few weeks ago and it had 5 or 6 SPDIF(Fiber) output to do just that.
But you need the processor that outputs 5 spdif at the same time also, theres a sound card somewhere that does this also.
i wish i remember the name, but it probably is not up to snuff as in the 2010 standard anyways.
Ok,
Lets say UMC > HD decoder + XDA dacs = UMDA-1
straight up no bells or whistles that would be Sweeeeet!.
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