What makes a "premium" processor?
Sept 4, 2013 9:54:05 GMT -5
LCSeminole, bootman, and 9 more like this
Post by KeithL on Sept 4, 2013 9:54:05 GMT -5
I'll start this thread by apologizing.....
I got a bit carried away arguing with some people over the weekend - and that should never happen.
That said, and after some thought, I figured that this might make the basis of a useful discussion:
What "makes" a "premium" processor?
And I'll start things off with my answer:
A combination of really good sound, useful up-to-date features, and good aesthetics.
Of these three, I would say the first ("good sound") is the easiest to define: a premium processor should sound good....
This means that the processing it offers should do a good job (although, with many digital surround formats, the actual processing algorithms are locked-in by the standard itself), it must support all the current high-quality formats (Dolby TrueHD is better sounding than DD, so NOT supporting TrueHD would be a deal breaker), and all of its analog circuitry must sound really good. Assuming it has analog inputs, it should do as good a job on them as a good analog preamp (no excuses for poor analog performance because "it's a processor and not a preamp"). This seems like it should be the easy one, but many expensive receivers, and even a few processors, don't seem to get it right.
"Useful features" is more of a personal thing; simply because some of us will find different features useful - or not. Not having all the features you need or want will make any device ultimately less useful to you; having a whole slew of features you don't need or want may at first seem harmless, but will end up making it more complicated to run (and raise the price).
At a minimum, you really need a pre/pro to be able to decode all the current formats used on discs. "DSP modes" and "synthesis modes" may or may not matter to you (personally I prefer to listen to things recorded in surround in the mode they were recorded in, and things recorded in stereo IN STEREO, without turning them into fake surround, so I don't even look at the list of fake surround modes - many folks prefer to listen to everything in surround). I consider a GOOD room correction system important for my surround sound listening, AND a Direct mode (for when I DON'T want any processing) equally important.
"Good aesthetics" is another personal thing. Do you prefer black with blue lights? (we do); or maybe you like silver instead? Perhaps you prefer a three line OLED display with lots of information (we do); or maybe you like "retro" LEDs (or even neon bulbs
). Most people consider an OSD (on screen display) important - but some people don't use it.
I'm also going to add a few more things to this list; let's call them "considerations".
The first "consideration" is priorities:
Which of these do you consider the most important? Sure, an attractive face plate is important, but is it more important to you than good sound? (Amazingly, to some people, it is.)
How about features vs sound quality? Would you give up a few features you sort-of want in order to get better sound? (You may have to, especially if you're on a budget.)
I'm not even going to suggest what your priorities should be, but I will suggest that you think about them before going shopping.
My personal priorities are as follows:
1) great sound (if it doesn't sound good, then why bother?)
2) what I consider to be "features I can't live without" (Dolby TrueHD, a real Direct mode, fast video switching)
3) for me, aesthetics come in dead last (I don't need an expensive but attractive decoration that doesn't sound good or doesn't do what I need it to do - but I DIDN'T say I don't care about looks; it just comes after the more important stuff)
My second consideration is longevity vs cost (by which I mean "how long before I need to buy a new one?"). Face it, ten or twenty years from now we're all going to be watching 16k video, playing off of purple cubes, in Dolby Super-Duper Whizz-Bang-Pow holographic surround... or something equally impossible to even guess at today. When that happens, whatever processor you buy today, at whatever price you choose to pay, will become a fancy flower box. We'll do our best to offer modular upgrades, which will give you a few more good years if we get it right - but the writing is on the wall. Down the road there will be some new technology that no platform in existence today will support, and it will cost less to buy a new unit that does support it than to upgrade the one you have (if that's even possible). {The nice thing about STEREO preamps and power amps is that, for the most part, this DOESN'T happen.}
My point here is that nothing lasts forever; especially in the worlds of computers and surround sound.
There is no pre/pro, at ANY price, that won't be obsolete in (with luck) ten or fifteen years.
(Look back at the expensive units sold ten years ago that promised they would never be obsolete; you'll probably find them on eBay.)
It's always better to buy something that does what you want - really well - today - at a price you can afford.
And (I'll bet you didn't see this coming) we're back to the XMC-1.
It's finally here, the audio quality is superb, and it has all the features we think you really need (and we're sure most of you will agree).
And, yes, that includes some stuff that we couldn't possibly have put in two or three years ago.
Dirac sounds soooooo much better than all the others we've auditioned......
It also looks pretty darned cool.
We think that makes it a *VERY* premium processor (the only thing it's really missing is the very premium price tag).
You can consider this thread as a place to discuss what YOU think makes a premium processor.....
(if you come up with anything really cool that the XMC-1 doesn't include, we'll certainly think about putting it on the list for the "next generation"...)
I got a bit carried away arguing with some people over the weekend - and that should never happen.
That said, and after some thought, I figured that this might make the basis of a useful discussion:
What "makes" a "premium" processor?
And I'll start things off with my answer:
A combination of really good sound, useful up-to-date features, and good aesthetics.
Of these three, I would say the first ("good sound") is the easiest to define: a premium processor should sound good....
This means that the processing it offers should do a good job (although, with many digital surround formats, the actual processing algorithms are locked-in by the standard itself), it must support all the current high-quality formats (Dolby TrueHD is better sounding than DD, so NOT supporting TrueHD would be a deal breaker), and all of its analog circuitry must sound really good. Assuming it has analog inputs, it should do as good a job on them as a good analog preamp (no excuses for poor analog performance because "it's a processor and not a preamp"). This seems like it should be the easy one, but many expensive receivers, and even a few processors, don't seem to get it right.
"Useful features" is more of a personal thing; simply because some of us will find different features useful - or not. Not having all the features you need or want will make any device ultimately less useful to you; having a whole slew of features you don't need or want may at first seem harmless, but will end up making it more complicated to run (and raise the price).
At a minimum, you really need a pre/pro to be able to decode all the current formats used on discs. "DSP modes" and "synthesis modes" may or may not matter to you (personally I prefer to listen to things recorded in surround in the mode they were recorded in, and things recorded in stereo IN STEREO, without turning them into fake surround, so I don't even look at the list of fake surround modes - many folks prefer to listen to everything in surround). I consider a GOOD room correction system important for my surround sound listening, AND a Direct mode (for when I DON'T want any processing) equally important.
"Good aesthetics" is another personal thing. Do you prefer black with blue lights? (we do); or maybe you like silver instead? Perhaps you prefer a three line OLED display with lots of information (we do); or maybe you like "retro" LEDs (or even neon bulbs
). Most people consider an OSD (on screen display) important - but some people don't use it.I'm also going to add a few more things to this list; let's call them "considerations".
The first "consideration" is priorities:
Which of these do you consider the most important? Sure, an attractive face plate is important, but is it more important to you than good sound? (Amazingly, to some people, it is.)
How about features vs sound quality? Would you give up a few features you sort-of want in order to get better sound? (You may have to, especially if you're on a budget.)
I'm not even going to suggest what your priorities should be, but I will suggest that you think about them before going shopping.
My personal priorities are as follows:
1) great sound (if it doesn't sound good, then why bother?)
2) what I consider to be "features I can't live without" (Dolby TrueHD, a real Direct mode, fast video switching)
3) for me, aesthetics come in dead last (I don't need an expensive but attractive decoration that doesn't sound good or doesn't do what I need it to do - but I DIDN'T say I don't care about looks; it just comes after the more important stuff)
My second consideration is longevity vs cost (by which I mean "how long before I need to buy a new one?"). Face it, ten or twenty years from now we're all going to be watching 16k video, playing off of purple cubes, in Dolby Super-Duper Whizz-Bang-Pow holographic surround... or something equally impossible to even guess at today. When that happens, whatever processor you buy today, at whatever price you choose to pay, will become a fancy flower box. We'll do our best to offer modular upgrades, which will give you a few more good years if we get it right - but the writing is on the wall. Down the road there will be some new technology that no platform in existence today will support, and it will cost less to buy a new unit that does support it than to upgrade the one you have (if that's even possible). {The nice thing about STEREO preamps and power amps is that, for the most part, this DOESN'T happen.}
My point here is that nothing lasts forever; especially in the worlds of computers and surround sound.
There is no pre/pro, at ANY price, that won't be obsolete in (with luck) ten or fifteen years.
(Look back at the expensive units sold ten years ago that promised they would never be obsolete; you'll probably find them on eBay.)
It's always better to buy something that does what you want - really well - today - at a price you can afford.
And (I'll bet you didn't see this coming) we're back to the XMC-1.
It's finally here, the audio quality is superb, and it has all the features we think you really need (and we're sure most of you will agree).
And, yes, that includes some stuff that we couldn't possibly have put in two or three years ago.
Dirac sounds soooooo much better than all the others we've auditioned......
It also looks pretty darned cool.
We think that makes it a *VERY* premium processor (the only thing it's really missing is the very premium price tag).
You can consider this thread as a place to discuss what YOU think makes a premium processor.....
(if you come up with anything really cool that the XMC-1 doesn't include, we'll certainly think about putting it on the list for the "next generation"...)
A really great and (I hope so) easy to implement feature would be a configurable (frequency and slope) subsonic for the subwoofer outputs! That would be really great and help to save one more piece of equipment.
