Stereo DAC w/Room Correction and Equalization Anyone?

[BpShenanigans]

I'd like to see a DAC, w/o volume control, w/several inputs, room correction and equalization capabilities.

miniDSP devices offer all that plus an unwanted volume control and possibly desirable bass management, the miniDSP DDRC-24. However, the miniDSP DDRC-24 has limited inputs and a ridiculous form factor! Other stereo offerings in their line-up are the DDRC-22A, DDRC-22D, & DDRC-22DA offered at, IMHO, an unreasonable $799.

So, would anyone else like to see such a device as described above? Or, do room correction and equalization have no place in stereo reproduction?

I post only because I wonder if I'm the only one that sees the miniDSP offerings as overpriced or too awkward or otherwise undesirable.

[claya931]

May 8, 2017 20:22:23 GMT -5 BpShenanigans said:

I'd like to see a DAC, w/o volume control, w/several inputs, room correction and equalization capabilities.

miniDSP devices offer all that plus an unwanted volume control and possibly desirable bass management, the miniDSP DDRC-24. However, the miniDSP DDRC-24 has limited inputs and a ridiculous form factor! Other stereo offerings in their line-up are the DDRC-22A, DDRC-22D, & DDRC-22DA offered at, IMHO, an unreasonable $799.

So, would anyone else like to see such a device as described above? Or, do room correction and equalization have no place in stereo reproduction?

[jlafrenz]

Normally for 2 channel I am not a big fan of room correction. I'm actually not that big of a fan of it for surround either. I did vote for maybe though. I know it is something that people are interested in and I would be curious to see what the price would be for such a device.

[lehighvalleyjeff]

I just spent the evening at simpleman68 house tonight setting up a room correction system on his Legacy Whisper HDs. The device is a preamp/dac & active crossover with room correction from Bohmer Audio in Sweden. It's called the Wavelet and is factory programmed with specific targets to listener based upon their speakers.

Unlike other room correction, one size does not fit all. This device is programmed at Legacy Audio to drive the specific pair of speakers that you own. Then the device takes listening samples from the right and left speakers in a controlled process. Once the data is collected from microphone it is uploaded to Sweden. In a few minutes it programs the wavelet with the target curves and timing alignment to your speakers in your room. Once it was done there was no comparison between corrected vs Uncorrected.

Uncorrected sounded relatively flat with muddy upper bass. The soundstage was two dimensional but very clean.

Corrected the music literally became 3 dimensional and the soundstage grew way beyond the parameters of the speakers. I've read lots about this device but to hear it correct live on the spot made me a believer. I'm not commenting on other forms of room correction but the Legacy Audio Wavelet far surpasses all my previous experiences with Audysyee and DIRAC. Absolutely no contest.

The price of this unit is around $5000 without a trade in or $3450 for Xillica trade ins.

[fattykidd]

May 8, 2017 20:22:23 GMT -5 BpShenanigans said:

I'd like to see a DAC, w/o volume control, w/several inputs, room correction and equalization capabilities.

miniDSP devices offer all that plus an unwanted volume control and possibly desirable bass management, the miniDSP DDRC-24. However, the miniDSP DDRC-24 has limited inputs and a ridiculous form factor! Other stereo offerings in their line-up are the DDRC-22A, DDRC-22D, & DDRC-22DA offered at, IMHO, an unreasonable $799.

So, would anyone else like to see such a device as described above? Or, do room correction and equalization have no place in stereo reproduction?

I post only because I wonder if I'm the only one that sees the miniDSP offerings as overpriced or too awkward or otherwise undesirable.

If you dislike the form factor mount the board into a chassis from Diyaudio. Would be quite simple.
After using Dirac, the price tag isn't as unreasonable as you think.

Just my thoughts.. Take em with a box of salt.

[DYohn]

I answered "no" but not because EQ is only for surround sound. I answered no because I don't want DSP in my DAC. If you want DSP or EQ, that is a preamp function.

[simpleman68]

Just got this unit which is all you mentioned but does have volume control.

It is also a very usable pre-amp as well and is quite impressive. A bit pricey but whatever algorithm they use sounds incredible to me. Not just the sweet spot(s)
but it improves whole room sound.
It adjusts for frequency as well as time domain.

It also has VERY EASY to use contour controls. My biggest complaint with my last DSP (Xilica 4080)
You about had to be a degreed audio engineer to make use of all its controls.
This unit does it all for you and makes tweaking to personal preference simple, quick and on the fly.
Scott

[Loop 7]

I think any and all room correction should be handled either by a pre-amp, stand alone processor or software like Amarra (Dirac) offers.

[goozoo]

You will get more mileage with room treatments rather than room correction; just take a look at a sound studio. That being said, the idea of equalization for music has been around for many decades and would help with addressing some of the room nodes created in the space. So I think the better question to ask is whether or not having EQ in a preamp would be a deal breaker or just an added extra you may choose to use.

The other thing you should also consider is that with equipment like miniDSP or pro gear like Behringer or DCX, they will muddy the signal a bit which you may/may not care about depending on your listening criteria.