Theta Cassablanca 3 setup related question and request for input


I am contemplating buying a CB3 HD with 4k, and 2 premium DACs. But it doesn’t have DIRAC like in CB4.
Currently have a Krell Foundation that can be set up using ARES. So, I am hesitant to buy something without room correction software.
Being a new potential user of Theta, I am looking for some input from veteran CB users.

Will I be able to set up CB3 manually that will sound as good or at least close to as good that is set up using DIRAC? Or is it going to be quite a big difference in SQ due to not using DIRAC?
Is there any option to use external Room Correction equipment paired with CB3? Like - can I use  MiniDSP DDRC-88A Dirac Live processor by setting it up in between my Source Oppo and Theta CB3 to accomplish what comes as integral part of CB4? This is possibly $1000 investment.
I will use 5.2 set up with two Rythmik Subs and Revel Speakers.

Will appreciate any help!
gbabu5y

First, the CB3 does not have DIRAC room control.  I think it may be complicated to setup because the CB3 has all these different crossover points and crossover slopes/types.  If I remember right, you can actually set your subwoofer crossover frequency different than you rmain speakers, and use a completely differenct crossover type (such as Butterworth vs. Linkwitz-Riley).

Since the CB4 needs to support DIRAC room correction, they got rid of all that complex crossover options and just went with the industry standard where you set the crossover point for each speaker and anything under that point is automatically sent to the subwoofers.  The CB4 upgrade is primarily the DSP board and the HDMI 2.0 board (which support 4K passthrough).  The CB4 also supports DSP and DIRAC processing at 96khz (it even sends 96khz to the DAC boards).  The CB3 only support 48khz processing, if I remember right.  The CB4 supports all DAC boards compatible with the CB3.  The firmware on the DAC boards needs to be updated also to support CB4 DSP board.

The CB4a (new model) supports Dolby Atmos and the new Xtreme 3 DAC board, which has 6 output channels.  The CB4a supports up to 12 output channels.  It also supports HDR over 4K.

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As far as sound quality, it's all Theta sonic signature.  The Theta DSP does weird things to the waveforms when it processes in DSP.  I think they have some sort of waveform smoothing, which they rave about.  To me, the Theta sounds bright and sterile.  I don't know if it's this weird processing or the design of the DAC boards or what, but it's not my preference.

Thinking more about your sound quality question, it highly depends on the DAC boards you get.  The Theta Xtreme DAC is the best.  It is cleaner/clearer sounding than the Superior DAC (which is one step down).

Between CB3 and CB4, I'm not sure about differences.  The CB4 will process and send 96khz digital audio on the backplane to each of the DAC cards.  There may be some improvement on overall sound quality of CB4 when compared to CB3.

Thank you for sharing this information. I was told Premium DAC is being added to this CB III that I am looking at. I read Superior 2 and Premium are the two later version after Extreme.
If that is the case, then I guess I should be happy:)

Xtreme is the best DAC.

Superior is 2nd best.

Premium is the lowest/cheapest DAC board.

The versions don't really matter as they mostly describe compatibility.  The audio circuits are what is important.  So a Superior 2 is still not going to be as good as an Xtreme 1.

Understood. Thank you much for helping me understand this, I had an incorrect idea/assumption. I will possibly connect with someone like Craig to see if he can add Xtreme to a CB III. I would guess you most likely know this answer too.