Who actually uses digital speakers?


Of course, @atmasphere is about to jump in and say "no such thing as... "  so before he jumps into the fray, what I mean is, who uses active speakers with digital inputs?

The biggest brand I know of who invested in this in a big way was Meridian which I believe had not just S/PDIF but a custom digital interface as well.  With the advent of plate amps with S/PDIF inputs standard I'm wondering how many audiophiles have made the jump to active speakers using the digital inputs?

What are you using and what is your experience like?

erik_squires

Showing 1 response by teo_audio

A buddy of mine has Focal Utopia component set in his car (as do I). He went active bypassing the physical crossover with DSP and the improvement was pretty amazing. 

DSP makes all kinds of sense in a car, as that is about as sub-optimal an environment that one will ever run into.

In my experience, DSP for extreme high end home audio attempts, should look similar to a low slope crossover with some minor phase/level corrections, and then analog (LCR) zobles for the drivers.

Where..the use of digital manipulation is LIMITED in scope and range only... in such an environment - with very simple and subtle changes. No sharp changes, no complex changes all stacked on one another.

That kind of digitally based signal manipulation looks good on paper and in measuring but sounds like cack. Big time cack. Where the very subtle and intimate changes in the music, that we all seek to hear as naturally as possible are disturbed in the extreme. This would take time to explain the why of that, but it is a very real phenomena, and simply said --- don't go there.

For a car, sure, as that is horrific environment and DSP can work there. But DSP is not a panacea, not by a long shot. DSP can and does make a mess out of poorly constructed concert halls. It can make things listenable but it normally comes at a high price. DSP should be on the rack of the soundman for a traveling rock show or whatnot, and used sparingly, like the overall analog EQ in the racks. There, it can often be a show saver and a life saver. but a light hand is required, never a heavy hand.

In the same way that 'less eq' equals 'more sound quality for a performance venue.. 'less DSP' equals 'more sound quality'.