Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction

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supernaut77

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 8
Hi,
I have been looking for a product with the following spec but cant find it. Maybe I have a strange wish list but my thought are that this product would fit nuprime. It have focus on music with full integration in a modern HT setup. Let me hear your comments:

Base requirement:
- DAC with bass management and crossover for dual subs
- HT bypass that also includes bypass for the bass channels

Really nice to have:
- Advanced room correction, preferably Dirac

Bonus:
- Streaming built in
- Phono MM stage

The closest I have found are the new NAD C658 and Minidsp SHD but these lacks the HT bypass.

In my mind this product would fit in many systems that wants more from a music perspective but don't want to spend the high price for a high end HT processor every time a new format or standard comes around.

lokie

Re: Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction
« Reply #1 on: 30 Jan 2019, 03:59 pm »
Aren't you describing an AV Processor?


Phil A

Re: Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction
« Reply #2 on: 30 Jan 2019, 04:02 pm »
There are products that have some of those features.  Believe one of the Benchmark DACs had HT Bypass and there's stuff like - https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/announcing-the-dac-dsp/


Maceo23

Re: Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction
« Reply #4 on: 30 Jan 2019, 04:42 pm »
My Linn Selekt DSM has all of those functions except the sub out.  It does add MM/MC and optional amplification.   It's completely modular with new modules planned for the future, so there may be a subwoofer option at some point. 

rustydoglim

Re: Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction
« Reply #5 on: 30 Jan 2019, 05:30 pm »
If a component has good analog+digital volume control design, there is no need for HT bypass.  This concept is out of date.
For more details, see https://nuprimeaudio.com/ufaqs/what-kind-of-volume-control-and-preamp-do-you-use-for-your-dac/
Basically for DAC-9 or DAC-10, the analog input is the HT bypass, regardless of what volume you set.

For Dirac to work well, it has to "scan and record" your room acoustic, and then pre-process your music on the computer before it is sent to the DAC+amp.  It is possible to have this done inside the same box as the DAC chip, but effectively we are just moving the "computer" from your desk into the DAC or AVP device.  A "computer" could be an embedded linux or Windows board, or could be a DSP board that runs the Dirac algorithm.

Ideally if you have Dirac, you won't need DSP features such as EQ, and cross over etc. But we don't have ideal speaker and our hearing are different.
Dirac can't compensate for our loss of hearing or personal preference and that's where DSP is needed.

Putting all these together in a box is expensive.  And your component can be out of date quickly. 

supernaut77

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 8
Re: Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction
« Reply #6 on: 11 Feb 2019, 08:47 am »
If a component has good analog+digital volume control design, there is no need for HT bypass.  This concept is out of date.
For more details, see https://nuprimeaudio.com/ufaqs/what-kind-of-volume-control-and-preamp-do-you-use-for-your-dac/
Basically for DAC-9 or DAC-10, the analog input is the HT bypass, regardless of what volume you set.

..

Dirac can't compensate for our loss of hearing or personal preference and that's where DSP is needed.

Thanks for your thoughts. Good reflection on the HT bypass.
Regarding Dirac; it corrects to a user defined target curve as I understand, i.e. personal preference.


But if we take it back a notch: why is there no high end dac with full bass management (time delay, high and low bypass)?

rustydoglim

Re: Product idea: DAC with full HT bypass and room correction
« Reply #7 on: 13 Feb 2019, 08:36 pm »
Quote
But if we take it back a notch: why is there no high end dac with full bass management (time delay, high and low bypass)?
Because those are DSP functions.  Digital to analog conversion is implemented in specialised circuit.
DSP functions on the other hand, is implemented using DSP chip running complex programming code.

Combining the two will dramagically increase the cost of a DAC to satisfy a small percentage of users. Furthermore it would degrade performance.