[Tyson]

Both - I use an isomax on the output to the tweeter amp to attenuate it down to about the same level as the midrange.  This kills the hum and reduces noise, and lets me keep the output settings on the DCX fairly close between the mids and tweets.  If I use more than one isomax, in different areas of the system, I get a small incremental decrease in noise, but the liveliness of the music suffers.  So I just use one for now.

The miniDSP 2x8 also has a provision for 2 digital inputs and a built-in ability to hook up a "master" analog volume pot for all outputs simultaneously, so if you only have 2 digital sources, you could conceivably bypass a preamp all together and keep the signal in the digital realm right up to the point of driving your amps/speakers.  Might be fun to try out

[brj]

The subjective result is that the presentation has change from a "lower midrange centered" presentation, a bit laid back, to one that is not mountain-stream clear

now?

Someday, Tyson, I'm going to have to impose on you and hear your rig!   As enticement, I could bring over my lonely mgalusha full-monty modded DCX2496 if you wanted to give it a shot.  It has been sitting in its box waiting for me to acquire a speaker that can use it.

(Insert statement about the best laid plans going awry here...)

[Tyson]

You are certainly welcome to come by!  I've been working on my 100% from scratch margarita recipe (including making the simple syrup by hand, juicing the limes, etc..).

One of my great regrets is selling my fully modded mgalusha DCX also.  But no way I'm going to open mine up and start soldering

The finished version of the miniDSP 2x8 (with enclosure) is probably several months away from being released, so in the meantime I'll "suffer" with the stock DCX

[jtwrace]

One of my great regrets is selling my fully modded mgalusha DCX also.  But no way I'm going to open mine up and start soldering

What does he do to them?

[Tyson]

Nothing, anymore.  He stopped doing mods on them.  From what I gather it was a total PITA and I can understand why he stopped.

[jimdgoulding]

You are certainly welcome to come by!  I've been working on my 100% from scratch margarita recipe (including making the simple syrup by hand, juicing the limes, etc..).

One of my great regrets is selling my fully modded mgalusha DCX also.  But no way I'm going to open mine up and start soldering

The finished version of the miniDSP 2x8 (with enclosure) is probably several months away from being released, so in the meantime I'll "suffer" with the stock DCX

I'll suffer your recipe and stock DCX, no worries.  Just tell ME you live in Texas someplace.  I'm resigned to driving.  At least in the short term, dammit.  I could manage New Orleans!  Cheers

[Tyson]

Sorry, I'm in Denver - might be a bit of a drive!

[jimdgoulding]

Dang.  I'm sure you're cookin with gas with your system now.   

[Tyson]

Definitely!  I was telling a friend that up till now the music sounded great, but I had to constantly fiddle with the eq from recording to recording to keep it that way.

Now I almost never mess with the settings cause it ALL sounds good!

[Tyson]

Hey, it's been 3 months and I've been trying out some things a bit more.  I am currently running the v2 subs up to 150hz and a Butterworth 24db/octave crossover between the low end of the mids and the upper end of the subs.  I find that I really like the butterworth filters, they just sound better than the LR filters, to me.  I think that is because of my approach to measurement and correction in each individual driver.  I basically correct each driver to "perfect" frequency response without any crossover applied.  Then, after that, I apply a crossover at the points that are logical.  For example - the midrange driver dies at 1.2khz, even with correction. So I bring in the tweeter at that point.  For the bass, the midrange starts to roll off at 300hz.  I can correct it pretty well to about 150hz, but below that is just eats up amp power to keep correcting it.  So I bring in the bass at 150hz now.  Having established these points, it is now just a question of the type of slope used.  After a lot of experimenting I've settled on Butterworth 24 as the slope that sounds best to me. 

One nice thing about using HOLM Impulse for measurements is that it gives you accurate phase measurements.  I never looked at them (you can turn them off), but I turned it on recently and realized that my source or my preamp was inverting phase, and that I got a better measurement (and sound) by inverting the midrange and tweeter phase to compensate for that. 

Another change I've recently made - I put in 4 inch thick bass traps and acoustic panels in the front corners of my room for absorption and using my hex-comb blackout shades over my windows for diffusion and it makes a really big difference in sound quality.  It didn't change WHERE I needed to make EQ changes in my drivers, but it did change HOW MUCH of a change I needed to make.  I've come to the conclusion that the more you can make improvements in your room and the less you need to make changes via EQ, the better off you are.  OB speakers deal with bass issues in the acoustic realm VERY nicely, and acoustic treatments work awesome for the mids and highs, and EQ lets you really dial in the last few percent.