[neekomax]

Off topic,how did you post your RTA results. I tried to take a picture with my built in webcam.
Suboptimal results

To take a screenshot on the iPhone, hold the lock button, and click the Home button once. Email the resulting photos to yourself, and voila.

Nice response graph, btw. 

[neekomax]

Does this happen when the speakers positions are reversed? Also does this happen when the speakers are farther away from room boundries?
Scotty

What do you mean by 'reversed'?

I have tried various speaker positions in regards to room boundries, on different walls, etc. Always roughly the same issue.

[*Scotty*]

If I looked up the right model of speaker you have it only has a single 8in. woofer on one side of the enclosure. If it is always on the outside try putting it on the inside. Like-wise if it is always on the inside try putting it on the outside.
Scotty

[neekomax]

If I looked up the right model of speaker you have it only has a single 8in. woofer on one side of the enclosure. If it is always on the outside try putting it on the inside. Like-wise if it is always on the inside try putting it on the outside.
Scotty

Yes, the sub driver is on the side, but they're both on the same side (left when facing the speaker). So there's no way to change that.

[jimdgoulding]

To your original question as I understand it, it depends on what kind of music I am listening to.  For classical or opera, I want the perspective as if I were in attendance.  About row 15 in general since I've never been or will likely ever be nearer the stage.  For studio recordings I listen loud to louder on most but not to the point of audible distortion.
I just adjust the volume control accordingly.

[*Scotty*]

Well crap! They took the cheap way out and did not make mirror image pairs. Another good way to
maximize placement flexibility is not implemented. I am out of ideas as far as solving this with speaker placement. Is phase reversal an option on the sub section. It almost looks like the main drivers are out of phase with the sub in the area where they overlap one another.
 New "screen-shot". Thanks for the tip,learn something new everyday.
 
Scotty

[JohnR]

Perhaps that is where our cases differ; there is no upsampling going on in my setup. My 16 bit music is played back in 16bit, streamed in 16bit, and my DAC uses 16bit conversion. Therefore, as far as I know, there are no extra bits of 'padding' to be lost without sacrificing musical data.

If you're using an Apple TV, then as Steve says you do have upsampling, from 44.1 to 48 kHz. I'm not sure if that's being done at the computer end or in the Apple TV itself.

Assuming your DAC is the Peachtree iDecco as per your system description, it will then (again) upsample to 24/96, according to the product page: http://signalpathint.com/index.php/iDecco/idecco-digital-to-analog-converter.html "The ESS Sabre DAC’s patented jitter reduction circuit re-clocks the digital signal before passing it through a high-resolution 24/96 upsampling processor. "

The specs don't say if the toslink input accepts 24/96 input but it would be surprising if it didn't. You may like to try it with one of the non-iTunes players or plugins (PM, Amarra, Fidelio, Decibel, etc...)

[JohnR]

Am I missing something?

Only that this is an audiophile forum where absolute statements shall be made, countered, contradicted, and (usually) not resolved  

But seriously, I think that tangent was "digital" volume control. Given that most people already own a large amount of content in 16-bit format, that would be expensive or impossible to replace, improving the manner in which it's played back is useful.
 
(BTW Who is JJ? Jim Jarmusch? Joe Jackson? Jack Johnson? John Paul Jones?)

[neekomax]

If you're using an Apple TV, then as Steve says you do have upsampling, from 44.1 to 48 kHz. I'm not sure if that's being done at the computer end or in the Apple TV itself.

Assuming your DAC is the Peachtree iDecco as per your system description, it will then (again) upsample to 24/96, according to the product page: http://signalpathint.com/index.php/iDecco/idecco-digital-to-analog-converter.html "The ESS Sabre DAC’s patented jitter reduction circuit re-clocks the digital signal before passing it through a high-resolution 24/96 upsampling processor. "

The specs don't say if the toslink input accepts 24/96 input but it would be surprising if it didn't. You may like to try it with one of the non-iTunes players or plugins (PM, Amarra, Fidelio, Decibel, etc...)

I have the original Decco (got it refurbished for cheap), which has the Burr Brown chip, 16/44.1. So no upsampling here. 

Maybe I'll upgrade my DAC at some point, see if upsampling improves SQ somewhat. And allows me to use my dithered digital volume control, yay! 

Although I'm starting to think that it's all about your speakers, which is why...

[neekomax]

I'm getting new speakers.

Reeeal soon 

[srb]

If you're using an Apple TV, then as Steve says you do have upsampling, from 44.1 to 48 kHz. I'm not sure if that's being done at the computer end or in the Apple TV itself.

My understanding is
 
A.  That streaming to the Apple wireless devices bypasses any internal OS resampling as the file is not being "played" by iTunes and the OS, but simply gets converted to ALAC and is transmitted to the wireless device where it is converted to raw PCM and played by the DAC.
 
B.  The original Apple TV and Airport Express will resample anything above its 16/48 limit, but anything below that is not resampled.  The Apple TV 2, for some reason, resamples everything to 48KHz (as apparently verified by those with incoming sample rate indicators on their DACs).

Steve

[JohnR]

I have the original Decco (got it refurbished for cheap), which has the Burr Brown chip, 16/44.1. So no upsampling here. 

Maybe I'll upgrade my DAC at some point, see if upsampling improves SQ somewhat. And allows me to use my dithered digital volume control, yay! 

Oh I see. Well you will also need to bypass the Apple TV. I'm not sure though that a DAC upgrade is really warranted just for that reason, if you like what you have.

I'd agree with you about the speakers - there is a lot of mileage to be obtained from optimizing them.

[JohnR]

For "big time" rockers, realistic could easily exceed 85 dB average spls.

Yes, OK. But exposure is a combination of SPL and time.

Being realistic, I very much doubt that most damage is done with normal domestic hifi systems. Most of us have already been exposed to much more than we should have - rock concerts, power tools, and the like. Even use of hand tools in an enclosed space! For those of us who like/d to ride motorcycles, look up the wind noise levels inside a bike helmet. Etc.

As far as hifi goes, the big danger is ear/headphones. I advise caution there always, and in particular against using them while traveling in e.g. a plane. The background noise levels are much higher than people realise.

[Steve]

So if my preamp has an output impedance of <30ohms, will the bass response be theoretically alright?

Whether the output Z is 30 ohms makes no difference in bass response. (Manufacturers seem not to take the output coupling capacitor reactance into consideration when posting the output impedance of their products.) If the output impedance were 1k ohms (same cap as 30 ohm output Z), the bass response would be exactly the same.

It is the size of the output coupling capacitor that matters. A component with a .22uf output coupling capacitor won't have as much bass output as a 2.2uf under almost all conditions of amplifier input impedance.

Hope this helps.
Cheers

[neekomax]

This is my latest freq response curve, after using AUGraphicEQ in Pure Music to help correct the 100-200 Hz hole that I have here. Some improvement, I think:


 

[JohnR]

Interesting - that pink noise file has some odd background noise in it.

Anyway, that looks better. Does it sound bright?

[neekomax]

Interesting - that pink noise file has some odd background noise in it.

Anyway, that looks better. Does it sound bright?

Hmm, don't know about background noise...

Does not sound bright to my ears, just better in the trouble spot down low. I attribute the apparent high freq gain to the iPhone's headphone mic's lack of accuracy in that range.

[bladesmith]

This is my latest freq response curve, after using AUGraphicEQ in Pure Music to help correct the 100-200 Hz hole that I have here. Some improvement, I think:

Just curious, are trying to do a basic "freq. response test"..?
Do you know how this curve is being built..?
Are individual freq's being injected and then levels measured..?

thanks..

[neekomax]

Just curious, are trying to do a basic "freq. response test"..?
Do you know how this curve is being built..?
Are individual freq's being injected and then levels measured..?

thanks..

It's a RTA (real time analysis) app for iPhone. You play pink noise through your system (http://www.burninwave.com/), and 'listen' to it with the iPhone's mic with the app open, and you take a snapshot of the result. Not as accurate as doing it with a quality omnidirectional mic, but good enough to get an  idea of what's going on.

[*Scotty*]

neeko,raise the pink noise volume up to at least 60dB to get away from the noise floor of the room and the RTA software. Ditch the the headset and use the iPhones internal mic to measure with. If the gain in high frequency stays you might play with the toe-in angles and see if you can tame the rise in the high frequencies.
 Scotty