Topping DM7 8-Channel DAC Review

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Have you ever used such a computer, or do you assume that to be difficult?

Decode from Atmos to 7.1?

 

[sarumbear]

Have you ever used such a computer, or do you assume that to be difficult?

Decode from Atmos to 7.1?

In other words he has not!

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

The elephant in the room here is no HDMI in/out.

There's some talk of HDMI licencing costs, but you can buy an AV receiver for £300 with HDMI in/out. And that £300 pays for the inputs, outputs (HDMI and legacy), amplification, sound format decoding and DACs for all channels. So I'm not convinced the addition of HDMI licence gees to a £600 DAC would be prohibitive.

 

[sarumbear]

So I'm not convinced the addition of HDMI licence gees to a £600 DAC would be prohibitive.

Even though you have absolutely no knowledge about the subject?

 

[Peafowl]

Yes, I am aware. The original question and answer I was replying to referenced output.from tv .

Can someone explain to me why all this folks stick to there TV? It is 2022... TV receivers are available with Linux, Windows and other software for years, free to programm and rout the outputs even more.

The only thing what my TV does is showing me the picture on the screen over HDMI or DP.
All this smart stuff is just trouble, because every TV brand dose there one software and does not support connectivity after 2-4 years.

 

[edechamps]

you can buy an AV receiver for £300 with HDMI in/out

With multichannel balanced outputs? I doubt it. In fact I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a receiver that even has multichannel unbalanced line level outputs for that price. Multichannel pre outs are rare in budget AVRs.

 

[dualazmak]

Here is another safe, simple, easy-to-be-understood, and widely commercially available suggestion for TRS(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) conversion in DM7, losing 6 dB though;

Just for our reference, BENCHMARK provides BENCHMARK's XLR(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) cable of minus(-) line floating for their customers.
I also purchased four of Emotiva's short adaptor XLR(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) cable of minus(-) line floating cable which I fully tested and validated that XLR's pin3 mimus(-) line is floating (not connected).

 

[sarumbear]

Here is another safe, simple, easy-to-be-understood, and widely commercially available suggestion for TRS(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) conversion in DM7;
View attachment 218768

Where does XLR pin-3 connects on the TRS.

 

[dualazmak]

Where does XLR pin-3 connects on the TRS.

Just for your reference, BENCHMARK provides BENCHMARK's XLR(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) cable of minus(-) line floating for their customers.
I also purchased four of Emotiva's short adaptor XLR(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) cable of minus(-) line floating cable which I fully tested and validated that XLR's pin3 mimus(-) line is floating (not connected).

Again, and again, you would please read carefully this important educational post (#557 on that thread on DAC8PRO) written by Pavel of OKTO RESEARCH.

 

[sarumbear]

Just for your reference, BENCHMARK provides BENCHMARK's XLR(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) cable of minus(-) line floating for their customers.
I also purchased four of Emotiva's short adaptor XLR(balanced)-to-RCA(unbalanced) cable of minus(-) line floating cable which I fully tested and validated that XLR's pin3 mimus(-) line is floating (not connected).

Again, and again, you would please read carefully this important educational post (#557 on that thread on DAC8PRO) written by Pavel of OCTO RESEARCH.

You made your point. Do please stop preaching and answer a simple question.

 

[Whoareyou]

You made your point. Do please stop preaching and answer a simple question.

Take a look here...

RANE Commercial - Knowledge Base

Rane Commercial

www.ranecommercial.com

You should find relevant wiring info at various points in the document together with relevant diagrams.

While I don't have a direct link to a cable, when you figure out exactly how this should be configured, you can work with the folks at places such as Proaudiola.com. All it takes is an e-mail to their people. Very nice people to deal with, and if you really want one of these cables, they'll work with you to make sure it is correct. Not a sales pitch, as there are other places you may prefer, but I've used them before so I'm familiar with their cable services.
Advantage of the custom cable is that you can have one cable i.e. TRS to input connector of choice (male rca/female rca or whatever), and don't have to piece together several dongles.

From past experience cables will be reasonable, in $20 each range, and they are of great quality.

Now.... I'm pretty much done with this thread.

I almost wish I didn't ask that question about unbalanced, and I don't want to read another question / comment about Dolby Atmos or HDMI

 

[sarumbear]

Take a look here...

RANE Commercial - Knowledge Base

Rane Commercial

www.ranecommercial.com

You should find relevant wiring info at various points in the document together with relevant diagrams.

While I don't have a direct link to a cable, when you figure out exactly how this should be configured, you can work with the folks at places such as Proaudiola.com. All it takes is an e-mail to their people. Very nice people to deal with, and if you really want one of these cables, they'll work with you to make sure it is correct. Not a sales pitch, as there are other places you may prefer, but I've used them before so I'm familiar with their cable services.
Advantage of the custom cable is that you can have one cable i.e. TRS to input connector of choice (male rca/female rca or whatever), and don't have to piece together several dongles.

From past experience cables will be reasonable, in $20 each range, and they are of great quality.

Now.... I'm pretty much done with this thread.

I almost wish I didn't ask that question about unbalanced, and I don't want to read another question / comment about Dolby Atmos or HDMI

It is rude to think that you are the only one who knows the subject and instead of answering a simple question with I don’t know, you preached to a member who could have written those guides, if you bothered to checked their profile that is.

 

[Whoareyou]

It is rude to think that you are the only one who knows the subject and instead of answering a simple question with I don’t know, you preach to someone who could have written those guides, if you bothered to checked their profile that is.

I wasn't being rude. I apologize, and I'm not sure why you took it as preaching.
That document contains the information that I used to understand some of this stuff, and I'd have to review document again to see what the correct pin-outs are. It's also exactly the document I would use if I was working with someone to create the cable, and if I remembered the document earlier I would have posted link to it earlier. Why would I use the document? Because I don't know this stuff and don't have it memorized!

Now I'm done with the thread. This is getting ridiculous.
I won't stand for being called out as being rude when all I'm trying to do is help.

 

[sarumbear]

I wasn't being rude. I apologize, and I'm not sure why you took it as preaching.
That document contains the information that I used to understand some of this stuff, and I'd have to review document again to see what the correct pin-outs are. It's also exactly the document I would use if I was working with someone to create the cable, and if I remembered the document earlier I would have posted link to it earlier. Why would I use the document? Because I don't know this stuff and don't have it memorized!

Now I'm done with the thread. This is getting ridiculous.
I won't stand for being called out as being rude when all I'm trying to do is help.

Apology accepted. Let’s stop this communique.

 

[Trell]

Can someone explain to me why all this folks stick to there TV? It is 2022... TV receivers are available with Linux, Windows and other software for years, free to programm and rout the outputs even more.

A modern TV can have other input than from over-air broadcast; cable or internet is very common.

I’ve not used over-air signals for decades, except for a portable black&white TV many years ago.

That said, my TV (an LG OLED) is connected to an AVR to a nice setup. Works very well.

When I got that TV I started to its apps that works very well, much better than expected, so I did not but a new Chromecast that has UHD.

 

[sarumbear]

Can someone explain to me why all this folks stick to there TV? It is 2022... TV receivers are available with Linux, Windows and other software for years, free to programm and rout the outputs even more.

Maybe because they don’t want a computer in the living room or that they do not have the required IT know how.

 

[Trell]

Maybe because they don’t want a computer in the living room or that they do not have the required IT know how.

I’m not the one you replied to but I prefer appliances for this usage. Personally I don’t want a HTPC in my living room, for various reasons, and ease of use is a major one. My family thinks the same.

On the other hand I did write earlier in this thread that the DM7 was not for me and that many others would find it very useful indeed, and at a good price as well I might add. The trigger in and out is a nice touch, I’d say.

As for the required IT knowledge I have that. Of course I’ve to research the concrete applications to use and configure, including OS details. The thing is that I’ve worked as a software developer for decades, have used and contributed to open source projects, but now I just want to listen to music and watch TV at home.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Even though you have absolutely no knowledge about the subject?

That’s very funny.

Based upon my knowledge of the cost of the licence as detailed in the first part of my post.

The part you edited from my quote.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

With multichannel balanced outputs? I doubt it. In fact I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a receiver that even has multichannel unbalanced line level outputs for that price. Multichannel pre outs are rare in budget AVRs.

Not particularly relevant. I stand to be corrected, but I doubt licensing fees are based on the nature of the outputs.

Several people are missing the point. I’ll re-state it for clarity.

Given that you get AV amps which sell for £300, how much can the cost of licensing HDMI be for each unit, considering (a) all the rest of what the amps do, all of which take a slice of the £300, and (b) the fact that the price of AV amps didn’t increase significantly when HDMI first appeared.

Whatever sums you do, whatever you come up with, it’s not a lot.

If a basic AV amp (pre-HDMI) could be had for £250-£300, and a very similar basic AV amp now costs £300, you’ll be hard-pushed to argue that HDMI licensing costs >£50 per unit. Absolute top-end maximum.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I’m amazed at the lengths people will go to, so as to avoid a point raised.

To be clear.

If an AV can be an AV amp (which presumably costs “some money”) then the cost of licensing HDMI for the item can only cost a portion of that.

To develop the point. You can buy an AV amp with HDMI for £300.

This DAC costs £600.

If absolutely everything on previous AV amps cost absolutely nothing (I’ll give you a clue, it didn’t), then the maximum cost of adding HDMI is £30. Which would make this £900.

I’m not sure, at the level we’re discussing, that this price difference is a deal breaker.

At a more realistic valuation, HDMI licensing on a £300 AV amp is £50-£100 (and I suspect less than that).

Selling an HDMI version of this at £650-£700 absolute maximum would appear to be a no-brainier.