Recent content by Dave Tremblay

That correlated noise with the low frequency EQ engaged looks like a potential issue with filter quantization, either in coefficients or internal state. It is low level with the 1kHz tone, but you might want to measure with tones that are closer to that filter if you see it in the future. At...

This woofer looks like and an Eminence Alpha8 or Beta8. Having used that driver before, I would not recommend using it above 2kHz, and maybe not even that high. The measurements show, and listening tests confirmed that above that, it is pretty rough with breakup resonances. Taking any 8” to 3kHz...

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing these on multiple occasions, and talking with John Meyer about the design at NAMM a few years back. I’d concur with @amirm listening comments. These have dynamics where a lot of speakers don’t. And that aligns well to my listening preference. I do care a lot...

This is the type of garbage that drove me out of the “High End Audio” product development industry.

No contest for me. I prefer the second recording. It is narrower, but the first recording sounds diffuse and unfocused. However, I’m not sure your mic technique here would correlate that strongly to preference in the actual room. Because reflections are coming from different directions, they...

I have absolutely no problem with the bass response or the lack of baffle step compensation here. That is a sound I can adjust to if trying to listen critically in the midrange, but those resonant peaks are truly nasty. I don’t think my brain could ignore those no matter how hard I tried.

Absolutely. Compressor on voice is arguably the most important place to use a compressor. IIRC, there is a vocal setting on the compressor, which is what you should use.

If you can justify it, I’d recommend going with the 76 version of the Volt. Having a true 1176 style analog compressor on the input is a very nice sounding and usable feature. I’m biased, of course, but the reality is that everyone in this price class is just making different trade offs. Volt...

The assumption that software can’t affect the sound until it’s digitized isn’t actually true in the case of Apollo. When you select a preamp model for a channel, the plug-in has the ability to modify the analog front end circuitry, modeling the gain changing characteristics of the circuit and...

All the time is the short answer. If you’re listening at 80dB with a slow SPL measurement, the transient peaks will likely be hitting 96dB, probably even higher, but depends on the type of music you listen to.

You didn’t measure it, but I’d imagine IMD is pretty terrible. Doppler distortion alone would be extremely high in a small cone full range. Add to that the excursion this driver is seeing under the tuning frequency and I bet it’s a wild ride.

I believe those assumptions were already in the calculator I was quoting. Regardless, the point I was trying to make is that we need to talk more about headroom for dynamic content, not just average SPL levels. Depending on the music you listen to, that can be anywhere from 6dB to 20dB for...

I agree with you on the conclusion, but wanted to point out that 50W would really only get you to 85dB listening level if you account for 10dB peaks. And while loud, 80-85dB is not an uncommon listening level.

I’m typically a Class D fan due to the efficiency, but I’m tempted by this. I also favor high efficiency loudspeakers, so the power isn’t a concern at all.

Yes.