Even if the original signal in green were noise-free, any real-world ADC used to digitize it would produce samples which imperfectly represent it. As StaticV3 said, the act of quantizing the analog signal into a fixed value is performed with finite resolution, resulting in lost information...
In my limited experience, the XTC effect seems highly-dependent on the ambience which has been baked into the recording. The recordings I listed above contain widely-varying amounts of ambience. The XTC effect is obvious on the wet Diaz-Latorre recording, but subtle on the dry Cauvin recording.
I have used only conventional stereo recordings throughout my tests. In fact, I own only a tiny number of true, multichannel recordings; The vast majority of music I play is Redbook CD standard.
The 4.0 preset I documented above uses the Penteo16+ upmixer to produce ambisonic signals for...
I have recently experimented with Xtalk shaper using my living room rig. This week, I installed MacroDeck onto the PC which runs Hang Loose Host and the Xtalk VST. Macrodeck is similar to Elgato StreamDeck, but uses of a phone/tablet instead of dedicated hardware to initiate custom actions...
I purchased this cable in a 15' length at a cost of $37.4M. Sadly, it didn't improve audio resolution, so I extricated the wiring and re-used this as a duct for my clothes dryer.
While I like shiny things as much more than most, this item is a solution looking for a problem. Just like the Incra marking sets and guaranteed squares, they're just "shop bling" - totally irrelevant and unnecessary to create fine woodwork.
I believe that spectral free dynamic range should be calculated in dBc, since it portrays the dynamic range between the carrier and largest spectral artifact. That's how I've always calculated it. But, perhaps I'm mistaken.
The RME tone controls and loudness features work identically whether using the digital or analog outputs. However, any improvement due to use of the digital path is miniscule and inaudible, IMO.
The only reason I retain the RME in the system is because it implements loudness compensation. Otherwise the Wiim could completely displace it, further simplifying the system.
In this system, the amplifiers provide ~26 dB gain, which is excessive. I reduce the output volume of main/rear 4x10s...
DWPress: Yes. The miniDSP UDIO-8 features four AES3 inputs and outputs, all active concurrently. I mix the first two stereo inputs in HL Host at the top of the diagram. Of course in practice I activate just one streamer at-a-time. Sounds much better that way ;)