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Qudelix is developing a MiniDSP destroyer.

abdo123

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The same people who developed the Qudelix 5K (my most beloved headphone amp and DAC) announced the T71.

We've been developing a new system, named T71.


T71 represents True 7.1Ch.


It's mainly designed for personalized, high-quality audio listening purposes with a PC or Laptop:








  • PC gamers
  • those who watch movies with a PC or Laptop
  • audiophiles who listen to music with a PC or Laptop




Qudelix-T71 consists of USB DAC and IEM.


[Key Specification - USB DAC]


  • Main Processor:

- ARM Cortex M33

- Tensilica HiFi DSP

  • Software-defined USB Audio Class 2.0
  • 8-Ch DAC with four ES9219C
  • True Multi Channel Audio Output - 7.1 ch or 5.1 ch mode
  • 4-way Active Digital Crossover Output - Stereo mode
  • Audio Source Channel Auto Detection
  • Chrome extension app for Windows & macOS
  • No battery / No Bluetooth
  • 3.5mm UNBAL output
  • 2.5mm BAL output




[Key Specification - IEM]


  • Eight Dynamic Driver - 4 left & 4 right
  • 8-ch analog audio output through the overridden USB-C interface




True Surround


For any 7.1 or 5.1ch audio source, like PC games or Netflix Movies, Qudelix-T71 delivers true multi-channel audio sound through 8-ch DAC/AMP and eight in-ear speaker drivers. It's not a down-mixed stereo output but a true surround, like a home theater system.


Qudelix-T71 reproduces the original sound experience that producers intended to demonstrate. It's the best surround system for a personalized listening environment.


How about stereo music tracks?


Most music tracks are stereo; eventually, you won't benefit from listening to those tracks with a surround audio system.


However, for stereo audio sources, Qudelix-T71 provides 4-way active digital output, utilizing the 8-ch HW resources.


App Support?


Yes, the Chrome extension app via USB HID will provide everything, including:


  • Firmware update
  • Volume control
  • EQ control
  • System monitoring
  • And everything that other USB DACs can't support.

Release Date


Early 2022


If the noise performance of the 5K is any indication (118 dB S/N) then i'm very much hyped for this.
 

buz

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So does this have actual 8 channel output for a true home cinema system or only for their weird 2x4 driver IEM (like the 5K already does with the 2x2 IEM)?

Would be a total fail if it could not drive 8 speaker amps...
 

buz

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If you have a fully installed 7.1 or 5.1 home theater in your room, it just works without any down mixing.

Even without a dedicated companion T71 IEM, at least you can use T71 DAC/AMP as a generic USB DAC/AMP, which would provide a better performance than the others.

I assume that means we get all 8 channels... Pretty excited :)
 

Vict0r

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In-ear surround? Sure. I'll play. :p
 

hex168

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In-ear surround? How? Don't the drivers have to be physically separated for surround and height multi-channel to work?
 

dwkdnvr

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In-ear surround? How? Don't the drivers have to be physically separated for surround and height multi-channel to work?
They'd have to be applying HTRF filters in order to simulate the auditory response of the surround channels. This is what the Smyth Realizer does (as well as Impulcifier). It can work very will with custom HRTF measurement, but if this is just a canned/average filter then it remains to be seen - with enough knobs and dials to tune the response you can probably get something that works pretty well.

This does look somewhat interesting, but
a) execution is key. without custom HRTF I don't expect the surround simulation to be great
b) almost certainly will be expensive. We'll see just how expensive. Edit: well, maybe not. didn't realize the 5k was that cheap.
c) no mention of head tracking. some people seem to think this is critical for surround-over-headphones.
 

ElNino

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a) execution is key. without custom HRTF I don't expect the surround simulation to be great
They're supplying it with a custom IEM. With an IEM, there is much less need for a custom HRTF.
 

dwkdnvr

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They're supplying it with a custom IEM. With an IEM, there is much less need for a custom HRTF.
Possibly. I have to admit I've never tried experimenting with a 'generic' approach to HRTFs/surround over IEMs to see how well it works, but just because the IEM itself bypasses pinna/ear effects doesn't mean we don't expect the signature to be present.

I'm definitely curious as to the overall target functionality. Is the intent that it can be a dual-purpose device? i.e. with the IEMs plugged in it's a virtual surround system, but unplug them and it reverts to 4-way xover mode for driving desktop speakers? I'm guessing that once they had 8-channel surround/DSP in place adding in a 4-way xover was basically free aside from the UI to define the filters, so 'why not add it'?

And, I definitely back off on my 'expensive' comment. I was envisioning this being an HDMI/decoder device with all the attendant licensing complications etc. Obviously that's wrong - this is just an 8-channel interface with some custom DSP features and all the decoding has to be done upstream. This can be done relatively inexpensively.

Worth watching.
 

Matias

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This should be awesome! Hopefully it supports all the latest acronyms for surround codecs and XLR outputs to be used as an AV processor!
 
OP
A

abdo123

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This should be awesome! Hopefully it supports all the latest acronyms for surround codecs and XLR outputs to be used as an AV processor!
I don't think that will happen over USB unfortunately. the idea i think is just to use backward compatible 5.1 and 7.1 content off of these formats.
 

buz

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Or whatever the box driving the USB audio interface can decode, not sure which of the higher end codecs exist in software these days (legally or not so legally)
 

dwkdnvr

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This should be awesome! Hopefully it supports all the latest acronyms for surround codecs and XLR outputs to be used as an AV processor!
Yeah, this is almost certainly NOT what it will turn out to be. Qudelix is a tiny outfit, and there is absolutely no way they're in a position to join the licensing consortium(s) needed to implement the various surround codecs. I mean even Emotiva who has to be at least 10x the size of Qudelix struggles and they're largely just re-branding.

This is going to be an 8-channel USB interface with DSP capability. Still interesting, but not by itself anything close to a Pre/Pro replacement. In other words, aside from the surround-to-IEM DSP code which is likely to be custom, nothing you can't already do with something like a Motu UltraLite Mk5 and CamillaDSP, just in a more specialized integrated package.
 

hex168

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They'd have to be applying HTRF filters in order to simulate the auditory response of the surround channels. This is what the Smyth Realizer does (as well as Impulcifier). It can work very will with custom HRTF measurement, but if this is just a canned/average filter then it remains to be seen - with enough knobs and dials to tune the response you can probably get something that works pretty well.

This does look somewhat interesting, but
a) execution is key. without custom HRTF I don't expect the surround simulation to be great
b) almost certainly will be expensive. We'll see just how expensive. Edit: well, maybe not. didn't realize the 5k was that cheap.
c) no mention of head tracking. some people seem to think this is critical for surround-over-headphones.
Right. But doesn't the Smyth Realizer end up by mixing to a single channel to each ear after processing? If this has 4 discrete channels going into each ear, with a driver for each, I don't get it.
 

dwkdnvr

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Right. But doesn't the Smyth Realizer end up by mixing to a single channel to each ear after processing? If this has 4 discrete channels going into each ear, with a driver for each, I don't get it.
Yeah - it's potentially confusing. Normally a "4 driver IEM' just means a 4-way internal crossover. I don't immediately see a benefit to the idea of '4 discrete surround channels' each going to a separate driver in the IEM - that doesn't really seem to offer anything over a 'better IEM' + standard DSP.
Another possible interpretation is that they're implementing the 4-way xover for the IEM in the DSP of the unit, and so need the 8-channel output to feed each driver independenly. This would mean doing typical HTRF dsp-downmixing of the surround material to stereo, but it would explain the somewhat odd pairing of 'virtual surround' functionality with '4 way DSP crossover'.
 

goryu

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possible alternative to the still unavaliable Octo dac8?
 

JRS

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8-ch analog audio output through the overridden USB-C interface

This in new to me: I will need the USB input for laptop sourcing: my concern is thet whatever breakout cable for the output means that the "override" will preempt using it as input. Anyone know?
 
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