AES/EBU from DDC to active speakers?

[drummerdimitri]

I have the matrix audio x-spdif 3 digital to digital converter which has an AES/EBU output

My ADAM S2V studio monitors accept an AES3 input but I since the DDC only has one AES output, how am I supposed to feed that into the speakers?

My guess is I need two AES cables, one to go from the DDC to the input of one speaker and the other ones goes into the output of that speaker and into the other speaker since I can specify if the speakers are AES L or R.

Assuming that's how it is done, how would I be able to control the volume in that case?

 

[staticV3]

My ADAM S2V studio monitors accept an AES3 input but I since the DDC only has one AES output, how am I supposed to feed that into the speakers?

Since the S2V has both AES3 in and out:

matrix audio x-spdif 3->XLR->Left S2V->XLR->Right S2V.

You then use the knob and display on the back of the S2V to select which speaker decodes which channel.

 

[drummerdimitri]

Since the S2V has both AES3 in and out:

matrix audio x-spdif 3->XLR->Left S2V->XLR->Right S2V.

You then use the knob and display on the back of the S2V to select which speaker decodes which channel.

That's what I thought, however how do I control the output volume this way? Is it only via sound control panel on my windows PC?

 

[staticV3]

That's what I thought, however how do I control the output volume this way? Is it only via sound control panel on my windows PC?

Either via the sound control panel or via the volume slider that should be always accessible from the speaker symbol in the task bar. Here Win10 for example:


You can buy a USB volume knob if you'd like to have a physical control.

And you should be able to set the volume on your S2V so that 100% in Windows is just loud enough. That way, no nasty volume shocks are possible.

 

[drummerdimitri]

Not an elegant solution.

I'll just stick to using my analogue preamp with my DAC in that case.

 

[unpluggged]

Not an elegant solution.

I'll just stick to using my analogue preamp with my DAC in that case.

This solution is even less elegant. There are plenty of options, starting with MiniDSP SHD Flex all the way up to RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE with some others in-between.

 

[b7676]

Want black box product specific dsp? Give up analog volume control.

If ye are indeed wed to analog volume control as the geist here is, you want passive monitors, separates, etc. and all dsp correction done by/next to signal source. This is the sheer opposite of consumer product 'elegance'.

Production ddc with gain knob will be very rare.

 

[Vater]

Could I use something like this? (32bit version)
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004414698168.html

Are there any downsides besides maybe security concerns of the drivers? In my understanding the monitors will do most of the work, I just need a chip that translates to AES/EBU, which nowadays anyone should do without issues I presume?

 

[staticV3]

Could I use something like this? (32bit version)
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004414698168.html

Yes.

Are there any downsides besides maybe security concerns of the drivers?

Not even driver security concerns, as these use the generic device drivers which come preinstalled with modern operating systems.

In my understanding the monitors will do most of the work, I just need a chip that translates to AES/EBU, which nowadays anyone should do without issues I presume?

I haven't seen measurements of this type of DDC yet.

It's possible for these to have poor quality with high amounts of jitter and low output voltage, though I wouldn't expect it.