Audio Processor needed: Multi channel to 2.0 (Large Speakers)

[theREALdotnet]

Like you said, the TV will downmix the output of either Toslink or ARC to whatever you set it to, including stereo PCM. Which you could then pass to your Sony amp via a Topping D10 or similar.

Unlike what you said, I don’t think it will throw away anything. It will be a proper and competent downmix, but of course, the question remains, could there be a better downmix? I don’t think downmixing multi-channel audio (or even just stereo to mono) is an exact science. But I’m not sure it warrants looking for an external downmixing device. If it did, I’d look at a Mac or PC and play with the countless AU or VST plugins for that purpose.

 

[zakazak]

Like you said, the TV will downmix the output of either Toslink or ARC to whatever you set it to, including stereo PCM. Which you could then pass to your Sony amp via a Topping D10 or similar.

Unlike what you said, I don’t think it will throw away anything. It will be a proper and competent downmix, but of course, the question remains, could there be a better downmix? I don’t think downmixing multi-channel audio (or even just stereo to mono) is an exact science. But I’m not sure it warrants looking for an external downmixing device. If it were, I’d look at a Mac or PC and play with the countless AU or VST plugins for that purpose.

Thank you very much!

This is pretty much what I will do (downmixing via TV) and pair it with a decent DAC.
Maybe a DAC with Direct room correction.

 

[ZolaIII]

Very weird goals and thread. Why bother?

Why bother with any property closed box DRM bulshit? To complete that sentence from my point of view. Why would you use bad lossy codec you have to pay for instead of better one which is free like Opus? Transformation is slow but we are getting towards it at least. I have seen graveyards of fallen property audio standards that are entirely forgotten today trogh time. Actually only one's that defacto became standard are one's they slipped on and lost control over (got reverse engineered) like MP3 - part of the MPEG 4, and even that much when there whose no real alternative.

 

[ZolaIII]

Seams LG has a fair share of the problem's with at least some Dolby formats it supports and it's not exactly LG's problem but more of the Dolby Labs one.

LG CX Dolby audio delay

Guys, I just bought a 65CX for a great price but I’m already thinking about returning it.. Problem is 200ms audio delay on Xbox Series X when set to Dolby. Xbox to TV HDMI1. JBL9.1 connected via HDMI2 (eARC) All settings are correct, TV on bitstream input and passthrough, eARC enabled. Xbox is...

www.avforums.com

To demonstrate how and why my post above makes sense.

 

[techsamurai]

Sorry, can't see any reason these days to stick to 2.0. Silly IMO.

Why is it silly to try and keep your vintage equipment and reuse it as a home theater 2 channel system? I think it's fantastic to do so and I hope the OP gets it to work and it sounds amazing.

I'd love to hear what my dad's Sansui9090/Bose901 would have sounded like especially since the 901 was like a surround sound speaker itself

 

[zakazak]

Okay guys, I am ready for any DAC recommendations

• DAC
• TOSLINK input
• Room Correction (Dirac Live?)

Cheapest I can find so far are the miniDSP devices.

1. miniDSP DDRC-23: 469€
2. miniDSP Flex: 699€
3. miniDSP DDRC-22D: 999€
4. miniDSP SHD Studio: 1.199€
5. miniDSP SHD: 1.599€

 

[sigbergaudio]

You should have a look at the DSPeaker Antimode X2. I use it for exactly this use case (except I have a subwoofer as well). Optical directly from the TV, room corrected 2.1 (or 2.0 if you prefer) output.

Disclaimer: We distribute DSPeaker, but only in Norway, so unless you live in Norway I have no ulterior motive.

 

[Chrispy]

Why is it silly to try and keep your vintage equipment and reuse it as a home theater 2 channel system? I think it's fantastic to do so and I hope the OP gets it to work and it sounds amazing.

I'd love to hear what my dad's Sansui9090/Bose901 would have sounded like especially since the 901 was like a surround sound speaker itself

Oh I hope he finds a good solution too, even if its just a 2ch setup, but I'd get something capable of multich even if I didn't have the speakers yet, hard to beat the feature set of a good avr/pre-pro and you can still use the old amp if needed....

I had a coupla friends back in the early 70s with nicely set up Bose 901s, fun speakers but never wanted to own them.

 

[Philbo King]

An idea from left field:
Reaper running on a PI4 (windows or linux) with optical input (TOSLink or SP/DIF), running the Ambisonic plugin that downmixes a surround mix to binaural. It could be configured to boot right into the Reaper, set up with the default project conaining the needed inputs, outputs, and downmix plugin.

Just a thought, if you like to 'roll your own'...

 

[zakazak]

You should have a look at the DSPeaker Antimode X2. I use it for exactly this use case (except I have a subwoofer as well). Optical directly from the TV, room corrected 2.1 (or 2.0 if you prefer) output.

Disclaimer: We distribute DSPeaker, but only in Norway, so unless you live in Norway I have no ulterior motive.

Very interesting device...especially for its price. But I am a bit of a too suspicious guy to accept/trust a simple "press one button and it does all magic without anyone knowing how it does it".

On the other hand, it seems like the cheapest device with RCA out and Dirac is the miniDSP Studio for about 3x the price of the DSPeaker Antimode X2. All other cheaper miniDSP devices only have digital out as it seems.

Or I get a "cheaper" miniDSP with Dirac + digital out and get a Meier Audio Daccord DAC. That is a bit more expensive than the DSPeaker Antimode X2 but gives me Dirac.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Very interesting device...especially for its price. But I am a bit of a too suspicious guy to accept/trust a simple "press one button and it does all magic without anyone knowing how it does it".

On the other hand, it seems like the cheapest device with RCA out and Dirac is the miniDSP Studio for about 3x the price of the DSPeaker Antimode X2. All other cheaper miniDSP devices only have digital out as it seems.

Or I get a "cheaper" miniDSP with Dirac + digital out and get a Meier Audio Daccord DAC. That is a bit more expensive than the DSPeaker Antimode X2 but gives me Dirac.

Well, it's not any more or less magic or secret than Dirac?

 

[zakazak]

Well, it's not any more or less magic or secret than Dirac?

Dirac shows you everything it does and lets you manipulate all the settings while DSPeaker does everything completely obfuscated to the user?

Also Dirac seems to have a way bigger user/customer/partnered-brands base so it seems to me more "proofen".

But I am not trying to bash DSPeaker here... Maybe it does wonders but I don't see anything it does and there aren't many reliable reviews / measurments either.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Dirac shows you everything it does and lets you manipulate all the settings while DSPeaker does everything completely obfuscated to the user?

Also Dirac seems to have a way bigger user/customer/partnered-brands base so it seems to me more "proofen".

But I am not trying to bash DSPeaker here... Maybe it does wonders but I don't see anything it does and there aren't many reliable reviews / measurments either.

This specific device (the X2) has a very simple display so you will not see the result. The Dual Core and X4 on the other hand (with similar algorithms) shows before/after in the display, and also have full PEQ and tilt features so you can adjust the result if you want to. X2 also have tilt features but not full PEQ.

You can of course also measure the result which both me and many others have done. Similar to Dirac it has both IIR and FIR filters and is quite effective.

You are correct that Dirac is much more well known, but with regards to proven, DSPeaker has been around for 15 years or something, and especially their subwoofer calibration unit (Antimode 8033) is very well known here in Europe. The X2 is brand new, but based on the X4 algorithms, and that unit was released in 2018 I think. I personally have both X2 and X4 in different setups and think it's just as good or better than both Dirac and Audyssey - so I wouldn't worry about the performance of the correction algorithms. It has an emphasis on bass and midbass, and does very little above ~2khz.

Not saying there is anything wrong with MiniDSP or other alternatives, but Antimode is certainly a valid option to those if the feature set matches your needs.

 

[zakazak]

This specific device (the X2) has a very simple display so you will not see the result. The Dual Core and X4 on the other hand (with similar algorithms) shows before/after in the display, and also have full PEQ and tilt features so you can adjust the result if you want to. X2 also have tilt features but not full PEQ.

You can of course also measure the result which both me and many others have done. Similar to Dirac it has both IIR and FIR filters and is quite effective.

You are correct that Dirac is much more well known, but with regards to proven, DSPeaker has been around for 15 years or something, and especially their subwoofer calibration unit (Antimode 8033) is very well known here in Europe. The X2 is brand new, but based on the X4 algorithms, and that unit was released in 2018 I think. I personally have both X2 and X4 in different setups and think it's just as good or better than both Dirac and Audyssey - so I wouldn't worry about the performance of the correction algorithms. It has an emphasis on bass and midbass, and does very little above ~2khz.

Not saying there is anything wrong with MiniDSP or other alternatives, but Antimode is certainly a valid option to those if the feature set matches your needs.

Thanks for giving your feedback about those devices.

One more question:
Dirac seems to try to make the "sweet spot" for listener bigger as in covering the whole sofa/couch instead of just one small spot where it will sound good.

Does the X2 try/do smth similiar?

 

[sigbergaudio]

Thanks for giving your feedback about those devices.

One more question:
Dirac seems to try to make the "sweet spot" for listener bigger as in covering the whole sofa/couch instead of just one small spot where it will sound good.

Does the X2 try/do smth similiar?

The Antimode products focus mostly on a single measurement and thus the sound will be best in that sweetspot. The more advanced units support adding additional measurements for a wider sweetspot, but the X2 currently do not. I don't know if they plan to add that in future updates.

 

[zakazak]

The Antimode products focus mostly on a single measurement and thus the sound will be best in that sweetspot. The more advanced units support adding additional measurements for a wider sweetspot, but the X2 currently do not. I don't know if they plan to add that in future updates.

So that could be buying argument as I have a wide sofa and mostly use that setup for movies that my partner and I watch.

Question would be how much better Dirac with "multiple and wider distance" measurements really is

 

[sigbergaudio]

So that could be buying argument as I have a wide sofa and mostly use that setup for movies that my partner and I watch.

Question would be how much better Dirac with "multiple and wider distance" measurements really is

Only way to know that for sure is to test. It will depend on your room in combination with the algorithm. How different are the seats to begin with, and what can be done to "compromise" between them. With no subwoofer it will likely not be perfect anywhere - but DSP will help.

 

[zakazak]

Only way to know that for sure is to test. It will depend on your room in combination with the algorithm. How different are the seats to begin with, and what can be done to "compromise" between them. With no subwoofer it will likely not be perfect anywhere - but DSP will help.

My two large speakers (Magnat Zero 8) have each a 25 Subwoofer included. I hope that is no problem for the X2?

I guess I would try to calibrate the center of the TV since that is where everyone would usually try to be.

Ohhh and one more thing:
When removing the power source and then enabling it again, will the X2 automatically start up and be ready? Because I use a master switch that turns off all devices when my TV is turned off. And it gives them power again once I turn on the TV

 

[sigbergaudio]

My two large speakers (Magnat Zero 8) have each a 25 Subwoofer included. I hope that is no problem for the X2?

I guess I would try to calibrate the center of the TV since that is where everyone would usually try to be.

Ohhh and one more thing:
When removing the power source and then enabling it again, will the X2 automatically start up and be ready? Because I use a master switch that turns off all devices when my TV is turned off. And it gives them power again once I turn on the TV

The X2 will not care how your speakers are designed.

Yes, the X2 will turn on when power is restored.

 

[zakazak]

The X2 will not care how your speakers are designed.

Yes, the X2 will turn on when power is restored.

Thanks a lot. I guess I will give it a try then given that the other options are nearly twice as expensive.