best place for a digital crossover?

[skypickle]

I do not understand why today's digital crossovers use analog in/out. Are there any digital crossovers that accept and produce output only in the digital domain? The only thing I can find are the things put out by miniDSP and those are for room correction (dirac live). Since all digital crossovers have analog in and analog out, then why even bother to have a dac. Just feed the dbx venu360 or the DEQX or the PAss Labs whatever your digital signal and out comes the parsed, corrected, crossed over signals ready for amplification.

I guess the thing that bothers me about this is that I spent money on a dac and now I want a crossover and I 'm wondering if that will change the character of the sound with all the A/D and D/A going on. That's why i thought it would be nice to take in a single digital signal, then room correct, cross over , timing fix, etc all in the digital domain and and put out a digital signal for the DAC to the mains and a D/A converted signal to the sub for the low end. I know this sounds like audiophile paranoia, but I 'd rather ask than reinvent the wheel.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I used the DEQX with digital in/out when I reviewed it. The DSPeaker Dual-Core and the X4 can do digital in/out. So does my computer.

 

[skypickle]

yes i guess the deqx unit will do that. and obviate the need for a dac (especially since you are paying for more than 2 yggdrasils + a preamp). the other unit (dspeaker) is not a cross over. I am on the fence about the venu360 ($800) it does crossover and room correction.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

yes i guess the deqx unit will do that. and obviate the need for a dac (especially since you are paying for more than 2 yggdrasils + a preamp). the other unit (dspeaker) is not a cross over. I am on the fence about the venu360 ($800) it does crossover and room correction.

The Dual-Core will do it if you use the LP in the sub. The X4 will do it.

 

[dallasjustice]

You can use a computer and a pro audio DAC/ADC. That's the cleanest and most effective solution.

 

[watchnerd]

I do not understand why today's digital crossovers use analog in/out. Are there any digital crossovers that accept and produce output only in the digital domain? The only thing I can find are the things put out by miniDSP and those are for room correction (dirac live). Since all digital crossovers have analog in and analog out, then why even bother to have a dac. Just feed the dbx venu360 or the DEQX or the PAss Labs whatever your digital signal and out comes the parsed, corrected, crossed over signals ready for amplification.

I guess the thing that bothers me about this is that I spent money on a dac and now I want a crossover and I 'm wondering if that will change the character of the sound with all the A/D and D/A going on. That's why i thought it would be nice to take in a single digital signal, then room correct, cross over , timing fix, etc all in the digital domain and and put out a digital signal for the DAC to the mains and a D/A converted signal to the sub for the low end. I know this sounds like audiophile paranoia, but I 'd rather ask than reinvent the wheel.

Just buy an active monitor that has the digital crossover built in and you can stop fretting.

There are studio monitors with analog, digital, or both inputs to choose from.

 

[Burning Sounds]

The only thing I can find are the things put out by miniDSP and those are for room correction (dirac live).

MiniDSP also make the Nano 2x8 - 2 digital inputs, 8 digital outputs - no room correction - then you can use whichever dac(s) you choose. It's excellent VFM and how I got started with digital xovers.

However, I agree with dallasjustice and now do it in software on the PC.

 

[DonH56]

A crossover is generally placed between preamp and power amp, at which point (since few power amps have digital inputs) the signal is analog. Unless and until it becomes cost-effective, and/or demand is high enough, I think it unlikely that many power amplifier manufacturers will add a digital interface across their lines.

Numerous trials have shown little (essentially no audible) degradation from properly-implemented ADC/DAC stages even when cascaded multiple times.

The benefits of digital crossovers are many, including negligible signal degradation with extremely high tap count (filter order), the ability to provide a multitude of precise filters with individually-tailored amplitude and bandwidth (Q), stable filters insensitive to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) changes, etc.

IME/IMO - Don

 

[skypickle]

@DonH56
thank you. but as you said 'properly-implemented ADC/DAC stages'
I think this also applies to the variety of high fashion dacs out there now. Some have complicate resistor ladders,etc and others have ess chips and others have custom fpgas. And although the actual D/A algorithms are all good, it's all the 'other stuff' in the box and how it's wired that has impact. So i suppose the same is true with crossovers.

Although it would be nice if acourate or dirac would pull out the low frequencies and send them to a separate audio card. That way i could use the usb to send the signal destined for the mains to the dac and had the inboard sound card do the D/A for only the low frequencies.

 

[Blumlein 88]

@DonH56
thank you. but as you said 'properly-implemented ADC/DAC stages'
I think this also applies to the variety of high fashion dacs out there now. Some have complicate resistor ladders,etc and others have ess chips and others have custom fpgas. And although the actual D/A algorithms are all good, it's all the 'other stuff' in the box and how it's wired that has impact. So i suppose the same is true with crossovers.

Although it would be nice if acourate or dirac would pull out the low frequencies and send them to a separate audio card. That way i could use the usb to send the signal destined for the mains to the dac and had the inboard sound card do the D/A for only the low frequencies.

http://audiosciencereview.com/forum...dac-loop-vs-the-original-can-you-hear-it.448/

Try my informal listening test. I provide two copies of a 30 second digital original. And one copy of an 8th generation file. It was sent thru DA to AD a total of 8 times. In crossover work you would only be doing this once or for a cascaded system twice. Those files are still available for download. Just don't look down thread for the answer until you have tried them. You will also then have some actual experience as to the quality of relatively affordable DA/AD technology instead of imagining what it might be like.

The DA was the output from a $400 prosumer recording interface a Focusrite 18i20. Nothing exotic. The AD was a Focusrite Forte also about $400 and nothing exotic. I haven't done it, but using such interfaces could you not easily send the signal via ADAT for multiple feeds for crossover work?

 

[watchnerd]

http://audiosciencereview.com/forum...dac-loop-vs-the-original-can-you-hear-it.448/

Try my informal listening test. I provide two copies of a 30 second digital original. And one copy of an 8th generation file. It was sent thru DA to AD a total of 8 times. In crossover work you would only be doing this once or for a cascaded system twice. Those files are still available for download. Just don't look down thread for the answer until you have tried them. You will also then have some actual experience as to the quality of relatively affordable DA/AD technology instead of imagining what it might be like.

The DA was the output from a $400 prosumer recording interface a Focusrite 18i20. Nothing exotic. The AD was a Focusrite Forte also about $400 and nothing exotic. I haven't done it, but using such interfaces could you not easily send the signal via ADAT for multiple feeds for crossover work?

I've taken this test before and failed the confidence threshold of discrimination.