DAC with Equaliser and/or Room Correction.

[Disruptor]

Or this more minimalist, less pricey model:

https://nadelectronics.com/product/c-658-bluos-streaming-dac/

seems like a good alternative to a minidps 2x4 HD right?
can you mess around with eqs with this unit like you could with rew?
im planning to get a 2.2 system with buchardts s400 and two SVS SB2000

 

[W2S]

How do you do room EQ in the ADI-2?

I mean, I guess you could set a bunch of PEQs manually.....

 

[MSNWatch]

Paradigm PW Amp if you are willing to live with the 50w/channel Class D amps. I have several in use and find the built in Anthem ARC room correction system invaluable.

https://www.paradigm.com/en/wireless/pw-amp

 

[GGroch]

Paradigm PW Amp if you are willing to live with the 50w/channel Class D amps. I have several in use and find the built in Anthem ARC room correction system invaluable. https://www.paradigm.com/en/wireless/pw-amp

Thanks for Posting this. The Paridigm PWs look very interesting as cheap effective ways to add decent room correction to a 2 channel system.

I see they make 2 versions, the PW Amp (currently $225 direct) that you reference, and the PW LINK (currently $157 direct) with preamp and optical outputs, and optical and Aux Inputs.

Both are sold as wireless Play-Fi gateways (which may explain the reduced prices), but the included ARC correction seems to be very well reviewed, and they could easily be used just as room correction processors or processor amps. Prices include ARC PC software and a calibration mic.

The MiniDSP seems more flexible, but if you add the mic it is about twice the cost of the PW Link. The only even slightly technical articles I have found on the PW's (or identical Martin Logan Forte/Unison) are on Taiwanese sites. Here (google translate it )and Here.

There are quite a few articles on ARC correction which seems highly regarded.

 

[Willem]

The DSpeaker Antimode X4 is an expensive preamp/Dac/crossover/headphone amp and room eq unit that would seem to tick all the boxes - at a price.

 

[MSNWatch]

The PW Amp also has a sub out so you can run ARC for both satellites and sub with all the attendant flexibility of various settings to integrate the sub properly. The PW link doesnt have a sub out unfortunately.

 

[Willem]

If the problem is primarily in the bass region you may also consider adding an Antimode 8033 to tame just the sub. A second sub may also help.

 

[Vnowinski]

I've ordered the PW Link. At its price, it makes an interesting low cost option for room correction with digital output to an existing system. Since Amir is a fan of room correction, maybe we can get it in the queue for testing?

 

[MSNWatch]

Happy to send amp or link - have unopened spares.

 

[soundwave76]

Check out DSpeaker

http://www.dspeaker.com/en/products/20-dual-core.shtml

 

[GGroch]

I've ordered the PW Link......Since Amir is a fan of room correction, maybe we can get it in the queue for testing?

I would love to see Amir's measurements for a couple of reasons.

1st, it would be interesting to see how this very low cost room correction solution compares in terms of basic utility to the recently measured Lyngdorf RoomPerfect EQ. I am certain it will be no where near as flexible/customizable, but reviews of the ARC system overall have been quite good. (an interesting Audioholics article here on ARCs roots at Canada's National Reseach Council). The prospect of getting passable room correction for less than the price of a pair of lower end audiophile cables is intriguing.

2nd, With Chromecast Audio being discontinued, there are very few cheap/high quality options for media streaming. The PW Link has optical out, and the Play-Fi System is technically capable of streaming high bit rate files. I understand that while there is no formal integration of Roon and Play-Fi, the Roon PC client can stream to Play-Fi devices. So, it would be interesting to see how the Link and CCA performances compare.

Play-Fi gets very mixed reviews, but I own several Play-Fi devices and while the apps are a bit clunky, they are for me totally workable, and performance on my systems seems fine. I am hoping that Play-Fi's recent integration of Alexa compatible control makes the system more attractive and easier to use.

NOTE: Google searching will turn up a lot of reviews of the Martin Logan Unison (which appears identical to the PW Link). It appears there are certainly some limitations in the system, but none that would be critical for my uses.

 

[RayDunzl]

For the PW Link:

Does the ARC correction occur in the PW Link device, or is it applied to streams coming from or through the PC?

In other words, does the correction apply only to streamed files, or does it also correct the optical and analog inputs?

---

Hmm... From https://headmania.org/2018/02/03/martin-logan-unison-review/

"I was wondering if I can use the Optical Input from the TV to Unison and the Unison to my DAC and still use the ARC correction software, but it didn’t work. It would have been incredibly cool if it did, as the Correction would have been applied on the digital stream and you could have used the full power of your DAC. Well, at 400$ you get more than you paid for really, but that would have been extremely cool."

I'll guess it doesn't.

 

[GGroch]

For the PW Link:
Does the ARC correction occur in the PW Link device, or is it applied to streams coming from or through the PC?

The ARC 2 (or ARC Mobile for IOS/Android) software is only used to set up room correction. The resultant curves are then stored in the device and are applied to any input. You can turn the correction on or off by pressing the "Mute" button on the Link/Amp for 5 seconds.

The Headmania review's discussion of the optical output confused me as well. I cannot find much discussion of the optical output on the Link, and why it does not work using the optical input. Perhaps it is just a pass through? I do not know the answer to that.

 

[MSNWatch]

ARC is plenty flexible, uses the processing power of your laptop (or if you so choose your iPad) and it is about to be updated to the next generation:

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/anthem-unveils-next-gen-room-correction-software

And you can see here many articles David Rich has done on ARC (make sure you go to next page on the link to see the earlier articles).

https://hometheaterhifi.com/author/drich/

And I connect Sonos/Chromecast-Roon to these devices and bypass Play Fi completely. Also use the paradigm PW 800 speaker which has ARC built in even when used with sub. I suspect a pair of PW 600s with sub of your choice with ARC built in would make a killer speaker system at a reasonable price.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/paradigm-premium-wireless-multiroom-audio-system-review

 

[Sal1950]

IMO, it's good to see DRC becoming more mainstream and included with various pieces of kit.
ARC appears to be a good if somewhat limited piece of software but it's inclusion in inexpensive blocks like this offers the option to use it or not at the customer preference.
Let the correction wars begin. LOL

 

[MSNWatch]

IMO Room correction is a no-brainer. #3 in the list of things that affect sound quality right behind recording and speaker quality. And the most modifiable of the three.

 

[Vnowinski]

I had corresponded a bit with Paradigm prior to making my recent purchase. They indicated that ARC was applied to "all inputs," but then called out streaming and analog specifically. I have written back to ask about the Toslink input specifically.

Analog is digitally sampled at 48 kHz for processing.

The toslink accepts bit depth and rate up to 24 bit 192 kHz. I would expect it to be resampled if ARC was applied.

 

[MSNWatch]

I had corresponded a bit with Paradigm prior to making my recent purchase. They indicated that ARC was applied to "all inputs," but then called out streaming and analog specifically. I have written back to ask about the Toslink input specifically.

Analog is digitally sampled at 48 kHz for processing.

The toslink accepts bit depth and rate up to 24 bit 192 kHz. I would expect it to be resampled if ARC was applied.

Interested in the reply but there are any number of excellent inexpensive DACs you could use even if not.

 

[Vnowinski]

Here is the timely reply from Paradigm:

ARC will be applied to the physical outputs, whether it is analog, or optical output.

ARC will be applied regardless of the input source, Play-Fi, optical, or analog but only from the optical / analog outputs.

ARC will not be applied if you are using it to stream to other wireless devices through Play-Fi. An example would be connecting a turntable to the PW-Link and playing the audio from a PW-800 in a different room.

Long story short, there is something amiss in the Headmania review of the ML unit which implies that ARC is not applied to the Toslink digital input.

 

[RayDunzl]

Here is the timely reply from Paradigm:

Thank you.

Maybe I'll get one...