Dynaudio Core 47 Review (Professional Monitor)

[Count Arthur]

Is there a big advantage using AES?

Also, reegarding the 18s, although there isn't a preset for the Core 7s, I had no trouble setting it up manually, using a measuring microphone, REW and JRiver for EQ, as mentioned in my previous post: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ofessional-monitor.25113/page-13#post-1278789

 

[formantzero]

@formantzero Ah... I was under the impression I could go Mac->USB->MOTU->AES->Core 7's. If that is not the case I might look for another AES convertor, other wise I think I will be spending more than perhaps I want.

However, it has highlighted one thing I might have missed initially with the Core 7's. And realised here is that perhaps rather than using a Mac->USB->DAC->XLR->Core 7's I could also do Mac->USB->AES Converter->Core 7's.

This is essentially what I did with my old AVI DM10's Mac->USB->Spidif->AVI DM10 ( no use of external DAC, because when I did I could not hear a difference from the internal DAC that was supplied with the AVI DM10's.

This would be a 'cleaner' route. I've had a quick browse and there are quite a few solutions out in the wild.

Oh, I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped to think a bit before posting. I bought the MOTU 624 and 8D pair because I needed an XLR input for my microphone. If you have no need for mic inputs then I think the 8D will do just fine. I also wanted a thunderbolt interface (albeit thunderbolt 2) to the 624 to take advantage of MOTU’s low latency drivers. Important for music production but not for music enjoyment.

Fairly certain the 8D connected via USB will do just fine for you.

 

[formantzero]

Oh, I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped to think a bit before posting. I bought the MOTU 624 and 8D pair because I needed an XLR input for my microphone. If you have no need for mic inputs then I think the 8D will do just fine. I also wanted a thunderbolt interface (albeit thunderbolt 2) to the 624 to take advantage of MOTU’s low latency drivers. Important for music production but not for music enjoyment.

Fairly certain the 8D connected via USB will do just fine for you.

To be clear I think the 8D via usb will still use MOTU’s specific drivers and that they will also be lower latency than the generic class compliant USB audio interface on macOS. It’s just that with thunderbolt, it’s just a tiny bit snappier.

 

[pauldavidthomas]

To be clear I think the 8D via usb will still use MOTU’s specific drivers and that they will also be lower latency than the generic class compliant USB audio interface on macOS. It’s just that with thunderbolt, it’s just a tiny bit snappier.

Phew, thought I was going a little mad, I shot off a query to MOTU tech support.... Oh bugger ! Thanks for the clarification.

If you're taking your AES from one of your Core's to your core sub, does this mean you only get LLF from the one speaker it comes from ? Most of the time from what I have experienced all LLF seems to go to both speakers, so taking it from just one speaker should not be an issue.

 

[formantzero]

Phew, thought I was going a little mad, I shot off a query to MOTU tech support.... Oh bugger ! Thanks for the clarification.

If you're taking your AES from one of your Core's to your core sub, does this mean you only get LLF from the one speaker it comes from ? Most of the time from what I have experienced all LLF seems to go to both speakers, so taking it from just one speaker should not be an issue.

I have the right core set to Right (2), going to the left core set to Left (1), going to the Sub set to L+R (1+2).

My understanding is that the dip switches just tell the speaker which part of the incoming signal to “perform”. I don’t think they alter the signal whatsoever so each speaker sees the full digital signal and then decides whether to play the part of left, right, or in the case of the sub, both (but obviously low-passed).

 

[pauldavidthomas]

I have the right core set to Right (2), going to the left core set to Left (1), going to the Sub set to L+R (1+2).

My understanding is that the dip switches just tell the speaker which part of the incoming signal to “perform”. I don’t think they alter the signal whatsoever so each speaker sees the full digital signal and then decides whether to play the part of left, right, or in the case of the sub, both (but obviously low-passed).

That makes sense. It's a stream of data of which the appropriate device is taking what it needs and then allowing the stream to flow ( in tact ) to the next speaker. I'm just about to sell a load of JBL cinema speakers, so that would give me the extra cash for buying.... 'other stuff'.

 

[pauldavidthomas]

Well, I could not stop myself. Pulled the trigger on the Dynaudio Core Sub. Bax had a bit of a sale on ... I've been watching the price for a while and including some discount codes and cash back it was the lowest I've seen.

The Dynaudio Core 7 is starting to loosen up a little now and starting to feel smoother. But I'm still blown away by it's looks, such a sturdy looking bit of kit. Really looking forward to linking it up to the Sub.

It should turn up next Tuesday. Initially I will run everything XLS. Get used to that and then demo some AES signal using the internal DAC's with outboard sound processing. However, I am enjoying the built in Apple Audio Unit effects accessing via SoundSource on my Mac. Cracking combo.

As you can see... This is one of the AU effects... A band equaliser.

 

[who]

@formantzero Ah... I was under the impression I could go Mac->USB->MOTU->AES->Core 7's. If that is not the case I might look for another AES convertor, other wise I think I will be spending more than perhaps I want.

However, it has highlighted one thing I might have missed initially with the Core 7's. And realised here is that perhaps rather than using a Mac->USB->DAC->XLR->Core 7's I could also do Mac->USB->AES Converter->Core 7's.

This is essentially what I did with my old AVI DM10's Mac->USB->Spidif->AVI DM10 ( no use of external DAC, because when I did I could not hear a difference from the internal DAC that was supplied with the AVI DM10's.

This would be a 'cleaner' route. I've had a quick browse and there are quite a few solutions out in the wild.

I've finally created a login so that I could share my experience with the Motu 8D with AES/EBU input capable speakers.
Been lurking for a few years here.

@pauldavidthomas
Yes, you can go Mac->USB->MOTU 8D->AES-> whatever .
Without another AES convertor.

Another option is use AVB (i have the assumption you have an Ethernet port on your Mac)
Mac -> Ethernet (AVB) > Motu 8D -> AES -> ...
You can use the Mac's wireless for your normal network connectivity unless you have AVB switch (from what i gathered but didn't think i need to get any yet).

I run mine via AVB (to me, it's technically 'better' for this application than USB) from the Mac and connect the USB to a PC.
I did run in a small problem initially that when playing off AVB from the Mac, there would a some noise every 95 seconds.
I thought it was the speakers but the noise was present on the 8D headphone output too so that rules out the downstream devices.
After no joy finding solution on the web, I found that changing the switch clock mode from internal clock to the correct AVB Input Stream solved this issue for me.

There is however another problem which I've yet to solve. If you clock the 8D via AVB stream, the USB input will have a small dropout every ~8.6 seconds.
Clocking it to the USB, the AVB stream will have the noise issue every ~95s.

It will play both AVB and USB simultaneously (below) but you will have one of the above issues depending on which clock mode is used.
There are also some little other caveats but have yet to reach out to Motu support as i've only had the 8D for just a week.

I too use SoundSource mainly for its ability to use AU plugins.
Check out the Headphone EQ if you use headphones. A huge improvement (and convenience!) for your headphones!

 

[pauldavidthomas]

I've finally created a login so that I could share my experience with the Motu 8D with AES/EBU input capable speakers.
Been lurking for a few years here.

@pauldavidthomas
Yes, you can go Mac->USB->MOTU 8D->AES-> whatever .
Without another AES convertor.

Another option is use AVB (i have the assumption you have an Ethernet port on your Mac)
Mac -> Ethernet (AVB) > Motu 8D -> AES -> ...
You can use the Mac's wireless for your normal network connectivity unless you have AVB switch (from what i gathered but didn't think i need to get any yet).

I run mine via AVB (to me, it's technically 'better' for this application than USB) from the Mac and connect the USB to a PC.
I did run in a small problem initially that when playing off AVB from the Mac, there would a some noise every 95 seconds.
I thought it was the speakers but the noise was present on the 8D headphone output too so that rules out the downstream devices.
After no joy finding solution on the web, I found that changing the switch clock mode from internal clock to the correct AVB Input Stream solved this issue for me.

There is however another problem which I've yet to solve. If you clock the 8D via AVB stream, the USB input will have a small dropout every ~8.6 seconds.
Clocking it to the USB, the AVB stream will have the noise issue every ~95s.

It will play both AVB and USB simultaneously (below) but you will have one of the above issues depending on which clock mode is used.
There are also some little other caveats but have yet to reach out to Motu support as i've only had the 8D for just a week.

View attachment 230517

I too use SoundSource mainly for its ability to use AU plugins.
Check out the Headphone EQ if you use headphones. A huge improvement (and convenience!) for your headphones!

Thank you very much for your input / response.

I was thinking about the 8D over weekend and I have come to the conclusion it is VERY powerful and as such will ultimately confuse me too much. So, I think I will go for a simple in/out box and any sound tweaking I might want I will use SoundSource and the AU plugins. When I bought SoundSource I had no idea about AU and it's a hidden gem I think.

For the time being I've bought a cheap non-name usb->AES convertor with no interface. I will get used to the 'sound' of that and then research more expensive ones and this will give me a good 'baseline' of what sound signature I have. So, when I buy something else I will let my ears tell me if there is any difference or not. Based on my previous experience with this ( and Active speakers with built in DAC's ), I will not notice any difference and essentially I will be using the USB->AES as a format convertor. My cable runs are ridiculously short.

I did however get a little ( ish ) surprise this morning when I came down stairs... The wife didn't even mention this had turned up...

I have never seen such a well packaged bit of kit before. And my lord, it's heavy.

 

[formantzero]

Oh yeah, the wooden crate!! I forgot about that. Just seeing someone else’s pictures and reading about their excitement takes me back. I love this thing so much! I bought it near the start of the pandemic, back when buying stuff was one of the only joys available under lockdown. It was such a treat and still is.

Regarding the previous post about sync glitches, I believe I resolved any weirdness I was getting by setting the 8D’s clock to sync to my 624, and the 624 set to follow its own digital clock.

 

[pauldavidthomas]

I've never seen such a well packaged bit of kit. Actually, the Core 7's were pretty bomb proof as well.

I think it bodes well for my experience with this sub. I like the simple LF / HF switch on the speakers, that's it...

I did get feedback from Dynaudio about the firmware on the 18S and they do not support presets for the Core series but you can manually tune it to work. The 18S would work perfectly well with the Core products. I understand why they don't support it as it creeps into steeling sales of the more expensive product, even though they gave me some technical reasoning.

Any my lord it's certainly 'substantial' in weight !

 

[pauldavidthomas]

My AES converter turned up. £50 second hand. Some new 'Custom Lynx 110Ohm Cables' at about £7.60 for a 3m run.

The Core 7's have 'eased' up a little more now and the Sub is flexing it's weight a bit more.

All I can say is WOW ! These do now miss a beat or break a sweat, even when running for 8 hours at a 'reasonable' volume the amp plates are still cool.

They are crystal clear and if I want to warm them up a little, I can use SoundSource and Apple's "Audio Units" to do what essentially the fancy DAC's do, but without having to pay any extra money.

Other than them breaking down I can't see any issues with them.

 

[Count Arthur]

The 18S would work perfectly well with the Core products.

Mine does.

I think the 18s is plenty combined with the Core 7s for my desk set-up. The Core Sub is effectively a double 18s in a bigger box and I thought it might be overkill.

Makes this track rumble along quite nicely:

 

[pauldavidthomas]

It is absolutely overkill. I can totally agree with that. In my movie room ( 4m x 5m and treated ) it will be overkill. It just looked soooo pretty !

I do have one room about 6m x 7m x 4.5m vaulted and I will give it a blast in that and a 'decent' level, when the wife is out.

 

[who]

They are crystal clear and if I want to warm them up a little, I can use SoundSource and Apple's "Audio Units" to do what essentially the fancy DAC's do, but without having to pay any extra money.

For those that has been on the fence on purchasing SoundSource, it's (and all their other products) are currently on sale (ending 30th Sep 2022).
At most, the developer only have sale once a year.

Celebrate Rogue Amoeba’s 20th Anniversary

To celebrate an incredible 20 years in business, we’re discounting all our prices by 20% for a very limited time.

weblog.rogueamoeba.com

 

[who]

Regarding the previous post about sync glitches, I believe I resolved any weirdness I was getting by setting the 8D’s clock to sync to my 624, and the 624 set to follow its own digital clock.

Thanks! I'll take note of this.
I currently don't have any other AVB source besides the Mac.

 

[pauldavidthomas]

For those that has been on the fence on purchasing SoundSource, they (and all their other products) are currently on sale (ending 30th Sep 2022).
At most, the developer only have sale once a year.

Celebrate Rogue Amoeba’s 20th Anniversary

To celebrate an incredible 20 years in business, we’re discounting all our prices by 20% for a very limited time.

weblog.rogueamoeba.com

Best chunk of software I've bought full stop. Buy it.

 

[Rahan]

I Use a SMSL B2 as a USB=> AES converter to feed my core 47 and it works fine to me.

I spend so many hours reading review about the core sub. I heard it with a pair of core 59 and it was just flawless. Nothing else to say.



I could not offer the core sub for now so i bought a used adam sub 12. there's almost no technology inside compared to the core sub but with rew I managed to integrate it pretty well. It's really good. and finally good enough for me.



it's just a 200W powered unit but I guess the driver is quite efficient. The SPL abilities match the core's. I Just connect a Dac between the SMSL B2 and the sub.

 

[pauldavidthomas]

The Adam equipment gets a lot of respect and for good reason, it's well built and gives good bang for the buck.

 

[pauldavidthomas]

Interesting review of the Dynaudio Core Sub.

Dynaudio Core Sub Review I think auto translates from German depending upon your browser.

Core Sub