DonR
Major Contributor
Yes both. Its 13.2 so I guess the surrounds are configurable.Does this do ATMOS and DTS-X? Is it a 9,1.4 or something else?
Yes both. Its 13.2 so I guess the surrounds are configurable.Does this do ATMOS and DTS-X? Is it a 9,1.4 or something else?
According the the manual, bass management is active even when in "Pure Mode" for digital signalsUmm. That "low frequency" noise looks a lot like an EQ being applied. See for example HUD100 measured here before.
Denon and Marantz, at least, have no Audyssey circuitry or bass management in use when in pure/direct mode; thus there is no down-res of digital inputs in that situation.But in pure/direct they are not supposed to.
So "Pure" and "Direct" are neither pure nor direct. Seems they mislabeled them.According the the manual, bass management is active even when in "Pure Mode" for digital signals
Pure - applies the least possible processing to both analog and digital sources. Bass Management and distance correction are still applied with digital sources, but not with analog sources, and EQ is bypassed.
Direct - delivers the source signal with minimum modification, while still applying system equalization, and room correction, to both analog and digital sources.
Multitone was very disappointing:
View attachment 185132
There is a lot of noise/intermodulation there. But also, roll off at 20 kHz. This can't as the sample rate for this test is 192 kHz. This means the internal DAC should
You just digitally shamed all the DSD folks. Me? I'm sticking with my high quality, nothing has ever come out better Memorex cassette tapes. Remember, "Is it real or Memorex"? Doesn't get any better than that.This unit has DSP built in so of course operates at a fixed sampling frequency. That is how the majority of DSP devices work including all miniDSP units. Without DSP and the required resampling we would not get automated room correction which can offer a huge boost to performance in an audio playback system. The fact that this unit can't playback high frequency noise above the audible spectrum from silly "HiRes" files is a plus rather than a minus IMO.
I'm not sure what you meant but I like the term "digitally shamed."You just digitally shamed all the DSD folks. Me? I'm sticking with my high quality, nothing has ever come out better Memorex cassette tapes. Remember, "Is it real or Memorex"? Doesn't get any better than that.
That sounds disturbing at best...lol. Along the lines of a alien abduction.I'm not sure what you meant but I like the term "digitally shamed."
Seems like there is something weird going on here depending on sample rate. Assuming the 90 kHz spectrum is using 192 kHz sample rate the lack of low frequency rise is consistent with the frequency response measurement also at 192 kHz. Definitely warrants some more investigation.
They have Audyssey disabled but bass management REMAINS active. At least every Marantz and Denon I've ever owned does.Denon and Marantz, at least, have no Audyssey circuitry or bass management in use when in pure/direct mode; thus there is no down-res of digital inputs in that situation.
In the early days of video discs (laserdiscs and DVDs) the audio was highly compressed, lossy AC-3. But since the introduction of Blu-rays (both 2K and 4K) over 12 years ago, the English audio tracks, on discs at least, use lossless compression, mostly at 16 bit/48kHz. That's higher than CD quality, though not by much. Apart from this post, I haven't heard anyone mention AC-3 since then. The relevant formats today are either DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby True HD. And they're not used only on some discs, but on nearly all of them.The audio that accompanies most video material (cable / streaming /DVD / Bluray / 4k) is compressed / lossy. Yes, there are so-called hi-res lossless formats on some discs, but how much transparency and resolution do you really need to listen to explosions, planes zooming around, actors voices and so on? This thing is good enough for Dolby AC-3, surely, and that is the format used for the vast bulk of video programming / movies.
Now for MUSIC- almost all of which is 2-channel -this thing falls short. So, if you buy this pre-pro, you can also buy yourself a nice Topping 2-channel DAC for $130 and arrange a way to switch between the two. Transparent DAC for music, "Just OK" pre-pro for TV.
If you INSIST on being able to listen to 11-channel audio on a more transparent system, you will need to spend a small fortune. And I wonder - with all those effects zooming around- can you really hear the difference between a system linear to 13 bits like this one and another one that reaches 20 bits of linearity when playing a movie or watching TV?
This certainly used to be the case, but I've had loads of people insisting to me that bass management works in so-called "direct" mode these days in current Denons. Which implies digitisation, but I don't know at what sample rate. If anyone can enlighten me on what enables/disables this...Denon and Marantz, at least, have no Audyssey circuitry or bass management in use when in pure/direct mode; thus there is no down-res of digital inputs in that situation.
Multitone test sample came from Audio Precision and was at 192 kHz so I used it that way. I also have a 44.1 kHz one but it only has 7 tones. I have used that from time to time when the device doesn't support 192 kHz. By using the standard AP files we give a chance to others to replicate the measurements as opposed to something I cook up.@amirm
do you normally test other more common sampling rates (44.1khz, 48khz) for multitone or only the highest sampling rate ?
ASR members should feel fine purchasing such a unit. They just shouldn't if they thought this device produces extreme objective fidelity as the advertising indicates. So to the extent they have an AVR, then changing to this unit will not boost audio performance or may degrade it.This looks like a pretty good value to me. I was expecting worse performance, but it seems to eke by in terms of audible transparency in a real world listening scenario.
13 channels of processing (unheard of at this pricepoint), full featured bass management, healthy abikity to drive external amplification, and parametric EQs on all channels make this pretty appealing for a HT enthusiast who likes to get their hands dirty and do everything manually.
ASR regulars are obviously not the target demographic for something like this. So many channels enables the use of front wides, and enough atmos and side surrounds for multiple rows of seating.
I suspect the bass management uses analog filters.This certainly used to be the case, but I've had loads of people insisting to me that bass management works in so-called "direct" mode these days in current Denons. Which implies digitisation, but I don't know at what sample rate. If anyone can enlighten me on what enables/disables this...
There seems to be an increasing trend for manufacturers to make "direct" modes retain functionality and go through the DSP because presumably they get more complaints like "my subwoofer doesn't work in direct mode" than "it downsamples to 48kHz".