hollis
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2018
- Messages
- 120
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- 86
I run a Minidsp 88D, so I am in the full digital chain camp. Right now 100% in a 2ch stereo world.
Full path:
- tower win10 PC
- Matrix X-SPDIF-2 USB to AES (stereo)
- Minidsp 88D AES input, crossovers, Dirac 3.0, AES output
- Lynx Aurora 8 D/A
- 7ch Outlaw 7140
- 4x self powered Rythmik subs
The Aurora also has A/D, so I run a turntable into it as well as a "guest" Airport Express back into the spare 88D AES inputs. One great advantage of this setup is that there is no input switching. Everything is just turned on all the time (unless I build config presets to turn things on and off). I dont know any other Minidsp device besides the 88D and 88D where you can use all the input channels at once.
This lets me run 3-way mains, with a front sub and a rear sub. Pretty excellent for music, but I am finding mixed results with Netflix/Plex/HBO. Some of the stereo mixdowns are rather crap. So now I am thinking I may drop down to full range mains, then add a center and surrounds.
The UDIO-8 usb box and the Lynx AES16 pcie card are the top contenders to get 8ch out of my PC and into the 88D (bypassing the Matrix). I allready bought the Lynx AES16 but got burned on PCIE standards, it doesnt fit with my motherboard. I am also likely to get burned on Atmos decoding or other digital video standards (which I am only now just starting to read about). The gap from 2ch to 5.1 is rather large, its not for the feint of heart.
Full path:
- tower win10 PC
- Matrix X-SPDIF-2 USB to AES (stereo)
- Minidsp 88D AES input, crossovers, Dirac 3.0, AES output
- Lynx Aurora 8 D/A
- 7ch Outlaw 7140
- 4x self powered Rythmik subs
The Aurora also has A/D, so I run a turntable into it as well as a "guest" Airport Express back into the spare 88D AES inputs. One great advantage of this setup is that there is no input switching. Everything is just turned on all the time (unless I build config presets to turn things on and off). I dont know any other Minidsp device besides the 88D and 88D where you can use all the input channels at once.
This lets me run 3-way mains, with a front sub and a rear sub. Pretty excellent for music, but I am finding mixed results with Netflix/Plex/HBO. Some of the stereo mixdowns are rather crap. So now I am thinking I may drop down to full range mains, then add a center and surrounds.
The UDIO-8 usb box and the Lynx AES16 pcie card are the top contenders to get 8ch out of my PC and into the 88D (bypassing the Matrix). I allready bought the Lynx AES16 but got burned on PCIE standards, it doesnt fit with my motherboard. I am also likely to get burned on Atmos decoding or other digital video standards (which I am only now just starting to read about). The gap from 2ch to 5.1 is rather large, its not for the feint of heart.