(not that much) desperate manufacturer needing your advise

[mglobe]

I wouldn't say that. I've had excellent results with Dirac. Life changing even. That said, since implementing my LXmini crossovers in CamillaDSP on the Pi and playing with REW and Rephase the improvement Dirac makes is minimal. If I had more dac channels to get my sub under Camilla's control I'm sure I could equal or better Dirac's performance with Camilla alone. But it takes a lot more measurement chops and REW/Rephase fu. Not everyone is interested in that. Dirac, IMO, is very very good.

Totally agree. I‘ll add that I suspect the market is bigger for those who want the automation of Dirac vs fiddling with REW, Camilla,…. SHD type product with Dirac would be my vote.

 

[MikeP]

I voted for "other" - a MiniDSP SHD replacement: 4 (or more) channel DAC + preamp with "decent" DSP (including bass management) and remote.

Dirac would be nice, but not mandatory if all channels are exposed to the upstream source (e.g.: PC).

Analog I/O should be available in both balanced and unbalanced connections. For the digital input, I'm fine with USB, COAX and TOSLINK. Trigger in / out would be a plus.

Roon Ready would be the icing on the cake, but, then again, I'm overreaching

 

[Karu]

As an active 2.2 user I would like 1 box solution of MiniDSP SHD Studio + 2 channels of analog out (for the subs) and a stereo analog in (for digital piano of which most seem to miss a digital out).

 

[Chrispy]

Are your products sold and supported in the US yet? You're generally off my radar, but....

 

[oppop]

I voted for "other" - a MiniDSP SHD replacement: 4 (or more) channel DAC + preamp with "decent" DSP (including bass management) and remote.

Dirac would be nice, but not mandatory if all channels are exposed to the upstream source (e.g.: PC).

Analog I/O should be available in both balanced and unbalanced connections. For the digital input, I'm fine with USB, COAX and TOSLINK. Trigger in / out would be a plus.

Roon Ready would be the icing on the cake, but, then again, I'm overreaching

This.
I voted for a product that Fred didn't think about.

I have a Boxem purifi amp the sound is amazing but it also looks good too.
A quality DAC and preamp with DSP (+/- streamer) in the same format would fly off the shelves.
The current streamer, DAC, pre, DSP solutions are by and large, either state of the art and not aesthetically pleasing or vice versa.

Give people the option of a two box NAD M33 equivalent.

 

[boXem]

Are your products sold and supported in the US yet? You're generally off my radar, but....

One third of our sales were in the US last year. Support is the same worldwide: the customer having an issue during the warranty period (2 years) will receive a DHL label for shipping the product back to us (with pickup at your place if you leave), it will be shipped back after repair. All this for free. Outside of warranty, service is the same but billed at cost.

 

[Chrispy]

One third of our sales were in the US last year. Support is the same worldwide: the customer having an issue during the warranty period (2 years) will receive a DHL label for shipping the product back to us (with pickup at your place if you leave), it will be shipped back after repair. All this for free. Outside of warranty, service is the same but billed at cost.

That helps put you on the radar then. What's your typical turnaround time if a problem happens? What is warranty now that you mention it? Not sure what you mean by pickup at my place if I leave, tho....the only place it could be picked up from is my place in a way....

 

[boXem]

This.
I voted for a product that Fred didn't think about.

I have a Boxem purifi amp the sound is amazing but it also looks good too.
A quality DAC and preamp with DSP (+/- streamer) in the same format would fly off the shelves.
The current streamer, DAC, pre, DSP solutions are by and large, either state of the art and not aesthetically pleasing or vice versa.

Give people the option of a two box NAD M33 equivalent.

Ah, the streamer... Custom solution out of reach, Rpi not available, BluOS, Linkplay and their friends do not even dare to reply information requests, ...

That helps put you on the radar then. What's your typical turnaround time if a problem happens? What is warranty now that you mention it? Not sure what you mean by pickup at my place if I leave, tho....the only place it could be picked up from is my place in a way....

Sorry, I wanted to write "if you live in a civilized place". Said differently, you are not @amirm 's neighbor .
Up to now, repairs have been done within 3 days after product reception. To be completely open, there have been so few warranty returns that I wouldn't consider this as written in stone.

 

[Chrispy]

Ah, the streamer... Custom solution out of reach, Rpi not available, BluOS, Linkplay and their friends do not even dare to reply information requests, ...

Sorry, I wanted to write "if you live in a civilized place". Said differently, you are not @amirm 's neighbor .
Up to now, repairs have been done within 3 days after product reception. To be completely open, there have been so few warranty returns that I wouldn't consider this as written in stone.

LOL I'm in the boonies but we get UPS/Fedex....not sure I've ever seen DHL around here now that you mention it....and they may charge extra for pickup like the others do. Amir is a couple hundred miles north of me and lives in a metro area I think.

That is excellent turnaround, thanks, and good to know the issues are few.

 

[Rednaxela]

A quality DAC and preamp with DSP (+/- streamer) in the same format would fly off the shelves.

+1

Without the streamer please.

 

[amper42]

I would consider being more price competitive with a stereo Purifi amp. $1674.36 USD shipped is quite a bit more than Buckeye Amps at $1189. If the BOXEM Purifi amp was available in the USA with a coupon for $1300 shipped while Buckeye is trying to figure out the distortion issue it would offer BOXEM an advantage for gaining customers and USA exposure. Competition is good.

 

[groovybassist]

I would consider being more price competitive with a stereo Purifi amp. $1674.36 USD shipped is quite a bit more than Buckeye Amps at $1189. If the BOXEM Purifi amp was available in the USA with a coupon for $1300 shipped while Buckeye is trying to figure out the distortion issue it would offer BOXEM an advantage for gaining customers and USA exposure. Competition is good.

Competition is good, but you can’t compare the boXem casework and build to Buckeye; the boXem is clearly a more mature, finished product. These aspects of a product come at a cost. Everyone needs to determine what elements constitute value in their purchase decisions. I’m in the US and found the boXem Arthur 4215 met my criteria for being a good value. Of course, I’m one of the people who places higher value on casework/build than some others. I’m not interested in paying for audio jewelry, but I’m also not interested in my gear looking like a DIY project. Long story short, I think $1300 shipped for a boXem Purifi amp is unrealistically low given the delta between the products.

 

[amper42]

A 40% premium over the Buckeye Purifi is significant. Buyers have to decide what premium they will pay for casework out of view typically in a cabinet. There is likely a larger market opportunity for lower cost Purifi builds than the items suggested for development in this thread. The question for a company is whether it's more cost effective to fill that need or spend time developing a new product instead. Volume versus boutique sales.

 

[PierreV]

I am also surprised by the low amount of votes the multichannel amplifier is having. But the idea of the poll is to substantiate choices with some data. And for the moment, data say differently.

That could be because of the lack of reasonably priced multichannel preamps with HDMI/DTS/Dolby/EQ thingies.

The only thing I would upgrade in my current setups is my home cinema but...

I am not enough of a movie fan to walk the Trinnov + multiple amps + tons of speakers path.

I can't convince myself to purchase "processing preamps" from the big brands at 2 to 6 times the price of the same big brands' full AVRs especially since they don't seem to be performing much better. It almost feels like one is paying dearly for them to remove their amp modules and add a few XLRs

On the DIY side, lots of boxes, lots of configuration and tweaking, lots of wires everywhere... not too appealing either.

 

[diddley]

All in one box solution with tone control and balance knob. with a decent casing that shows quality.
Ofcourse you cant be the cheapest that way, but do you want that?

 

[groovybassist]

A 40% premium over the Buckeye Purifi is significant. Buyers have to decide what premium they will pay for casework out of view typically in a cabinet. There is likely a larger market opportunity for lower cost Purifi builds than the items suggested for development in this thread. The question for a company is whether it's more cost effective to fill that need or spend time developing a new product instead. Volume versus boutique sales.

I’m not sure how many people’s gear is in a cabinet vs open rack, but mine’s been in an open rack of some sort for the better part of 30 years, so casework is meaningful to me. There are a couple of other elements beyond casework that separate the boXem from Buckeye: 1) the internal build on the boXem is higher quality than the Buckeye. The Buckeye is definitely tidy and sufficient, but Fred at boXem goes above and beyond with minimizing exposed wiring via shrink wrap, paying close attention to routing/securing internal wiring, etc. 2) Fred is an electrical engineer, who’s designed his custom buffer and builds the product. I personally like having an engineer with high standards in that position - can help avoid some of the issues we see being experienced by other manufacturers.

We all choose our poison in this hobby.

 

[Doodski]

something that I could import a curve into would be killer.

Directly from a PC and not a USB thumb drive.

 

[Doodski]

In fact, an integrated with DAC but without DSP is comparable if not a bit simpler, carries the same "not just a guy with a hammer in his garage" brand image and may meet a larger audience. Thus the poll to add a bit of data in the decision process.

Some peeps fear a outdated and obsolete DAC that has no upgrade path because it's part of the integrated amp.

 

[Chrispy]

Why would anyone want the typical integrated amp these days? Nostalgia?

 

[Doodski]

Why would anyone want the typical integrated amp these days? Nostalgia?

You mean without a DAC onboard or just a plain amp style. There's reasons that the plain integrated amp has endured so many years and systems. It just works and does it's function(s) well. It can be a pre-amp on demand too.