Trinnov Nova experience or owners?

[srrxr71]

Surface Dial works great when it works, but I've had some issues with the Rpi hosting it. DRCWO has been working on getting a new device, the Quick Keys Remote as an alternative. I thought it was still in Beta testing, but I now see that he's released it, so I'll be picking one of these up ASAP. Sorry to take this thread about the NOVA on a detour.

https://www.xencelabs.com/us/store/accessories/xencelabs-quick-keys-remote

rooMax – Best wireless Roon remote ever!

Dear Rooners, A wireless remote control that can do more than just control the volume (like rooDial with the Microsoft Surface Dial) has been on my (and probably your) wish list for a long time. Recently I came across the Quick Keys Controller from Xencelabs, which comes very close to the...

community.roonlabs.com

You are correct that with Surface Dial or with Quick Keys, you don't need La Remote for volume when you are running Roon. However, you could not control volume when listening to another source. With a Roon Ready device on the other hand, I believe you can control volume even when you are playing another source on your Roon Ready device.

It’s fine to talk about surface dial as it is germane to the discussion of making the Trinnov Nova functional in a domestic situation.

Yeah this is the issue with some of these solutions “great while it works”. It’s such great hardware but the software is always the rub. The last thing anyone wants is being in a listening situation and something stops working. It’s happened to me before and I got frustrated enough to just reinstall windows in the middle of the night.

Keep in mind the Trinnov app can always serve as a backup for volume control and it worked fine for me. I don’t even find myself changing it too much either.

The blusound Node or equivalent product is worth looking into as it is Roon Ready device.

 

[jpmomo]

Can you let me know the options to connect the nova to my speakers? I currently have passive speakers connected to an amp. Does the nova have to connect to active speakers via the xlr? or can the nova connect to my amp via xlr?
my current setup is pc streaming tidal to a topping dx9 dac (via usb). the dx9 dac is then connected to my sony qualia 007 amp via rca. the passive speakers are connected to the amp as is the single rel #31 sub (via the amp's speaker connectors.)

My assumption would be to find a streamer with spdif out into the nova. then the nova's aes out into the dx9's aes in. the rest would stay the same.
An alternative is to have the streamer connected to the nova via spdif (like above) but then connect the nova's xlr outs to an amp that has xlr inputs. I would then connect the speakers and sub the same way as option 1.

I am also curios to see how the optimization would work if I connect my sub the way that rel recommends (high level vs .1) It seems like I would only need the 2 licenses but not sure how that might confuse things with the rel's built in filters.

My goal is to try and get some much needed room correction in a less than ideal listening space (small and not many options for speaker/sub placement.)

I also did some research on the trinnov amethyst and several dirac solutions. the nova looks much more modern that the amethyst (I couldn't get over the cheap looking pc i/o shield on the back!) the nova also seems to have better specs/updates.

This would be for strictly home 2.1 hifi listening. I understand that this was not the designed use case but seems to be the replacement product for what some folks were recommending even for my use case.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[jpmomo]

Brief update after speaking with some folks at Trinnov. I think they would prefer that the Nova not be used for home audio.
The dealers that they use for the Nova are focused on pro audio or recording studios.
I still think it would work for my home 2.1 setup.
The only concern is that I might not get much support.

 

[Avp1]

Brief update after speaking with some folks at Trinnov. I think they would prefer that the Nova not be used for home audio.
The dealers that they use for the Nova are focused on pro audio or recording studios.
I still think it would work for my home 2.1 setup.
The only concern is that I might not get much support.

There will be little support from dealer. You need to learn how to configure Trinnov device and integrate it with the rest of audio system yourself. But you will learn a lot of new things on the way and save few thousands in the process.

 

[Mike-48]

There will be little support from dealer. You need to learn how to configure Trinnov device and integrate it with the rest of audio system yourself. But you will learn a lot of new things on the way and save few thousands in the process.

Would you say it's easy to find the necessary resources to set everything up? In particular, I'm interested in setting up a stereo system with multiple (4) subwoofers.

 

[srrxr71]

Would you say it's easy to find the necessary resources to set everything up? In particular, I'm interested in setting up a stereo system with multiple (4) subwoofers.

It was a little confusing. You can figure it out and although they refer you to your dealers first they have been nice enough to respond to my messages.

Now I haven’t had the luxury of a Trinnov engineer remote in and change my settings although I’ve heard that’s happened.

I think they will be helpful but better to check with your dealer and Trinnov directly and let them know what your goals are.

I did have 2 extra subs hooked up and keep in mind those extra 4 channels are analog. Which was fine as my subs are also analog.

I just couldn’t get the calibration perfect but I gave up on the idea as it was way too much bass for the neighborhood.

I picked up extra licenses as they were are on sale recently. I doubt I’ll get to try it unless I get smaller subs or move.

 

[jpmomo]

I am trying to see if I can get an eval of the Nova and sort it out myself.
It looks like there are 2 options for inserting the Nova into my system.
The first option is the logical one on paper:

streamer (coax)-nova (xlr) - amp

and the other with more conversions but I have a hunch that it may sound better:

streamer-dac (xlr)- nova (xlr) - amp

Originally I thought I could go digital into the nova from the streamer and then digitally out from the nova via the aes then into the dac. One of the issues with that config is that the aes out from the nova might not be able to handle the sub properly.


It looks like I would still need the 4 license version for the 2 main speakers and the 1 sub.

The sub is a rel #31 and has multiple connection options. This was a little confusing at first as rel recommends using the HL connections (connect the single sub to the amps L/R main speaker outs). In order for the Nova to better control the sub discretely, I would use the .1 connection on the sub (removes some of the cross over limitations when connecting with the other connections).

 

[bitfidelity]

So if my existing setup is:

PC > RME ADI-2 DAC (USB) > Studio Monitors (XLR)

I simply connect the RME ADI-2 DAC to the Nova via XLR (Analog In) and my monitors to the Nova via XLR (Analog Out)?