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RE: Thuneau Allocator - do I get this straight?

Posted by aljordan (A) on December 15, 2009 at 11:03:08

In Reply to: Thuneau Allocator - do I get this straight? posted by carcass93 on December 15, 2009 at 09:47:36:

Hi,

I am not familiar with that particular pair of speakers except that I've heard good things about them. So, as the speaker system was reviewed with the Behringer in the mix, the benefits of the digital crossover in that system must have overcome the drawbacks of the cheap Behringer device, otherwise the system wouldn't garner such good reviews.

I think the advantages of a digital crossover can work well in some systems, but I don't think that they can be considered a universal means of eliminating passive crossovers. When I speak of advantages, I am speaking about those systems where the digital crossover is designed into the system. There are still problems to overcome when trying to roll your own with something like the Allocator.

As I see it, the main advantage of a digital crossover is the ability to (somewhat easily and quickly compared to traditional crossover development) implement a transient perfect crossover, without the phase problems and losses of passive crossovers, as well as the ability to customise the resulting system to the room the speakers actually live in.

The disadvantages are:
- Price of good quality multi-channel amplifier system. Although, digital crossovers don't have the power losses of passive crossovers, so much less powerful amps should be able to be used.
- Having to digitise analog signals. Not a problem if you only listen to digital, but a big problem if you have a lot invested in a turntable setup.
- Sound of the various digital filters that are used for digital crossovers - preringing, postringing, linear phase, minimum phase etcetera. Some people feel the filters are too invasive.

To your points specifically:

"I see many limitations to either approach, namely:
- scarsity of sound cards meeting requirements, especially in Option 2;"

The Lynx 2B has some pretty good sounding on-board DACs for a reasonable price. Still, quality is expensive.

"- inferior quality of breakout boxes/cables, that one may need to deal with in both cases;"

Not all pro audio devices use breakout cables. The Prism Sound Orpheus does not use break out cables at all, but retains eight analog output channels.

"- inferior DACs in Option 1;"
Inferior to what DACs, I guess is the question. The Lynx 2B can sound quite good in the right computer. It is inferior to some DACs and superior to others. The Prism Orpheus sounds amazing, as does the Metric Halo ULN-8. I don't believe these latter two DACs are inferior to anything.

"- potentially sound-degrading software VC, unless DACs have adjustable gain (or preamp is used);"
Yes, there is this potential, but in my experience it depends on the software and how much you have to attenuate the signal. A good 32 or 64 bit digital volume control can be far more transparent than some of the analog preamps I've heard.

"- potentially high cost, especially with option 2."
Yes, with quality DACs and amps the cost is high. Do the sound of less expensive DACs and digital amps outweigh the drawbacks of a passive crossover? I suppose it depends on the abilities of the designer.

Other issues to rolling your own crossover with something like the Allocator are:

- Experience needed to do it right. You just can't slap a fourth order crossover at 80 Hz and 2200 Hz and expect it to perform well. Measuring the drivers correctly is a total pain in the keister.
- Potential to very easily shatter your beautiful expensive tweeters if you let a full range signal get through to them, or if your computer sends audible spikes on bootup and shutdown. In this manner an external digital crossover is a better solution.
- Difficulty in routing signals correctly. Some cards like the Lynx 2B have good software mixer and hardware loopback capabilities to deal with this problem, but the routing is not so easy nor flexible with all sound cards / external DACs.

Still, its fun to experiment with all of this stuff, particularly if you like to build your own speakers.

Alan

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