Re: Winamp Asio volume question

Posted by Presto (A) on February 6, 2007 at 09:52:52

In Reply to: Re: Winamp Asio volume question posted by Dawnrazor on February 5, 2007 at 20:18:57:

Dawnrazor:

I was unaware your amps had balanced inputs. Yes, I agree - converting a balanced signal chain to unbalanced for volume control is a step in the wrong direction. Now you're back to either stepped attenuation or THREE pre-amps that have balanced I/O. The latter is not cheap, and ganging them with one remote may not be foolproof.

I'm almost in the same boat as you really. I want to do three-way active, but I have not decided on amps yet - so balanced may or may not be a requirement for me. Balanced *is* nice...

There's this unit: http://www.redesignsaudio.com/SCPA1.html

But it's not cheap and I don't think it uses a remote.

So, right now I'm still stuck in "hobby mode" with the 6-channel HT solution, and looking at how to get an audiophile version is making me rethink things quite a bit.

The best way I can think of to tri-amp while using a PC as a source and a single pre-amp is to either go:

a) active analog crossovers
b) passive crossovers (PLXO before amps)
c) passive crossovers (conventional - after amps)

I honestly like c) the best. a) is only good if you have an analog active crossover that you think does not kill your sound. The plus with *A* is that normal level controls BEFORE the crossover are still possible. b) is only good for 1st or MAYBE 2nd order and requires sufficient preamp gain to compensate for the losses of the filters. c) is probably the best idea. here is why.

Passive crossovers after the amps still provide electrical isolation between the crossover poles. If you want "time correct" crossovers, you can still do forward-reverse processing to the entire signal using the Thuneau Arbitrator. But now you only have ONLY ONE stereo signal coming out of the PC. This means you CAN use one "good" preamp, and you CAN stay balanced throughout the signal chain.

Is going with multiple passive networks on multiple amps another "audiophile compromise"? Heck no! In fact, most audiophiles around here, imho, if given a choice between DSP active, external digital or analog active, or PLXO and good old passive networks would probably prefer the latter!

Sure you lose the flexibility of running "any" combination of speakers with a single crossover but so what? How many combinations do we have? Design and build a passive crossover set for each combination and call it a day.

I know it's frustrating - especially if you've been working with DSP or digital active crossovers and you really LIKE them. It's even worse if you like steep-slope linear phase FIR filters which can't be done in the passive realm. But if you wound up using IIR filters that DO have a passive equivalent, I say scrap the DSP or digital crossover. Sacrifice the flexibility. Passive crossovers take time and skill to build - but not that much money! Besides, if you're triamping in an audiophile environment, you should know how to build passive crossover anyhow! The upshot is you can still use forward-reverse processing (Thuneau Arbitrator) to do phase correction. Don't uninstall the Allocator yet either... in addition to a real-time crossover, it can also be a very powerful design tool for developing passive equivalent networks!! ;)

There are three main ways I think one could go about this and still get audiophile results:

1) PC > balanced stereo out > balanced pre > 3 amps w/ balanced inputs > passive networks

1a) unbalanced version of 1)

2) PC > digital out > balanced DAC > balanced pre > 3 amps w/ balanced inputs > passive networks

2a) unbalanced version of 2)

3) PC > digital out / sync in > DAC digital in / sync out > balanced pre > 3 amps w/ balanced inputs > passive networks

3a) unbalanced version of 3)

4) PC > USB unbalanced out > unbalanced pre > 3 unbalanced amps > passive networks

You might lean towards 1). I really want to try the 3) approach! :o)

Just food for thought...

Cheers,
Presto

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Winamp Asio volume question - Dawnrazor 21:05:00 02/02/07 (18)

Re: Winamp Asio volume question - Presto 10:20:29 02/05/07 (7)

Re: Winamp Asio volume question - Dawnrazor 20:18:57 02/05/07 (1)

Re: Winamp Asio volume question - Presto 09:52:52 02/06/07 (0)

Hey that's a good idea! - Christine Tham 15:14:24 02/05/07 (4)

Re: Hey that's a good idea! - Dawnrazor 20:20:51 02/05/07 (3)

Re: Hey that's a good idea! - Christine Tham 20:58:44 02/05/07 (2)

Re: Hey that's a good idea! - Dawnrazor 21:22:53 02/05/07 (1)

Re: Hey that's a good idea! - Christine Tham 21:41:39 02/05/07 (0)

Is no one using Winamp and ASIO???? - Dawnrazor 11:13:42 02/04/07 (9)

I found it really difficult to understand exactly what it was you are asking - Christine Tham 14:02:45 02/04/07 (8)

Re: I found it really difficult to understand exactly what it was you are asking - Dawnrazor 15:44:38 02/04/07 (7)

Probably not - Christine Tham 17:35:19 02/04/07 (6)

Re: Probably not - Dawnrazor 19:11:47 02/04/07 (5)

There's a simple solution - Christine Tham 19:57:44 02/04/07 (4)

Thanks, you made me realize - Dawnrazor 20:26:00 02/04/07 (3)

Re: Thanks, you made me realize - Christine Tham 21:42:09 02/04/07 (2)

Re: Thanks, you made me realize - Dawnrazor 08:44:42 02/05/07 (1)

:-) (nt) - Christine Tham 15:15:03 02/05/07 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: Winamp Asio volume question - Presto 09:52:52 02/06/07 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.