Advice for users of analog inputs (only) of the DSPeaker AntiMode Dual Core

[islandman]

Thanks Guidof! Yeah, the Duo Core 2.0 will definitely not do multi-channel. It's more about how the "ARM" feature works on the MAP-1. It's the only multi-channel analog preamp that can do this trick as far as I know. Ok, calling the dude for a demo. Wish me luck!

[Guidof]

OK, so I looked up this preamp. It would appear that the ARM feature uses something similar to the Hafler Matrix (L-R signals in the back channels). If so, the back channels should have almost no low frequency content, and if so, the Dual Core might actually work since its correction only affects the low frequency range.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

[islandman]

I have an opportunity to buy a Dual Core at a reasonable price. Keeping the signal path in my equipment clean, and short is a priority for me, however I have heard nothing but mostly good things about the Dual Core. I do have one concern though. Have any of you experienced a slight flattening of the sound when using the Dual Core? I am concerned about the A/D/A conversion and what effect it will have on the purity of the sound. A couple of others in another forum returned their units because of this. One guy and his wife listened only to classical, and another guy listened mostly to jazz, and acoustic music. They mentioned that although the bass, and mid-bass was improved, the sound suffered in other areas. What are you guys experience on this?

[Guidof]

I did not experience any sound quality degradation as a result of inserting the Dual Core in my setup. I too was concerned about A/D/A conversion and its potential for mudding the sound, but it turned out to be a non issue. Like anything else in audio, however, any effects are often system-dependent, so if possible, check it out first in your own system.

 

FWIW, I listen primarily to jazz and classical.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

[islandman]

Hey Guido, I listen to those genres as well, and good recordings of Jazz, and Classical should reveal any loss in transparency I would think. The unit is being sold by the original owner for less than $600 with free Paypal and shipping, and will not be refundable (unless there is a problem). Less than a year old with all original materials included. Seems like it will be worth the gamble even though I can't demo it first.

[Regnad]

In my case, it mainly removed 2 peaks (about 45 and 75 Hz) and that has caused a great improvement in low end performance. I also do not hear any problem with the 24/48 conversion. I am using it in its most basic way, you may find a good use for the *many* other features.

[Guidof]

Hey Guido, I listen to those genres as well, and good recordings of Jazz, and Classical should reveal any loss in transparency I would think. The unit is being sold by the original owner for less than $600 with free Paypal and shipping, and will not be refundable (unless there is a problem). Less than a year old with all original materials included. Seems like it will be worth the gamble even though I can't demo it first.

 

I think you will be pleased with the results. Of course, it's always a bit of a gamble when you can't demo a new device in your own system. But I have to say, I'm pretty picky about sound quality, and I'm quite happy with the Dual Core's transparency.

 

Good luck,

 

Guido F.

[Guidof]

@islandman: I forgot to mention that I run the Dual Core without a preamp. I strongly recommend this, if possible in your setup. I use the volume control in my Benchmarck DAC2 for gain and the balance control in the Dual Core. I've used the DC digital volume control with a prior DAC without any problem. But getting rid of the preamp, though I had an excellent one, sure helped with sound quality.

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

[islandman]

Ok, I will try that advice.

[islandman]

I just acquired a DC 2.0. I am connecting it to my laptop by USB. I know this thread is about analog in, but I thought this might be a good place to get some help.

 

I wanted to try using the DC as a DAC. In foobar, where you select playback options in the preferences drop down menu it allows me to select “anti-mode wasapi or anti-mode event”. However, when you actually start a song, an error window appears that says “Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported Stream Format: 441000 16bit". Only by selecting the option: “DS: Speaker (Anti-Mode 2.0)” will it allow music to play. Is there a fix for this?

[Guidof]

Sorry, islandman, I have no experience with your setup, and thus no advice. Perhaps you would get some useful response if you started a new thread or google a "how do I . . ."

 

Regards,

 

Guido F.

[Regnad]

I use the Dual Core to attenuate the signal between the pre and power amps. It is currently set to -14dB which reduces the preamp tube noise. The problem is that at a high volume there is breakup and distortion like the Dual Core is being over-driven at its input. I have set the sensitivity to "low" but it does not help.

 

If the Dual Core volume is set to "0" there is no breakup. I understand that there was new hardware last year. Will that fix this? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Guidof]

I use the Dual Core to attenuate the signal between the pre and power amps. It is currently set to -14dB which reduces the preamp tube noise. The problem is that at a high volume there is breakup and distortion like the Dual Core is being over-driven at its input. I have set the sensitivity to "low" but it does not help.

 

If the Dual Core volume is set to "0" there is no breakup. I understand that there was new hardware last year. Will that fix this? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Have you tried changing the 'headroom' value?

 

Guido F.

[Regnad]

Have you tried changing the 'headroom' value?

Yes and it did not appear to help.

 

I just had a great conversation with Tim (Simplifi) and he suggested using the preamp tape outputs so only the DC does gain. I will try this although it would be less convenient for me.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Guidof]

Yes and it did not appear to help.

 

I just had a great conversation with Tim (Simplifi) and he suggested using the preamp tape outputs so only the DC does gain. I will try this although it would be less convenient for me.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Hmm . . . This sounds strange to me. Your preamp is a high quality piece of kit. Its volume control is surely of a higher quality than the DC's, so I'm not sure why bypassing its volume pot should be beneficial. But I hope it works for you.

 

I would have thought that the better scheme would be to run the DC with zero attenuation and control gain through the Janus's volume pot. Why then does this apparently introduce some unwanted noise? Might you have a defective DC? I sure hope not!

 

Best luck!

 

Guido F.

[Regnad]

Best luck!

 

Thanks, the initial problem was tube noise and, using the tape-out, there is essentially none so that is great! Since the gain section in the DC is unavoidable, it seems right that eliminating the Janus gain control section (actually an attenuator) would be a good thing. The Janus is now a switch with buffering only.

 

I can't get the speaker volume as high but it's high enough, very loud at -5 and medium loud at -25. Headroom is on manual at zero.

 

Just connected the Sony right to the DC and it sounds very good, but inconvenient.

 

Another good thing is that I do not need to get the new DC with 2013 hardware to get a larger input range.

[Guidof]

Regnad: glad this worked!

 

Guido F.