Article: Dutch & Dutch 8c Loudspeaker Review

[asiano]

Any thoughts on which speaker - Kii Three or Dutch & Dutch 8C - processes digital audio better?

 

My only use for either speaker is to stream digital audio files (Hi-Res FLAC, DSD, etc) via Roon and the processing capabilities of the speakers are an important consideration.

[asiano]

5 hours ago, firedog said:

Depends what you mean by "processes digital audio better". Both speakers have that exact function as their central function. They both take a digital signal,use DSP,  convert it to analog, and output a DSP'd "cardoid" analog output with limited room interaction and time alignment of the driver signals to your ears.

Do you literally mean something about the "processing" or are you asking how they sound? Give us a better idea what you are asking.

I apologize for not being clear.

 

I'm curious about which product has the better DAC and implementation as, at least for the Kii, the incoming format has to be converted since it accepts DSD and various PCM sample rates. I'm not even sure if that can be ascertained as everything is so tightly integrated in these products. With standalone DACs, even those with the same DAC, there tends to be a difference in sound.

[asiano]

2 hours ago, firedog said:

Both products have specialized DACs and amps which are made specifically for them and don’t exist on their own. So your question doesn’t really apply. The only questions would be: do I like how they sound?; do I like how they sound when fed analog?; and do I prefer one to the other? 
Both speakers convert incoming formats - they have to in order to do all the DSP. Exactly how they do what they do is proprietary. I think you should care about the results, not the details of the process: if you knew some of the details of the process would that really tell you something about which one has a “better process” and which one sounds better? I don’t think so.

Audiophiles tend to latch on to such details as if they actually tell you something about the resulting SQ. They don’t. 

 

I was just trying to understand whether one speaker did a better job than another with digital files as at least in the case of DSD and possibly hi-res flac, the files are being decimated during processing and some people claim that depending on the quality of the conversion their may be audible effects. I've read a lot about the concerns of decimation of DSD in threads for Chord DACs and others. Also, some DAC reviews include the results for jitter and resolution (number of bits).

 

I can see where it would be challenging to determine the quality/impact of that process in the Kii and Dutch & Dutch speakers due to the tight integration of the entire process. You can't swap out the DAC like you can in a traditional system to determine how it sounds.