The new generation of DSP speakers. Feed their inputs analog or digital signal?

[Pro Jules]

What if your speakers have a digital input?

 

does these make your DAC’s analog output redundant? Do you then just need a streamer or roon device with a digital out? 
 

in other words what if you send them purely digital signal? 
 

then all you need is a volume control right? 
 

not a DAC. 
 

How much do we know about the DAC stages in these new models? 
 

it seems odd to send a DAC signal down a balanced cable to another ADC - DAC system. 
 

thoughts? 

[ShawnC]

It depends on the active speaker.  Some have volume control and some do not.  If they don't then usually something from the streamer or software player like Roon can control it.  To simplify things many people are moving into these types of active speakers, Kii, Dutch & Dutch, Buchardt, KEF, Meridian, B&O all have variations of these technologies.   Some speaker brands like Martin Logan use DSP in there ESL line that just affects the subwoofer.  There's no simple answer and the technology keeps advancing and changing but active speakers have been growing in popularity as of lately.

 

I think most people are using active speakers to down size there systems and take advantage of DSP.  Others are buying just out of curiosity and will still use there existing equipment feeding the active speaker.  No right or wrong answers, just more options to choose from.

 

[Pro Jules]

I just wonder if the extra conversion stage within the speakers could make all the care and attention with components before them (including pricy cables, expensive DACs etc) somewhat a waste of time. 
 

Neumann speakers accept up to 192k aes in - others top out at 96k. What do we know (beyond perhaps a chip type used) about the A/D converters prior to dsp processing? Or the processing digital architecture? Or the quality of the D/A’s that present signal to the speaker amps?

 

I suspect not a lot....

 

as these DSP models get more popular I think we should get to know more about this sort of info. 
 

 

[fas42]

1 minute ago, Pro Jules said:

I just wonder if the extra conversion stage within the speakers could make all the care and attention with components before them, somewhat a waste of time. 
 

 

 

Yes ... is the simple answer 😉. People are enamoured with the concept of Adding Goodness to a playback system - that it has miraculous powers 🙂. So, using an ultra flash DAC prior to the active speaker may indeed be a complete waste ... personally, I would try the most simple, least complex manner of driving the digital inputs, and start tweaking that, if it showed good promise ...

[ShawnC]

1 hour ago, Pro Jules said:

as these DSP models get more popular I think we should get to know more about this sort of info. 

There are plenty of threads on this subject on this site.  Kii three's and Dutch & Dutch 8C have numerous threads about the inner workings of the device, many with creators/engineers commenting in the threads, plus reviews. 

[Pro Jules]

Still waiting on a pair of HEDD type 20 Mark 2