And so the next major audiophile engineering challenge is, err, well what?

[The Grand Wazoo]

From The Grave


The original post is ............a-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l the way back there, so here's the crux of the biscuit:

What do the forum feel is the most significant technological / engineering challenge facing audiophile designers currently?

I'm not thinking here of the makers reducing the production cost or similarly ‘mundane’ economic aspects like that. Rather, for example, achieving say bigger performance from smaller boxes, or perhaps generating ribbon clarity for cone drivers. Issues like that really.

[MartinT]

- Displays that can be clearly read from across the room

- Remote controls that are ergonomically designed

- Balanced XLR connections that have the same polarity worldwide

- Finishes that can be properly cleaned

- Warranties and MTBF that reflect the price paid

[dave2010]

Seconded. Offboard DACs are really big news at the moment as more folk discover that (almost) any digital source running through a quality DAC can sound amazing.

For me DACs are good, but the inability to handle analogue sources is sometimes a problem given the amps I currently use. A multi input DAC with a few analogue inputs might be useful.

i don't suppose multi channel is of too much interest, but maybe some form of multi channel DAC could be useful, though debatable whether high quality would be an issue for mass markets.

There are still some who seem to like, for example, multi channel SACD sound, and ways of doing that without having to hook up lots of different kit with many different wires might be a good way forward. It'd probably need wireless distibution to the loudspeakers though to avoid cables, so the wireless DACs to select the channel and then driving the speakers directly could do the trick. There'd not be much point in doing this badly though, as the SQ possible from a SACD deck or similar digital "transport" ought to be high.

Probably add ad least £100 to the cost of each speaker, and maybe a lot more.

Ability to reassign speakers to channels quickly (electronically) would be useful. For example it might be easy to move just one speaker in a multi channel set up to play 3 channel recordings, with a quick reassignment of the centre channel. Depends of course how many speakers are available, but would avoid rather tedious rewiring and connecting to amps just to play a few recordings.

[sq225917]

The integration of all the potential audio sources into one unit.

[jostber]

For me DACs are good, but the inability to handle analogue sources is sometimes a problem given the amps I currently use. A multi input DAC with a few analogue inputs might be useful.

The Furutech Esprit might be getting closer to what you need:

http://www.adl-av.com/products/usbdac/esprit/

[The Grand Wazoo]

A multi input DAC with a few analogue inputs might be useful.

..........so a preamp then? With an integrated DAC?

I started a thread about this a while ago but it never really took off. I see this from the other end of the telescope - it seems to me that many preamps are being marketed as DAC's at the moment but they are limited in that they only cater for digital sources.

[StanleyB]

I own such an amp. It is called a Ditton DDP 5.1. It has 4 digital inputs several analogue inputs, and even a phono input. Bought it many years ago. I think Richer Sound sold it. Price was about £1500.

[dave2010]

I own such an amp. It is called a Ditton DDP 5.1. It has 4 digital inputs several analogue inputs, and even a phono input. Bought it many years ago. I think Richer Sound sold it. Price was about £1500.

What kind of digital inputs did it have? Unless you use HDMI or some other input, or compressed digital data most units with SPDIF or TOSLINK inputs - maybe even AES, will only do 2 channel/digital input connection.

It should be possible to use digital connections to feed at least 10 channels down one "wire".

Equipment compatibility, amongst other things, is an issue here. Maybe wireless really is the way to go.

[StanleyB]

I lost the instructions years ago, but I could connect my DVD player TOSLINK output to it and play back 5.1 audio tracks via the Ditton. It is a 5.1 amp as well after all.

[dave2010]

I lost the instructions years ago, but I could connect my DVD player TOSLINK output to it and play back 5.1 audio tracks via the Ditton. It is a 5.1 amp as well after all.

I suspect that was in a compressed digital mode, appropriate for surround sound DVDs e.g films, rather than music.