Can (the one series) digital input be beaten?

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herbamare, modified 1 Year ago.

Can (the one series) digital input be beaten?

Youngling Posts: 0 Join Date: 7/28/21 Recent Posts

Hi all,

It's my first post here, so nice meeting you fellow Geneleccers :)

I've been thinking about this quite a bit after I first time hooked up the 83x1's using their digital input and was completely blown away by the sound. It was truly spectacular and never I had heard such a clarity and detail before.

Converters really make a difference and that's why people spend a lot of money on them. I started thinking how much do I have to spend on converter (and use analogue in's) to get that level of precision and clarity. 500€? 3000? 15,000? Or is it even possible?

The fun fact is that the analog signal is being converted to digital inside the speaker anyways for DSP, right?

Why would anyone spend 10 grand on a converter if it won't make any difference?

Or do you think that you can get more precise, balanced and detailed sound with a separate converter hooked up to the analog inputs?

Keen to know your thoughts on this

lukester, modified 1 Year ago.

RE: Can (the one series) digital input be beaten?

Jedi Master Posts: 296 Join Date: 4/22/10 Recent Posts

A high end D/A will not bring more clarity and detail in this case,
but rather add it's own tonal characteristics.
A used a 4000€ Forsell D/A with my 8351s for a bit, sound was a bit warmer, nicer than with a 500€ RME unit.
went to AES digital signal anyway and sold the D/A because it wasn't worth it and you get lower noise floor on the speakers in digital mode.
The weakness of the digital genelecs is that they don't accept external clocking and that the new class-D amps are a bit on the cool side.
That doesn't change the fact that they are a versatile compact package with excellent price/performance.