Music in the Round

Music in the Round #57 Contacts

Sidebar: Contacts

Atlantic Technology, 343 Vanderbilt Avenue, Norwood, MA 02062. Tel: (781) 762-6300. Fax: (781) 762-6868. Web: www.atlantictechnology.com.

DSPeaker, Hermiankatu 8G, 33720 Tampere, Finland. Tel: (358) 3-3140-8221. Fax: (358) 3-3140-8288. Web: www.dspeaker.com. US distributor: www.simplifiaudio.com.

MSR Acoustics, Inc., 61 Galli Drive, Suite B, Novato, CA 94949. Tel: (800) 497-2087, (415) 883-1476. Fax: (415) 883-8147. Web: www.msr-inc.com.

ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
ssimon's picture
Submitted by ssimon on November 15, 2012 - 7:02pm

Hi Kal,

Could you comment on the anti-mode 2.0's quality as a preamp?

Thanks

S

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on November 16, 2012 - 7:38am

I did not use it without another preamp in the system for an significant time.  So, I can only infer that it would work from the observations that it performed very well in its A/D/A mode and that the VC was smooth and unnoticeable.  In addition, one can adjust the input sensitivity of the A/D input to optimize resolution, SNR and, logically, the range over which you would use the VC.

Kal

Naveb's picture
Submitted by Naveb on November 25, 2012 - 5:26am

Hi Kal,

I'm curious that you say you found XLR in/out to be the more transparent configuration. Running it this way the Ant-Modes dac does the final D to A conversion, and compared to sending the unit a digital signal the only differnce is that another redundant D to A stage is being added further upstream. I'm curious how, thinking logically, as extra DA conversion could make the sound more tranparent? That updstream dac could add some colour, which might be prefered, but how it could make it more transparent....

Cheers

 

N.

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on November 25, 2012 - 2:49pm

That is the subjective impression but, you are right, such a statement is, as Spock would say, illogical.    Guilty.

The unfortunate concommitant of using it with digital i/o in my system is that it would then only apply to the one source to which it was connected.

Kal 

Naveb's picture
Submitted by Naveb on November 26, 2012 - 1:38am

Thanks for the reply. 

 

Reading through there litrature it seems one can connect USB, Toslink and anlague inputs all at the same time, while outputting analogue or digital, the only thing that cant be done is connect two analogue inputs at once. If I havent misread. Hopefully not as I'm thinking of buying one. Cheers

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on November 26, 2012 - 9:13am

That is correct and, if that array of options suits your needs (only one of each type of input), the 2.0 can be a system controller or precede a digital processor.  It does not suit my needs and, therefore, I could not use it in such a way.

Sir Robert's picture
Submitted by Sir Robert on December 6, 2012 - 2:50pm

Hi,

 

Please note that Creative Sound Solutions is the authorized Canadian supplier for the DSPeaker products.

 

Thanks

Bob

Tarjin22's picture
Submitted by Tarjin22 on December 8, 2012 - 2:23pm

Your observations and excellent descriptions are mostly an expansion on a user manual telling us the range of ways to set up this gizmo. You really did not report on how it sounds, which is a remarkable omission. Can you expand on its affect on music reproduction, both good and bad, in its various configurations?

Thanks!

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on March 17, 2013 - 9:13am

Sorry for that and for the delay in responding.  For the review, I used it only in the auto mode. The EQ definitely cleaned up the bass from about 200Hz down with all of the speakers I tried.  In practice, it lets you set up the speakers for imaging and not bother (much) about bass optimization.   It was quite transparent so there was negligible effect on the rest of the spectrum.  

It even cleaned up the midbass bulge of the Anthem amps!

X