Hi all
I am sure that Naim does follow the purist viewpoint. I really do think that it is time for Naim to explore and include their own version. Physical room treatment can be very expensive, intrusive and cause partner strife. Digital treatment is definitely the future for many companies now, because the benefits are so obvious. I do understand the ‘pros and cons’, I am sure that Naim will ‘have’ to introduce it eventually, despite what they may think now. it will become almost a standard feature in the future. If introduced now, it will only enhance the brand and compliment my very difficult listening room. IMO
I expect some very interesting responses
Although Naim don’t offer room correction currently your Nova supports Roon which does offer very flexible EQ facilities. And of course you can then EQ your room now.
Naim claimed to have investigated this during the development of the 272 and abandoned it as they felt the detrimental effect on sound quality was too great. Maybe they will revisit it in future, or perhaps they are even doing so now. We’ll never know until such time as they have something ready for release.
In the meantime you can add room correction through Roon. It works very well, but in my limited experience there is always a downside, and it would be quite an extreme downside if you were to use it as an alternative to physical treatment in a difficult room.
I know Roon does, but as with physical treatments also having a downside, the combination of both must be better than not, in my view. I do not use Roon at the moment, as I use my own server etc
Regarding negative effect on sound quality, the key question is which is worse, adverse room effects or the negative effect of the DSP. I guess that in many rooms of poor acoustic quality any negative effect on sound quality by using DSP may well far less than the negative effect of the room on sound reproduction.
However, digital correction is NOT a substitute for room treatment, and cannot fix all problems - indeed the more serious ones tend to be the ones it can’t - and in some cases trying can lead rapidly to speaker destruction. But it can certainly improve some things, so could certainly be better than nothing, and and more particularly DSP would be a good complement to judicious room treatment, though that is when the question regarding adverse effect on sound quality would come to the fore.
Agreed. The more room correction you can do with carpets, rugs, curtains and speaker positioning etc the better. After that DSP can work wonders, the key is a light touch and not a ruler flat target.
You mean NAS with Asset or similar?
Simple analog bass and treble controls on Naim preamps and integrateds would solve many problems related to room acoustics. A loudness button would also take care of late evening low volume listening.
As I have suggested previously on this forum, there is a good case for proper ‘loudness’ correction, calibrated to actual sound level in the room - but not a crude on-off button that is only near right at one particular sound level.
I agree, a variable loudness (contour) like the one I have on my Nakamichi 630 or a 2 level bass boost as the one seen on the Leben CS300.
I don’t see any negative affects of DSP only gains. Sorry but when it’s done well and by someone who understands it, it works wonders and improves the performance of a system I don’t hear any negatives. Even my basic office system now sounds extremely good adding DSP via Roon and it’s a horrid room acoustically
My RME DAC gets it right works extremely well.
It is often said to have a negative effect on sound quality, however I, too, haven’t noticed any negative effect with the DSP I apply - I guess because the benefit outweighs any negative. However as I said, it can’t cure all ills (e.g early reflections and comb filtering), while attempting to boost out a bass dip if it is due to cancellation is a rapid path to speaker damage.
If people want DSP, tone controls or loudness buttons there are plenty of products on the market to meet those needs. Buy a Linn, but don’t make Naim into Linn.
On the other hand, according to the Fletcher Munson curve, not using some kind of loudness compensation for low level music listening is like going against science… What a compromise being a purist
Time to link to this thread again
.sjb
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