28-Mar-2018, 14:43
Amongst all the chat about special boxes (eg Mutec), special signal cables (eg my own Shunyata), digital room correction (eg home audio fidelity); not to mention mains conditioners and mains cable and grounding boxes; how many of us have ever tried the amazingly versatile tone controls on the Devialet?
Just looking at "treble" and taking less than the almost infinite choices available, you can
- set to cut at "off", or 10kHz or 8kHz or 6kHz or 4kHz or 2kHz;
- set the filter slope to "off" or 24dB/octave or 18dB/octave or 12 dB/octave or 6dB/octave;
- set the tone control adjustment to "off" or +2% or +4% or +6% or +8% or +10% or -2% or -4% or -6% or -8% or -10%.
I think that is over 200 possibilities (and the same number on the bass; even ignoring SAM), so that amounts to 40,000 possibilities.
Given that music, through a digital code, only has three core components - intensity, frequency and time, albeit in innumerable combinations, why do we often look for the monetary solution when there are so many free solutions to explore first? And this doesn't even touch on using acoustic foam tiles which are readily and cheaply available at £70/sq m and where the effects can be profound (but perhaps domestically unacceptable).
Going back 30 years or so, tone controls provided by the likes of Quad (the basic ones on the 33 pre and the step and slope and tilt ones on the 44 pre and later) were criticised by the hifi mags during the Linn and Naim era, as being largely subtractive. But now, in the digital domain, they must be different - but rarely they get a mention.
Just looking at "treble" and taking less than the almost infinite choices available, you can
- set to cut at "off", or 10kHz or 8kHz or 6kHz or 4kHz or 2kHz;
- set the filter slope to "off" or 24dB/octave or 18dB/octave or 12 dB/octave or 6dB/octave;
- set the tone control adjustment to "off" or +2% or +4% or +6% or +8% or +10% or -2% or -4% or -6% or -8% or -10%.
I think that is over 200 possibilities (and the same number on the bass; even ignoring SAM), so that amounts to 40,000 possibilities.
Given that music, through a digital code, only has three core components - intensity, frequency and time, albeit in innumerable combinations, why do we often look for the monetary solution when there are so many free solutions to explore first? And this doesn't even touch on using acoustic foam tiles which are readily and cheaply available at £70/sq m and where the effects can be profound (but perhaps domestically unacceptable).
Going back 30 years or so, tone controls provided by the likes of Quad (the basic ones on the 33 pre and the step and slope and tilt ones on the 44 pre and later) were criticised by the hifi mags during the Linn and Naim era, as being largely subtractive. But now, in the digital domain, they must be different - but rarely they get a mention.
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