DirectStream with a Sub? Help me Brainstorm!

Audio Components DACs
1

Howdy all!

I’ve been busy with work, and haven’t been able to hang out in here at all. My listening has been brief moments here and there as well, but things are starting to calm down at work, and I might have a little more time at home.

Anywho - I’m hoping you call can help me brainstorm.

I have several subs available to me, all custom drivers in built boxes with various (pro-grade) amps. And I have a MiniDSP that’s been sitting in the box for 2 years (hopefully I have all the plugs and software still!). So I can actively low-pass an output to my amps.

Here’s the rub - I don’t use a preamp - and I’ve read that it’s not a good idea to use the RCA outs at the same time as the Balanced Outs on the DirectStream. I’m currently running XLR from the DS directly to my amp. I just need to figure out how to run a sub amp off this setup…

Any ideas/suggestions that won’t wreck my direct connection to my amp, and allow me to add two lower octaves to my sound, without buying expensive hardware?

Thanks in advance for your ideas. I’m sure someone has run into something like this and has an idea or device I’ve not thought of yet…

~Eric~

2

If your sub has speaker level inputs you can tap into your speaker wire on the speaker or amp end. That is my preferred method anyway.

3

No, unfortunately my sub amps aren’t plate amps, but Pro amps like Crown and the like. Mostly older stuff that’s pure, heavy, horsepower.

4
Lonely Raven said Howdy all!

I’ve been busy with work, and haven’t been able to hang out in here at all. My listening has been brief moments here and there as well, but things are starting to calm down at work, and I might have a little more time at home.

Anywho - I’m hoping you call can help me brainstorm.

I have several subs available to me, all custom drivers in built boxes with various (pro-grade) amps. And I have a MiniDSP that’s been sitting in the box for 2 years (hopefully I have all the plugs and software still!). So I can actively low-pass an output to my amps.

Here’s the rub - I don’t use a preamp - and I’ve read that it’s not a good idea to use the RCA outs at the same time as the Balanced Outs on the DirectStream. I’m currently running XLR from the DS directly to my amp. I just need to figure out how to run a sub amp off this setup…

Any ideas/suggestions that won’t wreck my direct connection to my amp, and allow me to add two lower octaves to my sound, without buying expensive hardware?

Thanks in advance for your ideas. I’m sure someone has run into something like this and has an idea or device I’ve not thought of yet…

~Eric~


If the input impedance of the DSP is high, say above 30k, I wouldn’t have a problem suggesting you connect it with RCA.

5

I don’t know what it is, but I’ll find out. Thanks for the suggestion!

6

You can run the balanced XLR outs and single-ended RCAs simultaneously. The only downside is this will unbalance the XLRs. Thus, you loose common mode noise rejection compared to using the XLRs alone. For most, this is no issue. Depending on the load, the levels may also be lower but this does not harm anything; the DS is designed to happily drive just about any load with changing frequency response.

Short version: Try it and see if it works for you.

7

Hrm, the whole point of balanced is common mode rejection. I don’t want to give that up.

But then this subwoofer experiment is just that, an experiment, and isn’t integral to my system. I’m just curious what pipe organ and some other heavy recordings sound like with my 21" sub that goes down to 10Hz. :)

8
Lonely Raven said Hrm, the whole point of balanced is common mode rejection. I don't want to give that up.
Understandable conceptually, but it rarely is an issue for a run of a couple of feet in a home environment. Balanced was designed for runs hundreds of feet long, often carrying tiny microphone signals, in hideously noisy environments.

Try it and see. My bet is you will not notice anything other than a level change. You will not hurt anything.