The reduction in CPUload sounds to be a potential SQ improvement.
I am slso excited to see new low frequency plots given my abundance of Qty 8 12 inch woofers.
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This is great, we love no charge updates / upgrades!
Any comparisons with the prior version?
We are having an interesting few weeks, First off we received a Decware ZROCK2 and it made a nice improvement, then we received a Wathen CryoTone 12AU7 Long Plate tube and it made another marked improvementā¦
So starting about 4 days ago my right ear sounds like a torrential rain storm is outside 24/7, my hearing from my right ear is minuscule. Been to the ENT Doc. Now waiting to get in for my ear test (next week sometime). I think itās just a sinus clog, but boy is this cutting into our listing time. 
Any suggestions?
I hope everything straightens out for you. Hopefully not permanent. Not sure but is it tininitus or a environmental thing allergies?
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Hopefully just a sinus infection.
Iāll appreciate the music even more when this passes.
Thank You,
Steve
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I recent upgraded my system from the BACCH4Mac Intro version to the BACCH4Mac Audiophile version. Here are the differences I hear. I apologize for the long post!
The sound field is more dense or more solid. Performers and their instruments are more realistically located in the sound image. Everything is in much better focus with sharper clarity. It seems as if sounds within the Intro (and pre-BACCH4Mac) image were slightly smeared compared to the Audiophile image. Of course, it did not at all sound smeared to me beforehand. This may have to do with the type of speakers I have. They are tall ribbon speakers where the tweeter, mid-range and woofer ribbons are not in a vertical line. The Intro version uses an angle to approximate the BACCH filter. Different angles would be required for the tweeter, mid-range and woofer for my speakers. The soundstage seems to have deepened. With the Intro version some performers moved slightly forward. Now the performers are further back where they should be. I was wondering if the upgrade was going to be worth it. To my ears and with my system, I cannot go back to the Intro version. In a test that was quite fascinating, pink noise was feed to both speakers. With the Audiophile filter cancelling crosstalk from the right speaker, I only heard the pink noise from the left speaker. With the Intro filter, the pink noise was centered about 1/3 of the way from the left speaker to the right speaker. This shows how much information from the right speaker was leaking into the left speaker sound image with the Intro BACCH filter.
The significantly increased focus and clarity is always present, independent of the recording being played. The expansive 3D sound field does vary with recordings, but is present for almost everything I listen to. These two aspects greatly add to the realism of what I am listening to. I donāt think of performers being in my listening room (this just too unrealistic to me), but rather that I have been transported to a venue appropriate to the music. This feeling is extremely vivid if I close my eyes.
If I had not heard the Audiophile BACCH4Mac filter I would have been happy with the Intro version. The concept behind BACCH is pretty fascinating to me and I just wanted to know what was possible with my system. Upgrading BACCH4Mac is similar to all system upgrades. The nice thing is the ability to try it out and get your money back if it doesnāt seem worth it. I know that most of my core components (pre-amp, DAC and speakers) are all quite old (30+ yrs.) If I start upgrading them, the SQ may improve. However, I am very happy with the way everything sounds right now with what I have. I hope this helps those who are considering upgrading from the BACCH4Mac Intro to the BACCH4Mac Audiophile version.
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I wish I could understand all this and believe it is better than what we have been listening to for a hundred years
I think that saying it is better than what we have been listening to for 100 years is too strong. I would say that for me and my system it is better. Maybe for you it would not be. We all are striving towards different goals.
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Question: Can you use the Mac for other purposes as well? Or is it dedicated to BACCH? For example, if not listening via BACCH in two channels, can the same Mac be used for watching home theatre in ātraditionalā ATMOS surround via another endpoint? Like, could I replace my Nvidia Shield with a Mac and as I like switch between BACCH stereo and running Kodi on the Mac to watch movies or to stream shows in surround or to listen to ATMOS audio?
Yes, I believe the Mac can be used for other purposes. BACCH4Mac is just an application. You can turn it off and run other applications. Mine is dedicated to my audio system. One of our forum members indicated that he preferred BACCH filters to his HT system because it is more realistically 3D. I am not familiar with the ATMOS system (just never heard one). Does the ATMOS create a 3D sound field or does it just immerse you in sound? Hope this helps.
Which Mac mini do you have and how much memory? I would like to have the Roon core running also to eliminate my Windows 11 laptop.
Thanks,
Robert
Hi @ganache
How glad I am to read your appreciations about the audiophile version.
My kit should arrive in two more weeks and Iām really looking forward to installing it.
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I have a Mac M1 Mini with 8gb of memory. I purchased it used on eBay. The latest software release that was mentioned by Vmax is much more efficient reducing memory and CPU loads.
Thanks.
I successfully executed the bacch dsp13 upgrade It was easy as cake. I agree the image clarity of in room images seems to have improved. Nothing fuzzy anywhere.
Have yet to make new ear microphone room filters or explore new menus. This is like being on easy street compared to my last couple of DS MK II firmware experiences. No UI struggling.
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I belive the top of the line BACCH-SP can do six channels at once. I believe the Absolute Sound reviewer went to Edgars Lab and tested it with multichannel with mixed results. I do not believe Edgar has designed programming for a multi channel setup, rather they were trying to see how close BACCH filters could get to multichannel sound.
I do plan to upgrade at some point to his top of the line unit. I think Edgar believes unless you can make use of AES/EBU inputs it may not be something I need to consider. Hmmmmm.
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I set up new head tracking filters. The last set was before final acoustic panel install. The new set is crazy good sounding. The FR Plots below 80 Hz are quite a bit different. L and R channels frequency response at sweet spot pretty even now. Pretty amazing considering 14 feet back and given room skewed and full of bass suck-outs on right windows and doors.
Here is a curve from bacch-dsp2 before my latest panel and the new Inakustik pure silver
USB cable
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ATMOS is a multi-speaker surround sound system used in theatres, with high level speakers as well as floor level. I share my stereo speakers and their amp between three systems. I would not mix up BACCH and ATMOS.
More and more new music is now being mixed for and released in ATMOS. ATMOS that is streamed on Tidal or Apple usually has lossy underlying surround sound at the floor level. But Bluray ATMOS usually has lossless floor level sound.
Again, I would not mix up BACCH and ATMOS. It is just that I already have Windows and Linux OS systems in the house and Iād prefer to be able to eliminate at least some source devices were I to add iOS to the house.
Maybe I can emulate iOS on Linux in Docker. But I would not expect it to be stable.
I can rationalize getting a Mac if I can retire my Nvidia Shield, used for my ATMOS home theatre and ATMOS music.
Note: DSD Surround is the third system. Stereo is of course the first system. I would test BACCH with it.
Absolutely none of us who use BACCH are interested in using it with ATMOS. I feel confident this is true.
I put this in the same category as donāt put your hand on the stove to see if itās hot.
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Thatās why I wrote, āI would not mix up BACCH and ATMOSā twice. But I was asked above what ATMOS is. So I answeredā¦