Hedd Active Speakers

[Silly goose]

These little active speakers look so attractive, I may need to pull the trigger on a pair of the 7's. What's not to like? First of all they are designed by a very famous engineer. The cabinets are built like tanks using a unibody construction with 38mm thick baffle!. They use very high end drivers with beautiful AMT tweeters. Built in Icepower amps. Analog crossover. Both RCA and XLR analog inputs. And coolest feature of all is their optional Bridge digital interface/DAC module. It comes in 5 versions with either  Dante, Ravenna (AES 67), AES/EBU, USB or wireless. And it has a built in 2 channel DAC in the bridge. And no they aren't made in China either. Made in Germany! Best of all is the ultra low pricing for what you get. 

 

Here's the website:

 

http://www.hedd.audio/en/studio-monitors/

 

Info on the digital bridge/DAC options:

 

http://www.hedd.audio/en/hedd-bridge/

 

Loads of reviews:

 

http://www.hedd.audio/en/reviews/

 

And in the U.S you can buy here:

 

Type 05:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1284235-REG/hedd_type_05_studio_monitor.html/?gclid=CM-LhMKDjNMCFQRsfgodfFoN8w&c3api=0980%2C110369298413

 

Type 07:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1284237-REG/hedd_type_07_studio_monitor.html

 

Type 30:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1284238-REG/hedd_type_30_studio_monitor.html

 

Ravenna bridge/DAC:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1284236-REG/hedd_b2_aes67_2_channel_hedd_bridge.html

 

Dante Bridge/DAC:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1284239-REG/hedd_b1_dante_card_b1_dante_2_channel_hedd_bridge.html

 

AES/EBU Bridge/DAC:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1284240-REG/hedd_b3_aes3_2_channel_hedd_bridge.html

 

Video from NAAM:

 

 

 

[Silly goose]

I love how on the Ravenna bridge option you can directly compare the Ravenna input to USB:

 

 

[Silly goose]

These speakers would make a killer multichannel music rig as well. Since both Dante and Ravenna can sync together 100's of channels. 1 speaker for each channel. I can just imagine what 5 of the 30's would sound like with Roon as the media player! Home theater as well. All you would need is a PC with surround sound decoding software. 

[Silly goose]

Another great video interview:

 

 

[Silly goose]

Regarding resolution support for the Ravenna/USB board, it uses the Archwave Unet mini. According to their website it can go up to 24/192 PCM with licence. 

 

http://www.archwave.net/new-products-1-1/

 

 

[Silly goose]

To control the Ravenna bridge, you can use any network connected device, with any OS, to log into the browser 

 

 

[R1200CL]

This technology would only be interesting if you could have a stand alone Brigde. Working similar to the MicroRendu. So you can choose your own DAC etc. 

Also f I understand this right, the biggest advantage is to play multi room in sync and choose the best master clock. Correct ?

 

Also I think studio monitors is not meant for listen rooms. I think they are built with other purpose in mind. But this I really do know. 

[Silly goose]

Well it depends. Many people have no need or desire for a cluttered mess of boxes and cables. It's also nice to enjoy the added fidelity of active systems. To make a full system (server/DAC/preamp/amps/cables) with these speakers, all you need is a $130 Intel NUC, an Ethernet cable, and a pair of any of the speakers combined with the bridge. To me this is very attractive because I certainly don't have a fetish for multiple boxes and cables. 

 

And yes the Ravenna system allows you to clock sync dozens of endpoints. And it's much more flexible than the Microrendu because you're not married to one of the compatible media players that run the protocols the Microrendu runs. The speakers become a universal sound device on your computer just the same as if you plugged a USB DAC directly into your server. Only they can be located anywhere on the network. Even over WAN. Not only that the Archwave board spits out I2S direct to the DAC chip located less than in inch away. None of the messy USB-USB receiver chip-I2S conversions in the path. So there should be a huge increase in sound quality as well. A great bonus with this bridge is there's both the Ravenna input, and USB. So it would be very easy to compare both ports for sound quality. 

[Speed Racer]

19 minutes ago, Silly goose said:

It's also nice to enjoy the added fidelity of active systems. 

 

Compared to what? I don't see where you get the idea there is "added fidelity".

[Silly goose]

7 minutes ago, Speed Racer said:

 

Compared to what? I don't see where you get the idea there is "added fidelity".

If you are un-familiar with the advantages of going active and directly coupling the amps to the drivers with very short cables, and with no passive xover components in-between, here's a line from Chris's review of the Dynaudio Xeo:

 

 

"All things being equal, an active design will outperform a passive design every time"

 

 

Read that over a few times. 

[Speed Racer]

All other things being equal, yes, active crossovers with separate amps for each driver should be better. But, reality sets in again. Your pet solution here forces you to use their drivers and their amps. That's not usually a good thing.

 

http://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/bi-amping-active-crossover/

 

Read that over a few times.......

[Silly goose]

Oh yes optimizing the amplifiers to work specifically with the drivers is a horrible thing. I wouldn't expect PS Audio to say anything else. When people buy these products, they are no longer buying their's. 

 

Sounds like you will be among the crowd of Audiophiles I discuss in this thread, as all the music lovers enjoy far better sound and convenience moving forward with technology. 

 

 

[R1200CL]

Why not just remove the need of power as well ?

 

http://amkspeaker.com/dante/DS61A/AMK DS61-A.pdf

 

 

[Speed Racer]

22 minutes ago, Silly goose said:

Oh yes optimizing the amplifiers to work specifically with the drivers is a horrible thing. I wouldn't expect PS Audio to say anything else. When people buy these products, they are no longer buying their's. 

 

Sounds like you will be among the crowd of Audiophiles I discuss in this thread, as all the music lovers enjoy far better sound and convenience moving forward with technology. 

 

 

 

Hey, you buy what you want. I don't want to be stuck without real options. Maybe that is okay with you. It's not with me. If  the DAC and those amplifiers and drivers are exactly what you want, hooray for you. I will most certainly be looking elsewhere.

[semente]

1 hour ago, Silly goose said:

If you are un-familiar with the advantages of going active and directly coupling the amps to the drivers with very short cables, and with no passive xover components in-between, here's a line from Chris's review of the Dynaudio Xeo:

 

 

"All things being equal, an active design will outperform a passive design every time"

 

 

 

The problem is getting the "all things being equal" bit.

 

Some studio monitors can be bought in passive and active version and in those cases I would agree that in most cases the active version would perform better but this depends on the performance of the active amplification.

When you add the speaker manufacturer's DAC card, you are confining yourself to their offer and again this depends on performance.

 

The next question is: could an all in one studio monitor outperform a 3-piece hi-fi set of similar price?

 

I would also agree with @R1200CL that many studio monitors do not have the right balance for music playback but for highlighting changes to the mix.

But if you buy new, there's always the possibility of returning them if you're not happy. 

 

R

[firedog]

In the end it comes down also to budget and which gets you more SQ for the buck.

Read reviews of the new Kef LS50 actives: pretty much every reviewer who has compared the actives to the passives, even with good amps and DACs connected to the passives, prefers the actives.

 

The reason is simple: the actives allow a level of matching between speaker driver and amp that CAN'T exist in a typical passive setup with separates. 

 

But the question remains:  can you make a setup with passive LS50's that will sound better than KEF's active version?

 

Answer: Yes, by spending a lot more money. Like double or triple or more of what the complete active version costs. 

So there is no absolute about which way of doing it is "better"; but it is true that you can get much better sound for a lot less money with actives.

So if you have budgetary restrictions, actives make lots of sense - as long as you find a pair that you like. In other words, they make lots of sense IF you find a pair where you like the choices for amp, dac and speaker the designer has made for you. 

 

If you don't have budgetary restrictions, then we are in a different ballpark altogether. 

[Silly goose]

Great post Firedog. But let's not forget, if your budget is higher, there's higher end active solutions as well. Such as the $40000 active system with Ravenna input and up to DSD 256 support I'll be auditioning for my main system shortly. They claim it will compete with the very best systems regardless of cost. This is just a budget taste of what we have coming. From what I hear RMAF 2017 will be the year of Ravenna.

 

 However if we look at the 7's for example, combined with a $130 Intel NUC, and the Ravenna bridge, we have a $2000 system comprising of server/DAC/pre/amps and cables. $2000 doesn't get you much these days with a traditional box and cable setup. Hell the cost of a Microrendu/Regen combo, each powered by the LPS-1 costs that alone. And with this system using that gear via the USB input option, would only reduce flexibility and likely degrade the sound vs the Ravenna input. 

[Silly goose]

For anyone interested, here's some info on a new Ravenna board that will soon be going into scores of active speakers and DAC's. It will likely be the new industry standard within 2 years. 

 

I just got an email from this manufacturer and here's what he said about this board:

 

• Small form factor (59.6 x 44.5 mm)
• 2 versions: standard  (offering a cost-effective entry-point for low to moderate channel count, max 64x64 @ 1FS) and high performance (for higher channel count, max 256x256 @ 1FS, higher sampling frequencies, a combination thereof or higher processing requirements)
• Interconnection with the main board is done via piggyback connectors
• Channel based routing matrix with over 1000 channels capacity
• All PCM sampling frequencies from 44.1 to 192 kHz plus DXD and 384kHz supported. DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 supported.
• Full RAVENNA/AES67 IP stack including PTP (Precision Time Protocol, as Per RAVENNA/AES67 IEEE-1588-2008 standard) with master or slave capability
• Channel based routing matrix
• for low wander/jitter multi-devices synchronization over the Network 
• Low Phase Noise built-in Master Oscillator with optional facility to be locked to an externally supplied clock signal for even higher long-term stability (ie. OCXO, Atomic clock or GPS disciplined oscillator)
• Single 3.3V Power Supply with low Power Consumption (expected typically under 5W)

And it comes with VSC's for Linux, OSX and Windows. 

[R1200CL]

18 minutes ago, Silly goose said:

I just got an email from this manufacturer and here's what he said about this board:

 

Did he suggest a price ?

Picture ?

[Silly goose]

You will need to wait for RMAF 2017. I haven't even seen a picture. They are starting with a $40000 speaker with server built in and up to 40TB of music storage right in the speakers. Then they will come out with cheaper products after. But he tells me dozens of DAC and other speaker manufactures getting there hands on these boards as we speak as well. So the future is sure looking bright for audio. Personally I don't care about the DAC's. As far as I'm concerned the DAC should be in the speaker. But I guess manufacturers need to take baby steps to convert old school audiophiles slowly. 

[Speed Racer]

The DAC should be in the speaker? What about people that have multiple sets of speakers and headphones? Oh, you didn't consider that......

[Silly goose]

You can clock sync 1000 Ravenna based speakers if you want. Obviously for headphones you will need a separate player/DAC. I'm not talking about headphone rigs here. 

[Silly goose]

I was just reading Hedd has some active subs with the brdge module coming out soon. That will be completely awesome as you'll be able to perfectly time align and sync to the monitors via the PTP clock sync abilities with the AES67 module. Sounds like a game changer for active subs.

[Speed Racer]

Are you on the payroll? You sound like a total shill.

[Silly goose]

How did you know I work for Hedd, Dynaudio, and BHP Photo and video? I have the best job on the planet!

 

I'm just a shill for general all around smart engineering! Or is a prerequisite on this forum to only be an follower of inferior technology to show any enthusiasm?