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Motu 24Ao and Reaper


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After  a couple of years experimenting with surround ambiance, I decided that Motu 24Ao was the right multi channel DAC for my setup. My initial plan was to use Mytek DAC for the main channels and Motu for the rest but for now I am happy with the sound quality of Motu itself for the main channel. I am still blind testing Mytek and Motu so it is hard to draw any conclusion for now. In any event, my approach is not a typical purist audiophile approach and therefore my opinion about the SQ is not relevant to most of the readers here.

 

I also use Reaper DAW to route audio from JRiver split to 32 channels for multichannel format and surround ambiance via SIR2 convolution engine.  SIR2 is running 72 impulse response to fire the surround speakers to create the a virtual environment where the RT60 can be anywhere from 0.3ms to more than 2 seconds long reverbs. I also use several modified impulse response to create the first reflections in the room as room treatment.

 

Here below is a short video recorded with the phone (horrible sound) where the level of the first reflection in the rear of the room (via surround speakers) alters the soundstage and definition of the main speakers sound. All sound changes only effected through the surround speakers. The main channels remain unaltered. This is a cheap and efficient method to tune your current setup without altering anything. Unlike other methods where the convolution is used with the main speakers to flavour the original sound, this method do not add the reverbs to the main speakers.

 

I will be uploading better quality audio to compare Mytek and Motu sound later. 

 

https://flic.kr/p/M5yoYW  click here for the video demo.

 

 

 

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51 minutes ago, Gadgety said:

Hey, very cool! Found your blog interesting. What ambience speakers and amps are you using?

 

Thank you for liking the blog. I am using simple small HT speakers for the ambiance. You do not need full range nor high power amps for the ambiance as the sound of the ambiance do not contain much of the LF and HF. It will sound like sound from reflected wall surface with no apparent direction. I will add sound sample later.

 

I use small 25watt amplifiers for the surrounds and a 150Watter for the 120 degree ambiance speakers because the same speakers will be used for multi channels track. This speakers should be a better one than the rest of the ambiance. Having said that, it is important that the main front speakers must be the best as you could afford. 

 

Cheers!

ST

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you for the reply! Sorry for my late response which is due to my not checking my emails. I see you use Soundlab main speakers. I would be interested in learning more about the rest of the amps/speakers.  I checked out the 24ao for a ambiophonics set up in 2016, but never went ahead. Are you using ESLs for the two front mains, and dynamic speakers for all the ambience/surrounds? In the end the quality of the speakers and their drivers will have an impact. I find it difficult to find speakers that would mix well with ELSs, handle the Hz, and not break the bank for a large amount of channels.

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I started this project with Harbeth Super 5.  It worked well and the only reason I replaced it with Sound Lab was for the line array type speakers which are more suitable and accurate for crosstalk cancellation. But once you get used to ESL colorless sound it is hard to go back to dynamic speakers. The other one, IMO,  Russel’s IDS-25 could fit in nicely. Generally, any good speakers for the main two front channels are important. 

 

For rest of the speakers you can opt for small ones and again this depends very much om the size of the room. The qualities of this speakers are not important as the they are only reproducing the reverbs. You don’t need extended LF nor HF so any speakers without distortion should be fine. 

 

For multichannels, you may want to get a good pair of speakers and the appropriate amplifier for the rear speakers. 

 

The role ole of the ambience speakers are just to reproduce the sound like bouncing off the wall so the quality of those speakers are not so important. As long as you cannot localize the speakers even after you increased the volume more than the main speakers then they are fine to use.  The other area you want to pay attention is the convolution engine. I am happy with the zero latency of SIR2. You may want to do more research to see if Voxengo’s Pristine or WaveIR better than SIR2.  

 

Hope, I have covered everything. Lastly, a good subwoofer is beneficial especially for soundtracks. Make it two if you can.  

 

Cheers!

 

ST

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