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More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 20 for Windows => Topic started by: toddrhodes on January 10, 2015, 09:28:08 pm

Title: Help with new room setup using MC20
Post by: toddrhodes on January 10, 2015, 09:28:08 pm
Hi all, first post here. I'm building a room downstairs to serve as an office/audio room. I'll be using a PC running MC20 to output to a MyDac then onto a Rega Brio-R to power two DIY three-way monitors (Troels Graven's ScanSpeak Discovery to be specific). I am going to pre-wire for two subs as well with two RCA and speaker-level outputs on each wall. I would love to cross over the monitors at 40-50 and send the reset of the sound to the subs which I know I can do with MC20's DSP engine. My question is how can I output the monitor's audio to the MyDac but then send the rest of the information via preouts on my onboard soundcard to the subwoofers? Would I set up multiple zones for this kind of thing with the 40+ info using the USB device and then my internal soundcard preouts for the sub? I use MC20 for all media upstairs and have played with zones to get 2 channel and surround media to work differently but up there, everything just runs through an HDMI connection to my AVR which acts as a pre/pro out to a separate amp. The AVR handles sub pre-out to the sub in that system. In the downstairs system, I won't have this luxury and the Rega has no line-level out to work with, though I'm not sure that would make any difference in my use case.

Worst case, I can "stack" bananas on the speaker level outs of the Rega to feed the subs with speaker level input but I personally think line level would be cleaner AND I'd like to have a high-pass filter on the monitors to avoid distortion. The room is a blank canvas right now (literally just studs and foundation walls) so I can wire for whatever, I'm just trying to think through how this could work. Thanks for any advice!

Todd
Title: Re: Help with new room setup using MC20
Post by: Vincent Kars on January 11, 2015, 07:45:28 am
I have no hands-on experience with this type of setup but I think it is doable technically.
Set up 2 zones e.g. Monitor and Sub.
Link both so what is playing is send to both zones.
Per zone configure the DSP (low pass/high pass filters).

As you have 2 DACs (sound card and MyDac) you have 2 different clocks.
They won’t  run at exactly the same speed and won’t have the same clock drift so you might get a difference in phase.
Hence it will play but the question is if the delay between the 2 remains below the audible threshold.

Normally this is done by using or one multi-channel DAC or multiple DACs synchronized by a word-clock.
Title: Re: Help with new room setup using MC20
Post by: toddrhodes on January 11, 2015, 12:57:48 pm
Thank you for the help! I may look into a multichannel DAC as I'd rather go about it the right way, rather than trying to shoehorn a solution together.