Rives PARC parametric equalizer

Shadome--well stated. We have found on installing the PARC in systems where people have been used to the bass bloat for some time, we have to reduce the attenuation on the notch filters as much as 50%. It's almost like we have to ween them off of the bloated bass because they have become so used to it--as you say "recalibrate". We have also found--even for myself, that totally flat is not pleasing. A little interaction with the room and bass is needed to give us a sense of space--a context so to speak. I think some people have gone for flat and found it's a bit on the sterile side, but that is the beauty of it--you can adjust it not only for accurate measurement, but for personal tastes as well.

I have heard the PARC--obviously, in very high end systems. There are a few things that you might do to see what it could possibly do to the signal--we engineered these things in for just this purpose.

First, the bypass is a true bypass. It goes off the audio boards. Second, if you power down then all the circuitry is removed from the PARC and all you are left with is the connections. You might set up a memory that has no attenuation for any band and then go to bypass and then turn the unit off. In theory--if the PARC is totally transparent and has no effect what so ever you would hear no difference in these 3 settings. Let's face it, you are going through a more complex signal path with each of these. In the world of mega buck cables, speakers, and room acoustics you can hear the difference in almost anything--but here is a way to hear exactly what that difference is. Give it a try--you be the judge.

Dotsystem is right in that the PARC bypass goes from an input across a relay to an output. If the PARC is totally out of the system you avoid the relay and the additional connection. My point about the test was assume that you must have the connection and yes, that is one more connection and one more opportunity for signal degredation, then what is the PARC doing to the signal once you've made that connection.

I've done what Dotsystem does in a previous system and had no issues. The PARC is an analog device, no A/D and D/A and buffering associated with the time delays. You are right that with a digital parametric this could be a concern, but with analog circuitry it's negligible.