Is DEQX a game changer?

Bruce, I agree with you. Time alignment and room eq can be adjusted independently - whenever I have moved the listening seat slightly, it had an impact on the timing but very little on the eq and I have hardly ever changed that. If your sub sounds like it integrates perfectly and bass is natural - that is what really matters

The working DEQX file can have the time alignment tweaked (via the configurator) but eq is adjusted via the control panel and only affects the configuration if it is 'saved to DEQX' and then the original file is saved again. That's one of the features of this software, you can play about endlessly if you want and return to any previously saved version

12-04-14: Bifwynne
So far, I think the biggest bang for the buck lies with room EQ. That is what has the greatest impact on imaging and soundstage and tonal presentation.

I concede that time alignment makes for purer, more "honest" tonal reproduction, but nothing messes up what comes out of the speakers more than a screwed up FR, further twisted by room effect. IMHO.

Hey BIF.
And that nails the crux of crossroad I find myself facing. Bypass the passive XO in my 3-way speakers and go with digital XO into an 8-channel DAC to time align the speakers and the subs, plus room correction with Acourate? This means do without the beloved preamp and select from a handful mostly non-audiophile 8-channel DACs...
Or just use Acourate for room correction, keep the preamp in the chain and focus on upgrading my DAC...decisions, decisions!

I can't remember the scope of time alignment in your system. Is it subs-to-main speakers, or are you using the active XO in the DEqX and aligned your mains drivers and also the subs? This would help put your comment above into perspective.

Glad you are having such good results with the DEQX!

Lewinskih01 .... you wrote:

"I can't remember the scope of time alignment in your system. Is it subs-to-main speakers, or are you using the active XO in the DEqX and aligned your mains drivers and also the subs? This would help put your comment above into perspective."

Yes, Larry the DEQXPert time aligned as best he could my self power sub and my front speakers. I say "as best he could" because my speakers' woofers are in opposite polarity from the tweeter/midrange. I seem to recall he had to make compromises.

My DEQX is the PreMATE. It does not have an active x-over function. The HDP-4 is the top of the line unit and it does have active x-over capability.

Now ... as regards time alignment ... I may have overstated or perhaps understated its importance. Larry did time alignment on his first pass two months ago. During the second pass the other night, he fine tuned room EQ. There were additional improvements achieved as I mentioned above.

Your question touches on the narrower point re the importance of time alignment as a stand alone attribute. I'm not sure I can honestly answer the question because Larry corrected both attributes on his first pass: time alignment AND room EQ.

I'll defer to Andrew (Drewan77). Andrew is super facile with his DEQX and can probably speak to the importance of time alignment as a stand alone attribute. I imagine he would have to do a "with" and "without" comparison.

My bottom line is this: my system sounds better WITH the DEQX in place. Larry "tamed" my speaker's time alignment shortcomings and room EQ effects. Perfect -- NO. Better - YES.

Personally, I think a "DEQX-type" unit is a must for a serious hobbyist who dropped a lot of bucks into their rig and who cares about the sound of the music playback.

I question out loud how folks who spend a small fortune on top of the line speakers can even know how good their speakers sound if they have a screwed up room. So, even if one owned time aligned speakers like Vandies or GMAs, all the time alignment in the world will not fix a screwed up room.

question out loud how folks who spend a small fortune on top of the line speakers can even know how good their speakers sound if they have a screwed up room. So, even if one owned time aligned speakers like Vandies or GMAs, all the time alignment in the world will not fix a screwed up room.
Bifwynne

Amen!!
(& I have written & said such a thing before too many times to count now). Good to see Bruce echoing the same now.....

here's a cut & paste from a (cheeky) post (cheeky parts scrubbed) from back in 2012 when one Audiogon member started a thread called "Room Treatment made me cry.....a little" - he had discovered the huge benefits of room treatment....

03-26-12: Bombaywalla
Amazing and not expected, at least not this level of improvement and emotional connection.
I'm very happy for you now that you are so emotionally connected to your music during playback. Good job!

........ it's been written & said (if you attend audio shows, informal gatherings at friends' places, dealer's showrooms, etc) that the room is perhaps the most important interface to a music playback system. You could get 1 item each from every Stereophile A list OR TAS's best of the best OR from your favourite audio mag and you could connect those components together in your listening room & you will find that your sonics are not A-list at all; in fact, not even close until you treat your room. You could have trolled the A'gon archives for tomes written on this subject to find that the room is the inital/final frontier w.r.t. playback. Anyway, I/we are happy that you learnt this ......... Enjoy your music...........
Bombaywalla

Lewinskih01, If I remove the time alignment, imaging and soundstage collapses to a much flatter representation - something I hadn't fully appreciated until I included DEQX in the chain. Recordings which include original acoustics sound quite stunning when DEQX has time aligned all drivers and frequencies

For a three way system + subs you would need to add something like mini DSP for 8 channels as one DEQX unit will only cover 6 channels (ie HDP-4). Use DEQX on the main speakers where the benefits are most significant and another device to time align the subs. Alternatively, leave a passive crossover between treble-mid or mid-bass on the main speakers and use the remaining two HDP-4 channels for the subs

When an initial DEQX measurement is taken, the software will attempt to correct whatever it hears so if there is a passive crossover in the chain and any drivers are out of phase or timing, it will automatically correct that in the calibration it makes. Doing this process outdoors 'anechoically' produces the best results

Subsequent time alignment to subs and then room equalisation will enable you to remove almost all the damage done by your room so whatever speakers you listen to will perform closer to optimum, as Bruce has experienced