Using a DSP and DAC


Hello
My speakers ( Legacy Audio Whispers) use a Xilica XP DSP as the crossover, its the last thing in line before the amps.
I use a PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC as the preamp, I have been wanting to upgrade to a better DAC.

So, heres my question, because the Xilica converts the analog to digital for processing and then back to analog,
is all "stuff" the DAC does for sound basically changed by the DSP, making a better DAC a waste of money?

or does the Xilica do its thing without changing the analog signal it gets from the DAC?

Thanks for your thoughts
saomco
Your analysis is 100% correct. The fancy DAC is wasted. Get to the Xilica directly via a digital source, if you can.


The kind of exception to this rule is if you are using a DSP on a subwoofer only. Then the fancy upstream DAC is still worthwhile.



Saomco, the real answer is to replace the older processor with the Wavelet which is far superior as a dac it is also better as a preamp

You can use a Wavelet only as a crossover and run a different preamp and dac.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Legacy dealers
thank you both for yor reply and advice

I have talked with legacy about the wavelet, but my issue with it is, the end user has no way to adjust the crossover or parametric eq points.
the unit has to be sent back to legacy to be changed, if they ever make it so I could adjust those settings myself, I would buy it. 

Legacy is the one that suggested the xilica, actually just bought it about 2 months ago. They had me to bypass the low end passive crossover and use the xilica for the crossover, to boost the signal by 6db and correct some off the whispers low end response, but just for the low end, because that area of the speaker rolls off so much.

 if I only had the 40hz to 200hz range run thru the xilica for the low end, the rest of the speaker doe not have to run thru the xilica, 

so would the 200hz and up be worth a better DAC?

thanks for your time


@erik_squires 

No, it's not. Play with a pair of Genalecs before you make statement like that. They sample at high enough of a rate that you can entirely hear the difference between various DACs. I've said it before and I'll say it again. A well tuned Focal 65 can easily blow away $20K to $30K hifi systems, a well tuned Genalac 8351 can pretty much kill all of them.  I have no idea what sampling rates they use inside, but I can instantly tell whether it's Mojo, Hugo2 or Dave plugged in. And no, I'm not knocking down HiFi, Lord knows I own way too many Luxman and Audio Research systems, but if I want to hear a recording the way it was recorded, I'll listen to my desk setups, one with Focal 65s and another with my Genalecs.
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