Is DEQX a game changer?

Just got my copy of the December Stereophile. Kal, thanks much for your characteristically thorough, nuanced, and excellent review.

Thanks also to Drewan, Psag, Forrestc, and Bruce for your comments on your DEQX experiences. I'm sold, and I expect to order one sometime this winter (don't want to do it now for unrelated reasons). In my case it would be an HDP-4, in part because I want the three sets of outputs it provides.

Regarding Roscoe's mention of the jitter measurements, and the slight misgivings JA expressed about some of the other measurements, those all involved noise and spurii that were so far below the levels of the test signals (in nearly all cases considerably more than 100 db below, at any individual frequency), that I’d be surprised if they had any audible significance. Plus the manufacturer's response to the review indicates that the jitter performance of the current design has been improved by the addition of a "very low-noise power supply regulator."

11-12-14: Bombaywalla
Bruce,
good to read that you continue to like your purchase of DEQX & that you've come over to the side of time-aligned speakers. :-) Glad you recognize & hear what time-alignment can do for music playback - I feel that all my posts weren't all in vain...... at least one person listened & benefited. :-)

So I expect that to become at least two persons! Thanks :-)

Regards,
-- Al

Alright, will love to read about what you have to say regarding your DEQX purchase Al. Best of luck on that. I'll be watching.

Woo-hoo, Almarg!! :-)
I was happy to read your post indeed & am looking forward to your personal experience with time-coherency thru DEQX.
From my personal experience & from Bruce's experience I believe that you will be nothing short of amazed what time-coherency can do for music play-back. It's the only way to go & I'm sure that, like myself & Bruce, once you get used to time-coherent speakers you won't ever go back. :-)
Like many others I'll be watching this space for your feedback.
Thanks for joining the time-coherent "gang" - you will not be disappointed....

Al, great to hear. I am confident that you will be equally impressed when you get the HDP4. If you need assistance with any part of the configuration or interpreting the graphs, I am more than happy to help

There are some really useful features that even the enormous manual doesn't make clear. I am also much cheaper than the DEQXpert service (ie free !)

Regards
Andrew

Thanks for the nice words, guys, and especially to Andrew for the kindly offer.

I'll most likely be ordering the HDP-4, together with the DEQX/Earthworks M23 calibration kit, in January or February. As a technically oriented person, I'll try to implement all of the procedures myself, at my own (slow and deliberate) pace. I suspect that will extend over at least several weeks before I either declare the profiles and settings to have been finalized, or decide that I need to take Andrew up on his kindly offer and/or utilize the DEQExpert service.

I'm planning on using the HDP-4 in place of, rather than in series with, my existing preamp (a Classe CP-60), which receives inputs from five different sources, and provides outputs to three different destinations.

My two most critical sources are CDP and phono. Pending possible revision during my listening tests, I'm planning on connecting a digital output of my Bryston CDP to the HDP-4 via AES/EBU. I'll connect the output of my phono stage (actually, the phono section of a vintage Mark Levinson ML-1 preamp, accessed via tape outs) to the HDP-4's unbalanced analog input.

For the less critical sources, I'll connect a digital output of my Squeezebox Touch (which I only use for internet radio) via Toslink. I'll connect the outputs of my vintage tuner and Tandberg cassette deck (I still have occasion now and then to play some musically and sonically excellent classical cassettes from way back when on the Connoisseur In Sync Label) to a mechanical switchbox that will select between them, with the output of the switchbox connected to the HDP-4's balanced analog input via RCA-to-XLR adapters.

I'll be connecting one of the HDP-4's three sets of outputs to my VAC power amp, one to my STAX headphone amp, and one to the cassette deck (although I can't recall the last time I ever recorded anything with it). Obviously the outputs to the Stax and the Tandberg will be configured for bypass mode.

Thanks again. Best regards,
-- Al