I recently started using MUSE and added a +10 dB Gain in Procedural EQ to compensate for the weak output volume of my digital source.
However, I suddenly noticed distortion, particularly with bass or low-frequency instruments. Initially, I suspected an issue with my DAC or streamer, but after troubleshooting, I found that removing all DSP options eliminated the distortion.
Why does enabling the DSP engine cause this type of boomy distortion? Is there a recommended approach to prevent this issue? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
You can’t treat DSP like volume and add 10db of gain it’s not a volume control it’s boosting the entire freq range up to 10db and pushing it past 0dbfs the limit of digital audio and it will clip. Most modern music doesn’t have 10db of headroom to play with. If your source is low output then you have a gain mismatch with your dac and amplifier.
This can easily happen if using such high gains. It’s called clipping. Have you enabled headroom management? Enable red light for clipping. This would show you instantly if EQ creates clipping.
But, you shouldn’t use the EQ/Muse just to increase volume. Try using the regular volume control in roon and/or input/output gains in your devices.
