For example: Native App (which was in discussion), Roon Ready integration.
I think Dutch&Dutch promised a lot and got the reality check during development and trying to meet the huge demand of the markets. That’s nothing bad and I think they learned their lesson. Dutch & Dutch and KII are disruptive companies in an old fashioned market. I hope they will demonstrate in the mid-long term how out of the box thinking and implementation can cut cords and believes.
In addition to my thoughts: The Kii Control is very appealing to a lot of people and it is. But when you have Roon integrated, there is not so much needed for domestic listeners. AES/EBU is available if needed. I think it would be great if we could see faster pace in terms of SW and HW extensions. With KII you have to use the volume knob of the KII and with the 8C you can use the volume control of Roon which changes the internal volume control of the 8c! So there is only one entry point to play songs and adjust volume: Roon.
This was for me very interesting to learn: Sometimes the input specs can give you the positive impression how good the overall implementation is (more bits, more frequency, more wow). Dutch&Dutch internal working frequency is 96k and the KII is around 93k(?) - so everything higher than that will be downsampled! More important is time alignment! And both can ensure this very good.
With the Kii you can use a remote control (like an Apple remote) to control Volume and source choice if you have the Kii Control. No need to touch the knob.
That’s right. But with Roon integration of D&D you will be able to control the speakers internal volume control via Roon. I think this is very convenient.
Yes. It’s a minor pain. You have to independently control the volume of each speaker, and open and close each speaker interface. So numerous key strokes are involved!
I am not sure to whom/what you are responding but that is unnecessary with the D&D. You can define a group of speakers to include as many/few as you wish and use a single volume control for the group. The individual volume controls can still be accessed for channel balance.
That’s right! In addition you can use the Roon remote to trigger the speakers internal lossless volume control! Really fine implementation (even in beta).
What you explain, without having the possibility to A/B test the Dutch and Dutch and KII3, is exactly why i went with the D&D8c.
The D&D8c is more …organic. The sound is more balanced. The speaker is more emotional.
Like you said, the KII3 becomes a little bit too much at higher levels. The KII3 is still an amazing speaker… but in my opinion the D&D8c is the better speaker (my ears).
For myself, that listens to a lot of music everyday. I want a speaker that allows me to listen to music for hours… really loud when i want to. This is one of the reasons i personally prefer a “romantic” sound rather than ultra high end detailed sound. The D&D8c is the best of both worlds. 8c is detailed, yet soft and gentle in the same time.
You should listen to the KII3 again. Its a big investment. KII3 or D&D8c? You will be happy either way. Both are superb. Both are technological milestones.
yes indeed. I think the D&D8c are sunning! For a living room , they are eye-catching. The wooden cabinet really gives a warm feeling. I had the KII3 at home as well. Really nice looking too, but a little bit to much future. But the biggest problem was the size… they are a little bit too small. Ive always loved a big stand mounted speaker
Yes listening for hours is indeed what I intend to do and the Dutchies deliver that perfectly.
For me the KII are more for studios rather than for the home. They are high resolving, but more clinical and not enjoyable. The cabinet is well made, but is out of plastic and too small in my perspective. But I will give them a try, just to be sure.
Are you keeping them on all the time? What is your experience in terms of reliability?
Then you might wait a little bit.
Auto on/off would be nice, but nothing that bothers me (not professional use) the web interface works great but sure, could be better
Roon, is a bonus for me. Nice to have rather then need to have right now, you could still use them
I dont believe D&D thought the demand of the 8c´s were gonna be this high.
It´s a small company with great ambitions
The best would be if you could listen to them at the same time for a proper comparison.
Roon over ethernet (pre-release for those who have tried it) [Is the audio quality such that an external DAC adds no value?]
B. Given that the internal working frequency is 96kHz, have any of you noticed any benefit in feeding the 8c with source audio that is higher than that (for simplicity, consider recordings with identical provenance and mastering at different resolutions)?
XLR: Is there any benefit to audio quality in using a good quality DAC that supports high resolutions rather than a good quality DAC that does not? Consider both cases without upsampling (via Roon or DAC) as well as cases where a DAC supports DSD512 (for example) and Roon or the DAC are performing the upsampling (or you have the odd recording that is DSD128/256).
AES3: Same questions.
Roon via ethernet: Does Roon downsample to 96kHz when sending to the 8c or does the 8c handle that internally? If it is optional, which gives the better quality?
I am trying to plan out a new system and any feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for this! I have not heard either yet, but was clearly leaning towards 8C. After reading your excellent post I realise I’ll have to listen before I decide. I am a soundstage and detail freak so I may have to go with Kii even if it’s price is higher. How do you “tame” the Kii speakers? Simply tone controls or with convolution?
and I think they learned their lesson. Dutch & Dutch and KII are disruptive companies in an old fashioned market. I hope they will demonstrate in the mid-long term how out of the box thinking and implementation can cut cords and believes.
