When using multiple DSP elements, the signal path lists them generically and it is difficult to know which is which. This is important since, as I have found, the order of the processes is important since each operates on the result of the preceding one.
That said, should there not be an indicator on the DSP page indicating the order of application of the DSP processes? If there is (and I missed it), can it be more explicit?
Yeah, I can see how that would be useful. I would also really like to add links back from the signal path into DSP Engine to streamline understanding of how they relate to each other, and to provide quick-er access to the settings.
In terms of order, the items on DSP Engine page are applied in order from top to bottom. There is a menu on the items that allows you to move some items up and down in order to influence the order:
There are a couple of things that can’t be moved:
The speaker correction item is always applied at the end. This is because it allows for adjustment on a per-speaker basis–an idea that may not have as precise a meaning earlier in the chain prior to channel mapping, or when complex procedural EQ or Convolution setups are changing the meaning of the channels temporarily.
Likewise, Headroom Management is always applied as early as possible. In theory it could be done in more places.
Sample Rate Conversion is the complex one–the appropriate place to do conversion may depend on the source material, the capabilities of the audio hardware, the presence of other DSP, user settings, and system performance. In any case, the algorithm for working out where to perform steps related to sample rate conversion is non-trivial and would be difficult to open up to manual control, so instead of trying to pin it down to a point in the chain, you express your wishes to Roon and it works out what to do.
Thanks. I did figure out all that for myself by trial and error. Would be nice to be more explicit like a big labelled arrow from top to bottom.
