Hmm - yes and no - it depends on what your tolerance is and where the crossover frequency is.
For example, I have two sound (well 3) systems to compare:
My AV+HiFi - its a hybrid system with an AVR looking after the surrounds and center and a sub feed while my hifi amp handles the fronts (HT bypass) and also provides a separate L+R line level feed to the sub which has separate inputs for L+R in addition to the LFE input from the AVR. My AV sub include DSP so it adds a little latency liek many AV subs.
When in AV mode, hifi amp becomes a pure power amp for the L+R speakers while in stereo music mode, AVR is off and only the L+R and sub are used. In music mode, I have my crossover set to 40Hz so it just fills in below the natural roll off of my floorstanders. As the sub has DSP, then it adds a delay, but at such low frequency, the delays doesnt really matter. OTOH, if I try the same trick with a higher crossover (80Hz for eg), then I start to notice the loose bass timing compared to my other system…
Active monitor pair + sub with integrated crossover and pass through bass managed for the monitors - its an analog sub, so zero latency (unlike most AV subs). When I compared crossover at 80Hz on this system vs crossover at 80Hz on the other system, then the loose bass is quite noticeable to me. When I compare them both at 40Hz, then I dont notice it.
Subs with DSP add latency, with some worse than others. Roon has a speaker setup section that can be used to adjust the timing if you have all channels accessible to Roon. I do not, so Roon only sees 2 channels with my bass management being done in a natural manner by the sub skipping the need for high pass because I use the natural roll off the blend them which at those frequencies and in conjuction with DRC done in Roons convolution DSP means I do get a good blend. However, I have also spent alot of time in the past fiddling to get the speaker locations as good as I can.
You mentioning that you are embarking on the multi-channel journey as a means to get rid of a null. You probably do not need to go down the multi-channel route just for that - moving things around if possible is the best fix. For more even sub sound, then sure a second sub can help and ideally it will have its own settings, but this can be optional. Often running two sub exactly in parallel in tow locations can work. REW room simulation tool can be a helpful tool for this.
If you got the RME just let me know. I can provide a file with working settings (somehow complicated) and the scheme to use for the FIRs. If you provide the XO frequency I am also willing to create a phase linear FIR crossover for Roon for you.
Best DrCWO
Of course it will. In Roon one device becomes the master and provides feedback with that feedback being used to adjust the timing of playback on the slave devices. So sometimes they may be ahead and sometimes behind.
I think my sub add around 2-3ms of latency on the basis of its measured acoustic delay (in feet/meters vs speed fo sound in air of about 1ft per ms) according to my AVR. Unlike the dual dac setup, its constant, but still sufficient for me to feel that the timing is slightly off in a track compared to how its tempo/groove should feel. OK, so I am a musician and have been a producer/mix engineer etc and DJ so sure, I am probably hyper sensitive to the feel of a tracks timing and groove etc. That said, I wonder if while others wont quickly point at a cause like I can, they too may get a sense that something is a little off when they just dont feel tracks like they think they should… (?)
@Adam_Goodfellow yea going to add a pair of sub, already built it, its a pair of passive sub I built using Scanspeak 23w Revelator sub driver, powered by a sane pricing amplifier - Crown XLS , next step is really figure out the sub integration, so glad I bump into this topic, I just for now locate the sub left and right of my rack, will figure out the actual location when they are really in working state
@DrCWO really nice, that actually etch me into getting the RME, yea I am solely on Roon these day, and getting someone been there done that willing to create a phase linear is mind boggling for me, thank you for that
I will know if I am sensitive soon, will do a quick try loaning a USB DAC trying out the approach of single Roon bridge connecting to two USB DACs (main and subwoofer, LP/HP thru Roon PEQ)
This is absolutely correct. The left of the Headset outputs at the front carries the stereo signals for the Woofer. You also have to insert a blank stereo adapter (I used 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter) to make the whole thing work.
So essentially you’re taking the PH3/4 into a RCA input for the SAM-1C, and have the SAM-1C converted it into XLR for your sub, noob question, is there not a way to just directly take the 6.2mm into the XLR for your sub using a cable like this? TRS-XLR
Sure you can do this. But the SUB does not get a symmetric signal in this case.
If you are unlucky you will get a hum on the sub. In any case, I would try it without the SAM-1C first.
If you send me youe e-Mail address I can give you a list with the settings I did in the ADI-2 Pro to make it run. But don’t forget to enter two 6.3mm plugs before you start.
got you and perfectly understand now, i’m just going thru all the bit of research before i decide if i put the money on the RME.
Over the weekend I’ve spend hours and added a 2nd DAC for the subwoofer and uses the Roon PEQ for crossover, i thought it sounded better than where I am at, i am not sensitive enough to observe any difference in timing but i’ve not gotten more hours into it yet. Playing with different sub placement and also the different XO, kind of interesting result.
, next step is really figure out the sub integration, so glad I bump into this topic, I just for now locate the sub left and right of my rack, will figure out the actual location when they are really in working state