The official "Theta" thread - Page 159

The upgrade has been out now for two years. Still Theta has not fixed anything since the last firmware correction around first launch. It may approach 3 years without an single firmware improvement. Perhaps Theta assumed that it was not worth it to fix issues with the old platform as they are moving to a newer platform. In retrospect, this is going to mean that current Casablanca owners have had this issue for several years with no fix. Theta is going to have to improve there.

Bulldogger:

While we may do a poor job communicating, please be assured that we are constantly working to improve both hardware and firmware for the Casablanca. We are aware of the left surround channel click and have people working on that issue now. As soon as we have the solution, we will inform our dealers and distributors, add the solution to our web site and Facebook page and I will post here.

\We expect to have a new Crestron module with iPad control app available within the next 2 weeks.

Jeff

Good stuff - thanks Jeff. Will the new processing card be able to be installed in the field? It is rather expensive to have to send a unit back to California.

BTW there seem to be quite a number of things on the software front that need looking at. We've discussed a few "anomalies" here including the stereo vs matrix with all speakers off except L/R.

stevekale:

We fully expect that the next Casablanca upgrades will be field installable.

Jeff

That is great to know! Looking forward to hearing more about any new DAC card options planned for the Casablanca in the future

Sean

yes just using it for multi-channel / Movies...

Stieger

Awesome!

Crestron module ? A new card that need a slot ?
Is this to be understood as the new Crystal SW ?

Andreas
Edited by ANRE - 2/7/13 at 12:31pm

Yes what does the new Crestron Module consist of?

I love when everyone gets hung up on Bit Rates..

So I have the new Marantz 8801 Pre pro fully balanced unit sitting here in front of me.

It has wicked cool dacs - 32 Bit 192K - Now thats super cool right ?

Okay so the bottom line - Its an amazing piece and has gadgets galore and even has PIP with HDMI from alternate HDMI sources. (Wow) and a full Copper Chassis!!!

And the verdict ?

The Bits are not the whole picture and until you can realize this and understand it , you can not think that speeds of Data make something sound good.

The Cb3HD with its Premium Dacs smoke the Marantz for both movies and music.. The movies are more spacious and accurate in every scene on the Cb3hd.

The design of the Dacs and Volume control and Cross over magic that Theta has had for almost 20 years has stood the test of time and now it really shows.

I love the marantz and at 3599 its amazing. But it doesn't sound like a Cb3HD in any way shape or form.

Sorry for the bad news but Higher bit rates are not the end all.

We love faster and yes when the Cb3HD has the new PR3 card and it screams along at new higher speed internal rates, it will sound better for sure, but for me, i want sound clarity and accuracy and all the things that Theta is known for so i wait patiently for PR3 ( And yes it will get rid of the left rear channel Pop, I promise )


Craig

What is your point? Obviously, a well designed and build DAC or SSP running at 48/24 will trounce an inferior DAC / SSP running at 96/24 or 192/24.

After years of tweaking and bench development, I have come to realize that running digital audio above 96/24 is a waste. The real magic is in the analog section that follows that digital. Anything above 96/24 is more about marketing hype and bragging rights than anything else.

Just my 2 cents. Discount at will.
_______________
Best Regards,
Carl Huff

I have not done enough comparisons to categorically make that statement, but I certainly have not had any sonic revelations listening to 196/24 that leads me to conclude otherwise. It will be interesting to see if running the Trinnov at native 176/24 on DSD converted to LPCM once this is possible, will sound any better than doing it at 88/24.

Not speed. Sample rate. Give me the ability to play high-res with the same clarity and accuracy characteristics that Theta are renowned for without Dirac being 2 or 3 steps forward and a step back.

Question: if one purchased Dirac Live RCS from Theta (which would be my preference for its seamless integration with the CB) and Dirac upped the capability of RCS to handle higher bit rates, would this simply be a firmware upgrade? Hopefully enough horsepower is being placed under the bonnet for this to be the case. Surely this is a question of computation power/speed.

How would the interface with the CB work? Is this a case of plugging in a laptop to the CB and pre-amp and mic to the computer, doing the analysis and setting preferences then downloading this to the CB?

PS: don't need to sell the mic etc as part of the package. Make that an option for those that need it.
Edited by stevekale - 2/5/13 at 12:47pm

If the current CB3HD runs everything at 96 kHz and sounds great, how would adding Dirac at 96 kHz impair that?

Isn't that already what the MDS board's SRC is doing?

The current CBIII HD DSP engine runs at 48/24. The forthcoming upgrade would add processing power and make the CBIII 96/24 and probably 192/24 capable, but I believe it was communicated on this thread that Dirac would still be limited to 96/24, hence limiting the CBIII HD/Dirac to 96/24. This would only be a restriction for 2 channel native 196/24 sources. May be Theta will offer a Dirac DRC bypass allowing 192/24 sources to run full resolution.

My understanding is the new process card may handle 192/24 native - but if you engage Dirac, then as Dirac runs at 96/24, the processing will be at 96/24 with Dirac engaged.

I see. So if you disengage Dirac on two channel 192/24 sources, you would be able to run at native 192/24, and still have access to bass management / crossover, which probably continues to be handled by the CBIII in the CBIIIHD Dirac. That would be a fine solution, satisfying all needs in 99.9% of real world applications.

Exactly!!!@@@

Dirac/room equalisation can add a lot of value to two channel audio. That's where it started. To my mind, it adds most to two channel audio. In multichannel (movies and the like) there's a lot going on (video) which makes it less critical.

Depends on your system / room. In my setup I get more benefit from DRC on MCH than 2 channel. Thenagain, this is not movies but MCH SACD or concerts on BR. Irrespectively, you will still have access to DRC, but need to downsample 192/24 to 96/24, which is not a big loss. If you get substantial benefits from DRC on 2 channel, this would probably sound better than playing at 192/24 without DRC.

I don't disagree. 2-3 steps fwd, 1 back.

The reason Harman did its blind Room Correction software evaluation with one speaker is because the auditory differences get smaller as one adds speakers. That beings said, RC can improve MC systems, and in some cases in a fairly dramatic way (and lets not forget the benefits of being able to implement "house curves").

Is there anyone that can explain what the new iPad app shall control ?
Is it the full setup of the CB3HD, equal to to what the Crystal SW used to do ?

If the Crestron module is not an internal card, is it then connected directly to the RS232 interface or via a cable. Or via the RJ45 connector ?
Will it need an external PS ?

Strange noboddy is able to tell, since release is this mounth. People has known about the new PR3 and Dirac for several mounths, and still the release date is not known as far as I understand.

Has Theta been able to keep this a secret until Jeff breake the news in this forum a few days ago ?

If this Creston module + iPad app is the new "Crystal SW", i will for sure buy.
I've been waiting for this since I got my CBIII HD.

I admit that for me, to set up the CB without the Crysta SW, is a problem. I can't be the only one that stuggle to set up the CB propperly.
Edited by ANRE - 2/11/13 at 7:28am

As expected, the Theta webpage for the Compli 3D has now been updated/corrected.

One other question for Theta: has there been any consideration of providing input for i2S over USB? (an area I am only now learning about)

Steve, this would not make much sense on a CBIII, since it would be 2 channel only, and you would not have access to any of the DSP features (which does not work in the I2S domain). This would be of more interest on a Gen VIII DAC, but before worrying about I2S, I think Theta would get a lot more mileage out of just delivering plain USB.

Also, I am not aware of anyone doing this over USB. There is the PS audio HDMI interface used for I2S (alos used by wyred4sound), and I believe most others use RJ45 connectors.

An interesting thought would have been an I2S output for the mains on the new digi out card in the CBIII and an I2S input on the GenVIII.

I just note that another product loved by many Theta CB III owners, the Bryston BDP-2, may well offer something like this in the near future. I note also that I2S is regarded as having much lower jitter than SPDIF or AES/EBU. I presume the conversion to properly clocked LPCM would occur just ahead of the DSP, no?

I am not a technical expert, but I would think that if you feed a processor I2S, and then convert back to PCM in order to be have access to the DSP of the processor, you would lose the benefits of using an I2S in the first place. I think I2S could be an interesting feature on a GenVIII but not a CBIII. But again, Theta has much more to gain from making the GenVIII USB capable than offering I2S.

Well I am less of a technical expert but as I understand it you at least get properly clocked data across from source to the Casablanca in which it is all under Theta's control.