DSP vs non DSP subs for latency in gaming and BEQ sub protection?

Viche said:

Noob here when it comes to subs, but I’m considering either one of the 15” HSUs or the Monolith 15 and trying to figure out if there any deal breakers for either.

One thing I came across was that the
Monolith uses a DSP while the HSUs are analog.

I understand that the DSP adds a 300 to 500 ms delay, which would have to be corrected in the receiver and therefore I would assume require a delay in the video to sync everything up. Is this correct/necessary, and wouldn’t it cause a negative impact on gaming latency?

Also, if I decide to go down the minidsp / umik-1 / REW / BEQ rabbit hole, how important is the added protection offered by the filters in the DSP?

Thanks

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300-500ms??? That's a lot!!!

I think it's closer to 5-10ms usually(??) My Seaton's appear to have almost none

jamiebosco said:

300-500ms??? That's a lot!!!

I think it's closer to 5-10ms usually(??) My Seaton's appear to have almost none

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Fair enough. 😄 Not sure where I had seen those numbers, but I've removed them from my OP. Still wondering how much of a delay we're talking about.

Any delay is small, just a few ms typically. At worst, 5-9 ms, and typically 2-3ms (minidsp hd is 2-3 ms) It's going to vary depending on what dsp chips are used, etc, and its not something manufacturers reveal often. Funk Audio says 0.6ms for theirs. When you hear complaints about DSP its usually, but not always, just someone wanting to make their sub appear better than brand x, either as purchasers trying to feel better about their purchase or as manufacturers trying to use any angle they can, imho.

Question 2, Hsu subs do have protections built in as well so if you are concerned about that vs other subs, don't be. In general, any sub, with or without dsp, is going to start sounding nasty before damage occurs. So when it starts sounding distorted, you know you have gone too far and you dial it back.

Just don't be running sine waves over and over again for long periods of time as you can damage the voice coil and no amount of protection, DSP or otherwise, can prevent that.