Greetings everyone!
I’d like to ask about people’s experiences running the Rivo (or Rivo+) with room correction.
What benefit does a Rivo actually deliver when it’s feeding a device that does room correction/DSP? Room correction is central to so many setups now that I’d think this question comes up a lot: how does a high-end transport earn its keep in a chain where a DSP box sits between it and the DAC?
I know that the Rivo and Rivo+ are considered the gold standard for audio fidelity, but for anyone running a Rivo into a DSP or room-correction device, did you hear a step up over a competent streamer?
If we’re getting down to my technical question, it’s that, as I understand it, DSP/room correction necessarily reclocks everything on its own clock before passing the signal downstream. All of the Rivo/Rivo+'s exquisite clocking technology never reaches the DAC; the correction device’s clock governs output timing regardless of what’s feeding it.
If that’s right, the Rivo+'s dedicated S/PDIF ASIC and MEMS clocks are aimed at a benefit the architecture discards.
The same logic would seem to apply to the electrical design: the DSP box’s own implementation sets the ceiling, no matter how clean the signal arriving at its input.
So what’s left? Is there a mechanism I’m not accounting for? I’m interested to hear real-world experiences.
My current setup:
Bluesound Node Icon > out via optical to
Platin Stereo Hub (does room correction) > out via WiSA wireless to
Buchardt A10s (powered speakers with internal module with non-room correction DSP, power DAC, and amp)
(The Platin Stereo Hub will eventually be replaced with upgraded electronics in the speakers, which will accept wired input via digital coax.)
Also worth noting that a major case for electrical isolation isn’t in play for me because I’m going out via optical.
Does the case for the Plus survive when the downstream box reclocks anyway? Is the standard Rivo the sensible choice? Or is sticking with an already great streamer—the Bluesound Node Icon—the way to go?