ADA Suite 7.1 HD

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Neil Davidson

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HI Everyone,

It has been interesting to see the discussion of new HD processors and not be able to join in with some info. Thankfully the guys over at Stereophile have a blog entry that might be of interest...

Home Theater: ADA Pre-Pro Has Dolby Volume

For the lazy out there:

1 RU in height
8 HDMI in / 2 HDMI out
Full support for all HD codecs
Dolby Volume support
The best setup options in the business (I added that part)!

We will have these on show at the ISE show in Amsterdam next month along with another couple of cool things...
 
Not that I will ever be able to afford it but I like to dream. Do you have a link to the Specs?

Thanks for the info.

Adam
 
Hi Neil, that looks interesting especially the number of inputs, $5500 doesn't sound too bad although the exchange rate won't do us any favours.

Hope things are well with you?

Dupe...
 
Neil Davidson very kindly sent me this information about the new ADA Suite 7.1 HD Processor which I thought I would share.

This is primarily aimed at the Pro Install Market but I am sure there are some technically minded enough on the forums who would love to have a tinker.

Some cool features:

  • It decodes everything in every mode ever made by Dolby or DTS!
  • You can assign physical connectors to virtual inputs. This means you can have one HDMI connected from a VP but have 20 different “inputs” configured in the 7.1HD
  • There is a discrete setup command for every single setup option. You can issue these commands on the fly as well so that if you want you can completely remap the setup or change any part of the configuration
  • The decoding is very smart. You tell it what type of input signal to look out for and then what type of output decoding should be used. For example 2 channel PCM can be mapped to DPLIIx + THX out. It then does that correctly every time.
  • The EQ!
  • The system setup process – look out for Solo speakers!
I have just had a quick play with the PEQ software and it looks like you can utilise a completely customisable 12 channel Parametric Equaliser on each of the 7 speaker channels and a further 10 on the Subwoofer Channel which is fantastic for those who don't get on or trust AutoEQ solutions such as Audyssey!

The PEQ allows +/-10dB in 0.5dB steps on each channel over the entire frequency range in 1hz steps. Q is adjustable in 0.1 steps from .1 to 10. You can also save up to 4 different presets. There doesn't seem to be any visual interface but you would expect your installer (or enthusiast) to have that covered already, I am sure Room EQ Wizard would be a good (free) place to start.

There is another more comprehensive software package for configuring the non PEQ settings, covering listening mode assignment, input configuration, delays THX settings, crossover, levels etc. Basically everything you would expect to find on a Processor but with the n'th degree of tweakability. IIUC there are even settings for customising the listening modes, giving the ability to adjust damping, reverb, size, mix and LF cut.

This is one case where reading the manual would definately be advisable!

ADA_Suite_7.1_HD_Front.jpg

Suite 7.1 HD Back.jpg



The software obviously isn't designed with the end user in mind (Aesthetically speaking it is functional, rather than flash) but setting things up from a PC is certainly an attractive option for HTPC owners at least.

Neil tells me this is a bit of a scoop as there isn't any online info available. Below is a link to the PDF flyer which is still rather scant on info but probably has more than can be found elsewhere.

I am sure Neil will add any more info as it turns up.

Oh and the RRP is a not unreasonable £5310. Not cheap but considering the features and from what I am told, amazing performance it is definately one to keep an eye on specially if you are considering the offerings from the likes of the Denon, Anthem, Arcam and Parasound.

Contact Neil at Genesis Technologies for more info.

Genesis: News

Adam :)

Suite-7_1HD_Cutsheet.pdf
 
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Way out of my range at my age, but that looks very special. For me it is great to see something soo compact that cuts out all the useless conectors and features that would never be utilised.

Very very nice :thumbsup:
 
Old thread brought back to life, mine should be arriving on Monday as the processor for my new cinema at home :) cant wait to see how it performs.
 
Old thread brought back to life, mine should be arriving on Monday as the processor for my new cinema at home :) cant wait to see how it performs.

Great, can't wait for your thoughts. Are you going for the Rack mounted or 'normal' version? I would certainly like to see some real photos if you get a chance.

Thanks,

Adam
 
Old thread brought back to life, mine should be arriving on Monday as the processor for my new cinema at home :) cant wait to see how it performs.


Hows this sounding then Elliot?
 
Hi Guys

Sorry for the delay, what with the new baby (and existing toddler) and running the company things have been damn busy!!

In a nutshell this thing is just stunning, its the most flexible av processor i have ever had a chance to play with, the setup flexibility is unreal, more options than any other i have played with and i still have not had a chance for the parametric eq setup yet.

Soundwise it reminds me a lot of my old mc12b, but with far better clarity and channel steering, i also love the fact that silly though this sounds it just works! no cracks hisses pops or thumps when flicking through any of the sound formats, new to old, and connector type spdif or hdmI, ITS A BREATHY of fresh air compared to many of the other processors out there right now!!

More when i have setup the eq and had a chance for a good listen :)
 
Congratulations on the baby :clap:

So are you selling these or is it a personal toy?

This product really appeals to me! :)

Adam
 
Thanks for the congrats :)

This is a personal toy for my home cinema, but yes i am also selling these :thumbsup:
 
Would this be upgradable to Dolby IIz?
 
There is no way that the unit can do 9.1 but probably it could be upgraded to redirect the back channels to allow 5.1 plus height channels.

I genuinely don't see that this is that big a performance improvement and so pretty unlikely to be implemented.

If you really want to have a height channel then we could easily supply an extra DSP to allow us to create a properly delayed and adjusted "height" channel.
 
For me, there is nothing implemented in the current surround formats that should reflect effects like rain, thunder, helicopters, planes etc properly

the current back channels are not utilised enough as it is just now,

Height channels will hopefully implement this and envelope the user in sound,
especially with 3D just round the corner, i'm expecting to see alot of action flicks with great surround tracks
 
Hi Guys

Sorry for the delay, what with the new baby (and existing toddler) and running the company things have been damn busy!!

In a nutshell this thing is just stunning, its the most flexible av processor i have ever had a chance to play with, the setup flexibility is unreal, more options than any other i have played with and i still have not had a chance for the parametric eq setup yet.

Soundwise it reminds me a lot of my old mc12b, but with far better clarity and channel steering, i also love the fact that silly though this sounds it just works! no cracks hisses pops or thumps when flicking through any of the sound formats, new to old, and connector type spdif or hdmI, ITS A BREATHY of fresh air compared to many of the other processors out there right now!!

More when i have setup the eq and had a chance for a good listen :)

First, congratulations on the new addition. At least you now have something to do while waiting up for that 2am feeding.

Greatly appreciate the kind words regarding our preamp. We are very proud that the unit is stable - no small feat. Some things worth pointing out that are both fun and functional.

Solo Mode - Our preamps feature a solo-mode which is akin to unplugging all but one speaker while the system is playing live only, instead of pulling wires, you press buttons. This is useful to determine polarity issues or blown drivers. Alternately, I also use it when demoing the DTS version of the Eagles Hell Freezes Over CD or DVD. Both (must be DTS) contain a bonus track of Seven Bridges Road. Here each Eagle is on his own channel (5.1). I suggest playing the track and listening first, perhaps half-way through, begin to walk around the room. Notice the sound field flexes a bit but does not break down. Then replay the track but this time, go to the solo mode tab and begin selecting speakers. What you will notice is that this recording is played back in the most live manner possible, mixing in the room itself. Very cool demo to display multi-channel music.

HDMI EQ - Each input and both outputs have an HDMI equalizer to compensate for cable length. I don't know if you had to play with that yet.

Old CODECs - John Scott, one of our Canadian dealers and also an enthusiast, was among one of the dealers to play (work) with the Suite 7.1 HD. Familiar with the Suite 7.1 and earlier ADA preamps, he noted that the old CODECs sound even better on this unit (for those that don't just obsess with loss-less multi-channel:D).

2-Channel Modes to play with. Quad Bypass is used often for music throughout the entire speaker array. Also interesting for music is Pro Logic II Music. Here you can adjust Dimension Control, Center Channel Width and Panorama On/Off. If you go to the PLII Custom modes, you get to also play with shelfing, polarity, etc. Stereo Enhance and Mono Enhance are simulated surround sound modes unfortunately without a really cool name (i.e. Magic Mode or Logic X). Both allow adjustment of delay and level to compensate for room size.

Remember that once you are content with your setup, you store it as the "installer default". You should also download the contents of the PROM to your PC for prosperity.

Enjoy your new ADA baby too.

Cheers

Richard
 
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Two questions on this interesting unit
1 Is the 2 channel (or Quad) Bypass a true analogue bypass, as I currently have a Proceed AVP2 and have yet to find a pre/pro which handles music better than this unit.
2 I have heard that there are some terrible clock problems with music over HDMI. Does this unit address these? I believe some units (Arcam at least) have a reclocking facility to sort this.
3 Alright 3 questions! Why does the unit not have Balanced connectors?

Many thanks
 
Two questions on this interesting unit
1 Is the 2 channel (or Quad) Bypass a true analogue bypass, as I currently have a Proceed AVP2 and have yet to find a pre/pro which handles music better than this unit.
2 I have heard that there are some terrible clock problems with music over HDMI. Does this unit address these? I believe some units (Arcam at least) have a reclocking facility to sort this.
3 Alright 3 questions! Why does the unit not have Balanced connectors?

Many thanks


Peter:

All right - you are granted three questions ;)

1 - The Suite 7.1 HD has all audio routed through the DSP. That said, I think you will find that she plays music perfectly. The Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV, which just began shipping is different. Here the 7.1 analog bypass input is completely analog (so is the analog record output).

2 - Regarding avoiding clock issues, our preamp's DSP do sample rate conversion that is reclocked.

3 - As for balanced connectors, the Suite 7.1 HD after all is only 1 RU (and still features 8 HDMI inputs, mirror (2) HDMI outputs, 4 analog inputs and 8 digital inputs (6 coax, 2 TOS-Link), plus an EIC AC connector, ADA Bus jack and LAN port). Space is also an issue for the 2 RU Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV (which adds 8 component, 8 composite and 8 S-video inputs plus a few more analog inputs including the bypass input just mentioned). Typically, the 3 RU Cinema Reference (top end unit) had balanced outputs. This unit is not in the design stage yet.

We are working on a version of the Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV-B which in lieu of the low level video I/Os has balanced outputs. You are the first to hear of this.

That said, we offer the XLRX-8, a 1 RU unit that takes 8 unbalanced channels and converts to balanced out. We also have the XLRR-8 that does the reverse. The benefit here is that the transformerless converters reside in their own chassis and use their own power supply.

As always, I really appreciate the dialog so if you have any questions, please feel free.

Cheers

Richard
 
I must say this really does look like a breath of fresh air....finally a unit which has lots of HDMI inputs (8 :eek: ) and just the other essential items, rather than rows of S-video and composite connections (honestly :eek:). Looks good, it's just the price tag that doesn't.....
 
Typically, the 3 RU Cinema Reference (top end unit) had balanced outputs. This unit is not in the design stage yet.

We are working on a version of the Cinema Rhapsody Mach IV-B which in lieu of the low level video I/Os has balanced outputs. You are the first to hear of this.
Hi,
I assume the Cinema Reference model is some time away then (i.e. more than 12 months)?
Any eta Mach IV-B?

Thanks
 
Hi Guys,

Since Richard has been good enough to keep up to date with this thread, it is only fair to promote his latest voice over role :smashin:

At Product Literature: ADA Brochure - ADA you will find some relevant info on the setup of the Suite 7.1HD and Cinema Rhapsody HD.

Cinema Rhapsody HD is available now and offers extra features as explained in the video and by Richard above.
 
The Cinema Reference Mach IV has yet to be commissioned. In the last two generations, this unit has sported some type of front panel video display and at this time, finding a HDMI based 1080P 7" display is difficult.

The Cinema Rhapsody Mach IVB is in the works, perhaps shipping by Christmas. Price for either version is the same.

Lastly, at the time of this posting, we are still working on our web site links for the video content Neil pointed to. It should be live by weeks end. Currently, what you see is but a place holder of one of the shorter videos.

Cheers

Richard
 
The Cinema Rhapsody Mach IVB is in the works, perhaps shipping by Christmas. Price for either version is the same.
Thanks for the response. Apart from loosing the low level video I/O's can you say whether the rest of the input/outputs remain the same - i.e. Does it retain the 7.1 analogue input? Will the unit get any balanced inputs, etc?

Thanks
 
I finally got to hear the Suite 7.1 HD this week which was strange as I hadn't intended or arranged too.

A bit of background. Neil and myself were at TLC shooting the new batch of tutorial videos (first few now published) and we were using the main 7.1 reference room. I have to say that Tony at TLC has done a great job with the new rooms and he was also kind enough to let us use his facilities as we saw fit for the videos. Anyway the Kef Reference speakers were being driven in that room by a top name brand processor and amp which cost about £14k.
The Kef's just didn't sound good at all and Tony admitted he had been puzzled as to why they were not sounding as good as they should. So down camera and mics and Graham and Neil set about with the testing and measuring gear to try and find what the problem might be. To cut a long story short, it was found that the brand name amp and processor appeared to be the issue and after switching and swapping components that was confirmed to be the case.
Next day and to see if things could be improved further, Graham brought along a Suite 7.1HD and this was hooked up to the brand name power amp. The sound stage and performance of the Kefs were suddenly improved, but low and behold the amp was stuggling to provide enough for the kefs and run out of steam pretty quickly. So, in went a Bryston amp to drive the Kef's in stereo and the suite 7.1 acting as pre-amp and WOW!

Having a processor capable of high-end 2 channel stereo is a rare thing, there have been very few over the years that could be considered a true all in one solution for two channel and multi-channel, but this suite 7.1 impressed me - very few products have that effect on me these days. I guess I am jaded with claims of greatness that never quite live up to the PR hype, but the ADA did genuinely blow me away. Steering, expansive soundstage, seperation and being able to hear every layer of the mix were the immediate thoughts. The ADA certainly brought the sound stage alive with the Bryston now providing the Kefs with more power. There is a track with a drummer doing a solo, can't remember the name, but previously on the other processors and amps it felt like he wasn't hitting the drums with any passion or conviction. On the Suite 7.1 you could feel the strike of each drum, it felt real. The separation and speed was very good indeed. I haven't been that impressed for a while.

Remember I was there to shoot video tutorials, not play around with kit.

Needless to say that I was so impressed with just the two channel performance I have ordered one. And that is a big deal these days as I get most kit I want to see for review, and we have kit that is loaned to us as reference products to help us compare products so I haven't felt the need to upgrade my personal system over the last few years. But the Suite 7.1 is the first product in a long time that has got me excited about sound quality again. (I have been heavily focussed on displays the last two years with little interest in processors etc as none had really impressed or excited me).

All I can say is go and listen to one with some quality power behind it and half decent speakers and see what you think.

Neil is the distributer so I don't want to come across as liking it because of that issue, and hopefully people know I'm not one for hype or over egging something, but believe me it wouldn't matter who was supplying it - Quality stuff .
 
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