SACD and an Outlaw ICBM - hmmmm

[edwelly]

Well, the Outlaw ICBM came on Sat. morning. I decided to do a little re-wiring while I was going to be installing it. Once it was completed, I sat down to a little Nora Jones. After about 10 minutes, I thought to myself, $50 for the first set of Ics, $200 for the ICBM and another $50 for the second set of ICs – this was NOT worth it. So I took a break and about 30 minutes later sat down to the NickleCreek SACD. First track was WOW – that’s what I am talking about... I could not get over the difference in the 2 SACDs. I listened to it for a few minutes then grabbed the Pink Floyd DSOTM SACD (which I wasn’t overly impressed with BEFORE the ICBM). 1000% difference. The CD came alive and sound filled the room. The track TIME was absolutely fantasic...
So the bottom line is 2 things –
1. the Nora Jones SACD is horrible – sounds much better in Dolby
2. the ICBM does work and is definitely worth the money if you are interested in SACDs.
My only complaint is the Outlaw’s power light is a bright green – too bright for my taste.

If anybody is thinking about getting an ICBM, I got a B-stock for $199 shipped – not a single scratch on it. I doubt I could tell the difference in it and an A-stock.

 

[bruceh]

Outlaw thoughts

I agree about Norah Jones - from what I've read they screwed up the SACD mastering on this recording because it sounds virtually identical to the redbook layer. I've had great results with the ICBM too. It did wonders for certain recordings like "Rumours", which was really muddy with lots of channel leakage. I recommend Telarc's SACD releases if you haven't tried them yet - all genres feature stellar remastering and mixing.

 

[jaxvon]

So I take it my recommendation was a good one?

 

[Bevan]

just wondering, would there be any point in a ICBM is my universal player has bass management?

is there maybe an advantage to keeping the signal unprocessed in the player and the using analogue filters in the ICBM rather?

though if i'm using a 4.1 setup the player is probably fildling with the signal anyway to produce the phantom centre.

i might still get a ICBM for when i add an external dac to my universal player.


b

 

[j_garcia]

There are no players that I've seen on the market that have the same capability of the ICBM.

 

[edwelly]

So I take it my recommendation was a good one?

you got that right...

 

[Bevan]

yeah, it does seem a lot more flexible.

i've just been reading up on it now, and i'm still left with one question i'm hoping someone can answer.

if one were using the icbm for 2-channel with an external dac, and one fed the icbm the L and R signal, does it just high-pass them out to the front speakers(losing the low frequencies), or can it split the signal, high-passing to the mains and sending the low frequencies to a sub.?

or do i need the dac to have an extra set of pre-outs to feed the icbm?

i'm still trying to think of the best way to achieve 2-channel bass management before i pull the trigger on a new dac for my universal player.

cheers

b

 

[jaxvon]

yeah, it does seem a lot more flexible.

i've just been reading up on it now, and i'm still left with one question i'm hoping someone can answer.

if one were using the icbm for 2-channel with an external dac, and one fed the icbm the L and R signal, does it just high-pass them out to the front speakers(losing the low frequencies), or can it split the signal, high-passing to the mains and sending the low frequencies to a sub.?

or do i need the dac to have an extra set of pre-outs to feed the icbm?

i'm still trying to think of the best way to achieve 2-channel bass management before i pull the trigger on a new dac for my universal player.

cheers

b

That would be the whole idea behind "bass management". You route the bass where you want it so it isn't lost. You can even use it for stereo subwoofering and the creation of a phantom center channel. It does a lot of different things. So, it can definitely route bass from a full range signal to a subwoofer and send anything over the crossover frequency to the mains.

 

[BGLeduc]

i'm still trying to think of the best way to achieve 2-channel bass management before i pull the trigger on a new dac for my universal player

You do know that your DAC can only be used for Redbook, right? Since you mention that you have a universal player, it will not send hi-rez content out the coax or optical connections.

If you are planning on using the DAC for Redbook, and the universal's analog out for hi-rez, you will now have two analog sources to deal with, and the ICBM can only swallow one.

Or maybe I am just confused about your rig?

Brian

EDIT: Just typing out loud here....if this is to be used 100% 2CH, could he not run the L/R outs from the DAC to the ICBM's L/R main ins, and then run the L/R outputs from the Uni player to the ICBM's Surround L/R? Then the L/R outs from the ICBM (one for the mains, one for the surround channels) would use two seperate stereo inputs on the receiver, and the sub would be connected directly to the ICBM?

 

[Bevan]

thanks for answering a pretty stupid question.

yeah, i know a dac will only do 2-channnel. but the icbm should handle my 2 -channel and multichannel bm as i use 4.1 for multichannel and it looks like the icbm has 6.1 channels, which should be just enough for all my need if i'm not mistaken.

i'm not sure i understand what you were trying to get at in your edit. you mean if i wanted 2-channel high res at the same time? that would work, but i got a 4.1 high res setup so i'm thinking of doing what i outlined above.

jaxvon, you shure the icbm can matrix a phantom centre? i would like to be able to set "filter-off" in my player if possible as i dont use speaker delay and would like to keep the signal as unprocessed as possible, so this would be a boon if it could be done.

thanks

b.

 

[BGLeduc]

Sorry for the confusion.

I did not grasp that you were going to have a 2CH and MC set-up. Sounded like you were going 2CH only, in which case, I was proposing that you could possibly use the ICBM for 2 seperate 2CH sources (your DAC and your hi-rez player).

The ICBM will NOT create a phantom center be sending the hard center equally to the L/R mains, if that is what you mean by creating a phantom center. It is strictky a bass management device.

Brian

 

[jaxvon]

I apologize for that. I remembered reading that it could (probably my imagination going nuts one time when I was posting at 3AM). Anyway, it's still a great tool for bass management.

 

[Bevan]

no worries.

i'm looking at a unit on ebay at the moment, but i just realized i dont know anything about what voltage it can accept.(i'm in europe-220V)

looking aat a photo i see AC15V on the back. pardon my ignorance but can you guys perhaps tell me how this relates to 110/220V?

thanks again

bevan

 

[jaxvon]

It needs a transformer to step down the voltage. Talk to outlaw, they should be able to supply the correct kind to step down the voltage from 220v to 15v.