DA&T's D.D.S. (Direct Digital System) technology upsamples the signal to 32bit/384kHz and adjusts the volume digitally after receiving the signal. The process can completely avoid the distortion caused by the analog circuit, reduce grounding and crosstalk interferences, lower the gain and reduce the overall noise at the same time. Ultimately achieving an extremely high dynamic range at 130dB.
When applying the D.D.S. structure on an amplifier, it inevitably needs to be paired with passive speakers. It still faces constraints of high power consumption, unideal phase shifts, crossover distortions, and single crossover point limitations. These weakness has now been entirely corrected by Xi-51. Xi-51 adopts advanced DSP digital processing for frequency crossovers. The sophisticated two-way digital crossover system contains more than 100 crossover points between the tweeter and the woofer. With the aid of DSP technology, steeply raised and dropped slopes are made possible for smooth integration. After time-consuming testing and adjusting, a clean and phase-accurate digital crossover is finally achieved on Xi-51, and the ideal performance of the D.D.S. system is achieved.
Xi-51 integrates DA&T’s acclaimed amplification technology into the speakers. After the high and low-frequency split by DSP crossover, two DAC modules convert the digital signal into the analog signal and feed it into two independent amplifiers to drive the tweeter and woofer separately.
The amplification path does not pass through resistors, capacitors, or inductors on the traditional analog crossover network, which consumes a lot of power and has imperfect characteristics. The amplifier only needs to deal with the drivers and can be very efficient. The analog speaker cable connection is only 30 cm; the ultra-short analog path minimizes the distortion.
Each Xi-51 speaker has built-in two power amplifiers that drive the tweeter with 75 watts and the woofer with 150 watts and are equipped with a full-watt independent switching power supply. Each driver is independently driven, which equals the high-end practices, Bi-Amp and Mono-Mono, used in expensive traditional HiFi systems. The undistorted sound pressure reaches 105dB. Unlike some active speakers that only have amps on one side to reduce the production cost, Xi-51 is fully independent. Each Xi-51 can be arbitrarily set as the left channel, right channel, or left + right sum.
The 1-inch tweeter and 5-inch mid-bass woofer used in the Xi-51 speakers are not off-the-shelf models. They are custom-made speaker units developed by third-party manufacturers to meet the criteria of DA&T. All tests of the units are conducted in EATD, the largest electroacoustic laboratory in Taiwan that has anechoic chambers compling with ISO3745 and ISO7779. During the development, sixteen prototypes were made for the woofer alone, and it took three years to complete the process.
The high-cost independent development is based on the need for software and hardware integration. By customizing the driver unit, DA&T can optimize the acoustic parameters for the DSP crossover. Compensations and corrections of the frequency responses, phase control of crossover points, and low-frequency management are all calculated in DSP for the Xi-51 to achieve desired acoustic performances.
Xi-51 is advanced enough to produce a surprisingly good amount of bass for the size and can go down to 50Hz. It can perform well either on a desktop or on the speaker stand. When used in extra large spaces or in multi-rooms, Xi-51 can be unlimited expanded. After setting the master/slave control, the volume of Xi-51 can be adjusted altogether and quickly provide rich sound that fills the entire space.
Still, there are limitations to bass reproduction using the Xi-51 alone. If you seek the full range frequency performance down to 20hz, you may pair the Xi-51 with Xi-82 or Xi-81 sub-bass speakers. They are powered by two 175W amplifiers and provide solid and deep bass. It is up to personal preference to set up a floor-standing or compact 2.1 system.
Xi-51 active DSP speakers use curved woodcraft to build the cabinet. The curved plywood comprises multiple thinned wood boards vertically crossed according to the texture. After lamination, they are glued together and provide excellent resonating characteristics. DA&T uses steam to soften and shape the cabinet with pressure. The process forms an ideal fully enclosed curved wood cabinet. The surface is covered with bamboo veneer that can easily integrate into various home styles.
The same manufacturing method as Nordic furniture endows the Xi-51 an elegant and natural minimalist appearance and is also resistant to torsion. It is lighter and stronger than the ordinary speaker made of MDF board and can withstand high sound pressure levels while preserving vivid and pleasing sound. The front barrier minimizes sound wave diffraction and presents a wide and deep stereo sound field with clear images.
The bandwidth impedance problem during long-distance USB transmission can lead to waveform distortion. For this reason, DA&T designed the C16 USB to coaxial DDC dedicated to USB audio. On one end, it is connected to the compliant USB cable from the source device, and the other is connected to a 75-ohm coaxial cable that supports long-distance transmission of more than 20 meters. C16 has an exclusive ground isolation circuit and can provide pure sound. Mobile phones or computers connected to C16 can immediately support PCM 384khz/32bit and Dop 128 playback.
Insert the BT-3 Bluetooth receiver into the back panel of the Xi-51 speaker, and Bluetooth is playable. BT-3 supports aptX HD high-quality audio coding. With the Xi-RF wireless remote control, one can control the volume and source switching remotely within 5 meters. Xi-RF provides more precise volume control, pressing once increases or decreases 1dB. Paired the Xi51 with iFi Zen Stream network music streaming player, and the system becomes a full-featured streaming audio system supporting Tidal, Spotify, DLNA, NAA, and ROON.