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Before I start, let me say I have searched and read most all I could on this subject in this forum and could not come to a definite conclusion, hence the questions. Also I love the sound of this unit. I just "traded down" from a Lexicon MC-8 to save some money to put into theater seating and I do not feel slighted at all. Yes I do miss Logic 7 and all its flexibility but as a music prepro and all other straight DD and DTS sources, I love the sound coming out of my speakers even more than before. I also have to give a shout out to Brent Huskins at Media Design in DFW. He hooked me up on this prepro and he is the Halo man if you are in the market.
I currently am wondering about the LFE output on the Halo C2. I have an NHT speaker system. The fronts are a VT system with dual powered 10's in each speaker and they are flat to 21hz. Naturally I want to run these as large. I also have a Stryke Powercube as a sub. All my surrounds and center are set as small and crossed over at 80hz. I have the sub filter set to on @ 80hz and EBass off. My question is where does all the LFE go and does EBass effect the LFE or just double the bass from the mains? I know from reading that the surrounds and center send their bass to the sub. I know that the mains are producing all their own bass. I just am hoping they are not trying to produce the LFE track as well. My preference would be the sub get 100% LFE only and let the mains handle all the redirected bass (no LFE content). I do not know if this would be a perfect setup or not and maybe someone could point out why this may not work well. I have thought of programming one of the Aux outs for 100% LFE only and then set the sub to off. I am pretty sure this would give me what I am looking for but it may still send all the LFE to the fronts mains as well and just double it to the sub in this case. I definitely do not want this. I hope my question is understandable and please ask questions if you need clarification.
As for music, everything seems perfect. I run a Sony 555ES SACD player into the 7.1 bypass. I do not connect the sub and set the sub to off in the Sony. For the majority of my 2 channel and multichannel this works great. I also have a source setup with the Coax digital out on the ES and let the Halo decode. I honestly cannot tell much of a difference and slightly prefer the ES's dacs. This just shows me how good a bypass preamp the Halo is. Anyway, this configuration allows me to have the sub if I want it for 2 channel by switching EBass on or off and it allows me to try the Natural mode which is pretty good.
I really like the Halo and its flexibility. On first glance, I did not think it was a good prepro because it was limited for BM but after really looking into it, it is more flexible than almost anything else because of the aux outputs.
Another question I have is about the presets. I have one preset set up with the sub level at -12db. I have assigned this preset to 2 separate inputs which I use for music only. I was thinking that when I assigned these presets the settings were only valid for those inputs. I found tonight when I switch to an input associated to the preset and then switch back to another "non-associated" input my sub level stays at -12db. What I am doing wrong here or is this just a software bug? Any tips on the presets would be appreciated.
Finally, any word on the latest round of updates. I have been told by Parasound and others that the next update will be very comprehensive. So much so that it is going to suprise many people on what all you can get on a Halo processor. They have to keep up with all the other prepros out there and they want to make this product last for 4-5 years. This update is supposed to catch them up and even put them ahead of all the others in their class. Parasound also told me that they may make the next round an ala carte upgrade where you can pick and chosse what you want to download and update. Tony at Parasound said that many may not need alot of the 2nd Zone capabilities they will offer and can use the processing power to implement other things. I am all for this as I could care less about Zone 2 but want all the tweaks I can get otherwise. This will all be well and good as soon as we see the proof.
I currently am wondering about the LFE output on the Halo C2. I have an NHT speaker system. The fronts are a VT system with dual powered 10's in each speaker and they are flat to 21hz. Naturally I want to run these as large. I also have a Stryke Powercube as a sub. All my surrounds and center are set as small and crossed over at 80hz. I have the sub filter set to on @ 80hz and EBass off. My question is where does all the LFE go and does EBass effect the LFE or just double the bass from the mains? I know from reading that the surrounds and center send their bass to the sub. I know that the mains are producing all their own bass. I just am hoping they are not trying to produce the LFE track as well. My preference would be the sub get 100% LFE only and let the mains handle all the redirected bass (no LFE content). I do not know if this would be a perfect setup or not and maybe someone could point out why this may not work well. I have thought of programming one of the Aux outs for 100% LFE only and then set the sub to off. I am pretty sure this would give me what I am looking for but it may still send all the LFE to the fronts mains as well and just double it to the sub in this case. I definitely do not want this. I hope my question is understandable and please ask questions if you need clarification.
As for music, everything seems perfect. I run a Sony 555ES SACD player into the 7.1 bypass. I do not connect the sub and set the sub to off in the Sony. For the majority of my 2 channel and multichannel this works great. I also have a source setup with the Coax digital out on the ES and let the Halo decode. I honestly cannot tell much of a difference and slightly prefer the ES's dacs. This just shows me how good a bypass preamp the Halo is. Anyway, this configuration allows me to have the sub if I want it for 2 channel by switching EBass on or off and it allows me to try the Natural mode which is pretty good.
I really like the Halo and its flexibility. On first glance, I did not think it was a good prepro because it was limited for BM but after really looking into it, it is more flexible than almost anything else because of the aux outputs.
Another question I have is about the presets. I have one preset set up with the sub level at -12db. I have assigned this preset to 2 separate inputs which I use for music only. I was thinking that when I assigned these presets the settings were only valid for those inputs. I found tonight when I switch to an input associated to the preset and then switch back to another "non-associated" input my sub level stays at -12db. What I am doing wrong here or is this just a software bug? Any tips on the presets would be appreciated.
Finally, any word on the latest round of updates. I have been told by Parasound and others that the next update will be very comprehensive. So much so that it is going to suprise many people on what all you can get on a Halo processor. They have to keep up with all the other prepros out there and they want to make this product last for 4-5 years. This update is supposed to catch them up and even put them ahead of all the others in their class. Parasound also told me that they may make the next round an ala carte upgrade where you can pick and chosse what you want to download and update. Tony at Parasound said that many may not need alot of the 2nd Zone capabilities they will offer and can use the processing power to implement other things. I am all for this as I could care less about Zone 2 but want all the tweaks I can get otherwise. This will all be well and good as soon as we see the proof.
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