Dutch & Dutch 8c active DSP loudspeakers
I first encountered Dutch & Dutch when they were still in development mode and visited their Rotterdam factory early in 2017 to see what this dynamic company were up to ahead of their monitor loudspeaker launch a year later. The work was certainly breaking new ground in cardioid (directional) active loudspeakers with onboard DSP and room-matching such that they probably could create a decent frequency response in just about any listening space.
Earlier this year, Dutch & Dutch announced a firmware update to make the 8c Roon-ready and upgradable with the Bacch third-party plug-in, the world’s first loudspeaker to offer such an option. This is intended to solve the challenge of acoustic crosstalk that occurs between sound from two speakers.
Dutch & Dutch
The company Dutch & Dutch emerged as a spin-off from an engineering firm in 2014. Driven by a small seed investment, their lengthy R&D began with creating frequency-dependent sound delay systems to develop PA systems that harnessed anti-phase for localized sound control. This necessitated extensive research, notably in the intricacies of digital filters and sound dynamics.
The project culminated in a patent, coupled with an innovative app which has the ability to define venues in 3D and establish designated regions, each with its desired sound pressure level. There are also virtually endless filter options to perfect the sound in any environment. Work on a studio monitor saw the original 8m and then the 8c which replaced it, driven by user demand for this model. There’s also a similar 8c Studio model which sounds the same but is built in an MDF rather than plywood cabinet with black the only finish option. It’s less expensive but lacks the streaming module. A smaller, 6c is in development and is set to bring the technology to an even wider audience when it’s launched.
Design
The 8c is an active three-way monitor that provides neutrality, precision and in-room tonal balance beyond anything I’ve found anywhere else. It features a revolutionary cabinet design that provides constant directivity from 100Hz upwards and +/-0.5dB frequency response from 35Hz upwards.
At its heart, the loudspeaker has an 8-inch bass/mid driver, a 1-inch waveguide-loaded tweeter plus a pair of rear-facing 8-inch aluminium-coned bass drivers in a sealed sub-cabinet. Being close to the rear wall, their LF impact is enhanced by use of the Allison effect, named after the late Roy Allison. The 8c’s bass to mid crossover point is an unusually low 100Hz, allowing the front facing driver to deliver cardioid radiation down to 100Hz, and the two rear divers to output only 100Hz and below.
As I discovered on the 2017 visit to the factory, much work was done to perfect the high frequency waveguide of the CNC precision baffle to create a near-perfect dispersion from the metal-dome tweeter. This is both on and off axis thanks to a design that produces constant directivity and smoothness of response while dealing with diffraction. D&D created their own audio and DSP boards around an Analog Devices chip along with huge amounts of work on software development. Firmware updates ensure that the design is effectively future-proofed.
BACCH
the BACCH 3D Spatial Audio seeks to creates a soundstage from only two speakers, with no tonal distortion and without loss of dynamic range. BACCH (Band-Assembled Crosstalk Cancellation Hierarchy) has been available in a digital audio processor from Theoretica Applied Physics but pretty much nowhere else until the Dutch & Dutch option appeared. Which has been made possible because the algorithm for binaural audio has been offered as commercial software.
My mind went back to the old quadraphonic systems and even Ambisonics, but they all required four-channels with four loudspeakers in the room, as a precursor if you like to the surround-sound systems found in home-theatre setups. But this is different. Here we have just two loudspeakers promising to provide more than the compromised illusion that is two-channel stereo.
But why include the technology in an already superior active monitor? The designer decided it was a no-brainer to implement it in the 8cs after hearing about it from customers. With the hardware of an 8c bought today essentially identical to one of the first, back in 2018, evolution has been in the speaker’s software. “This is central to our vision for the 8c when we started”, explains Martijn Mensink. “Initially, the 8c featured a rudimentary web-based user interface, primarily for basic room setup; adjusting boundary distances, basic equalization, volume control, and input switching. The potent combination of a powerful computer and DSP far exceeded our needs at the time. However, since then, we’ve poured substantial resources into enhancing the platform.”
Enhancements from early 8c include the introduction of a new user interface; downloadable software updates; integration with Room EQ Wizard (REW) for easier and better room matching; attaining Roon Ready certification; adding Spotify Connect, and now the BACCH plug-in.
As more customers praised BACCH’s synergy with his design, Martijn decided to investigate. “It thrives on strong direct sound, minimal early reflections, and precise speaker-matching (both amplitude and phase)”, he tells me. “The 8c excels at these things!” After meeting Bacch’s inventor, Edgar Choueiri, in early 2020, the pair recognized the potential for collaboration and so we have the first Bacch-enabled speaker in the world.
Set-up
Unboxing the weighty speakers (30kg each), I realised that my go-to Tonträger wooden stands might not cope with the mass. I therefore resorted to my trusty Custom Design all-metal stands as a more secure option.
Each speaker needs to be connected via ethernet to the supplied Netgear switch. There is an IEC mains connection to each as well while the analogue or AES/EBU digital signal is connected via 3-pin XLR cables. The two speakers are then linked together via another XLR lead. All is detailed in a very clear and illustrated set-up guide.
I question why the 8cs are not more ‘hi-fi-friendly’ given that it’s now clearly a market segment in D&D’s sights. “The 8c was never intended to be used as a multiple-input speaker”, Martijn explains. “It was intended to be used with a single source or a preamp, as well as streaming. I think that an active speaker with multiple inputs usually doesn’t work well. It becomes a cable mess very quickly. If you need multiple inputs, it’s much easier to go the conventional route of using a preamp. However, I agree there’s something to be said for putting an optical input on the 8c, so that it can be used with a TV. Perhaps it’s a good idea for the speakers that are currently in the pipeline.”
Room matching
Before any serious listening can take place, room measurement and room matching is required. This is part of the purchase price as well as available as an add-on (should one change locations, for example). It’s easy to forget just how vital it is to take room acoustics into consideration, with passive loudspeakers we are listening as much to the room as to the transducer.
Designer Martijn Mensink linked up with me on a video call and took control of my laptop which had the supplied measurement microphone attached and was running REW software. We then took various measurements across the listening arc, and beyond, before he created a room matching profile which he applied to the 8cs. Notably this removed a known +6dB room mode at 50Hz while flattening the overall response.
For added listening pleasure he created some add-on filters for me to use; one resembled a BBC-type loudspeaker curve, another added hi-fi ‘air’ with a gently rising treble response, while I created more to cater for old film soundtracks that were plagued either by low-frequency rumble or HF hiss and noise. These can be switched in and out as desired by the listener by simply using the comprehensive app which is a real boon and a cinch to use.
Sound quality
I began by using the analogue input, using the streamer preamp output of my Hegel H190. Having heard the 8cs at many hi-fi shows around the globe, and always finding them able to create a sound which overcomes the acoustic nightmares of the venues chosen for such events, I wasn’t surprised by the sound quality.
This was clean, extremely detailed, even across the frequency response, imaging first-rate and the timing such as to have my feet tapping within seconds. The onboard amplifiers are clearly of a good quality with high signal to noise and no audible distortion. This proved to be the case across all the genres I tried, including classical, rock and spoken word. I particularly liked the ability to create and select filters according to the source material; no matter how badly it has been recorded, with the 8cs there is the possibility of restoring the material through filtering, be it a boost or cut at a certain frequency.
I was interested to try the AES/EBU digital input since this would also test the 8c’s DAC. Borrowing an Auralic Aries G1 I was soon streaming hi-res material from Qobuz and discovering that Dutch & Dutch had chosen their decoder well. Track after track simply reinforced the 8c’s abilities and I concluded they were the most accurate transducers, at any price, to pass through my hands. Every trick I tried to upset them failed, and they sounded ‘on song’ at both low, medium and overly-loud levels. That is the sign of not just a good loudspeaker, but a masterful one. The bass output from the cabinet and driver size was just incredible, yet ‘sub out’ ports are provided for connection of active subwoofers for those who dare.
Using BACCH
The BACCH plug-in will work only with onboard streaming and that’s limited currently to either Spotify or Roon. Lacking the latter, I took to the perhaps less-than-audiophile quality of Spotify as the listening panel assembled to hear the spatial effects.
I mention this shortcoming to Martijn who takes it onboard and says it’s in hand. “We will continue to improve the 8c’s performance and capabilities over time. Right now, we’re working on implementing both Qobuz and Tidal, as well as UPnP. We expect to release these features later this year.” And they will be available as a firmware update.
To say we were all blown away is no exaggeration. Two of the panel are used to Dolby 7.1 in their own systems and became immediately accustomed to what BACCH could offer. My initial thought was that it sounded rather phasey, an effect that became more acute as I moved my head. After a couple of tracks my ear and brain were in the right gear and the full force of BACCH’s offering was unleashed.
I recall hearing Madonna’s Vogue at last year’s Warsaw Show through the new Silent Pound panels and felt then that it was the most holographic, 3D presentation that I heard; simply phenomenal. Well, the Bacch-enabled 8cs surpassed that presentation in every respect and I became immersed in the performance.
Certainly, there is more of a listening hotspot than with standard stereo and much seat swapping took place during the listening session so that everyone could sample the ‘sweet spot’. Switching BACCH in and out is simple via the app and I found that turning it ‘off’ created much more a sense of loss than switching it in sometimes gave a feeling of added dimension. It all depended on the source material.
Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer took on a new lease of life thanks to BACCH. The level of involvement went off the scale and the performer was brought right in front of us in a most lifelike way. We reviewers sometimes comment on a system creating an holistic 3D image as a matter of hyperbole. Here it was no exaggeration. Martijn provided a list of tracks he has found to demonstrate the technology most effectively, these tending to have lots of stereo information although the tracks were not known to me.
With the right recording, BACCH is possibly the most realistic audio experience you can create in a normal living space. Incredible, just incredible. I particularly enjoyed Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody; the separation in the middle part of the song is crazy because it’s so vivid and dramatic. With the panel gone, I settled down and enjoyed some classical material recorded ‘as live’ where the venue acoustics and performance atmosphere were enhanced by BACCH, which was enough to make it worthwhile for me in just this respect.
Conclusion
The BACCH plug-in adds extra sophistication to an already technologically-advanced loudspeaker which is capable of producing the most neutral sound I have heard from a transducer. The 8c takes active monitors to a new level and comes at what can only be termed a reasonable price tag. No wonder so many long-standing loudspeaker marques are dabbling with DSP and active systems, with either internal/external crossovers and onboard/external amplification. The trouble is, many seem to see it as an excuse to charge exorbitant amounts for their technology.
In the 8c Dutch & Dutch we have a thoroughly well engineered product which is hand-made in The Netherlands to a very high standard. They have selected decent-sounding amplifier and DAC circuitry to create a hugely tempting package that really can create an all-in-one audio solution. They are ahead of the curve in so many ways because I am sure we will see the future of loudspeaker design following many of the paths that D&D have already explored.
If I were not a reviewer, always needing to swap various components in my system (not least, loudspeakers), I would have no hesitation in purchasing the 8cs today. As it is, I shall have to wait until I retire from this writing game. But few others can have such an excuse and so need to be booking a personal audition because mere words here cannot express just how awesome this product is. Be prepared to amaze your senses and be blown away.