This document describes the contents and new features of firmware release 2.3 for the Dutch & Dutch 8-series products.

Overview

Release 2.3 was officially released on May 24th 2023. This version introduces External Gain Control, Network Testing, improved REW connectivity and more. If you use Ascend to control your 8c's, it is recommended to update to the latest version of the app before installing this firmware.

New Features

Gain Control Setting

If you prefer to control the volume of your 8c speakers using an external preamp rather than the Ascend app, we have introduced a new feature to accommodate your preference.

• In the room control view, navigate to the settings and choose "XLR Input Settings." Within these settings, you will find an option called "Gain Control," which can be set to either "In App" (the default setting) or "External."
• When "In App" is selected, there are no changes to how the volume is currently controlled.
• When "External" is selected, the XLR input gain (excluding the streaming  gain) will be fixed at 0 dB. Adjusting the streaming gain will no longer have an impact on the XLR input gain.
• Please note that any gain correction you have previously set will still be applied.

Network tester

We understand that some of our customers have encountered streaming issues due to unreliable networks. To assist in improving such  situations, we have developed a network testing tool that can effectively identify and help resolve network problems.

• The network testing tool works by sending a series of ping messages from one 8c to the other, measuring drop-outs and round trip time. Based on these measurements, it provides a score indicating the quality of your network.
• To access the network tester, simply navigate to the bottom section of the Room Settings view and click "Test Network".
• Once you are in the Network Tester view, the tool will automatically perform a test every 5 minutes. This allows you to continually monitor the impact of any changes you make to your network.

Room EQ Wizard

We have recently identified and resolved an issue regarding filter handling compatibility between REW and the 8c firmware.

• Rest assured that your existing Room Profiles created with REW will continue to function and sound as they did before, without any changes. However, it is important to note that these profiles cannot be modified any further.
• If you find the need to update an existing REW Room Profile, you can do so by creating a copy of the original profile first. To create a copy of a profile, navigate to the RoomMatching menu and select the "Copy existing profile" option. This will allow you to work with a duplicated profile, giving you the flexibility to make the necessary updates while retaining the original profile.

In addition, we have identified and resolved a bug in our firmware that previously caused unreliable discovery from REW. Consequently, the process of creating new room profiles from REW is significantly more robust.

• For more information on how to create a room profile with REW, we invite you to read this article on the Dutch & Dutch support website. It provides detailed guidance and instructions to ensure a seamless experience in generating room profiles using REW.
• Fore more information on REW itself, please check out its website.

Link Local Address

On a more technical note, we have re-enabled link local address generation. This makes it possible to connect and discover an 8c directly from a computer without having a router in between.

How to update?

Once all speakers in a room have successfully discovered the new firmware, a gray notification icon will appear at the top of the room view in your Ascend app. To proceed with the firmware installation, click on this icon, which will direct you to the firmware view. In the firmware view, locate the 'Install' button at the bottom of the screen and click on it to initiate the installation process.

Please ensure that you have updated your Ascend app to the latest version before proceeding with the firmware installation. Keeping your app up to date is essential to ensure compatibility and to access the latest features and enhancements.

Troubleshooting

Three issues have been found and patched for this release

• 2.3.10 Gain initialization during startup now properly sets the default gain.
• 2.3.13 Fixed the migration process of 1.4 settings, which did not detect the presence of a default room.
• 2.3.14 Fixed that under certain circumstances room filters were not programmed after power cycle.

This document describes the contents and new features of firmware release 2.2 for the Dutch & Dutch 8-series products.

Overview

Release 2.2 was officially released on Dec 22st 2022. This version introduces Spotify Connect along with several other new features and improvements.

! IMPORTANT !
This firmware should be controlled with version 1.2 (or higher) of its companion app Ascend. Older versions of Ascend are not fully compatible. Using an older app version is not harmful for the speakers in any way, but it can result in missing functionality. If you use the native app, please update to the latest version before installing this firmware.
! IMPORTANT !

New Features

Spotify Connect

8-series products can now accept direct streaming via Spotify Connect. Simply click the devices icon in your Spotify app and select the name of your room.

Ascend App Improvement

• Improved connectivity
  Reconnecting after the app has been in background mode is faster and more reliable.
• Improved streaming integration
  When streaming from Roon Ready or Spotify Connect the app shows track metadata including the album cover. In the room settings you can choose whether the streaming source should be deselected automatically on pause or, alternatively, when you manually disconnect in the third-party app.
• Unified gain control
  Ascend no longer has a separate gain setting for every input source. Instead, it has one "unified" gain setting in combination with a 'gain correction' setting for each input. This allows you to balance the different input levels relatively to each other.
  More information on how to set up your gain structure can be found here.
• Voicing profiles
  Just like multiple RoomCorrection Profiles can be stored and switched between, you can now store and instantly switch between multiple Voicing Profiles.
• Easier room management
  When the app finds a new room on the network, you are presented with the option to add it to your overview. There is a matching option in the settings menu to "forget" a room and hide it from the overview.
• Dark theme
  In the app settings you can choose a dark theme, which can be more comforting for your eyes in low light situations.
• Compatibility mode
  When the speakers in a room are running old firmware, the app is able to go to compatibility mode so you can control the room without problems.

How to update?

In the Ascend app a gray notification icon should become visible in the header of the main room view. Click this icon to go to the firmware view and then click 'Install' in the bottom of the screen. As mentioned on the top of this document, please update your app to the latest version before installing this firmware.

FAQ

• Why do I have voicing settings I did not create after the update?
  This happens for two reasons. Firstly, in the previous version, only one voicing (previously called Tone Controls) was available. During the update to r2.2 those settings were imported into a separate "switchable" voicing called "Migrated Voicing". Secondly, if you created presets under the previous firmware, then any voicing settings from those presets were also imported into a separate, switchable voicing with the name of the preset.
  
• Why am I still seeing the old web app?
  This is likely caused by your browser cache. Browsers store local copies of websites to prevent having to download the same content multiple times. To bypass the browser's cache, you can try a hard refresh by holding down the shift key while clicking the refresh button or using your browser's hard refresh shortcut. More information can be found in this howtogeek.com article.
  
• I'm getting a message about Compatibility Mode, what does that mean?
  New versions of the app automatically check whether it is compatible with the firmware version on your speakers. Should the app detect that the firmware is too old, it will offer you the option to load a compatible app version, or to update the firmware on your speakers.
  
• I'm trying to change the gain (or other setting), why don't my speakers respond?
  This is most likely happening because you are using an old app version to control new firmware. Please make sure that both the app and firmware are updated to the latest version.
  
• Why do I have to set the gain value higher than before to get the same output?
  Under previous firmware versions every input source had its own gain setting. In this release, those separate gain settings were replaced by a single "unified" gain, in combination with a static correction for every input source. During the update to r2.2, those corrections are calculated automatically from the old input source gains. It is possible that, because of this correction, the output for a certain gain value is less than you are accustomed to. To change this, open the room menu, go to the settings for the relevant input source and set the correction to 0 dB. This should reset the relationship between output and gain setting and restore the previous behavior.
  More information on how to set up your gain structure can be found here.

Troubleshooting

There are currently no known issues with this release.

This document describes the contents and new features of firmware release 2.1 for the Dutch & Dutch 8-series products.

Quick start

Web-app:
http://app.ascend.audio

Overview

Release 2.1 was officially released on April 19th 2022. This release brings back Room EQ Wizard support and significantly improves sync robustness.

New Features

Room EQ Wizard integration

You can now send filters directly from REW to your 8c's after measuring your room.

More information about how to use REW with your 8c's.
Download Room EQ Wizard.

Sync improvement

This release improves the robustness of the 8c's sync algorithm due to better filtering of latency jitter.

How to update?

In the Ascend app a gray notification icon should become visible in the header of the main control view. Click this icon to go to the firmware view and then click 'Install' in the bottom of the screen.

The sound quality of your audio system is primarily determined by your loudspeakers, and the way your loudspeakers interact with the acoustics of your room. If your loudspeakers and room don't match well, you will not get great sound. Dutch & Dutch products are designed to interface with your room favorably. We call this RoomMatching.

This document provides guidance to equalize the low-frequency response of the Dutch & Dutch 8c in your room. We call this RoomEQ, and it is a central part of RoomMatching.

The equalization of the low-frequency response of the 8c in your room is done with software called Room EQ Wizard (REW). REW is freeware / donationware. It is software for measuring and analyzing room and loudspeaker responses. It also has features for displaying equalizer responses and automatically optimizing the settings of the 8c's built-in parametric equalizer, to counter the effects of room modes and adjust responses to match a target curve, which results in a flatter and smoother frequency response at the listening position.

This guide assumes that the 8c's are running a firmware release 2.0.20 or newer and REW is version 5.20.14 or newer.

To download REW, click on the link below, login in or sign up, and download the right version for your system.

https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/v5-20-14-early-access-build.11154/

Relevance

The audio frequency range can be roughly split in two ranges separated by a “transition frequency”, also called “Schroeder Frequency”. For most professional studio and domestic situations the transition frequency is in the order of a few hundred Hertz. Above the transition frequency the room behaves as a reflector and sound waves can freely travel. Below the transition frequency the room behaves more like a resonator. At lower frequencies, the wavelength of the sound waves is comparable to that of the dimensions of the room (or multiples of it), and acoustic waves interact with hard boundaries (walls, ceiling, floor), which prevent them from traveling. Sound waves are instead “squeezed” in the room and exist as standing waves, which create strong variations in sound pressure level at different positions in the room.

If you'd like to dig a little bit deeper, I highly recommend you read this great 2-part article for Sound and Vision, written by veteran audio journalist Brent Butterworth:
Schroeder frequency show and tell - Part 1
Schroeder frequency show and tell - Part 2
In it he very concisely explains how in an acoustical sense you have two rooms, rather than just one.

Room resonances can be attenuated by means of acoustical treatment in the form of bass traps. Bass traps can be very effective , but they generally take up a lot of room space and they should be purpose-built for your room by an expert acoustician.

With the 8c, you can easily get great bass performance without bass traps, by following the steps in this guide.

Equalization

The equalization of the low frequency response of the 8c at the listening position has 3 main steps:

1. Calculate the average frequency response of the 8c in the listening area.
2. Define the target curve, calculate the equalization filters and send them to the 8c.
3. Validate the equalization.

1. Acoustical measurements

Equipment. The 8c should be placed at their normal positions, with the correct boundary settings . The measurement computer running REW and the 8c should be on the same local network. The measurement microphone, a miniDSP UMIK-1 in this example, also needs to be connected to the computer. A typical measurement setup is shown in Fig.1.

REW settings. To enable REW’s connectivity with the 8c, proceed to REW’s preferences, and select the Dutch & Dutch 8c as the default equalizer in the tab Equalizer. If you're working on a mac, REW may prompt for allowing REW access on the local network. Network access is necessary for REW to find the 8c's on the network.

Listening area. The general approach is that one uses an average frequency response in the listening area to calculate the equalization filters. The goal is to obtain a consistent equalized response within the listening area. Given the relatively long wavelength at low frequencies, it is commonly possible to achieve a reasonable equalization for a listening area for a few listeners. More accurate equalizations are however obtained for smaller listening areas.

Measurement locations. To obtain an average frequency response in the listening area, the frequency responses of the 8c is measured at several locations in the area and an average response is calculated by REW. The locations of measurements are chosen to cover the listening area in all 3 dimensions: front/back, left/right, up/down.

For a single person listening area, one measurement is made at the position of the head (center of the listening area) and 6 other measurements are made at the center of the faces of a virtual cube centered on the head. Consider 30cm/1ft from the center of the cube to the faces. For larger listening areas, one may want to have additional points, e.g. 9 points corresponding to the center of the listening area plus the corners of a virtual cube centered at the main listening position, which can be more spread in space. Adding measurement points will increase robustness if desired.

For all measurement locations, the microphone is pointed in the same direction, towards the front of the listening area.

Making a measurement. REW is version 5.20.5 is equipped with a measurement interface that directly connects to the 8c and controls the playback of the measurement sweep tones. The interface is accessed by pressing the “Measure” icon on the top-left corner of REW’s interface.

During the measurement itself you'll first hear a chirp sound from the left channel, then a frequency sweep from selected 8c's (left, right, or both), and finally a second chirp sound from the left channel again. The chirp sounds are always played from the left channel.

The step-by-step measurement process is as follows:

• Set the level of the sweep tone at -10 dB. This corresponds with an SPL of approximately 80 dB.
• A sweep tone level in the range 70 to 80 dB SPL at the listening position should be loud enough to have a good signal-to-noise ratio in most environments.
• Deselect the bypass filter checkboxes of any filters you'd like to be active during the measurement.
• Make the measurement by pressing the "start" button.
• Make a measurement at all measurement positions.
• View the frequency response curves under the All SPL tab.
• Set the range of the vertical axis to 60 dB.
• Set the range for the horizontal axis from 10 to 20000 Hz.

Average response. Figure 3 shows seven unsmoothed frequency responses in a mid-size untreated living room with concrete walls. The goal of the equalization is to particularly attenuate the large peaks, and to ensure that the overall bass level is correct relative to the mids and the highs. Narrow dips should not be corrected, broader shallow dips can be corrected to some extent. The REW optimizer takes these rules into account.  

You'll notice that some of the peaks are present in all 7 measurements (at around 22 and 65Hz), while others are less consistently present in all measurements (between 30 and 40Hz). This illustrates why the equalization is based on the average response in the listening.

Once all measurements are present in REW, hit the button “average the responses” at the bottom left corner of the screen. This calculates the average response is used to calculate the equalization filters. It will show up on the bottom of the list of measurements on the left of the screen.

3. Filter calculation and transfer to 8c

To start the calculation of the filters, load the average frequency response to be equalized (if that was not already in focus) and hit the EQ-button on the top ribbon above the curves.

This brings the filter calculation tool, with the average response to be equalized.

Figure 4 shows the main panel with the average frequency response here unsmoothed (adjusted with the cog wheel in the top-right corner). The panels with the parameters to adjust and calculate the equalization filters are shown on the right.

Some of the relevant parameters to consider with optional adjustments are:

Top panel: Equalizer

• Choose “Dutch & Dutch 8c”, if this is not already selected.

Second panel: Target setting

• Target type: choose “full range speaker”.
• LF Cutoff: The default value is 20Hz. This value can be adjusted depending on the room characteristics.
• Add room curve: If left unticked the target frequency response is flat. For the most natural tonal balance it is recommended to add a bit of room curve. By default it raises the target curve by 1dB/octave below 200Hz to better match the preferred in-room frequency response. This aspect can be adjusted to taste.
• Target level: Hit the “calculate target level from response” to set the overall level of the target response. This usually gives a good estimation of a target level.
• Once the target for this speaker has been set, put the cursor anywhere in the Target Settings field, then right-click and copy target settings. You’ll want to use the same target for the other speaker of the stereo pair.

Third panel: Filter task

• Match range: The default lower limit is 10Hz. Ideally, the upper limit should correspond to the Schroeder frequency, or transition frequency of the room (discussed above under Relevance). This value is often unknown, but it can be safely eyeballed. For most rooms it is expected to be between 100 and 400Hz. It should be set high enough such that any large peaks in the response that persist in all your measurements are corrected, but otherwise as low as possible. Inspecting the unsmoothed frequency response should reveal any strong level variations across frequencies due to room resonances. In Fig. 7, the peak with the highest center frequency that can be attributed to room resonances is arguably at around 200Hz. Smaller variations above this frequency are not due to room resonances but a result of room reflections. Above the transition range, two ears and the signal processing brain in between them 'filter out' these peaks. Therefore these peaks should be left uncorrected.

When all settings are set, ensure that the response is shown unsmoothed and click the “Match target response” text to calculate the equalization and observe the calculated target response – See example Fig. 6

As shown in Fig. 6 the predicted response shows strongly reduced peaks. The human ear has poorer frequency and level resolution below 100Hz, and to get a somewhat more realistic visual representation of what one will hear, one can display the responses smoothed, here shown with 1/24 octave smoothing. The equalization filters characteristics can be seen by hitting the “EQ filters” button above the curve panel. Here is an example with 9 filters:

Click the “Send filters to room profile” text in the Filter tasks panel to send the filter characteristics to the desired 8c position or positions . The settings of the filters can be checked in the Ascend in the Room EQ section of the RoomMatching menu.

The entire process must be repeated for all speakers. Remember to paste the copied target settings, so that the other speaker of the stereo pair gets corrected with the same target curve.

4. Validation of the equalization

The verification of the equalization is done by comparing the frequency response at the center position of the listening area before and after equalization. In the Make a measurement window you can simply check or uncheck the 'bypass profile filters' box to quickly switch back and forth between the 8c with RoomEQ and without.

The equalized response is visually close to the target and the predicted response shown in Fig. 6. The large peaks due to room resonance at around 22 Hz, 64 Hz, and 124 Hz have been successfully attenuated. This is a rather good example, and it is not unusual for the filtered response to exhibit residual valleys. Oftentimes, attempting to correct these valleys is in fact more detrimental than beneficial, because of limitations in dynamic range over narrow frequency bands and the potentially strong resonances that can cause problems elsewhere in the room. Furthermore narrow valleys at low-frequencies are less objectionable to the ear due to limited perceptual frequency resolution and stronger spectral masking at these low-frequencies.

Conclusion

This guide illustrates how Room Matching contributes to making the room disappear for the 8c. The Room Matching process provides a straight-forward process to make the response of the 8c at the listening position more balanced at low frequencies, and thereby contributes to the overall accuracy and clarity of the 8c.

Note: discovery issues

The 8c discovery tool in REW is not always able to find the 8c's on the network. This issue is currently under investigation. The following steps may fix the issue for you there is no guarantee:

Step 1. Close REW
Step 2. Disable WiFi adapter
Step 3. Disconnect computer/laptop from the internet (pull cable)
Step 4. Install a router near the speakers disconnected from the internet
Step 5. Connect speakers to router
Step 6. Connect computer/laptop to router with ethernet cable
Step 7. Start REW (edited)

When the issue is resolved, this note will be updated.

Yes! It will take a bit more attention during the RoomMatching and setup process, but the 8c's can sound great when placed in a corner. Let me first explain the challenges you'll run into. I'll conclude with how you can ensure that your 8c's will sound great in the corner.

Be mindful of three challenges:

1. The forming of the 8c's Acoustic Cardioid radiation pattern.
2. Speaker-Boundary Interference Response.
3. The acoustic and psychoacoustic effects of a strong and early sidewall reflection

Acoustic Cardioid
For the cardioid to properly form, at least 20 cm between the cardioid vent in the 8c's side and a sidewall is required, 30 cm is even better. Other than that, the 8c's themselves are not affected much by the sidewall.

Speaker-Boundary Interference Response
Speaker-Boundary Interference Response (SBIR) refers to the interaction of a loudspeaker that is placed in proximity of a large object or a wall. With conventional speakers, the sound that bounces off the sidewall will cause an increase of low frequencies, as well as cancellations at higher frequencies, that fall smack in the middle of the range of fundamental notes of the human voice. With conventional speakers SBIR causes coloration of the sound.

Reflections
At higher frequencies the side-wall will start to behave as a reflector, similar to how a mirror reflects light. The direct sound from the speaker and the reflection will blend together in your ear, which causes some frequencies to be heard louder, and other to be cancelled out. This effect is referred to as comb-filtering. If the reflection is strong and early enough, this may lead to an ambiguous soundstage and more colorations.

RoomMatching to the rescue

The 8c is what we call a RoomMatching speaker. With the 8c you can greatly mitigate the sidewall's effects by:

1. selecting the corresponding Boundary Distance Settings;
2. applying a bit of RoomEQ to deal with any residual issues in the frequency response; and
3. by means of toe-in.

The toe-in works very well with the 8c, because unlike conventional speakers, the 8c is unidirectional across the entire frequency range. You could think of a conventional speaker as an acoustic light-bulb, then think of the 8c as an acoustic spotlight. Simply point it at the listener and away from the sidewall.

To conclude, if you pay careful attention to the 8c's boundary distance settings, apply the proper amount of RoomEQ (check out this article: https://support.dutchdutch.com/rew/) and if you give the 8c's the proper amount of toe-in, then yes, the 8c can sound amazing if placed in a corner.

The sound quality of your audio system is primarily determined by your loudspeakers, and the way your loudspeakers interact with the acoustics of your room. One way to get a great sounding system, is to design a purpose-built room from the ground up, in which the (usually soffit-mounted) loudspeakers are part of the design. This works. But because of cost and space requirements, it's attainable only for the happy few.

Most of us work and live in real-life rooms, with less than perfect acoustics, and limited space. This is where the 8c comes in. In its essence, the Dutch & Dutch 8c is a highly accurate integrated audio system that adapts to, and works together with the acoustics of your room. You’ll get great sound, even in rooms with little or no acoustic treatment. We call it RoomMatching.

The 8c's have a range of technologies on board that will ensure that they interact with your room in a favorable manner. One of these technologies is the Acoustic Cardioid.

If you think of conventional loudspeakers as an acoustic light bulb, then you could consider the Acoustic Cardioid of the 8c an acoustic spotlight. By aiming the 8c at the listener, its sound is focused at the listener. This ensures a clear direct sound and less interfering noise caused by reflections in the room.

The main benefits of the Acoustic Cardioid are:

❥ You'll hear sound with greater clarity.
❥ You'll notice less interference of the room, more of the recording itself.
❥ Optimized integration with the tweeter.
❥ Can be placed close to walls.

Cardioids can also be made by means of a second driver, a DSP channel and a second amplifier. Althought here can be good reasons to do it that way, we think that it's generally more elegant to solve challenges in the acoustic domain, if possible.

We believe the Acoustic Cardioid is a quite elegant solution because of two reasons. Firstly, the acoustic cardioid requires only a single driver, of which the back-wave is used. It's very hard to design an Acoustic Cardioid to perform well, but we are proud to say that we've mastered the science and art of the Acoustic Cardioid. Our Acoustic Cardioid performs as well, or even better, than active multi-driver DSP based cardioids on the market. Its simplicity makes Dutch & Dutch's Acoustic Cardioid a very efficient solution.

Secondly, in conventional box loudspeakers, the back-wave is a nuisance, that will have to be dealt with in one way or another. You normally don't want the back-wave to find its way out of the box, and into the room, where it can interfere with the desired sound that's radiated by the front of the loudspeaker driver, and designers of high-end loudspeakers go to great lenghts to indeed keep that from happening.

With the 8c's Acoustic Cardioid design, we actually make use of the back-wave to form the cardioid. Killing two birds with one stone, quite elegant indeed!

Every 8c that is running firmware r1.4 or later releases is equipped with the Release Management System (RMS). The RMS has two main functions:

• Download and install new firmware
• Create and restore back-ups of installed firmware and user settings

Please be aware that, although the RMS is a 'conservative' piece of software, it still receives updates from time to time. This documentation was made for RMS version 3.0.24 and may contain outdated parts.

User Interface

The RMS runs as an independent system and therefore has its own user interface (UI). It is a website that is hosted on the 8c itself and which you can access by browsing to port 10000 of your 8c system. Depending on your local router settings, one of the following URLs should work (replace "8c-1234" with your products' serial number).

• http://8c-1234:10000
• http://8c-1234.local:10000

When the UI is first loaded, it will attempt to connect to the actual RMS running on your 8c. If a connection can not be made, the UI will go to an error view and automatically retry in 30s. After the connection has been made, the main view is shown.

System Information

The main view has three sections, of which System information is the first. It shows your system's serial number and firmware version and has a dropdown where you can enable or disable automatic updates. By default, automatic updates are disabled.

It also features items that have a green chevron icon on the right, which lead to another view when clicked. The System Details view shows the serial number, product type, version of the operating system and version of the RMS itself.

The Release Notes view shows the description and notes belonging to the currently installed release.

If you toggle the Automatic updates dropdown and set it to enabled, the RMS will periodically check for new firmware updates and make sure the latest available version is installed on the system at all times. This excludes Major Version upgrades; these always have to be done manually.

To give an example: when automatic updates are enabled, an update from 2.0.0 to 2.1.5 would be installed automatically, but an update to 3.0.0 would have to be triggered manually.

The website will ask for confirmation before applying this setting.

The remaining two options, 'Create back-up' and 'Factory reset' are discussed below, in their relevant sections.

Installing New Firmware

The second section lists the available releases your 8c can install. Note that, if you are running room based software (r2.0 and up), all 8c's in a room should be running the same firmware version. RMS checks periodically for updates to this list. You can also trigger this check manually, by clicking the green, circular arrow icon in the upper right corner.

Click one of the release versions to go to the release view, where its description and notes are displayed. Click the green "Install" button in the lower right corner to proceed with installation.

When you install a release that is older than the one that is running, your user settings will not be migrated. RMS will display a warning about this.

After clicking install, RMS will ask you to confirm..

..and then proceed with the installation. Every time an installation is done, RMS will create an automatic back-up of the current system. In the example below, the system went from r1.4 to r2.0. This is considered a Major Upgrade, which is why RMS creates an extra backup. The regular automatic back-up will be overwritten on the next install, but the Major Upgrade automatic back-up will be saved until the next Major Upgrade, perhaps to r3.0 somewhere in the future. This way, you are always able to return to the previous major version release.

For a regular upgrade, the view looks like this:

When the installation is finished, RMS will go back to the main view and confirm completion with a pop-up.

Creating and Restoring Back-ups

A back-up is a saved copy of a running system. It contains a copy of both a firmware release and all the user data at a certain point in time. The 8-series products have five back-up slots, of which two are reserved for automatic back-ups. This means that you can create and keep three back-ups of previously running systems.

Creating a back-up

Click the 'Create back-up' item in the upper section of the main view. RMS will first check whether a free slot is available. If all slots have been used, RMS will show the following message.

If a free slot is still available, RMS will show the Create Back-up view. Here you can enter a name and a description for the back-up.

After clicking 'Create' in the lower right corner, RMS will go to the operation view, where you can track the subsequent steps.

When the operation is complete, RMS will go back to the main view and show a confirmation.

The new back-up is now visible in the list on the main view.

Click the backup to see more detailed information about it.

To remove a back-up, click the green trash can icon in the upper right corner. RMS will ask for confirmation.

And finally, show a success pop-up when the operation is finished. This is a very fast process, which is why you may not be able to see the operation view.

Automatic back-ups

Every time firmware is installed on your system, RMS automatically creates a back-up called 'auto'. If a previous auto back-up exists, it is overwritten by the new one. Clicking the 'auto' back-up entry in the list shows when it was created and which firmware version it contains. The automatic back-up can not be deleted and trying to do so will result in an error.

Besides the regular automatic back-up, RMS creates a Major Upgrade automatic back-up whenever a major upgrade is done. This back-up is not overwritten by the regular automatic back-ups, but only by the next Major Upgrade automatic back-up.

Factory Reset

RMS allows performing a soft reset. It will remove all user settings from the currently installed firmware and restore the factory defaults. The firmware itself will remain installed. Any back-ups you have created will remain untouched. Please note that, if you are running room based firmware (r2.0 and up), you should reset all the 8c's on your network for the operation to have effect. The correct way to do that is as follows.

1. Turn off all the 8c's on your network
2. For each 8c: Turn on ⇾ Perform the reset ⇾ Turn off
3. Turn on all the 8c's again

To perform a reset on an 8c, open the Factory Reset view (click the Factory reset item in the first section of the main view). Click "Reset" in the lower right corner and "OK" in the confirmation dialog.

After clicking Reset, RMS will ask you to confirm.

And finally confirm that the reset was successful.

Troubleshooting

RMS page cannot be found

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This document describes the contents and new features of firmware release 2.0 for the Dutch & Dutch 8-series products.

Quick start

Web-app:
http://app.ascend.audio

Overview

Release 2.0 was officially released on December 15th 2021. The release introduces room based system control, digital sync, a native app called "Ascend" and Roon-Ready support.

Documents

User manual
Spec sheet

Known Issues

• Although r1.4 included REW support, this is not yet included in r2.0. However, as part of the upgrade to r2.0 existing Room EQ Matching filters are migrated. (edit: REW support was added in 2.0.27)

New Features

Roon Ready

Dutch & Dutch 8-series products running r2.0 are certified Roon Ready. After the products have been set-up using the Ascend app, the room shows up in Roon as an endpoint

Room based

In r1.4 8c's could be grouped in lanspeaker.com, which could then send simultaneous control signals to multiple 8c's with one user action. In r2.0 the 8c's are grouped on the device level. The 8c's find, connect and sync to each other on the network and present themselves as a single unit towards the various software clients. This makes the system more robust and manageable. It also provides a basis for more sync/streaming based features in the future.

Room EQ Matching profiles

A profile is a collection of filter settings, that have been optimized for a specific position (or zone) within a room. R2.0 8c's can store multiple Room EQ profiles and allow instant switching between them.

Tone controls

On top of Room EQ profiles, r2.0 has tone controls. Whereas profiles are meant to match the room (create a completely flat sound within a certain room), presets can be used to match your mood. Using generic sub, bass and treble filters and up to 16 parametric EQ filters to shape the sound the way you like it.

User presets

Presets allow you to store and recall a number of different system settings under one label. These are gain, input mode, phase mode, tone controls and Room EQ Matching profile.

Digital sync

From r2.0 forward, 8-series products boast digital sync in sub-sample accuracy.

Ascend app

The Ascend app is available as web app and native app for Android. The iOS app will be released shortly.

How to update?

Assuming your systems are currently running a 1.4 release, the way to upgrade is to open lanspeaker.com and for each of your 8c's go to settings -> firmware. If 2.0 is available, it is listed under "Available firmware". Go to the details page for the release and click install. Check first that the update is available for both 8c's.

After the installation, lanspeaker.com will not work with your system anymore. Lanspeaker will still load and show your 8c's, but will not be able to control them anymore. For firmware release 2.0.0 and up Ascend is the only working control application. Ascend can be found online on
http://app.ascend.audio and in the Android Play Store, with the iOS app being released ASAP.

Troubleshooting

➜ After updating to firmware r2.0 one of my 8c's is not being discovered by the Ascend app.

If this happens, it is possible that something went wrong during the update. There are two ways to recover from this, both of which require the usage of the Release Management System (RMS).

1. If you want your 8c's to keep running r2.0, then use the RMS to perform a factory reset. This should be done on each 8c separately, with all other 8c's turned off during the reset. A detailed guide is available on the RMS support page.
2. If you want your systems to go back to r1.4, then use the RMS to restore the latest automatic Major Upgrade back-up. More information is available on the RMS support page.

If you have tried these steps without success, or if you need assistance while applying them, request a support session with one of our engineers.

Ascend is the companion app for the Dutch & Dutch 8c. It guides you through the initial set-up and offers fine-grained control over the system's features. This includes setting up custom filter profiles, room correction, switching input and phase mode as well as updating firmware.

Ascend is available both as web based app and as native app for iOS and Android. Links forthcoming.

https://ascend.audio

The sound quality of your audio system is primarily determined by your loudspeakers, and the way your loudspeakers interact with the acoustics of your room. One way to get a great sounding system, is to design a purpose-built room from the ground up, in which the (usually soffit-mounted) loudspeakers are part of the design. This works. But because of cost and space requirements, it's attainable only for the happy few.  

Most of us work and live in real-life rooms, with less than perfect acoustics, and limited space. This is where the 8c comes in. In its essence, the Dutch & Dutch 8c is a highly accurate integrated audio system that adapts to, and works together with the acoustics of your room. You’ll get great sound, even in rooms with little or no acoustic treatment. We call it RoomMatching.

The 8c's have a range of technologies on board that will ensure that they interact with your room in a favorable manner. One of these technologies is Boundary Coupled Bass (BCB).

The 8c's have two high-excursion woofers in the back of their cabinets. These woofers operate below 100 Hz only. Inspired by the work of the late speaker designer Roy Allison, the 8c is designed to leverage Boundary Coupling. Boundary Coupled Bass (BCB) offers four main benefits:

❥ The destructive boundary interference that plagues conventional loudspeakers is avoided.
❥ Low-frequency headroom is increased by up to 6 dB.
❥ Increased directivity in the bass, for a good directivity match between the Boundary Coupled Bass and the Acoustic Cardioid midrange.
❥ The 8c can be placed very close to the wall, which make for a less obtrusive system.

The 8c's have pre-programmed settings that let the 8c's easily adapt to a specific distance between the back of the 8c and the front-wall (in accordance with the professional and scientific literature, we call this wall the front-wall: listener-orientation is the reference, not the speaker's). You get the best results by placing the 8c’s between 10 and 50 cm from the front wall.

How does it work?
The 8c’s bass drivers acoustically couple with the front-wall, and the 8c and the wall effectively combine to become one single sound source. This combined 8c/wall-system radiates sound in a phase-coherent hemispherical pattern. The preset that corresponds with the actual distance between the back of the 8c and the wall, does two things:

1. it assures that the 8c/wall-system and the Acoustic Cardioid Midrange in the 8c's front baffle are time-aligned.
2. it makes sure that the 8c together with the wall has a flat frequency response.

Will the 8c work with the wall in my room?
In all probability, yes. Although some walls offer more bass support than others, the 8c's can adapt to a wide variety of walls. The easiest walls to work with are flat, solid, rigid walls. But you can also get great results with walls that are more flexible and with an asymmetrical room layout.

With some wall types it is easier to get good results. Other wall types require more attention and effort. Whatever the situation, a combination of Boundary Distance Settings and RoomEQ will ensure that the 8c's adapt to your specific situation in the best possible way. Therefore, whether your front-wall is a slanted wooden ceiling with a skylight, a brick wall with a door in it, or a wall that consists entirely of double-pane glass - the 8c's RoomMatching technologies help to ensure you'll get great sound.

And now here is the important bit that people sometimes miss. Say you have an room that's more acoustically challenging than most. Even if the results you get may not be as good as what you might get with a 'better' wall, it will at the very least be way better than the results you'd get with a speaker that doesn't even take the boundary into account, which is 99% + of speakers.

If you are unsure of how to achieve the best possible results, please ask your Dutch & Dutch dealer for help, or purchase our Remote Commissioning Service: https://shop.dutchdutch.com/rcs.html A trained Dutch & Dutch engineer will help you to match the 8c's to your room, to ensure you get the most out of them.