I share this concern
I have a minidsp but dont use it because I share the concern of the OP.
I have a high-end multi-channel DAC. The last thing I want is for another A/D, D/A cycle to occur from a far inferior DAC (not offence intended, its just a fact). This is true whether is occurs before or after my DAC.
Why don't your DSP units work in the all-digital domain. That way I could feed the digital signal from my source (PC and other), have your product do DSP (x/o and DRC) but output to digital streams, without ever converting t analog. Then I feed those digital streams into my m-ch DAC to do the conversion.
Am I correct that your OpenDRC does this, but only for 2-ch? To use it for my 8-ch, Id need 4 units. I would much rather do this in a m-ch DIY box than pay for 4 units.
Also is there a way to do this using buffalo DACs? is there a way to bypas the A/D D/A cycle or insert my own diy dac in place of yours?
Please clarify the points made here.
Thanks very much
I have a minidsp but dont use it because I share the concern of the OP.
I have a high-end multi-channel DAC. The last thing I want is for another A/D, D/A cycle to occur from a far inferior DAC (not offence intended, its just a fact). This is true whether is occurs before or after my DAC.
Why don't your DSP units work in the all-digital domain. That way I could feed the digital signal from my source (PC and other), have your product do DSP (x/o and DRC) but output to digital streams, without ever converting t analog. Then I feed those digital streams into my m-ch DAC to do the conversion.
Am I correct that your OpenDRC does this, but only for 2-ch? To use it for my 8-ch, Id need 4 units. I would much rather do this in a m-ch DIY box than pay for 4 units.
Also is there a way to do this using buffalo DACs? is there a way to bypas the A/D D/A cycle or insert my own diy dac in place of yours?
Please clarify the points made here.
Thanks very much
This is what I am hoping to do. I want to slip a miniDSP unit between my MUX reciever and my Buffalo II using the 12S in/out. This has been done successfully, as I have asked over on the Twisted Pear forum.
My answer was "It work fine,but you must be aware that this configuration is limited to 24/96 data streams"
...interesting!!
1) do you think/know if this could be done for multi-ch (more than 2) by with multi 2x4 mini dsp's or a single larger unit?
2) In any config, am I correct that I want the mini dsp vs the minidigi?
3) do you think/know if a Buffalo II/III can be configured to switch between the "mini-dsp source" and other inputs without the mini-dsp in the chain? My thinking here is for some applications, I will want the minidsp via i2s solution and for others I may want to bypass it (but still use the B-II/III DAC.
If you have a link to the other threads discussing this, that might be useful.
Thanks
You can use the minidsp with I2S in and out. The minidsp has 2 input channels and 4 output channels. The samplerate MUST be 48kHz. If your source has another samplerate you must use a samplerate converter. For I2S input from your spdif receiver/mux these pins must be connected:
Pin - minidsp - spdif receiver
5 - ground - ground
9 - MCLKIN - MCLKOUT (MUST be 12.288 MHz)
13 - I2S_DATA_IN7&8 - I2S data out
14 - I2S_IN_LRCLK - I2S wordclock out
15 - I2S_IN_BCLK - I2S bitclock out
The sabre dac can be connected using these pins:
Pin - minidsp - sabre dac
6 - ground - ground
16 - I2S_DATA_OUT1&2 - I2S in channel 1&2
17 - I2S_DATA_OUT3&4 - I2S in channel 3&4
20 - I2S_OUT_LRCLK - I2S wordclock in
21 - I2S_OUT_BCLK - I2S bitclock in
The MCLK jumper on the minidsp must be in slave MCLK mode.
Pin - minidsp - spdif receiver
5 - ground - ground
9 - MCLKIN - MCLKOUT (MUST be 12.288 MHz)
13 - I2S_DATA_IN7&8 - I2S data out
14 - I2S_IN_LRCLK - I2S wordclock out
15 - I2S_IN_BCLK - I2S bitclock out
The sabre dac can be connected using these pins:
Pin - minidsp - sabre dac
6 - ground - ground
16 - I2S_DATA_OUT1&2 - I2S in channel 1&2
17 - I2S_DATA_OUT3&4 - I2S in channel 3&4
20 - I2S_OUT_LRCLK - I2S wordclock in
21 - I2S_OUT_BCLK - I2S bitclock in
The MCLK jumper on the minidsp must be in slave MCLK mode.
Wow. Thanks for this. It looks relatively simple.
I don't quite understand about the sample rate limitations though. I was hoping to use the MUX reciver to switch between a cd transport (44.1kHz???), and a Sonos streaming flac files (sample rate ???).
CD/Sonos > Mux > Mini dsp > BuffalloII. Would this work?
Hi thanks for all your great info!
...so then how can minidsp normally play other formats ( when not connected this way ). For example the minidsp "kit" can play all formats up to 24/96, I believe. Why is it more limited here?
OK. So it looks like I will need a mini DIGI also.
miniDIGI | miniDSP
Would you recommend using 12s between Mini dsp and BuffalloII?
It looks like I will need to use spdif between the MUX reciever and mini DIGI???
You can also use this product between your mux and minidsp. But the XO must be replaced with a 12.288 MHz one.
With I2S it is possible to output 4 channels from the minidsp (or 8 channels when using 2 minidsp's).
With SPDIF it is only possible to output 2 channels from the minidigi.
With I2S it is possible to output 4 channels from the minidsp (or 8 channels when using 2 minidsp's).
With SPDIF it is only possible to output 2 channels from the minidigi.
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2 pages in and I see very little from the MinisDSP people to actually address my original post. I see one VERY complicated work around that I can't pretend to understand. So my options are to use my existing superior DAC solution along with a passive cross-over solution, or use an inferior dac so I can have fun with DSP.
This sounds like the CD vs vinyl debate where we'll have some argue one format or 'way' is better than the other. But I'd love to hear some opinions on the matter....
This sounds like the CD vs vinyl debate where we'll have some argue one format or 'way' is better than the other. But I'd love to hear some opinions on the matter....
miniDSP already suggested to use miniDIGI + miniDSP!
miniDIGI will add digital inputs (optical and SPDIF) to miniDSP avoiding DA/AD conversion using the (probably inferior) internal ADC of the miniDSP. It will further add one digital output so that you can use your own DAC at least for two of the output channels.
So the suggested setup is: digital source (PC/DVD/CD/Streaming client,...) -> miniDIGI -> miniDSP -> miniDIGI -> DAC =>amp
with "->" being digital connections and "=>" being analog connections
hoping this information helps
miniDIGI will add digital inputs (optical and SPDIF) to miniDSP avoiding DA/AD conversion using the (probably inferior) internal ADC of the miniDSP. It will further add one digital output so that you can use your own DAC at least for two of the output channels.
So the suggested setup is: digital source (PC/DVD/CD/Streaming client,...) -> miniDIGI -> miniDSP -> miniDIGI -> DAC =>amp
with "->" being digital connections and "=>" being analog connections
hoping this information helps
If OP's goal is strictly for digital domain processor, he might also consider other alternatives. In addition to the MiniDSP, I am a happy owner of a Behringer DEQ2496, a veritable "Swiss Army Knife" signal processor. Among other tricks, you can use it for a purely digital domain processor. I think internally it is 24 bit, 96 KHz but I don't know if it resamples. I would guess "yes." I would like to hear more about using the MiniDSP in the digital domain.
I don't want to take business away from MiniDSP, but once you have the additional board(s) you are getting close to the cost of a DEQ2496. Or can it be done with just the basic 2x4 ?
I don't want to take business away from MiniDSP, but once you have the additional board(s) you are getting close to the cost of a DEQ2496. Or can it be done with just the basic 2x4 ?
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