I know there are some folks who think that tinkering with a commercial product is sacrilegious,
Then there are others who want to dissect every part of the machine looking for weak points to upgrade.
I've seen a number of threads over the years of people tweaking their hardware to improve sonic purity by the replacement of certain parts with higher quality, or adding things which might help. Examples include regulators, op amps, wiring, capacitors, etc.
I've been listening to my MiniDSP 4x10 lately and I have a suspicion that there might be a few improvements possible. I noticed that the EQ filters aren't transparent. If I use a software EQ on my PC, I get nicer and more pleasant sound in the highs than if I use the parametric EQ of the minidsp itself... so right now I'm in the middle of efforts to get all the gains optimized so that minimal eq is necessary. I've also swapped out my system with a couple other dsp units from behringer and even run multichannel dsp in software on my pc. The results all sound different.
But this isn't a software question so much as the software got me thinking of how much improvement could be had if I open the box and start experimenting with what's inside.
Any minidsp aficionados out there who have ventured into hardware modification territory? What have you learned, and what would you recommend?
Thanks!
Then there are others who want to dissect every part of the machine looking for weak points to upgrade.
I've seen a number of threads over the years of people tweaking their hardware to improve sonic purity by the replacement of certain parts with higher quality, or adding things which might help. Examples include regulators, op amps, wiring, capacitors, etc.
I've been listening to my MiniDSP 4x10 lately and I have a suspicion that there might be a few improvements possible. I noticed that the EQ filters aren't transparent. If I use a software EQ on my PC, I get nicer and more pleasant sound in the highs than if I use the parametric EQ of the minidsp itself... so right now I'm in the middle of efforts to get all the gains optimized so that minimal eq is necessary. I've also swapped out my system with a couple other dsp units from behringer and even run multichannel dsp in software on my pc. The results all sound different.
But this isn't a software question so much as the software got me thinking of how much improvement could be had if I open the box and start experimenting with what's inside.
Any minidsp aficionados out there who have ventured into hardware modification territory? What have you learned, and what would you recommend?
Thanks!
Yes, I use it often.
Compared to the half dozen commercial software EQs and plugins I've tried, it seems the algorithm used by the minidsp for parametric eq doesn't have the transparency I'm looking for. I have all EQ bypassed on the unit and I'm using plugins for Foobar2000 to do the work on my pc before the digital signal makes it to the dsp.
I think I've finessed my EQ settings to a state of almost optimal perfection. Don't get me wrong... my system sounds very, very nice to my ears but there's still a suspicion in me that a bit of the grainy-ness or lack of transparency might be traced to the dsp unit itself. I just ordered several gauges of ohno continuous cast copper wiring at several dollars per foot to rewire some of my speakers, amps, power supplies, etc. and while I'm at it I'm wondering if there are any caps or other hardware components that need replacing or tweaking. I have a grab bag of expensive caps and resistors & stuff calling out to me in the middle of the night asking for a purpose.
For what it is worth: I am using a DDRC-24 and have replaced the original input and output caps with Audio Note Kaisei of the same value. To my ears this has increased transparency of the unit. Additionally I replaced the opamps with opa 1656 but the effect of that change was less than changing caps. Finally I am using an ifi iPowerX instead of the original PS. Like this, I am a happy camper.
Make measurements first. Identify what you want to change about the measured performance. Model the circuit and use the model to predict the performance of your upgrades. Make the modifications and verify with testing that you made an improvement. Or just have fun putting some expensive parts in and try to avoid breaking it.
if you mean this: https://www.minidsp.com/images/documents/Product Brief - miniDSP 4x10 HD.pdf
firstly i dont own any minidsp, but iiuc your use case is merely a multichannel dac with the cs42528 chip which is fairly straight forward to mod: +5/3.3v, vq, clock, output filter opamp/power etc... read the datasheet.
at last the "114dB DAC IC / Measured SNR 105dB" is fairly crap in modern standards, you should be able to get some real improvement with the above mods
firstly i dont own any minidsp, but iiuc your use case is merely a multichannel dac with the cs42528 chip which is fairly straight forward to mod: +5/3.3v, vq, clock, output filter opamp/power etc... read the datasheet.
at last the "114dB DAC IC / Measured SNR 105dB" is fairly crap in modern standards, you should be able to get some real improvement with the above mods
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IINM, both 4x10 models were “EOL” in 2022, and I’ve read that several new models in the newer Flex series have improved sonics, and several now include HDMI input option.
Dubai - crazy question, but did you make listening notes on the sequence of each of the described tweaks? I’m particularly interested in what you might have noticed in the PSU alone.
Dubai - crazy question, but did you make listening notes on the sequence of each of the described tweaks? I’m particularly interested in what you might have noticed in the PSU alone.
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some easier suggestions based on my experience with the somewhat similar and much more popular cs4398 dac:
but for what i can see the minidsp is largely smt components which will be quite tricky to handle, you will need to learn and figure out exactly what/how to do and most importantly be prepared to destroy it by mistakes..
- upgrade +5/3.3v regulators with lt3042 or like
- upgrade the output opamp with lm4562/lme49720 or like
- upgrade the output coupling capacitors with elna silmic or like
- increase vq capacitance to 47uf
- power the whole device with large 3s lipo batteries (12.6v) which will beat any wall adapters (easiest!)
- use another battery pack of proper voltage to power the negative rail
but for what i can see the minidsp is largely smt components which will be quite tricky to handle, you will need to learn and figure out exactly what/how to do and most importantly be prepared to destroy it by mistakes..