new miniDSP SHD, perfect for WAW/FAST systems

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I can't answer your question about suitability for your use.

It remembers all settings from the last session, no significant noise, pops or clicks at power on or off.

Master volume affects all 4 outputs, and each has independent attenuation settings. All outputs can be assigned to either input channel or mono summed.

This is a consumer oriented product, word clock is not supported. AES/EBU and SPDIF I/O are supported.

Dirac and the good codecs are the main and most compelling reasons to purchase this unit specifically. The PEQ and crossover functions are good too.

It strikes me that buying one and not using Dirac is an expensive option. It's cost is substantial and bundled in the cost of the unit. It makes little sense imo.
 
My impression is semi-pro converters are very reasonable pricing. My $600 Yamaha 8ch converter is not much different from $3000 Mytek (sold), and indistinguishable from Apollo (sold). I still have $2000 Apogee Symphony, because it has much better AD to my ears, but DA is not worth to pay the difference. I would buy Yamaha second hand one for $300 on Ebay, if I just need DA. Measurement Mic is only $50, BTW.

Yamaha/Steinberg has always been a great value. I like those a lot.

I was referring mostly to the bottom of the pack that usually rely on heavy advertisement to sell their products, like Presonus, Focusrite and Behringer.

I've had a couple of those and they were hurting my ears, with so much sibilance and just screeching.

I was just mentioning the MOTU as they have been popular with the audio show crowd lately, showing off their new ESS DAC implementation.
 
It strikes me that buying one and not using Dirac is an expensive option. It's cost is substantial and bundled in the cost of the unit. It makes little sense imo.

My feelings as well.

If you need an audio card with only 4 analogue outs, without popping, you'll need to look at cards that play a little silence between resolution changes.

Otherwise, you'll have to hit MUTE on speakers outputs when changing sample rates.

Audio players like JRiver have the option of muting speakers between sample rate changes so you don't hear a pop.
 
Just saw the CDSP 8x12 v2.0 in a newsmail from miniDSP.
I think it looks like a quite promising unit, with both analog and spdif inputs, and the price is 499 USD.
It also has a whoopin' 12 analog outputs! Not that I need that many.... But maybe it's something to consider for the Array people?
Maybe it would be good if someone wants to make an array of 6 Fane 15-300TC oer channel? :D

The price is right, and the specs are pretty good, not quite SHD level, but you do not have to pay for the DIRAC stuff at least.

Car Audio : C-DSP 8x12 V2.0
 
I'm a fan of MiniDSP too. But, boy I'm glad I'm a tin-eared audio-fool :D MiniDSP USB Streamer B ($105), Behringer ADA8200 ($230); add a PC and you have 8 balanced channels of audio I/O. Use s/w to process to taste. I use JRiver as my source and digital EQ. Not bad for $335 (hardware only).
 
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They've got some very cost effective deals for processing, and they have also started to cater to guys like me looking for higher performance options without the insane price tag.

Despite tubes and horns I am sold on the SHD and DSP based audio processing. It provides considerable benefit in just making my system sound better which in the end after all the obsessing is over and the measurements done is what it is about.

Has my vote. :D
 
Dirac is an all-included solution that digital DIYers have been implementing for some time now.

It's easy, as you only need to place the mic, take a few measurements, choose your favourite FR curve and you let it do its calculations.

I downloaded the demo once. It helped my room a little, and didn't mess things up badly, so it is working as advertised.

All things you can do freely with lot more control and results if you follow the convolution recipe posted by gmad over here. But, it's a lot more involved and time consuming.
 
Everyone that thinks DIRAC is a good thing: please continue to like it with a good conscience.
I just personally think it is a "way over the top" solution, that tends to slightly overcompensate, and the end result may sound a tiny bit more "strained", when what I personally want is "effortless". This being a DIY forum, I think that at least some of us, are interested in using a bit more time to finely hone a better end result with less signal intervention.
So it is just my personal wish, that it could be an option to save 100-200$ and have the SHD without DIRAC.
The SHD looks like a really nice unit, well thought out. But paying for a solution I want to avoid? Hmmmmmm... Makes me put my money firmly back in my pocket.
 
Mostly, it's just us DIY nutcases that nitpick over details, such as topologies, output stages, chips used for processing etc.

As designed by our fellow contributor Tom Christiansen. :)

The MiniDSP SHD has the AKM AK4390 and OPA1612 in it. I designed the analog sections for MiniDSP. I haven't had a chance to measure mine yet, but I know MiniDSP have. The design goal was to maintain the excellent THD and SNR performance of the DAC itself all the way through to the output connector. To the best of my knowledge we accomplished that. The SHD has differential out.

I should have a review of the SHD up before the end of the year.

Tom
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Thanks.

I have the miniDSP 2x4 HD here, and the SHD is pretty much that unit on steroids!

Better DACs, lots more configurations, inputs, etc...

I was hoping the price tag would be a little lower, but it does offer a lot, and as mentioned, the competition is priced much higher.

So, your audio path is Analog in- A/D conversion in the SHD- Dirac and XO- D/A conversion to amp?

Doing so in the 2x4 HD (minus the Dirac) degrades the sound noticeably. That's why I use mine with USB input. I stay digital until the last moment, and only one conversion is applied.

Did you test analog vs digital inputs on your SHD?

I have the minidsp HD. The analogue signal goes thru an ecap, JRC2068, and a tantalum cap before doing the A/D. So don't expect the A/D signal to be top grade.

I am seriously considering to get the SHD Studio without the analogue part.
 
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I've had the SHD now for a number of months. Firmware updates have occurred on a regular basis and all of the early issues I had seem to have been resolved.

I did evaluate Volumio and was not terribly impressed with its interface and would have had to run a permanent ethernet connection back to my router to use it effectively - not convenient or ideal - I also hesitate after the lightning strike nearby last summer to connect things via ethernet, the wireless at least means differential currents between components have one less path to follow.

For the foreseeable future I will continue to use the SHD as a black box processor for my system.

I remain convinced that it was the right decision under my specific circumstances and the other option - a DEQX while providing bragging rights probably would not perform audibly better. It's quiet, unobtrusive, and does the job.

I've also figured out that less is more in terms of EQ and room correction. I now have a very simple room EQ - basically near flat (very close to the auto EQ target curve) and maybe a dB or so down at 15kHz. I use a little PEQ (band pass) in the bass for bass boost and it sounds quite good. I've tried a lot of different combinations of room response curve (Harman, real feel and a bunch of others I came up with) - so pretty close actually to what I was doing with the analog room EQ with the benefit of driver offset correction and room response correction both in time and frequency.

Unless you have an all digital system or exceptional A/D and D/A chains I'd recommend the analog version. The analog path was well executed.

I have not opened up the box, perhaps some day I will. I am literally treating it like a "black box" for the moment. :D
 
Kevin, have you evaluated running the DIRAC vs Good'ol knob turning EQ?
Interested in your impressions, hopefully they have not been too coloured by mine and others opinions.

Still heavily considering the SHD unit, there does not seem to be anything better available at this price tag, regardless of the (IMO) useless extra features.
 
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The SHD was actually a replacement for a pair of BSS Varicurve FCS-926 which is a microprocessor controlled analog parametric equalizer that I used for room equalization for about 4 years.

The SHD fixes things like driver offset and impulse response which the analog equalizers could not address.

It's also quieter, and more transparent than the analog equalizers it replaced.
 
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Dirac is either on or off, the only changes in Dirac behavior are made through a combination of measurement technique (where you do the physical measurements) and by manipulating the target curve.
I have tinkered with the target curve in Dirac, you can add additional points and adjust the target response over about a +/- 10dB from the mean. The Dirac response is close to flat (which does not sound great) with a slight shelf to 15kHz (about -1dB). I then add PEQ on top of that to fine tune - this is my current approach and has evolved through a number of minor system iterations and figuring out how to make the best overall compromises.

I bought the unit specifically because it has Dirac and I thought would do less damage to the sound than my old analog PEQ which had 50 op-amps per channel. I also bought it in order to correct the driver offsets, impulse response and improve the early arrival behavior. The difference between it enabled and disabled is significant, overall the sound is just more coherent - I have a difficult room, the benefit may be less pronounced in a bigger, more suitable room.
 
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I continue to be delighted with mine, it is one of the few purchases I have made in audio besides the Sony HAP that I have never had a moment's regret over.

I own the full version with analog I/O which is mostly all I use. The reviewer's comment about a 100% selectable volume setting is a good one since that's how I use mine.

It's very neutral sounding and free of any obvious vices to my ears. I recommend it highly to anyone who has a real world room and system.

Touching on the first paragraph I was pretty widely criticized in local audio circles for having "sold out" and gone to digital room correction. Most of those people have since eaten a little crow, having heard the system and concluded that it had indeed improved significantly as the result of this addition. My system is an odd mix of solid state, tube and hybrid tube electronics - based on the benefits of properly implemented DSP this box fits nicely into my current aesthetic which is to employ suitable (and fun) technology to reproduce music in a manner that I find reasonably accurate and pleasing to my ear.
 
Kevin, I hear you.

I think DSP is the future of audio, and anyone saying you "sold out" is stuck in the 1960s and refuses to see the light. Stubbornness.

I'm Old School in my music taste, and in pretty much everything else!
But in audio reproduction, I welcome the future!

For example, these days, I am looking at a 1992 Benz Camper van, but fitted with lithium batteries and solar panels.

Who says they can't co-exist?

Same with audio!

;)
 
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That camper van sounds pretty cool, you should post the details in a lounge thread! :D

I currently design embedded consumer electronics for a living, and I spent the past decade in medical electronics design, it was inevitable that some pragmatism would eventually creep into the hobby. Hard to turn off the critical faculties developed for the main part of my engineering existence when switching over to audio. It has benefited both my own design process and allowed me to make rational choices unswayed by audiophile fashion.
 
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