@amirm
@devteam
Hello and thank you for the measurements!
I own several miniDSP products, besides one EARS Headphone jig: a few DDRC-24 [which in its basic function would measure just OK like the reviewed:
miniDSP 2x4HD] and one U-DIO8, that feeds a
DDRC-88D+BM.
FYI: Internal SRC should be avoided; at least on the
2x4HD/DDRC-24. Use high quality
external SRC instead, to digital input the 2x4HD with 96kHz / DDRC-24 with 48kHz.
As amirm wrote in his 2x4HD review, the digital room correction makes a big difference - especially with Dirac Live - but as a "DSP company" I would expect more perfection from miniDSP on the hardware side, as well. The main issues I found in daily use however, which I also discussed with their customer support, are:
- With the DDRC-88D an audible [loud] glitch appears through the loudspeakers when on input 1&2, whenever a change in sample rate happens (i. e., audio files with different sample rates playing one after another). As of their engineers, this is most likely related to how the current-old Firmware automatically matches sample rates. The workaround since more than a year now is either not to use input 1&2 - or to set up a fixed sample rate, instead. // Similar behavior I found with the DDRC-24, so I guess it is common amongst all their devices.
- Speaking of Firmware, fixes happen rarely and the update process is not user-friendly, as well as the general use of their platform. Maybe they do have too many products to maintain by now and not enough qualified engineers to work on improvements? However, I find the documentation to be generally useful but in certain cases it needs to be updated with solutions found while searching their Forum. I can see the average user running into difficulties, preventing a smooth first start of the newly purchased DSP platform; it definitely is not "plug & play".
- Unfortunately, it still is not possible to use different miniDSP devices with just one common software/driver installation on the same operating system. For instance, the DDRC-88D requires its own complete setup, as well as the DDRC-24. Of course, this partly comes down to licensing with Dirac Live but I believe a solution could be found to vastly improve usability; and to lower the risk of driver related issues originating in those very similar installations.
I was also hoping they would update their HDMI-featured units to HDMI version 2.0b, whereas a HDMI 2.1 video passthrough would probably make more sense in 2020. // A multichannel HDMI (and optical S/PDIF) -> AES/EBU converter with (at least) 4K/60Hz video passthrough would be a great device; but they seem not to see a market for it. An option to add on-board Dolby/DTS decoders would of course be great, on such an audio converter! And it would certainly be a welcome addition to the U-DIO8. Just imagine an audibly transparent [digital] multichannel Audio Switcher connected prior to the DDRC-88D, that would be fed by both the U-DIO8 and such a futuristic HDMI- (and optical S/PDIF-) based device...
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The outputs of my DDRC-88D go directly into a
Crown I-Tech 4x3500HD amplifier (for JBL M2), as well as into several
JBL 708P and into a
Tascam UH-7000 interface (for subwoofer). [The main reason why I did not opt for the
JBL Intonato 24 was, that I do not require more than 8 channels.]
I am new to the topic of measuring audio gear
on my own, but I do have an
RME ADI-2 Pro FS interface and as far as I understand from the linked article, it is quite suitable for this purpose (with all its limitations, compared to amirm's APx555). Once I get to know how to reliably measure such complex gear with my setup and if there is any interest in it, I could try to provide measurements of the output(s) from the DDRC-88D; also being fed by an U-DIO8. I live in Europe, otherwise I would simply send the devices to amirm for check-up.
Best regards
[
EDIT]
Added information on SRC.