Review and Measurements of miniDSP SHD DAC, DSP And Streamer

[Kervel]

What about the 2x4 HD for the subs and woofers? Audibility of any noise and distortion should be low in this range. It's all about tradeoffs

@Kervel, yes I think adding a 2x4 HD would achieve the desired functionality but it seems the 2x4 HD did not measure very well. Still seems like this is my most practical path forward though.

 

[wertygrog]

@waynel, looks like that would work perfectly. Was trying to do this for less cash, but that solution is clean and practical. The option is on the table.

@Kervel, yes I was thinking the same thing that the 2x4 HD might be adequate for the low frequencies. SHD+ 2x4 HD would be a huge improvement over my current passive setup.

Thanks for providing some solid options guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[Al68]

Magnepan

I've got almost the same problem: I own Magnepan MG 3.3 and I want to biamp them as well as adding 1 or more subs.
I was considering the miniDSP SHD option.
It has xover and room correction and dac facilities : one of the two analog outputs (the low range one) could be split in two using a Y cable. Then one of this cables would go to the amp connected to the maggie's woofer and one to an active sub.
The active sub usually has its own low pass filter (tipically around 80/100Hz).
The maggie's woofer could be fed with 30 to 230Hz frequencies (in order to merge sub's and maggie's character better) or could pass through a FMODS xover simulator high pass (in order to roll off the frequencies below 80/100Hz): since the portion of spectrum devoted to the maggie's woofer shoud be 100-230Hz (really narrow) I don't think the quality loss introduced with FMODS would be substantial.
The only downside involved in this configuration, is that you wouln't have delay option , unless you place the subs at the same distance of Magnepans (from the listener).
But for sure you would have a tri amplified system with a two way crossover.
FMODS https://www.hlabs.com/products/crossovers/

 

[Sonnie]

Is it possible this would rank better with XLR over RCA? Just curious.

 

[Dj7675]

Is it possible this would rank better with XLR over RCA? Just curious.

See this post
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-dac-dsp-and-streamer.4286/page-5#post-104266
Amir measured balanced and it measured a little worse which seemed unusual.

 

[Sonnie]

See this post
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-dac-dsp-and-streamer.4286/page-5#post-104266
Amir measured balanced and it measured a little worse which seemed unusual.

Thanks for pointing it out. That does seem a bit odd.

 

[Dj7675]

I asked Minidsp about the RCA measuring better than the XLR. They provided measurements showing the opposite. So maybe unit to unit variation? Not that the difference is audible, but interesting nonetheles.
RCA

XLR

 

[Sonnie]

I asked Minidsp about the RCA measuring better than the XLR. They provided measurements showing the opposite. So maybe unit to unit variation? Not that the difference is audible, but interesting nonetheles.
RCA
View attachment 97173

XLR
View attachment 97176

Thanks again for pointing this out. Now if we can just get it Roon certified, it might be the ticket for me, as I just ordered the AHB2 amps and would like something that won't limit the amp any.... not that I can hear the difference, but knowing it is clean subliminally makes it sound better, right?

 

[nothingman]

That and Tidal Connect! Everyone is rolling out their implementations and Volumio and miniDSP are behind.

 

[mikeburns]

There have been at least two revisions since the time of Amir's review, including one that fixed the jitter issue, so they say. This discrepancy may have also been resolved.

Thanks for these measurements. I was wondering if they updated the DAC chip like RME did with their DAC. It seems like miniDSP are still using the same one, which is fine given the specs.

I would love to see a second test of the SHD to see if the jitter is improved as that was really the big part pulling down the SHD from a very high position (from a measurement point of view, rather than audibility). Minidsp should send one in as I reckon this site has promoted them no end. A finishing test that sorts out those aspects would be the icing on the cake for this great product.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I would love to see a second test of the SHD to see if the jitter is improved as that was really the big part pulling down the SHD from a very high position (from a measurement point of view, rather than audibility). Minidsp should send one in as I reckon this site has promoted them no end. A finishing test that sorts out those aspects would be the icing on the cake for this great product.

If Amir should get a second unit in for retest, I'd like to see how the A to D function performs. One of the things he found on the 2 x 4 HD was the analog inputs pulled down the Sinad by about 6db. MiniDsp has been notorious for poorly performing A to D sections, and it would be interesting if they improved it on their flagship product.

 

[nothingman]

Never has so much been said about something so inconsequential than the below -120db jitter of the SHD. I exaggerate, but c’mon. It measures as inaudible as it gets. That said, I’m all for more testing.

 

[Sonnie]

I have sent message to Amir offering my new unit for testing.

 

[Sonnie]

Confirmed... ordered and heading to Amir for a retest. Stay tuned!

 

[SDX-LV]

As I already have SHD on a Bill-Of-Materials for a new 2.2 system, I shouldn't even care about this, but hey, I will certainly read the review

The only drawbacks in SHD series for me are the lack of HDMI ARC port and perhaps 12V trigger (I need to cut power to Subs and Monitors when SHD is sleeping). But these are annoyances that I can tolerate as long as there is no good alternative.

Note that the new revisions have a remote that allows to quickly switch 4 presets and Dirac Live on and off. I think this is brilliant if it works well.

 

[terasankka]

If they get this Roon Certified, I will buy that or the smaller unit that does not have the analog inputs.

 

[Sonnie]

If they get this Roon Certified, I will buy that or the smaller unit that does not have the analog inputs.

I was told it is coming, and that they don't release dates per company policy. Probably because they don't really know.

 

[terasankka]

I was told it is coming, and that they don't release dates per company policy. Probably because they don't really know.

That is good news. I wish they would reconsider that policy as I am happy to wait, but not if I have no idea is it a month or a year or two.

 

[Sonnie]

That is good news. I wish they would reconsider that policy as I am happy to wait, but not if I have no idea is it a month or a year or two.

I mentioned to Tony that it would be to their benefit if they would be more transparent about it, but I think it boils down to the fact they really don't know and they don't want to tell people they don't know, otherwise, why wouldn't you tell your customer/potential customers. I supposed this could also be on Roon. It's really difficult to know who's holding it up, but either way, it seems they'd be making it a priority knowing there are users willing to buy that might change their mind later if it doesn't get certified within a specified period of time.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

As I already have SHD on a Bill-Of-Materials for a new 2.2 system, I shouldn't even care about this, but hey, I will certainly read the review

The only drawbacks in SHD series for me are the lack of HDMI ARC port and perhaps 12V trigger (I need to cut power to Subs and Monitors when SHD is sleeping). But these are annoyances that I can tolerate as long as there is no good alternative.

Note that the new revisions have a remote that allows to quickly switch 4 presets and Dirac Live on and off. I think this is brilliant if it works well.

I'd like to see digital outs (either spidf or AES/EBU) as well.