If you are worried about Bluetooth quality and want to use an iPhone as source you could add an airport express and use AirPlay. In my experience this is good for about a 25 dB SINAD increase compared to Bluetooth.
Michael
Michael
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Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Are your speakers roon ready? Because if they are not, you are not gonna make it, friend.
You have to have roon ready stuff or music isn't happening for you.
Hope you at least have roon ready cables.
Flex has no streamer so cannot be Roon ready. SHD has a streamer and is Roon ready.
Michael
The SHD needs a separate DAC and the Flex does not.
So it’s either RPi (Ropieee) -> Flex
Or SHD -> DAC
for Dirac on a Roon stereo system.
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Not quite, both the Flex and the SHD are offered in all digital versions as well as versions that have built in DACs. All versions of both the Flex and SHD can be used with a RPi running Ropieee (or just RoonBridge) but wanted to make the distinction that only the SHD series offers a built in streamer and therefore only the SHD series is advertised as Roon ready.
Michael
Ultrasonic
Addicted to Fun and Learning
To add to what @mdsimon2 said, the SHD has a 4 channel DAC. You're thinking of the SHD Studio, which is digital only (but quite a bit cheaper).
SubsonicLurker
Member
You could try a Lightning-to-USB-B OTG cable. They're about $13 on Amazon. I suspect that Nordost has $900+ versions that produce no documentable difference, aside from the hole in your bank account.
SubsonicLurker
Member
FYI, not only are they available for order, but it seems that they've completed fulfillment of the order backlog that they had. I placed an order for a Flex on April 24th, and received confirmations this morning from both MiniDSP and DHL that it shipped and will be delivered on May 3rd.Thank you for pointing me to that other thread I had not read that one yet!
I ordered the unbalanced + Umik1 right when I made my first post and they were delivered last night!
SubsonicLurker
Member
Nice! I've got the balanced model on order - I suppose I should get the TRS>XLR cables ordered so I can actually use it when it arrives.I ordered the unbalanced + Umik1 right when I made my first post and they were delivered last night!
I also ordered but now I have doubts.
I got used Kef Ls50s and an Audiophonics nc250.
as a source I use my iphone with tidal, I thought I would buy a bluesound node as a preamp and streamer, it also has a treble and bass equalizer, because in my room I have some bass reverbs.
then I discovered the flex with dirac, only that it costs 550 euros more than the node and then the many features it has such as filters etc. I don't know how to use them, maybe it's wasted on me.
Do you think I cancel the order that I make in time until tomorrow and I buy the bluesound trying to remove those reverbs with a simple bass equalization, or do I keep the Flex?
I got used Kef Ls50s and an Audiophonics nc250.
as a source I use my iphone with tidal, I thought I would buy a bluesound node as a preamp and streamer, it also has a treble and bass equalizer, because in my room I have some bass reverbs.
then I discovered the flex with dirac, only that it costs 550 euros more than the node and then the many features it has such as filters etc. I don't know how to use them, maybe it's wasted on me.
Do you think I cancel the order that I make in time until tomorrow and I buy the bluesound trying to remove those reverbs with a simple bass equalization, or do I keep the Flex?
Nice
Got a used pair LS50 today, not sure yet if i like them better than my ATCs yet, but like them i do.
Had the Audiophonics MPA-S250NC, however, i sent it back. While there was a tiny, tiny improvement in background noise if i glued my ear to the tweeter, in listening position it sounded just like my Yamaha A-S1200 to me. I was impressed however by it's value
I would say get a UMIK1 measurement microphone and use EQ on your computer to test if you can get rid of the bass problems. You should have a UMIK1 in any case, it is, in my mind, the most important tool towards better sound quality.
Only after you have understood and solved the problem, are you able you decide if the expense is worth it to you or if maybe the Node alone will be able to fix it.
hey Blimcheck,
There are a few things to note here. first is that to the best of my knowledge the minidsp flex is not a wifi streamer. You can stream music to it via bluetooth, but if you plan to use wifi, you will need an additional streamer to plug to it.
that said, in my opinion, if you:
- dont need more than two channesl (for instance, you dont have subs, just two speakers)
- you think you can do your eq without dirac
- you dont need any specific feature of the flex that you cant find with other dacs/streamers/dsp, i.e. the analog input
if the three above are true, or even some combinations of two, i think there are cheaper options available. Some might need some learning though...
Ultrasonic
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I'm not sure it's actually possible for you to cancel your order even if you wanted to. I think all the Bluesound Node has is basic tone controls though? If so it's not remotely in the same league when it comes to managing bass room resonances.
I ordered the unbalanced + Umik1 right when I made my first post and they were delivered last night!
I ordered Flex on Apr25 and was just emailed it could be 2-3 weeks before shipping. There must have been a short 1 day window on Apr 24 where miniDSP were actually shipping FLEX units to new orders. Not so much now.
They also raised the price by $25 since my original order which I canceled as it was a 60-90 day back log.
If I buy product on Amazon they don't charge my card until product ships. But that law doesn't seem to apply to Hong Kong. They charge your card and you never really know when it will ship until you get an email weeks to months later.
SubsonicLurker
Member
That lead time matches the update currently posted on the Flex product page is saying that orders received from April 25 onward would ship approximately two weeks afterwards. There may been some unallocated units in their earlier inventory deliveries that some were lucky enough to order in for prior that time window going into effect.
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