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Minidsp SHD Review Updated (DSP, DAC & Streamer)

muslhead

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Folks, you are not going to believe this. Attached is the email I just got from the miniDSP’s US dealer. This is the very first time I’ve received any private message from anyone since this public airing started.

The want me to pack up my SHD without having a replacement first, leaving me without an audio and TV system for a second time, and send it to them in Colorado so that they can “verify the the problem and remedy as appropriate.”

They are not sending me a new SHD so that I can continue on with my life.

They are not promising to replace it with a new unit, but are instead going to run diagnostics and then presumably try to repair it again.

They didn’t even provide me a shipping label back to Colorado so they expect me to pay another $35 to get it there.

@devteam This is not right. Do you not understand the damage you are doing to yourself? Clear as day, you just said publicly that you were arranging a replacement. That means something. That does not mean me sending in my unit to go on a test bench again. I can’t possibly imagine your reasoning behind this.

Please, people. Help me here.
Hate to be the bearer of reality as its not likely what you are looking for. They have spoken and have provided their solution. The ball is in your court as to what to do with it. "People" arent going to help. Time to put on your big boy pants. Clearly dragging it on is not going to help.
Don't mean to be the Debbie Downer but its time to get on with it and do what you need to do
Best of luck
 

nothingman

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Hate to be the bearer of reality as its not likely what you are looking for. They have spoken and have provided their solution. The ball is in your court as to what to do with it. "People" arent going to help. Time to put on your big boy pants. Clearly dragging it on is not going to help.
Don't mean to be the Debbie Downer but its time to get on with it and do what you need to do
Best of luck

I get the sentiment, but how is the ball in my court when they tried to take public credit for fixing this situation but then pull a fast move behind the scenes? The ball is in miniDSP’s court to deliver what the owner of miniDSP just said in this forum what he would deliver. To not do so is easily the most disappointing, unproductive, and borderline offensive move he could possibly make at this point.

Not to mention they previously told all of us that my unit HAD to go to Hong Kong because “We simply wanted to put the unit on the audioprecision for few days running a set of scripts. Something that our dealer just can't do I'm afraid.” Now they want it sent to Colorado with no guarantee of the agreed solution. And without minimizing it negatively affecting the customer, both in time and money.

I get it, no one is coming to my rescue for real, but as someone yourself who says this thread has reflected poorly on miniDSP, isn’t this one step worse in your eyes? This entire exchange and all the pretty words about learning from their mistakes only changed their policy position from “send it to Hong Kong on a prepaid label so we can verify/diagnose and remedy as appropriate“ to, “nope, our new offer is you pay yourself to send it to Colorado so we can verify/diagnose and remedy as appropriate.”

I’m certainly not objective, but I think I’ve been wearing my big boy pants pretty well. I haven’t done any of the usual whipping up of the crowd trying to get everyone to gang up and overreact, but to potentially end all of this with a worse solution is just incredible.
 

muslhead

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You are trying to rally the troops, otherwise why the plea for help at the end of your last post?
Minidsp is not providing you the solution you want. Shit happens. Life goes on. You keep fighting the fight. At some point you will need to find more productive things to do with your time. You are delirious if you think you are going to shame them or rally the troops any more than what you have already tried getting what you want. I have had this happen lots of times but I had to suck it up and move on. The same thing you should consider. Either way ... its your world, baby. I am done.
And no, you are not wearing big boy pants in my opinion, sorry.
Best of luck
 

nothingman

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Ok. I’m not here to feud with any members and it would only serve as a distraction. Just please remember it was miniDSP who came at me to engage and drag this out, and I’ve been doing so one-on-one this whole time. It’s only once they tried to get everyone off their back by painting the solution as vastly different than reality — you included since you told them repeatedly this episode reflected poorly on them — that I indeed have now tried to rally the troops. I can handle myself fine, but it felt like all of us have been lied to in that moment. I think it’s likely that other people see it that way even if you don’t. I do appreciate you speaking up when you did. I get that it’s all a little exhausting.
 

Lawyrup843

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Sell the damn thing and buy another product from a company you can trust. Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you‘re the windshield. This reminds me there is value in that little stamp that says…… MAAAAAAADE IN THE U.S.A!
 

devteam

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Well, it's quite interesting what quite few hours can turn into... Just to bring some objectivity here, I wasn't involved in this email thread .. just saying.. :)
A) I did state to George to organize a brand new unit yesterday following some back and forth which I thought would solve the problem quickly as indeed units are in USA, shipping into USA from HK for a warranty items a unit without an exit isn't trivial. That's the whole reason why we deal warranty/support via the local dealer as we have means via customs.
B) We unfortunately don't control what the dealer said here.. Some of their conditions might indeed involve to get the unit back to them. It's not uncommon. We'll talk to DeerCreek Team to see how we can help.

Knowing my involvement in the open is seen as if i'm trying to get people off our back or lie while I'm indeed trying my best to help the situation. I believe that I've been respectful through out this exchange and thought to provide involvement of the manufacturer would help.. If you do have any questions, do feel free to contact our support team who will be happy to answer all technical questions!
 
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nothingman

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Well, it's quite interesting what quite few hours can turn into... Just to bring some objectivity here, I wasn't involved in this email thread .. just saying.. :)
A) I did state to George to organize a brand new unit yesterday following some back and forth which I thought would solve the problem quickly as indeed units are in USA, shipping into USA from HK for a warranty items a unit without an exit isn't trivial. That's the whole reason why we deal warranty/support via the local dealer as we have means via customs.
B) We unfortunately don't control what the dealer said here.. Some of their conditions might indeed involve to get the unit back to them. It's not uncommon. We'll talk to DeerCreek Team to see how we can help.

Knowing my involvement in the open is seen as if i'm trying to get people off our back or lie while I'm indeed trying my best to help the situation. I believe that I've been respectful through out this exchange and thought to provide involvement of the manufacturer would help.. If you do have any questions, do feel free to contact our support team who will be happy to answer all technical questions!

This whole exchange has been about one thing: taking responsibility. That’s it. That’s what everyone who spoke up tried to say. Reputable manufacturers stand behind their product and move quickly to make things right.

Even after all of this, you’re still saying stuff like “I wasn’t involved in this email” and talking about the dealer’s “conditions” as an obstacle to the solution you say you want.

You are the owner of miniDSP and you say you have authorized a warranty swap. You have total control over the way this goes down. If you tell them “let’s fix this fast, send a replacement now and we’ll cover costs to you,” then the dealer’s fine print has nothing to do with it. It’s not their reputation on the line, it’s yours.

For a brief second it looked like you were taking charge of the situation but you’re still deflecting and making excuses. It’s been like this every step of the way.

Please do speak to the dealer again and make things clear, once and for all.
 

multisport4me

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Good lord, this is unbelievable, @devteam. I was about to buy an SHD but for miniDSP to stubbornly refuse to simply offer a replacement unit to this point is baffling.

So it goes when an engineer runs the company I guess. They assume customers are willing to conduct endless if-then-else diagnostics with them until they finally solve the puzzle. They fail to see the damage it causes their company in terms of goodwill and reputation and subsequent downstream revenue losses. Nobody cares how many emails you sent back and forth - it doesn't make you look like you have good service to me. It makes it look like you're cheap and lack confidence in your own products and/or hope to pin the blame on the customer if you try enough. It's dodgy. Just replace the damn unit ASAP and take the faulty unit back; have your QA guys go over it and learn from it once you figure out the issue.....at your own pace ....and the customer gets to be happy and possibly evangelize the wonderments of miniDSP.....thusly leading to more sales downstream.
 

AdamG

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@nothingman and @devteam please take this to PM and work out the specifics. Calling out a vendor in public is not always the best way to get their assistance. Understand the frustration but let’s dial back the emotion. Please and thank you.
 

nothingman

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@nothingman and @devteam please take this to PM and work out the specifics. Calling out a vendor in public is not always the best way to get their assistance. Understand the frustration but let’s dial back the emotion. Please and thank you.

I respect you as a mod, understand this has been disruptive, and get what you’re saying about working out specifics, but please note: the vendor engaged me. Nothing I did before they appeared was out of the ordinary, and I didn’t @ them or demand answers or demand a solution. Then the owner himself came out of nowhere and named me and addressed my case and made questionable claims, and everyone (not just me) rightly told them they were way out of line. miniDSP kept coming back, and kept making themselves look worse. They did that to themselves.

More important is, as things stand now, a vendor used this forum to make it seem like they were going to do the right thing to take care of a forum member/customer, but behind the scenes in reality is a different story. That’s plain deceptive to the whole community, not just me.

All I ask is that as long as @devteam made the claim here that they will issue a new replacement, that we hold them to it. I won’t put everyone through all the back and forth on specifics, as now instructed. Never imagined it would come to this, honestly. But, they made that promise to save face in front of everyone. Let’s not protect their ability to renege. Thank you.
 

AdamG

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I respect you as a mod, understand this has been disruptive, and get what you’re saying about working out specifics, but please note: the vendor engaged me. Nothing I did before they appeared was out of the ordinary, and I didn’t @ them or demand answers or demand a solution. Then the owner himself came out of nowhere and named me and addressed my case and made questionable claims, and everyone (not just me) rightly told them they were way out of line. miniDSP kept coming back, and kept making themselves look worse. They did that to themselves.

More important is, as things stand now, a vendor used this forum to make it seem like they were going to do the right thing to take care of a forum member/customer, but behind the scenes in reality is a different story. That’s plain deceptive to the whole community, not just me.

All I ask is that as long as @devteam made the claim here that they will issue a new replacement, that we hold them to it. I won’t put everyone through all the back and forth on specifics, as now instructed. Never imagined it would come to this, honestly. But, they made that promise to save face in front of everyone. Let’s not protect their ability to renege. Thank you.
Please do enlighten us as to the final outcome. I’m sure many here will want to know how this worked out. We are not protecting them, actually I was trying to help you. ;)
 

nothingman

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After a lot of private negotiation, I am going to trust miniDSP / @devteam ’s dealer — George the owner of Deer Creek Audio, @deercreekaudio — to finally do the right thing.

I do not love the terms, but accept them as functionally equivalent to the warranty swap I have asked for all along. I have paid full retail + shipping to Deer Creek Audio for a new unit to be sent to me. When I have it in my hands, I will send back my old unit on a prepaid label and Deer Creek Audio will fully refund my new purchase. I have their word on this.

For now I will not say more since we’re are in the middle of this transaction. You’ll certainly hear when the case is closed.
 

testp

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seems like a great all-in-one product, it just seems odd they are keeping the volume on the left side just so un-natural. oh well...i can always turn the unit up-side-down if its a biggy...
 

nothingman

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TL;DR: Case closed. I have a brand new SHD, despite miniDSP’s best attempts to deny me one.

Details below, but first, I just want to say thank you to this forum. Especially to everyone who spoke up to voice support and tell miniDSP they were in the wrong, but also to those of you who watched the thread and let it continue without protest. I know it was disruptive to our normal conversation. This public light is the only reason miniDSP did the right thing. I really do appreciate it.

Backstory since August 6:

In case someone stumbles on this, here is background on my SHD reliability issues. After this, @devteam — Tony, the owner of miniDSP — arrived and engaged me. His communication was frankly a mess of deflected responsibly and shifting stories. All I asked for privately, and then publicly once he appeared, was for a simple warranty swap after my SHD failed very early, then it took a month to get fixed, and then the “repaired” unit came back with a new problem. That’s it.

As you saw, after the blowup with miniDSP here it looked like they were finally going to take care of me. Instead, Deer Creek Audio arrived in my email with Offer #1 that I could send my unit back on my own dime (est. $35) and then they would then inspect it and decide on a “remedy.” This was a joke of an offer, and showed miniDSP and Deer Creek didn’t take this seriously. Offer rejected, I said miniDSP needed to cover a prepaid label and send me a new unit before I send back my old one.

Offer #2: Deer Creek came back with a prepaid label, but still wanted me to send back my broken unit first for them to inspect and then provide details about the exchange. So the same major, deal-breaking accountability problems but without getting nickel and dimed on shipping. Offer rejected, I wanted a new unit in hand, like every other warranty swap I’ve ever gone through.

Offer #3: Deer Creek said that if I wanted a new unit in-hand before sending back the old one, I must pay full price plus shipping on their website. Upon its arrival I would send back the old one on the prepaid label, and when they have verified its physical condition they would issue a refund on the new purchase minus 3% to cover their transaction fees. On the $1288.95 shipped price we’d be talking $38 out of pocket for me. Offer rejected, I wasn’t paying that bank free and told miniDSP to reimburse Deer Creek for the dumb, surprise fee.

Offer #4: I would still pay for the new unit, but I would get every cent of my $1288.95 back when the old unit returned on the prepaid label. Obviously this was a leap of faith that Deer Creek wouldn’t screw me over, and to their credit, they didn’t.

That’s how it went down. I now have a new SHD in my system, it does not have the high pitched noise coming through my tweeters at shutdown, proving once and for all that I was right that they screwed up the repair, and I have the full refund in my bank account so I’m free to speak.

I can’t even begin to quantify how much time and effort I put into this problem that started in May and has been a thorn in my side ever since. Just on this forum you can see how much I had to write to get miniDSP to get the picture, and how much nonsense they returned with at every step. Now multiply that by 40 private emails back and forth.

I think it’s fair to say Tony @ miniDSP thoroughly embarrassed himself and his company here. What a flawed viewpoint and policies to build a company around. It’s really a shame to see, but he did it to himself.

Let this be a lesson to you. You may happily own something from miniDSP. But if something big goes wrong you will pay. You will pay in time and effort and endless headaches all built around saving them a buck. And believe me no one could possibly put more into politely, patiently, and privately advocating for themselves than I did before this went public.

Someone earlier said miniDSP was acting like cheapskates, so I’m not the first, and couldn’t agree more. Depending on the day they treated me like an idiot, an inconvenience, or like a criminal who was trying to take their last dollar. I can’t say much better for Deer Creek Audio, though I’ve held back criticism for them in this process because the buck stops with miniDSP. Deer Creek were willing to give up absolutely nothing to show loyalty to their customer versus the manufacturer, not even a 3% bank fee on the refund of my $1300 collateral payment. Both companies will treat you like they are barely solvent or straight-up unprofitable.

If you want to further criticize miniDSP and/or Deer Creek Audio then go for it, but I’m not leading a mob here. I just want people to know how they operate before anyone makes a big mistake. The simple reason this is all so scathing is because of basic facts about the way they do business.

Thank you again.
 
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nick-v

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Things can get a little messy when dealing with warranty and returns. Some companies are definitely better to deal with than others.

I'll just say that it's not uncommon for a manufacturer to lean on their dealer and make it their problem.

Also, for a dealer, miniDSP has low margins compared to a lot of other brands. Not making excuses for anyone, but miniDSP probably put the dealer in a bit of a tough spot.
 

nothingman

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I don’t disagree there at all. miniDSP hung Deer Creek Audio out to dry. Then Deer Creek Audio passed on the favor and hung me out to dry. They both had already told me “tough luck” on a warranty replacement until @devteam showed up and hurt themselves bad enough to go into damage control mode.

Small margins aren’t an excuse for not standing behind a product. Someone else already said the way miniDSP have set themselves up is a false economy which is exactly right. Whatever they are trying to save in the short term, it’s clearly costing them more in lost/disappointed customers and their reputation. Same goes for Deer Creek Audio. They could have left this situation basically unscathed, instead, up until the very conclusion of a months-long process, they were trying to shake me down with 3% bank fees like that’s a normal thing to do to a customer who has experienced my problems. They tried to save themselves $38 instead of taking some responsibility and being the good guys, so I’m obviously done with them as well.

Just speaking generally for myself, and I would hate to give miniDSP any ideas here because I don’t think they could pull off the execution: if a device is already $1300 but a company going to treat me like a criminal over warranty service, then I‘d prefer they charge me a bit more and behave with a modicum of self-respect for their business and how they treat customers. You have to build that sort of maintenance of goodwill into the price or you quickly run out of customers.
 
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